Death Meditation To Live More (Maranasati)

Death can be a scary thing to contemplate, but it is also an inevitability. The concept of visualising one's own death is an ancient one, exercised by Buddhists and stoics alike. The practice gives us a fresh perspective on where our life is and if it's as we would like it, helping us to clarify our values. It is the ultimate form of gratitude as we imagine a world without the greatest gift we are given... Life
Trigger Warning: This practice includes references to death, dying and the departed.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this very special meditation.

This is a meditation to reframe your relationship with death,

But also your relationship with life.

To start with,

I just want you to get comfortable.

On your back if possible,

But seated is also fine.

Take a moment just to settle into whatever position is comfortable to you.

Now begin to focus on your breath.

Not asking you to change it,

Just asking you to notice it.

Noticing the inhales and noticing the exhales.

Just taking this time to relax into your body and into your breath.

You need to notice that calm feeling wash over the body as you just relax into your breathing.

Your breath will be your anchor today as well as your safety blanket.

We're going to be dealing with some heavy issues,

So today at any point you're welcome to just focus back on the breath and exit from the meditation.

It's a tough mental exercise and you should feel free to go only as far as you feel comfortable.

You can always try again in a later stage when you feel more uptoed.

With that being said,

Let's start.

As you lie or sit there,

I want you to notice your breath,

How it flows in and out.

This breath is often referred to as prana or life force.

It's the first thing you do when you're born and it's the last thing you'll do before you die.

It's the most essential of all the consumables in our body.

Can you enjoy each breath right now?

Contemplating how important it is to your survival.

Can you notice how each breath has a beginning and a subsequent end?

Can you notice how the end of the inhale is the beginning of the exhale?

Just like so many beginnings in life come at the end of something else.

Next I want you to notice the warmth of your body.

Notice as it radiates out.

Notice places you can feel it radiating and places you can feel it being caught by your clothing or the furniture you're lying or sitting on.

Maybe you can even notice it in the parts of the body that are touching one another as they share this warmth.

Feel that warmth as it radiates from you.

The telltale sign that you are alive.

Next bring your attention to your heartbeat.

Where do you feel it?

Can you feel it in several places?

Your chest,

In your hands,

Your feet,

Maybe even your fingers and toes?

Can you connect with the beat?

This biological metronome that carries you through the passage of time,

Leaving the past behind you as you move closer and closer to your end.

Now that you've felt all those signs that you are alive,

As you lie or sit there,

I want you to imagine the building you're in collapsing in on you,

Killing you in an instant.

You are no more.

That breath ceases to continue,

That warmth of your body gives way to cold and your heart fails to beat anymore.

Your time on the planet is over.

Now I want you to think of all the things you wanted to do but never got around to doing.

The places you were going to go,

The hobbies you were going to start.

Now I want you to think of all the things you wanted to do but never got around to doing.

The places you were going to go,

The hobbies you were going to start,

The things you always meant to take off,

The time you wasted on trivial things,

The unnecessary stress you put yourself under,

Your concerns that seemed so big when you were alive but are now completely inconsequential.

Now I want you to think of all the things you wanted to do but never got around to doing because you thought you had more time.

Now thinking of the places you always wanted to go but never got around to.

The hobbies you were going to start but just never found the right moment.

The things you always wanted to tick off but now can't.

Now I want you to think of all the time you wasted on trivial things,

The unnecessary stress you put yourself under,

The concerns that seemed so big but now that you're dead are completely inconsequential.

Imagine now the emergency services finding you,

Your lifeless body cold and still.

Who do the paramedics call first?

Who do they tell?

And how does that person react?

Can you see their face as they hear the news of your demise?

Can you hear their voices waver and break as they mourn your loss?

Can you see how much they miss you?

As you imagine vividly this person hearing this news,

What would you want them to know that you never told them or never told them enough?

I want you now to imagine your funeral.

The venue is decorated appropriately,

Flowers,

A coffin with you in it.

What pictures may they have chosen to represent your life and placed on the mantle?

How will you be remembered?

Take notice now of who is coming in,

The front row first as they walk up the aisles and take their seats,

All dressed in black,

All here to mourn you.

Who are these people in the front row?

Move along the row studying their faces,

Seeing each person and seeing how they grieve for you.

Now choose one of them and feel what they are feeling.

How do they remember you?

What adventures in life did you have with them?

What conflicts did you have with them?

What moments of joy and laughter did you share?

And what moments of pain and sadness did you have together?

Feel what they feel and see how you matter to them.

Now cast your eye across the room again and choose another person.

Going through these same questions.

How do they remember you?

What adventures in life did you have with them?

What conflicts did you have with them?

What moments of joy and laughter did you share?

What moments of pain and sadness did you have together?

Embodying whatever they are feeling,

Noting how they remember you and how you mattered to them.

What would you say to each of these people if you could right now?

Bring your awareness to notice who's not there.

What grievances did you leave the world without solving?

What hurtful things were never unsaid or cleared up?

How trivial do the arguments feel now?

What would you say to these people if you could?

Now imagine the eulogy.

Who would speak at your funeral?

How would they be feeling?

How would they describe you?

What stories would they regale?

How would you be remembered?

Imagine now your burial,

As your coffin is lowered slowly into the ground.

Flowers thrown onto your casket as you sink lower and lower down.

People mourn,

Sob,

And say their last goodbyes.

The coffin is covered and your loved ones leave,

Moving on into their own lives.

What would you give to break out of that coffin,

To burst through that grave,

To be alive again?

To embrace those people,

To have more adventures,

To share more conversations,

To feel alive again.

Now reconnect with those signs of your breath,

Your warmth,

Your heart beating.

Feel them,

Embrace them,

Let them consume you.

Bring your mind now to anyone you know has died,

Whether you knew them personally or not.

Think of the many people that have once lived that now do not.

They too were enjoying these exact same sensations that you feel right now,

Until one day they could no longer.

They could never feel them again.

But you,

You can.

You can feel these things even more now.

You can embrace what it is to be alive,

With all the sensations,

With all the people that you love,

With all that life has to offer.

Your second chance starts now.

Connect with your body and the joy that it is to be alive.

You feel your body and soul rejoice in this fact.

Now open up your eyes and go into the world.

Fully aware that death can take you any time.

But until then,

You are alive and should do everything you can to live even more.

I'm receiving a raised hand again.

Reviews

A short but powerful meditation. Absolutely one of the best I have engaged in.

Love this meditation and it’s perspective on life and what truly matters. Thank you so so much for creating it.

Ever since I was a young child, reflecting on death has always filled me with wonder and a keen appreciation for life. It’s validating to know that this death fascination also inspires others to live more fully!

Thank you.🙏🏽

Beautiful!

Perfect. Just what I needed to regain momentum and peace with impermanence.

Really heartfelt and beautiful 💗 This one is a new favorite of my death contemplations. Thank you so so much for this offering 🙏🏼💗

Thank you

That was wonderful and so moving for me. My 90-year-old father died a week ago, and for years I have thought about death pretty much every day. This meditation added to my acceptance of death, but it was even more powerful in adding to the raw wonder and appreciation of being alive. Thank you for making this recording.

Teared up a little and was very touched by this medication. Thank you 🙏🏾

Thank you for this. Just the reminder that I’m able to hug , embrace or even just touch what’s around, it’s just a privilege

This was a very difficult one to get through. I’m a pig and eclectic witch, so I don’t have the same outlook as most people on funerals, etc. As a matter fact, I will not have one. But so many things that you went through initially to think about has definitely made me want to get out there and do so much more that I’ve put off because I feel like there’s just other things that are priority. But thinking about how others will see my passing and going onto whatever the next journey holds brought tears to my eyes because really for us. The passing part is easy. It’s for those left behind that things are such a challenge. My hope is that my children are strong and independent enough that they know their mom is in a better place, and that she expect them to keep on going and not look back. Brightest Blessings!!

Thank you for this powerful meditation session. I am feeling more alive. Namaste

Very challenging I wouldn’t do this too often but I was filled with enormous gratitude for my life by the end. I don’t remember when I last felt my importance to others in the way I’m feeling this now. How precious my life is. A hugely valuable meditation. Thank you for the gentle guidance.

It is a very powerful meditation, l can’t stop crying because the realisations keep coming. 🥹so beautiful

Thank you for reminding
me to go on adventures
and create new memories

That was beautiful 😍 very thought provoking. Thanks.

Powerful death meditation that brings home the preciousness of each breath. Thank you

Truly grateful for this perspective, it's something I've tried to practice as a stoic but this 20 minutes brought everything so clearly into focus. Thank you !!

This was truly powerful and amazing. Thank you so much. Namaste. 🙏