When I was learning meditation, I was utterly confused by all the contradictory information out there on blogs, YouTube, etc.
So I tried reading the original text on Buddhist meditation (Satipatthana sutta). And the one thing that shocked me was ‘death contemplation’, which is very gory and graphic (almost unreadable).
Its goal is to help people get over their obsession with the body (and realize its impermanence) and focus, instead, on purifying the mind.
Now, even if we don’t do the death contemplation as the Buddha suggested, just reminding ourselves of our mortality is itself a great mechanism to force mental clarity.
Often, in daily life, we get caught up in rumination, worries, and all the mental scheming our brains can rig up. Sometimes you feel like there is no escape from this trap of destructive thoughts.
However, when you remember that life will end one day, the pointlessness of these worries and ruminations becomes obvious.
Our mortality is the best reminder to use our time well. Is it not ironic that the thought of death can help make life more meaningful?
The next time you get caught up in rumination, tell yourself, “My time on Earth is limited. Is that how I want to use it?”
– Rajan