The Amazing Impact of Death Contemplation

Ancient Buddhist monks loved practising death contemplation. This practice involved thinking about one’s death in the present moment and realizing that the physical body will stop functioning and eventually decay. It also involved realizing that everyone will die, the several causes of death, and the fragile nature of the human body.

Before diving deep into spirituality, I used to ignore the art of death contemplation. However, I recently embraced it after realizing that life is so short and we can die at any moment. Now, I cannot stop practising it because I have noticed its amazing impact.

Contemplating death eradicates worry. When you contemplate death, you’ll realize that physical life is too short and precious to worry about anything. You’ll avoid worrying all the time after realizing that worry prevents you from fully experiencing this precious and short life in the material plane. You’ll stop worrying about your physical appearance, bills, social status, careers, etc because you’ll realize that all these factors will be useless after death.

Contemplating death will also force you to discard the idea that you’ll only be happy at a certain point in the future when certain things happen. You’ll realize that you might fail to exist in the future, and the only time you are absolutely sure of experiencing happiness in the physical world is now. Thus, you’ll start focusing on the present moment and how you’ll make the best out of it.

Death contemplation will make you realize that you are a soul and not a body. You’ll notice that the body is only a physical extension that allows you to fully experience the physical world. This realization will encourage you to ponder the purpose of life. You’ll then realize that its purpose is to live up to your full potential. This realization will encourage you to avoid time-wasting activities as you’ll be obsessed with fulfilling life’s purpose.

To practice death contemplation, imagine yourself in a coffin. Imagine people continuing with their daily routines after burying you. Then imagine your body decaying and finally disappearing from the earth. You must then visit cemeteries, mortuaries or view pictures of the dead, think about the unpredictability of death, and the fact that you’ll never return to your body after death.

This contemplation will reduce your obsession with your physical appearance by making you realize that you will not be in your body forever. You’ll stop obsessing over your looks, how you’ll maintain your beauty, how your face will change as you get older and so on.

Don’t be afraid to contemplate death. Think about it often, and you’ll find peace as you’ll stop obsessing over things that don’t matter and you’ll eventually internalize the fact that you are a spiritual being having a physical experience for only a short period.