In Buddhist practice, there are four thoughts that remind us of:
(1) the preciousness of this human life;
(2) that we are going to die;
(3) that karma follows us everywhere; and
(4) that samsara is a waste of time that only supplies suffering.
Memorize them. They will reframe your life, focus your mind, and advise you in everything you do.
As Samuel Johnson, the author of the first English dictionary, said, “When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” What would you do if you had six months to live? What would you cut out of your life? What would you do if you had one month, one week, one day?
The Indian master Atisha said, “If you do not contemplate death in the morning, the morning is wasted. If you do not contemplate death in the afternoon, the afternoon is wasted. If you do not contemplate death in the evening, the evening is wasted.” The four reminders remove the waste.
Source: Andrew Holecek. Preparing to Die.
Recently, I created another website that covers The Four Thoughts in more detail. The website can be found at http://the-four-thoughts.org/
Trungpa Rinpoche said that until we take death to heart, our spiritual practice is dilettantish.
Author Sam Harris wrote, “While we try not to think about it, nearly the only thing we can be certain of in this life is that we will one day die and leave everything behind; and yet, paradoxically, it seems almost impossible to believe that this is so.
Our felt sense of what is real seems not to include our own death.We doubt the one thing that is not open to any doubt at all.”
We see others dying all around us but somehow feel entitled to an exemption.
In the Hindu epic the Mahabharata, the sage Yudisthira is asked, “Of all things in life, what is the most amazing?” Yudisthira answers, “That a man, seeing others die all around him, never thinks he will die.”
If we acknowledge death and use it as an advisor, however, it will prioritize our life, ignite our renunciation, and spur our meditation.
The Buddha said, “Of all footprints, that of the elephant is the deepest and most supreme. Of all contemplations, that of impermanence is the deepest and most supreme.”
He who dies with the most toys still dies. Bring these supreme reminders into your life. Realize that life is like a candle flame in the wind.
(Andrew Holecek. Preparing to Die.)
