Accepting Death - Forgiveness in the Face of Death - Meditation

So bringing a broad awareness,

Just aware of that sitting posture,

Trying to get a felt sense for the body sitting,

Aware of your bottom and the surface underneath that pressure,

Aware of that space around in the immediate area around your body,

Relaxing any tension,

Any holding,

Just allowing the body to be.

Bring our awareness now to the breathing,

Just placing awareness on the in-breath and only our breath,

Giving our attention,

Offering our interest to the feeling of the breath.

Aware of the feelings of the in-breath,

Nose,

Chest,

Abdomen,

Butt,

Aware of the feelings of the out-breath,

Abdomen,

Chest,

Nose,

Toe.

Mindfully aware of the in-breath and trying to be aware of the entire in-breath,

Mindfully aware of the out-breath and with the out-breath putting things down.

Aware of the in-breath,

Foot,

Aware of the out-breath,

Toe.

One of five reflections taught by the Lord Buddha to recollect each day is the possibility of death and dying,

Marana damomi maranam anati to.

This body is of the nature to die,

I have not gone beyond dying.

One simple word maranam means dying,

Death or dying.

I sometimes use this in conjunction with the breath,

In practicing mindfulness of death,

Breathing in maranam,

Breathing out maranam.

Just being mindful today could be the day that I die or tonight or tomorrow,

There's always a possibility.

Just having an attitude of accepting this possibility,

Accepting this truth without worrying,

Just being mindful of the fact that it's possible.

Breathing in maranam,

Breathing out maranam.

Breathing out maranam.

As your breath comes in,

Then there's a cessation of the in-breath.

When the breath goes out,

Cessation of the out-breath.

All conditions cease.

Right there with the in-breath you have a small birth,

A small life,

A small death,

And the out-breath likewise.

And we understand that death is not the opposite to life.

Death is the consequence of birth.

But the mind,

Mind can be liberated from death.

Bodies can't be liberated from death,

But the mind can be.

Breathing in,

Maranam.

Breathing out,

Maranam.

In the past ages,

Various bacterias,

Various viruses,

All of a sudden,

Perhaps half the population of an area having to pass away as a consequence.

So we don't know.

We could pick up a virus together here.

We all might have just a few days to go.

That's a possibility.

Another possibility is a very large earthquake somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

You know,

Those people in Japan,

They didn't know that there was going to be a tsunami.

Many people died without warning.

That's the kind of world we live in.

There's no guarantee.

There's always a possibility.

So just mindful,

Humbly acknowledging and mindfully aware.

Breathing in,

Maranam.

Breathing out,

Maranam.

The other day I met a young man,

Just finished university.

He woke up one morning,

He had no feeling on the left hand side of his body.

He went and he had some tests and he was told that he had multiple sclerosis.

Completely out of the blue.

No warning.

Perfectly healthy.

It was a very serious degenerative disease.

Another possibility.

Breathing in,

Maranam.

Breathing out,

Maranam.

Breathing out,

Maranam.

Breathing out,

Maranam.

We don't need to be frightened of death.

We need to be mindful of death.

So just mindful of death.

As I said,

Death is not the opposite to life.

Death is a consequence of births.

The Buddha explains that consciousness will take another birth if it's not yet liberated,

Propelled by karma.

So now you have a mind experiencing a body.

After death there will be another mind,

Same mind,

Same continuum,

Perhaps a different body.

So we want to be mindful of death and die mindfully.

Keep training in these ways to liberate ourselves,

To go beyond death,

Eventually.

Just mindfully accepting the fact that death is a possibility today.

Breathing in,

Maranam.

Breathing out,

Maranam.

Breathing out,

Maranam.

Breathing out,

Maranam.

Breathing in,

Maranam.

Breathing out,

Maranam.

When we practice mindfulness of death and dying,

We're also becoming a little more conscious of rebirth.

We understand that it's important or helpful to generate positive karmas.

And not very helpful to make negative or obstructive karma.

I remember Ajahn Kalyanar telling me a story.

A lady came to make offerings,

Recollecting the death anniversary of her husband.

We noticed that she didn't look very sad.

We said,

Well,

You seem okay.

No grief?

She told him a story of the husband's death.

She said that she was having a cup of tea with her husband at the breakfast table.

The husband said to her,

Oh,

I can see angels.

And then he put his cup down on the saucer,

And his chin dropped on his chest,

And he was dead.

It's not always the case that death has to be painful.

I would presume that that person had made quite a bit of good karma,

And that karma was supporting them.

So his wife felt confident that he'd gone to a happy place.

He wasn't grieving,

Recollecting the day that he died.

Breathing my own own.

Breathing out my own own.

Thank you.

The breath comes in and ceases.

The breath goes out and ceases.

All conditions with the nature to arise have the nature to cease.

Any time.

Thank you.

When we contemplate death,

The future doesn't seem so engrossing,

It doesn't seem so important.

We get more interested in taking care of today,

Attending to the present moment.

Just this one in-breath and this one out-breath.

.

Just suppose that by some means you were going to die today.

Perhaps there's a very big wave heading our way in that huge ocean.

But then you think of that same thing that you were practicing forgiveness with this morning.

The things that you wish you hadn't done,

But because you're a human being who makes mistakes you also made some mistakes.

Just as an experiment,

See,

Suppose that you really make it real,

You're open to the possibility today.

At some point you're going to die.

Would that awareness help you to forgive?

Does it seem so important now?

Mindful of death,

Mindful of the present,

I forgive the past.

I put it down.

I leave it where it is.

I let it go.

I let it go,

I let it go.

Remember when I was in India once,

One trip of 150 kilometres,

Rural road in India,

The tire burst three times in that one trip.

It's almost ridiculous that we didn't die.

It's always possible.

So bringing to mind once again from this morning,

We had the perception we were bringing to mind the memory of someone else.

We had to do some work with forgiveness.

Just allowing it into consciousness.

Suppose it's a very big wave,

It's even closer now.

Today you have to say goodbye to everything you know,

Your body,

Your relatives,

Your possessions,

Your memories.

Can you forgive that person now,

Mindful of death?

Breathing in,

I allow this life to be everything it's been.

Breathing out,

I forgive myself and all others.

I forgive the past.

I let it go.

The next day you die again not knowing your remaining life.

Ahh.

.

.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Because mindfulness of death can be slightly bitter medicine,

So it's good to balance it with some loving kindness.

Spend the last five minutes of this meditation practicing loving kindness.

Breathing in may I be well,

Breathing out may I be happy.

Allowing quality of love and acceptance,

Of goodwill,

Of human wants in the area of the heart.

Breathing in may I be well,

Breathing out may I be happy.

Breathing in may I be well,

Breathing out may I be happy.

Breathing in may I be well,

Offering a quality of loving acceptance,

Of kindness.

Breathing out allowing that warmth to spread through your body.

Breathing out may I be happy.

Breathing in may I be well,

Breathing out may I be happy.

Breathing in may I be well,

Breathing out may I be happy.

Breathing in may I be well,

Breathing out may everyone in this hall here,

May they be well,

May they be happy.

Thank you.

Last couple of minutes.

You can dedicate merits accordingly.

Thank you.

May those beings who I have harmed in this or past lives knowingly or unknowingly,

Intentionally or unintentionally,

May those beings rejoice in this practice today and I dedicate a portion of the merit produced to these beings also.

May they be well,

May they be happy,

May they forgive me,

Just as I am practicing forgiving others,

May all those who I have hurt in the past,

May they forgive me too.

May all beings be well,

May all beings be happy,

May all beings be free from grudge,

Free from aversion,

Free from hatred.

Thank you.