When you have a death or near death experience during a meditation session...how should we deal with this? Should we transform these fear based experiences into a learning experience?
In fact, people who still do not forget to meditate before dying are people with excellent psychological qualities (wholesome mind) such as right mindfulness, right concentration, and right understanding.
In order to eliminate or transform the "fear of death", Mahayana Buddhism often use "Buddhānusmṛti". By remembering the Buddha’s Name and his virtues, they can increase their confidence and mindfulness, thereby dispelling fear and anxiety.
Theravada Buddhism also has the practice of "Buddhānusmṛti (reciting the Buddha)", but "Ānāpānasati (mindfulness of breathing)" is always the first choice. Let our mind rest in the present moment of every breath, so as to eliminate the fear in our mind.
In fact, among the many spiritual practice methods of Buddhism, there is another method called "Maraṇasati".
Maraṇasati (mindfulness of death, death awareness) is a Buddhist meditation practice of remembering (frequently keeping in mind) that death can strike at anytime (AN 6.20), and we should practice assiduously and with urgency in every moment.
However, whether this method is suitable for everyone to practice, it varies from person to person. For some, who can definitely gain wisdom and confidence in facing life through the visualization of death. But there are also some people who are very afraid of death in the very first place OR always have a pessimistic and negative attitude towards life, and if they visualize various phenomena related to death, it may cause either bad or harmful effects for their practice. That’s why this method is mentioned in Buddhist scriptures, but it is not widely used, or even known to some Buddhist practitioners.
Further reading:
Maraṇasati Is for All of Us by Margaret Meloni
Death Awareness by Larry Rosenberg
No comments:
Post a Comment