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Death Meditation

There are many ways to practice with death because death meditation serves as an antidote to many things.

The practices I know fall into three categories:

  1. Wise Reflections on Death – practices focusing on the fact that death is real, that death can come anytime, and allowing this recognition to shift our priorities.
  2. Meditating on the Dissolution of the Body at Death.
  3. Meditating on Various Ways of Dying to deepen insight and develop equanimity.

This page offers an overview of the death meditations I practice. If you're looking to get started, be sure to also check out my post, Practice Inspiration - Death Meditation, which includes a sample schedule for a 2-4 month meditation cycle.

⚠️ Disclaimer

These meditations are powerful and advanced tools for mental development. Please take responsibility for yourself when practicing—don’t push beyond your limits. Always be mindful of your window of tolerance.

If you start feeling overwhelmed or notice you are outside your window of tolerance, back off. If needed, stop meditating and engage in grounding activities such as movement, good company, or nourishing food.

If distress persists, consider seeking guidance from an experienced meditation teacher or a qualified psychotherapist.

Practice with care and self-compassion.

Wise Reflections on Death

Practices focusing on the fact that death is real, that death can come anytime, and allowing this recognition to shift our priorities.

Wise Reflection on Death – Three Questions

Function: Recognizing that "Death is real and can come anytime" and clarifying what truly matters in life.

Antidote to: Distraction and worry about non-essential things.

Mechanism: Each question helps me recognize something specific:

  • "Will I die?" This question forces me to acknowledge the obvious: Everything that comes together will eventually fall apart. Of course, I will die. Facing this truth helps me let go of any unconscious fantasies about living forever—perhaps through some future medical breakthrough—and instead, accept my mortality.
  • "When will I die?" The only honest answer is: I don't know. Maybe this is my last breath. Maybe I have another minute, an hour, a day, a week, or even a hundred more years. This uncertainty affects me in two profound ways:
    • It makes every moment feel incredibly precious. If I could die in the next minute, then another week of life is a gift. If I might have only a week left, then a year feels like a miracle.
    • It sharpens my focus on what truly matters—loving, being present, and avoiding unnecessary conflicts.
  • "Imagining myself during my final few breaths, what truly matters?" This question gets straight to the heart of it. Try it for yourself and see what answer comes to you.

Guided practice: Wise Reflection on Death | Guided Meditation

The Nine Contemplations of Atisha

The Nine Contemplations that follow offer a way to explore the inevitability of death and what is important to us in the light of our mortality. The practice asks us to question what we are doing in our life at this very moment and to see what is important for us to do in order to prepare for death. The contemplations come from Atisha, an eleventh-century Tibetan Buddhist scholar, who systematized the method for generating an enlightened mind. This practice is based on the work of Larry Rosenberg. – Joan Halifax

Function: Similar to Wise Reflection on Death – Three Questions but with additional and slightly different questions.

Practice:

Reflection on People Who Died – Rosemary and Steve Weissman

This practice is part of the Special Wise Reflection Old Students' Retreat by Rosemary and Steve Weissman. You can find the audio recording by searching for "Special Wise Reflection Old Students' Retreat" on their website.

Function: Recognizing that "Death is real" and "Yes, I will die."

Mechanism: By repeatedly first thinking about somebody alive and then remembering that they are dead, we feed the mind evidence about the truth of death. "Bringing this awareness to yourself" then adds the aspect that the same thing is going to happen to you.

This style of doing the same type of reflection many times in a row is typical for Rosemary and Steve and is especially effective for letting the mind collect evidence of important and liberating truths we otherwise get exposed to only rarely. By doing this over and over within one practice, and over many sessions of practice, the different parts of our mind get the chance to assimilate these truths, until it changes the way we intuitively think and act.

Practice: Do the following for 1–3 famous people who died, for 1–2 close relatives who died, for a pet, and for yourself. At every new paragraph, pause and reflect. In the last step, when you do the reflection on yourself, instead of the second paragraph, imagine your body perfectly still, no longer able to move.

Think of _______ who has died. Picture _______ alive and doing something. Whatever you can imagine, maybe you only saw a photo of them so imagine them talking, walking, sitting, whatever. Don’t get involved in a story about them. Just picture _______ alive, doing something.

Now remember that they are dead, gone, no longer a part of this world.

Bring this awareness to yourself, that you, too, will definitely die one day.

“Verily, also, my own body is of the same nature, such it will become and will not escape it.”

Reflection on Possible Ways of Dying, Letting Go of Worry, Fear, and Dreams, and Focusing on What’s Important – Rosemary and Steve Weissman

This practice is part of the Special Wise Reflection Old Students' Retreat by Rosemary and Steve Weissman. You can find the audio recording by searching for "Special Wise Reflection Old Students' Retreat" on their website.

Function: Letting go of worry, fears, and dreams, and instead focusing on what is important in life.

Mechanism: First, we bring to mind some worry themes, fears, or dreams and subsequently ask: How important do these worry themes and dreams seem when faced with the possibility of death in the next moment, hour or day? This lets us recognize that they are not important at all. This sets the stage for the rest of the practice.

For different people, we think of ways they could die. This helps with the recognition that death is real and could happen soon. We then (in the genius Rosemary and Steve way) use the driving force of Compassion and Lovingkindness to wish them the ability to let go of these worries, fears, and dreams and instead use their precious life to develop the mind.

In the end, we revisit the irrelevance of these worries, fears, and dreams. And close by again applying Compassion and Lovingkindness to those who are dying now, wishing that they have used their life well.

Can you see how powerfully this practice can help us see through the illusion of things that only seem important or attractive, and shift our priorities toward what truly matters?

Practice:

Now, consider, bring to mind some of your common worry themes or dreams. Can you bring a few to mind?

Now ask yourself: How important do these worry themes and dreams seem when faced with the possibility of death in the next moment, hour or day?

Repeat the following 3 paragraphs for: yourself, other meditators/people in the same building, your parents or a close loved one, some of your friends.

Now, please reflect on some of the possible ways _______ may die.

Try now to wish _______ some Compassion and Lovingkindness - the strength, courage, wisdom and confidence to develop thoughts that are beneficial to yourself and others. Thoughts that will help _______ let go of worry, fear, dreams that pull you away from making the most of each moment. And to let go of thoughts that prevent _______ from depending on the inner refuge, your inner growth and good qualities.

May _______ be able to have the opportunity to develop the mind. But if death comes unexpectedly, may _______ be able to have contentment or peace. May _______ use this precious moment to develop the Paramis.

After you are done repeating the above 3 paragraphs, continue here:

Consider the rest of the people in the world at this moment. Consider some of the common worries, fears, dreams of many of the people in the world. Thoughts of status; wanting power; not wanting blame; wanting others to like and praise them; wanting wealth and property; not wanting to lose it; not wanting pain, aging or separation; wanting pleasure and things to be lasting.

In 100 years, how many of these people will still be alive? What will be the meaning of these worries, fears and dreams?

Try now to wish them Compassion and Lovingkindness - the strength, courage, wisdom and confidence to develop thoughts that are beneficial to themselves and others. Thoughts that will help them let go of worry, fear, dreams that pull them away from making the most of each moment. May they have the opportunity to use each day to develop inner beneficial qualities and do good actions on which they can depend.

May they be able to have the opportunity to develop the mind. But if death comes unexpectedly, may they be able to have contentment or peace. May they use their precious opportunity to develop beneficial qualities.

Now consider this moment. Try to think of the living beings who may be dying at this moment in time. Consider the different ways they may be dying - old age, sickness, accident.

Try to have Compassion and Lovingkindness for them. May they have peace and acceptance in their hearts. May they have performed good actions in their lives to be able to depend on this.

Meditating on the Dissolution of the Body at Death

Function: Preparing for the dying process and recognizing that none of the Five Aggregates (form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness) are "me". This practice helps connect with one’s true nature.

Antidote to: Attachment to the five aggregates and in particular the body and mind.

Mechanism:

  • By visualizing myself gradually letting go of the Five Aggregates—form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness—as well as the senses and elements, I begin to see that "I" am none of these. The final stage of the practice points toward the experience of rigpa—pure awareness, a central concept in Tibetan Buddhism.
  • I also really like how Joan Halifax Roshi guides participants out of the practice in a way that helps maintain a connection to this state in daily life.
  • Finally, if dying is truly something like this, then this practice may serve as a preparation—allowing me to meet death consciously. That in itself seems valuable, and if certain traditions are right, it may even hold profound potential for liberation.

Practice:

Notes:

Understanding the Five Aggregates will deepen this practice, and vice versa.

Joan Halifax Roshi is THE teacher for the topic of dying. I did her Being with Dying course on Audible (Being with Dying – Audible). I also found two further resources that might cover the same material:

Meditating on Various Ways of Dying

Function: Finding a safe inner place even in the face of death and developing the insights required for this.

Note: This is an experimental practice and I don't have a lot of experience with it yet. Therefore please take extra care. Since this might be the most intense of the practices listed on this page, I am adding the disclaimer again.

⚠️ Disclaimer

This meditation is a powerful and advanced tool for mental development. Please take responsibility for yourself when practicing—don’t push beyond your limits. If you start feeling overwhelmed, stop meditating and engage in grounding activities such as movement, good company, or nourishing food.

If distress persists, seek guidance from an experienced meditation teacher or a psychotherapist.

Practice with care and self-compassion.

Practice 1

  1. Think of ways you could die and pick one.
  2. For the duration of the meditation (say 10 to 30 minutes), imagine dying this way —what would happen, how it would feel etc.
    1. While doing so, try to find acceptance for the fact that this is a possibility and look for that part of you that is still and calm even in the face of this.
    2. (Optional) Apply the Self-Compassion for Insight practice to this experience, looking for the root of the suffering, reflecting on what would eradicate that root and wishing for that to happen.
  3. (Optional) Integrate Tonglen (giving and taking meditation).

Practice 2

Same as Practice 1, but after doing some open awareness practice that helps establish you as "space."

Here is one guided meditation that helps with that: Emptiness of All Arisings. Once you know how to do this, even 10-20 minutes in that state might be enough as a foundation for this practice.

Please note: Mindfulness of mind or open awareness practices are only safe at a certain (advanced) stage of practice. I would only recommend this if you are consistently practicing at stage 5-6 in TMI. If in doubt, please get in touch.

Practice 3

Same as Practice 1, but using ChatGPT (or similar tools) to enhance imagination.

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