using death to bring focus

here's a useful practice: picture yourself on your deathbed. the unthinkable is happening. life is coming to an end. a sudden clarity descends, and as you look back upon your days on earth you realize what truly mattered and what didn't. you remember what it was your soul yearned for, and - the mind's propensity to bullshit itself having finally run dry - you level an uncompromisingly honest assessment on your life.

did you have the courage to live as your heart directed? did you remember what truly mattered in the midst of daily life? were you able to sacrifice immediate pleasure for the greater good of yourself and others? or did you turn a deaf ear to your inner voice and lose yourself in meaningless distractions, petty squabbles, and selfish obsessions?

now rewind to this moment: here's your chance to live in a way that will enable you to die in peace, with no regrets. right now, and tomorrow, and the next day. these are the moments of your life; these seemingly disposable minutes are what make up your whole experience. every second matters; every breath you take is one breath subtracted from your lifelong quota.

this life is a chance given to you. immersed in it as we are, it's hard to see it that way. we get lost in the specifics of daily life. we forget why we came. but learn to take an elevated perspective, and the scattered pieces of daily experience will begin to converge into one meaningful movement; a movement towards the things you know truly matter: knowing yourself, leaving a legacy of peace and love in your wake.

perhaps you've never actually faced the fact that you're going to die. thinking about death is no morbid obsession; it's a valuable practice that can help you contextualize your life experience and center it on what is truly important. death in western culture is given an unfair rap, painted as the ultimate evil. but this is just another one of the misperceptions of a culture that views the natural as unnatural, and the unnatural as natural. death is not the end of anything; it's a transitional event - a step that can be taken in joy and gratitude.

if you're interested in facing the fact of mortality, sit down and close your eyes. breathe deeply, and for each long breath, imagine yourself aging one year. how long can you live? eighty, ninety, a hundred years? surely not more than a hundred and twenty! it's gonna have to come to an end sometime, isn't it? but now, while you're still here, why not use the time wisely? there's so much to learn - and not all of it will be discarded when you leave your body behind. this limited lifetime represents the opportunity to take steps that will reverberate throughout eternity.

the benefit of a clear mind

many spiritual traditions and techniques emphasize the importance of a clear, deprogrammed mind.

is it that when we stop adding energy to the programming and allow the mind to return to a natural state, we suddenly have an enlightened mind?

instead, think of the oft-employed lake analogy. turbulent waters make the depths impossible to perceive. a heavily programmed mind, constantly rippling with activity, makes it hard to perceive our true nature, which lies beyond the mind.

the mind is always the mind, and the truth of what we are is always the truth of what we are. identification with the mind as who we are is in large part due to our inability to see through it. it's a mistake caused by the opacity of our mind, and a natural mistake to make.

if conditions change and the mind becomes more still and transparent, it's also natural that we begin to glimpse the truth beyond it, until things become clear enough for the moment of recognition to occur.

at that point, any remaining programming or turbulence is no longer a problem because one naturally ceases to associate identity with the mind.