Description (classic)
According to the Visuddhimagga, “One who wants to develop this should go into solitary retreat and exercise attention wisely in this way: ‘Death will take place; the life faculty will be interrupted,’ or ‘Death, death.’” In other words, keep it simple and let your mind go to the reality of death.
This is the simplest death contemplation but can be quite difficult. Generally, pick a simple method and do it for a period of time. You can simply say the word death to yourself, or you can focus on an image that reminds you of death, such as a dead body you’ve seen, or the imagined image of yourself as a corpse. Or you could say to yourself something like, “My death will take place,” and then consider “My friend Sam’s death will take place” and consider the deaths of anyone who comes to mind. Or find another method. This is intentionally vague: there are many ways to do this.
Use one method for a while before you change. Contemplate not only your own death but the deaths of others, or even of institutions, places, and things.
How to use
One can contemplate death at any time and in a variety of situations. Many of the recordings that I have made include doing this form of death contemplation at least in a small amount before or after a more focused death contemplation. Traditionally, you try this and see what happens. If it proves too vague, overwhelming, or your mind won’t do it for whatever reason, spend time with the eight more specific contemplations and return to this when the time feels right.
Missing the mark
Buddhagosa goes on to say that a few things can go wrong as you engage in this contemplation:
If he exercises his attention unwisely in recollecting the [possible] death of an agreeable person, sorrow arises, as in a mother on recollecting the death of her beloved child she bore; and gladness arises in recollecting the death of a disagreeable person, as in enemies on recollecting the death of their enemies; and no sense of urgency arises on recollecting the death of neutral people, as happens in a corpse-burner on seeing a dead body; and anxiety arises on recollecting one’s own death, as happens in a timid person on seeing a murderer with a poised dagger.
This is to say, emotions can arise that have to do with our feelings and passions about things in this life. While these are normal, they aren’t the point of the contemplation. We don’t try to get rid of them but we don’t analyze or indulge them either. Instead, the point here is to repeatedly apply the mind to awareness of death. So if any strong feelings come up, let the feelings come and go without getting involved, and reapply your mind to the contemplation, “Death will take place” or whatever your method is.
If you cannot focus your mind, are overwhelmed or overcome by the feelings, or find your mind producing bizarre or alarming thoughts, stop the contemplation. Like all death contemplations, this is strong medicine. It may be that you’ve exceeded the amount that’s good for you, or that you need to do more grounding practices before doing more.
Resolving to one of the eight
If all goes well and you spend time aware of death in this way, you may find that your mind naturally moves to one of the eight contemplations. You might find, for instance, that you find yourself aware of the unknowns of death, or aware that your life is dependent on a variety of factors outside of your control. You can either take this as a cue to spend more time with that more structured contemplation, or you can just keep contemplating death as a whole and see how things shift over time. Either way, avoid thinking about this development too much and keep doing the practice.
Deep tranquility/concentration states
All the death contemplations given here (all eight + this one) can lead to access concentration (upacara-samadhi), a state where the hindrances (the normal preoccupations and mental phenomena) recede and one experiences a pleasant, relaxed state of reasonably uninterrupted focus on the object of contemplation – in this case, death. If you find yourself in a tranquil, focused state, it could be access concentration. That said, I recommend not making too big of a deal about it: these states of concentration are notorious for slipping away if you focus on them as something you have accomplished or made happen. The opposite is usually true: access concentration (and all concentration states) occur because the ego got out of the way, not because of your efforts. To be sure, they aren’t easy to get into, but it isn’t because you pushed, or were clever or did something special. The state arise because the right circumstances are created to allow the proper balance between relaxation, focus, and other factors. Instead of taking credit for their development, perhaps look to replicate the circumstances, and remember not to tense too much over it.
For more information about samatha/tranquility states and death contemplation, check back on my blog later. I will be writing a post about this soon.
Results
I’ll let Buddhaghosa speak directly about the results of death contemplation himself. This serves for all death contemplations, not just death as a whole:
A bhikkhu devoted to mindfulness of death is constantly diligent. He acquires perception of disenchantment with all kinds of becoming (existence). He conquers attachment to life. He condemns evil. He avoids much storing. He has no stain of avarice about requisites. Perception of impermanence grows in him, following upon which there appear the perceptions of pain and not-self. But while beings who have not developed [mindfulness of] death fall victims to fear, horror and confusion at the time of death as though suddenly seized by wild beasts, spirits, snakes, robbers, or murderers, he dies undeluded and fearless without falling into any such state. And if he does not attain the deathless here and now, he is at least headed for a happy destiny on the breakup of the body.