Description
In the third of the eight contemplations, we contemplate that death will separate us from all sorts of circumstances and things that are common to our daily lives. Our belongings, loved ones, friends, enemies, our home, our jobs – all that will be gone. Likewise, roles or identities will be gone. And anything we do in our lives right now – raising a child, working on a project, urging or spending money – everything will be abandoned for someone else to pick up or leave. You can also consider this from the perspective of others: the belongings, loved ones, roles, and projects of someone else and how they’ll have to leave them behind at death.
Traditionally, this is actually the second contemplation, but I reordered them to make them easier to do in a sequence. If you’re doing them one at a time (not in a series, for instance) feel free to do this one second. Sometimes this contemplation is also titled “Death as the Ruiner of All Success” – which alludes to the fact that everything we try to accomplish in life will be ruined and ended at death.
How to use
As with all of the eight contemplations, I encourage you to start with either a series – in this case, the first series – or with a short or long recorded version of this contemplation. Once you’re familiar with it, you can do it on your own and use the brief version in your daily life. This contemplation lends itself to practice in daily life.
Brief version
As you go about your life, consider the people and things you interact with and all the situations and places you find yourself in, and contemplate that your time with them will end when you die. A variation on this theme would be to consider that this time may be the last time you interact with them. Likewise, consider this regarding any roles you perform. You might, for instance, consider your job: your job will end when you die (if not before). In fact, this could even be your last day of work (or school, etc). You can also consider this from the perspective of other people and things. For instance, considering that an elder will die and will lose their role in the family. Or consider that a house will eventually fall down and no longer be a home. The main idea is that death will come and ruin or separate us from possessions, objects, roles, situations, identities and anything else we can identify with, enjoy, or dislike.
Indications, side effects, and results
This contemplation is somewhat akin to that proverbial saying, “you can’t take it with you” but its scope is considerably larger than money or things. By recognizing what we can’t take with us or what will be ruined in death, we can become aware of what we actually need to focus on in this life. You can see the opposite occur often: the number of people who lavishly spend time on things of little importance and that they “can’t take with them.”
This can be particularly helpful for those who are distracted by inessentials. In fact, if this contemplation brings up strong feelings and recognitions of how you’ve wasted time on inessentials or focused on silly things, you can be assured that you’re headed in the right direction. Do your best not to get over-involved with the feelings. Likewise, do not block them or try to talk yourself out of them. Just let them do their thing. Consider the analogy of getting the crud out of the pipes in an old house. Anyone who’s had this experience knows the water will run red or green or black(!) for a time after you turn on the tap after it’s been off for a long time. Just let it run. Eventually, it’ll run clear. What does running clear mean in this context? It means the feelings are all felt and sorted through, leaving samvega – the urgency to focus on what’s actually important in this life.
From another angle, this contemplation is also about what we are beyond the trappings of this life. After a little experience with this contemplation, some people begin to ask and wonder, “well, if all of this stuff is separated from me in death, what isn’t lost?” Or they wonder, “what am I without all these things that I’ll be separated from?” Perhaps it alludes to something similar to the Zen koan that goes something like, “Show me your Original Face, the face you had before your parents were born.”
Do not over-think this. The koan and the question behind it can’t be answered with words or thoughts. Keep doing the practice instead. As one of my favorite teachers says, “Good!… Keep going.”
Regarding climate change, this contemplation can help both people who are defended against awareness of climate change because it would impact their lifestyle to acknowledge it, and for those who trying hard to make positive change in the world and getting frustrated with how little traction they’re getting.