On Death (Maraṇānussati) (T 9, Burma) (With an Open Mind)

On Death (Maraṇānussati) (T 9, Burma)

(Based on the story of the weaver girl)

Recollection of death is extremely important and highly effective for practice. It is a powerful meditation applicable to both mundane and supramundane development.

Among the four protective meditations, recollection of death is the one closest to truth. The others are recollection of the Buddha, mettā bhāvanā, and asubha bhāvanā. When recollection of death is practiced frequently and effectively, it reduces lobha, dosa, and moha, and quickly gives rise to a sense of wise urgency (saṃvega).

This urgency prevents the wasting of time and naturally inclines the mind toward insight practice. The Dhamma of the Buddha is not meant merely for intellectual understanding; it must be put into practice. The story of the weaver girl clearly supports this point.

The Fruits of Recollection of Death

This meditation develops the roots of non-greed, non-anger, and non-delusion, supporting a person in becoming firmly established in the three wholesome roots (tihetuka). It is also closely related to heedfulness (appamāda). Through this practice, one develops clear perception of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and non-self with regard to all persons and beings, and strengthens discernment of anicca, dukkha, and anattā as they manifest in both mind and body reality (paramattha-dhamma).

The weaver girl received the Buddha’s teaching on death and practiced accordingly for three years. Over time, her spiritual faculties matured and her perfection for enlightenment ripened. It was like a lotus bud awaiting sunlight in order to open—free from the hindrances and fully prepared for the development of samādhi and paññā.

This story is truly remarkable and offers profound material for reflection and contemplation. Eventually, the weaver girl died accidentally at the hands of her father. Overcome with sorrow and lamentation, her father went to see the Buddha for consolation. After listening to the Buddha’s teaching, he ordained as a monk and, not long afterward, attained arahantship. Through the connection with recollection of death, both father and daughter realized the Dhamma and brought dukkha to an end.

Dhammapada Verse 174

Reflection: Some Reflections on Death and Dying

All living beings fear death, especially human beings. They seek many ways to protect their lives. Yet, despite their fear of pain and death, humans often inflict suffering on others, including animals, sometimes in extremely cruel and unthinkable ways (for example, the use of animal furs). Even worse, human beings inflict such harm upon their own species.

These realities are clearly visible in the twenty-first century, extending even to the international level. Wars and conflicts are more frequent than before, and violence has become increasingly bloody and extreme. (This reflects the profound dominance of ignorance, greed, and hatred in the human mind when death is neither understood nor contemplated wisely.)

Reflection: Reflections on Fear, Violence, and Recollection of Death

It is quite striking to observe that ordinary people, who themselves fear pain and death, often take great enjoyment or taste (rasa) in violence, as can be seen in various forms of media such as films and other entertainment. Such responses reveal a lack of love and compassion for those who suffer. This reflects an untrained mind, which naturally inclines toward unwholesome objects and activities.

For this reason, recollection of death (maraṇānussati) is of great importance. It trains the mind toward wholesome and skillful mental states, fostering restraint, compassion, and wisdom. Like many other Buddhist contemplations, recollection of death becomes effective only through frequent and sustained reflection.

To support this contemplation, one should study relevant canonical and commentarial sources. The Visuddhimagga contains an important section on death contemplation. Other valuable contemporary works include Beyond Coping: A Study Guide on Aging, Illness, Death, and Separation and Undaunted: The Buddha’s Teachings on Aging, Illness, Death, and the Deathless, both by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro.

If we have opportunities to observe and reflect on aging, sickness, and dying, these can become powerful supports for insight. Documentary films addressing these themes may also be beneficial. Direct observation of autopsies, where appropriate, can be valuable not only for asubha-bhāvanā but also for deepening reflection on death itself. Such experiences can arouse strong saṃvega and reveal the essentially insubstantial nature of the physical body, which is so often misused as a basis for sensual pleasure, leading to the waste of our precious human life in foolish and unskillful pursuits.

All of the phenomena discussed above help turn the mind toward goodwill, love, and compassion for our fellow human beings, because we all share the same fundamental difficulties and sufferings. These reflections also remind us not to squander our time, but to engage in actions that are genuinely beneficial—for ourselves and for others—actions whose results will accompany us into the future.

This human world is a rare and precious field of opportunity: a place to cultivate goodness, develop wisdom, and ultimately transcend dukkha.

Reflection: Guests

Sayadaw U Uttama (Sagaing) once gave an excellent Dhamma talk entitled “Things Which Are Like Guests.” In this talk, he explained that there are three kinds of guests: human beings, feelings, and defilements.

This human world is like a guesthouse, and every human being who comes to this earth is merely a guest. When the time comes, everyone must leave this place and continue the saṃsāric journey. Whether one’s future journey is good or bad depends on past kamma and, more importantly, on present actions. The present moment is the most crucial, for if we understand the law of kamma deeply, we will recognize the true value of this precious human life.

No one invited us to this human world as guests. We arrived here because of our past kamma—born empty-handed and naked. If we continue to live as before, engaging in foolish and unskillful actions, we merely harm ourselves and live without true value.

We come into this world as guests in order to discover the rare and noble treasures that are truly valuable for everyone. The treasure map already exists—it is found in the Maṅgala Sutta. If one has the wisdom and determination to follow this map seriously, without deviation, one will sooner or later discover these treasures. Otherwise, one will continue to wander as a guest through the thirty-one realms of existence, which are not our true homes, and never find lasting peace or happiness in any of them.

Every human being should clearly understand that we are only temporary guests, and that life is very short. We all share the same fundamental problems: aging, sickness, and death. Recognizing this, we should cultivate kindness, love, and compassion toward one another, and develop goodness in our lives.

When people harm one another out of greed, hatred, and delusion, suffering only increases. Such conflicts—whether between individuals or nations—ultimately harm oneself above all. Whatever good or bad results arise, the responsibility lies solely with oneself. This is the fundamental truth of the law of kamma.

Therefore, as human beings living on this earth, we are entrusted with a duty, an opportunity, and a rare chance: to refrain from evil, to cultivate good, and to purify the mind.

We should always remember that we are merely guests, and use this reflection as a basis for wise contemplation and practice.

The Second Type of Guests: Feelings (Vedanā)

The second type of guests are feelings (vedanā). In many respects, they are even more influential than external guests such as other living beings. This is because our reactions to the external world are largely centered on feelings. These guests are constantly coming and going within the khandha guesthouse.

Understanding feelings and learning how to protect oneself from being dominated by them is extremely important. Otherwise, human beings suffer greatly by oppressing and torturing themselves through unwise reactions. We can clearly see the whole world burning in the fires of kilesa—greed (lobha), hatred (dosa), and delusion (moha)—which are repeatedly invited and fueled by unexamined feelings, leading to countless problems and suffering.

Human beings easily become lost in pleasant feelings, react strongly against painful feelings, and are deluded by neutral feelings. As a result, individuals and societies encounter many forms of suffering. We especially crave pleasant feeling (sukha-vedanā) and magnify it excessively, while our perceptions deceive us. In reality, pleasant feelings are insignificant: they are impermanent, unstable, and fleeting. When we become attached to them, they give rise to a great deal of dukkha.

Pleasant feeling provides a certain gratification (assāda), but it also carries great danger (ādīnava). The gratification is small and short-lived, while the suffering that follows is substantial. For example, eating food, earning money, cooking, eating again, and cleaning up afterward—each activity offers brief enjoyment, yet is surrounded by effort, dissatisfaction, and repetition. The pleasure exists only between two dangers.

Pleasant, painful, and neutral feelings work together to trap and torture those who become lost in them. A classic simile illustrates this clearly: a fish sees the bait (neutral feeling), the desire to eat arises (pleasant feeling), and being caught and killed by the fisherman follows (painful feeling).

In the same way, feelings exert powerful effects not only on individual human beings but also on the wider world. From environmental destruction and pollution to climate change, wars, and conflicts, we can see how unwise reactions to feelings collectively generate immense suffering.

Thus, feelings truly behave like guests—they arrive, stay briefly, and depart. If we mistake them for something permanent or worthy of clinging to, we become their victims. If, however, we learn to observe them with mindfulness and wisdom, without attachment or aversion, they lose their power to dominate the mind.

The Third Type of Guests: Defilements (Kilesa)

The third type of guests are the defilements (kilesa), and they are more dangerous than the other two. As the Buddha taught, the mind is luminous, but it is defiled by incoming defilements. These defilements enter the mind and obscure its natural clarity.

Therefore, our task is twofold: we must prevent defilements from entering, and if they have already arisen, we must remove them from the mind.

Defilements arise through unwise attention (ayoniso manasikāra). When we experience desirable objects without mindfulness (sati) and wise attention, craving (taṇhā) enters the mind. When we experience undesirable objects, aversion (dosa) arises. In contrast, when there is mindfulness and wise attention (yoniso manasikāra), defilements do not gain entry.

However, most human beings do not merely fail to prevent defilements; they actively invite them to stay in the “mind-house.” By leaving the six sense doors unguarded, the mind becomes constantly polluted. A clear example is the habitual use of smartphones and continuous exposure to all kinds of media, which stimulate greed, aversion, and delusion throughout the day.

Regarding the first two types of guests—living beings and feelings—we must understand their nature and avoid mistaking them for a self or identity. We should not become lost in feelings, which carry far more danger than gratification, like a drop of honey on the edge of a razor blade. Through such understanding, we can let go of clinging to both animate and inanimate phenomena.

With defilements, however, mere understanding is not sufficient. We must actively prevent them from arising, and when they have already arisen, we must expel them from the mind. This is achieved through Satipaṭṭhāna meditation and bhāvanā (mental cultivation), which guard the sense doors, purify attention, and gradually weaken and uproot defilements.

(Only by treating defilements as dangerous guests—never welcoming them and firmly escorting them out—can the luminous nature of the mind be restored and sustained.)

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