The Buddha said, “Of all footsteps, that of the elephant is supreme; of all mindfulness meditations, that on death is supreme.”; yet American Buddhism tends to devote little time to Death Contemplation. With Halloween falling on a Monday night, the Sangha reflected on Western Society and related it to a rich tradition of Buddhist Death Contemplation, including excerpts from The Satipatthana Sutta, The Maranasati Sutta, and The Nine Contemplations of Atisha.
This discussion was also richly inspired by (and was heavily borrowed from) dharma talks and guided meditation from Ayya Khemma, Ayya Medhanandi Bhikkuni, Nikki Mirghafori, and Rodney Smith. All of these teachers and talks can be found on dharmaseed.org.
Special thanks to Nikki Mirghafori for her encouragement and advice on approaching the profound topic of death.
