Contemplating old age sickness and death

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sundara
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Contemplating old age sickness and death

Post by sundara »

Is it good to contemplate old age sickness and death.
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tiltbillings
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Re: Contemplating old age sickness and death

Post by tiltbillings »

sundara wrote:Is it good to contemplate old age sickness and death.
Best to have an experienced teacher with these comtenplations.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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Spiny O'Norman
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Re: Contemplating old age sickness and death

Post by Spiny O'Norman »

tiltbillings wrote:
sundara wrote:Is it good to contemplate old age sickness and death.
Best to have an experienced teacher with these comtenplations.
I find that it can be depresssing, a feeling of "not much to look forward to there" :thinking:

Rick
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appicchato
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Re: Contemplating old age sickness and death

Post by appicchato »

tiltbillings wrote:
sundara wrote:Is it good to contemplate old age sickness and death.
Best to have an experienced teacher with these comtenplations.
Pleeeease...at what point isn't it 'best'?...
rowyourboat
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Re: Contemplating old age sickness and death

Post by rowyourboat »

we are intoxicated with youth, intoxicated with health, intoxicated with wealth- we don't take into account that old age, sickness and death is inevitable. the reason to think these is not to become depressed, rather to be in line with the truth -it motivates us to practice, it makes us aware that we have little time here on earth- gives us a reason to be nice to others as we are all in the same boat, and not for long.

It takes courage to carry out buddhist practices - to face the truth -to be wise. Samsara is all about running away from the truth- wanting to look at only the pleasant, running away from the unpleasant. If we are not bold enough to face uncomfortable truths then the heart of buddhism isn't for you.
With Metta

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Re: Contemplating old age sickness and death

Post by Individual »

sundara wrote:Is it good to contemplate old age sickness and death.
Not always. Sometimes, it's best to focus on more positive things, like our loved ones, what we have to be grateful for, and the true value of our lives.
The best things in life aren't things.

The Diamond Sutra
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tiltbillings
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Re: Contemplating old age sickness and death

Post by tiltbillings »

appicchato wrote:
tiltbillings wrote:
sundara wrote:Is it good to contemplate old age sickness and death.
Best to have an experienced teacher with these comtenplations.
Pleeeease...at what point isn't it 'best'?...
Geez. picky, picky, picky. Let me rephrase: when doing this sort of practice one should have a teacher, given the potential danger in them.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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cooran
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Re: Contemplating old age sickness and death

Post by cooran »

.... there is life itself which teaches if you are able to see and hear ...

Just sent my Mum to hospital in an ambulance ... coughing blood, and breathless.

Please remember her with Metta .... she is very frightened, and pleading to go home .... and
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
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Re: Contemplating old age sickness and death

Post by Individual »

tiltbillings wrote: Geez. picky, picky, picky. Let me rephrase: when doing this sort of practice one should have a teacher, given the potential danger in them.
Danger, meaning... Spontaneous human combustion?
The best things in life aren't things.

The Diamond Sutra
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Ben
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Re: Contemplating old age sickness and death

Post by Ben »

Dear Chris
Chris wrote:.... there is life itself which teaches if you are able to see and hear ...

Just sent my Mum to hospital in an ambulance ... coughing blood, and breathless.

Please remember her with Metta .... she is very frightened, and pleading to go home .... and
You, your mother and your siblings are in my metta.
I dedicate my merits to you all.
Metta

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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pink_trike
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Re: Contemplating old age sickness and death

Post by pink_trike »

I agree with Chris, life and one's bathroom mirror is the very best teacher when it comes to old age, sickness, and death - if we're awake to these experiences.

Spitting blood
Clears up reality
And dream alike

- Sunao, Zen monk. Died 1926

Late this last Sunday, I had a major heart attack. For about 45 minutes I was a blink from death. Paramedics came and rushed me to hospital, threw me on a stainless steel table in an icy cold room, poured liquid anesthesia on the groin, cut a hole into the artery, moved a cable up the artery to the heart, dislodged the blockage, inserted a NASA quality tiny sewer pipe in the vein, removed the cable, slapped a bandage on the hole, and stuck the body in bed to recover...and then cleaned the table for the next person, and the next, and the next, and the next... The actual procedure took less than 15 minutes. Observing the massive chest pains and the intense, amazing sensations that were arising as a result of the mechanical manipulations taking place inside the heart cleared away yet another layer of confusion. Looking at my face in the mirror a day later cleared up even more confusion. Taking the 6 drugs daily clears away even more.

We don't need a teacher to contemplate aging, sickness, and death. We only need to see what's right in front of, in us, and all around us. Point at anything that isn't aging and degenerating. At any age, if we look behind our deluded self-cherishing of youth and our veneration of regeneration, we see our denied but nevertheless active shadow...aging and degeneration. We have a choice in every single moment - recognize that each inhale may be the last...or delude ourselves with constant reaching and becoming. This choice is our birth right. Choose carefully. :tongue:
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appicchato
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Re: Contemplating old age sickness and death

Post by appicchato »

Chris wrote:.... there is life itself which teaches if you are able to see and hear ...

Just sent my Mum to hospital in an ambulance ... coughing blood, and breathless.

Please remember her with Metta .... she is very frightened, and pleading to go home .... and
Hoping it all goes well for your mum Chris...and your family... :heart:
rowyourboat
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Re: Contemplating old age sickness and death

Post by rowyourboat »

Best wishes to Chri's mom. Hope she recovers soon. with metta.
With Metta

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Re: Contemplating old age sickness and death

Post by DNS »

Chris,

Hope your mum is okay. May you, your mother, and other family members be well.

Pink,

Is that your heart attack you are describing? If so, ouch! Hope you are okay now.

:buddha2:
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Re: Contemplating old age sickness and death

Post by DNS »

The sun just rose over here on the West coast of the U.S. Everyday is another day closer to death.

:meditate:
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