Our culture does not encourage us to face death while we are still very much alive. Many of us are not paying much attention to the obvious fact that we will die; we are trying very hard to have a good time in the midst of this avoidance. In learning more about death awareness meditation, we learn how to shine the light of death on life. Its not meant to be an exercise in morbidity or self-pity, or in terrorizing ourselves. In fact one often feels light, happy and unburdened after directly acknowledging the truth of our inevitable death. One way in which it is extremely invaluable is that it flushes out fear. It gives us an opportunity to work very carefully with fear. Now remember, what were afraid of is not really death but our idea of death. And this is one of the things to learn, that its a very powerful idea. Life is impermanent, but that does not mean that it is not worth living. It is precisely because of its impermanence that we value life so dearly. Therefore we must know how to live each moment deeply and use it in a responsible way. If we are able to live the present moment completely, we will not feel regret later. We will know how to care for those who are close to us and how to bring them happiness. When we accept that all things are impermanent, we will not be incapacitated by suffering when things decay and die. We can remain peaceful and content in the face of change, prosperity and decline, success and failure. As a warrior you have to be prepared for death to go on the battlefield. and fighting on the battlefield requires to be only present in the Now. if we can transfer this warrior spirit into our daily lives we will live much more conscious and mindful from moment to moment. After the introduction of a warrior spirit in this course you can join the guided Death Awareness Meditations which will motivate you to live each day as if it would be your last. The guided Mountain, Tree - and the Lake Meditation in this Course will give you an introduction on how to borrow the powerful qualities of the Nature and use them in your daily life. Deepening our understanding of death can radically affect how we live life. Priorities can change and we may not have as much of an investment in an imagined futureperhaps less accumulation of things; perhaps less of an obsession with unattainable security; perhaps less of a preoccupation with becoming someone, not so much living for the future, because there isnt one. Is it possible to have fulfillment in this moment? To learn how to die is also to learn how to live. Death can serve as a coach, encouraging us to live completely in the present, with more confidence and less fear.
