Atisha’s contemplations on death:
1.Death is inevitable.
2.Our life span is decreasing continuously.
3.Death will come, whether or not we are prepared for it.
4.Human life expectancy is uncertain.
5.There are many causes of death.
6.The human body is fragile and vulnerable.
7.At the time of death, our material resources are not of use to us.
8.Our loved ones cannot keep us from death.
9.Our own body cannot help us at the time of our death.
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mara%E1%B9%87asati
I’m not sure why thoughts of death are bubbling up in my mind more often. Could be because celebrities younger than me are dying. Could be that I have things I want to do and the time is getting shorter day by day.
At the bookstore, I see many older men and women hanging out. Their bodies are decaying. They hunch over when they walk. Getting old sucks. Stuff hurts that didn’t used to.
At the IBM stage of life, I need to pay more attention to how Stoics and Buddhists deal with the inevitable.
