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How Buddhists Can Prepare to Die

Mary Talbot

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Death

A Buddhist friend recently described how her priorities for practice had changed in the course of a life of meditation: “At first, I meditated because I wanted to reach enlightenment. As I got older, I practiced to be happier in the here and now. Now, I practice for my death.” This was not to say, she added, that gaining total release from suffering and samsara, or having greater contentment and equanimity in the present moment, have been relegated to the back burner. But she has cranked up the fire—ardency—in preparing her mind for the death of her body and what comes after. A lot of us, as we age, are spurred to do the same.

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