The practice of dying

[Sashaj]

Place your skeleton body in a comfortable position

Prepare to DIE

Tell yourself you are dying and that there is nothing more to worry about or care about

There is no pain in death, just peace

Accept your death as a release of all the anxiety and bad things that may be plaguing you

Feel the peace of letting go to death. Feel the lack of peace of letting go in death

feel the anxiety release as you let go into death. Feel the anxiety rise again as you die. Watch the cycle of rising and falling. Let it die with you

Accept all the thoughts in your head but realise that they are useless to you now that you are dying

Feel the tension leave your body as you surrender. Feel it melt into nothingness as you leave it all behind. If tension returns accept it and realise the futility of it as you die and it dies with you

Do not resist any thoughts or sensations. Do not resist any resistance to the same. Do not resist resisting resistance. Just let it exist without judgment. Let it die to when it is ready. Everything dies whether you will it or not. Let it happen

Your body might feel like it is melting or disappearing. No problem if it does or doesn’t. Let it die either way 

Whatever arises, let it melt into death when it is reqdy to do so

You may or may not feel bliss arising. Either way just let it melt away

There is no point 

There is no destination or path 

there is no permanent enlightened person, just a a bag of bones on the floor melting away

Just keep doing this for however long you want. It doesnt matter. Just let it go. And if you can’t let go, don’t worry, let letting go go too

Rinse and repeat forever

 

 

[cirkussmile]

This happened to Ramana Maharshi spontaneously, right? 

[Sashaj]

@cirkussmile I think so yes. I don’t know if he was mediating on death at the time or not?

His awakening was pretty unusual though. I think rats starting eating his body and he couldn’t feel a thing! 

 

[Preetom]

@cirkussmile @Sashaj

This is Ramana's narrative of his own experience,

''

About six weeks before I left Madura for good, a great change in my life took place. It was quite sudden. I was sitting in a room on the first floor of my uncle’s house. I seldom had any sickness, and on that day there was nothing wrong with my health, but a sudden, violent fear of death overtook me. There was nothing in my state of health to account for it; and I did not try to account for it or to find out whether there was any reason for the fear. I just felt, “I am going to die,” and began thinking what to do about it. It did not occur to me to consult a doctor or my elders or friends. I felt that I had to solve the problem myself, then and there. The shock of the fear of death drove my mind inwards and I said to myself mentally, without actually framing the words: “Now death has come; what does it mean? What is it that is dying? This body dies.”

And I at once dramatized the occurrence of death. I lay with my limbs stretched out stiff, as though rigor mortis had set in, and imitated a corpse so as to give greater reality to the inquiry. I held my breath and kept my lips tightly closed so that no sound could escape, so that neither the word “I,” nor any other word, could be uttered. “Well then,” I said to myself, “this body is dead. It will be carried stiff to the burning ground and there burnt and reduced to ashes. But with the death of this body am I dead? Is the body ‘I’? It is silent and inert, but I feel the full force of my personality and even the voice of the ‘I’ within me, apart from it. So I am Spirit transcending the body. The body dies but the Spirit that transcends it cannot be touched by death. This means I am the deathless Spirit.”

All this was not dull thought; it flashed through me vividly as living truth which I perceived directly, almost without thought-process. “I” was something very real, the only real thing about my present state, and all the conscious activity connected with my body was centered on that “I.” From that moment onward, the “I,” or Self, focused attention on itself by a powerful fascination. Fear of death had vanished once and for all. Absorption in the Self continued unbroken from that time on.

Other thoughts might come and go, like the various notes of music, but the “I” continued like the fundamental sruti note that underlies and blends with all the other notes. Whether the body was engaged in talking, reading, or anything else, I was still centered on “I.” Previous to that crisis, I had no clear perception of my Self and was not consciously attracted to it. I felt no perceptible or direct interest in it, much less any inclination to dwell permanently in it.

If a man considers he is born, he cannot avoid the fear of death. Let him find out if he has been born or if the Self has any birth. He will discover that the Self always exists, that the body which is born resolves itself into thought and that the emergence of thought is the root of all mischief. Find where from thoughts emerge. Then you will abide in the ever-present inmost Self and be free from the idea of birth or the fear of death.''

Edited August 23, 2018 by Preetom

[Sashaj]

@Preetom thanks

Just to clarify, the practice I described in the first post is different to what occurred to Ramana not just because his was spontaneous but also because it is a technique rather than the act of the ego “dying” itself 

I tried the practice outlined in my post and it was the most blissful and quiet state I have been in. Ego was mixed in but every time I let go into “death” my body disappeared and all that was left was bliss and space. Not “infinite” as thoughts were still constricting somewhat between the silence but still It was the deepest Jhana (from the descriptions of jhana that I have read. I also was not seeking jhana, it was a side effect of the letting go to death) state I have experienced. I felt like if I sat there all night I could just keep releasing everything and everything would disappear eventually

 

I will keep going with this meditation

Would love to hear from others if this works well for them too

Edited August 23, 2018 by Sashaj

[phoenix666]

@Sashaj incredible, it's practically exactly what I went through on psychedelics a couple of times. worked so, so good <3 it inspired me to try it sober too. of course, less intense... but more peaceful. 

what inspired you to do this technique?

for me it just happened naturally as I contemplated my own death on AL-LAD some months ago 

thanks for sharing <3

[Sashaj]

@phoenix666  well a funny thing happened as I went into a nihilistic phase recently and also got very sick at the same time. I actually felt like giving up and so it kind of generated itself as I sat down for my regular meditation where I focus on the breath. I didn’t expect such a morbid technique to give such good results but it worked for me. No idea how long it will work for but I’ll stick with it for now

 

ps it is really no different to the “ just sit” mediation that is practiced in zen traditions just a bit more dramatic I guess. The effectiveness comes from letting go of everything including the will to become enlightened or to progress or get better at meditation etc

 

You tell yourself it is your last meditiation ever. Picture a pyre and burn everything away. What is left?

Edited August 23, 2018 by Sashaj

[phoenix666]

@Sashaj sounds like it came very naturally to you too. your intuition maybe? listen to it, if it helps you <3

did the nihilistic phase pass?

yeah, 'a bit more dramatic'  

what is left? ~ 

<3

 

[Jack River]

Self perpetuation ? I see it dudes

Edited August 23, 2018 by Jack River

[Sashaj]

@phoenix666 the nihilism and depression was the result of wanting to escape, to make progress, to see the truth. Once I let go completely it dissipated. Destroy the seeker and nothing is left to be depressed or hihilistic haha

 

[Sashaj]

@Jack River  how do you mean? In th negative sense? There is nothing negative about death if you kill ignorance and see what remains

 

[phoenix666]

7 hours ago, Sashaj said:

the nihilism and depression was the result of wanting to escape, to make progress, to see the truth. Once I let go completely it dissipated. Destroy the seeker and nothing is left to be depressed

yeah, wanting to escape, to make progress and to see truth sounds very familiar. I've been there for so long, I still slide back from time to time. but what I've discovered to be the most powerful is not to destroy the seeker...but to love the seeker. that's when he gets transformed and integrated, instead of rejected and pushed back into a groundless shadow

love the seeker, love him to death 

[Sashaj]

2 minutes ago, phoenix666 said:

yeah, wanting to escape, to make progress and to see truth sounds very familiar. I've been there for so long, I still slide back from time to time. but what I've discovered to be the most powerful is not to destroy the seeker...but to love the seeker. that's when he gets transformed and integrated, instead of rejected and pushed back into a groundless shadow

love the seeker, love him to death 

Ha! Well said. Love em to death