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The real trick: expect to die in a minute. No joke. The Buddhist perspective gets into that. The idea of dying tomorrow sets you up to worry about making the m

The real trick: expect to die in a minute. No joke. The Buddhist perspective gets into that. The idea of dying tomorrow sets you up to worry about making the most of the future of the rest of the day, and you're still not really present. When we consider that these few breaths or bites or moments might be our last, we can release all the clinging and aversion because it's too late to do anything but be profoundly aware of being alive in this moment. And given that we usually don't just die, we get to experience that sense of life-flashing-before-your-eyes and immediate sense of love and compassion, and still an aspiration to make the very most of each moment (including planning for the future since that might be a thing). This might be the final sentence you read. So, there's no reason to live each day as your last. It's okay to live each moment in whatever way it shows up. It's all we have, and there's nothing to do but to be aware of it. And, remarkably enough, once we stop striving and just let go, we magically find ourselves more attuned to our deepest values of love and compassion. This writing might be the last action I ever do. Love to everyone and everything

hasbot 5y ago
Huh. If this is my last minute, I'm definitely not doing the dishes.
- quadrangle 5y ago
  Okay, a minute might be too long. If you are thinking that you have some time to plan and decide what to do with it, you're not doing the exercise. It has to be such that you accept that there's nothing you can do to control what's happening and you give up your grasping for control. No point in using up your moments trying to decide what to do next. Whatever you are doing right now, this could be it, and that's that. The magic is the chance to actually be present for an instant rather than just be lost in your anxieties and then be dead. When you practice experiencing this as your last moments, you might just look out the window at the clouds and think about your most meaningful memories, but you also might as well keep washing the dishes and finally be really present with it. If washing the dishes is your last moments, it can feel like a profound and meaningful experience of dish-washing. You can realize that you've been stuck in a judgmental low-level aversion to dish-washing and suddenly all the tension disappears, and you realize both the awesomeness and the mundaneness of it all at once. Water, sensations, plates are beautiful, you're living this life in some place, and it is what it is, and really it's amazing, we just constantly overlook it. When you then do not actually die, you have the chance to prioritize being as grateful and loving as you possibly can in every moment going forward, at least whenever you can bring that presence back to mind. Whether that's when cleaning or being with others. You might decide that there are activities you'd like to never ever do again. But in the end, there's no right or wrong activities or context, there's only being present or not. We can be present even while the activity is making plans.

hasbot 5y ago

Huh. If this is my last minute, I'm definitely not doing the dishes.

quadrangle 5y ago
Okay, a minute might be too long. If you are thinking that you have some time to plan and decide what to do with it, you're not doing the exercise. It has to be such that you accept that there's nothing you can do to control what's happening and you give up your grasping for control. No point in using up your moments trying to decide what to do next. Whatever you are doing right now, this could be it, and that's that. The magic is the chance to actually be present for an instant rather than just be lost in your anxieties and then be dead. When you practice experiencing this as your last moments, you might just look out the window at the clouds and think about your most meaningful memories, but you also might as well keep washing the dishes and finally be really present with it. If washing the dishes is your last moments, it can feel like a profound and meaningful experience of dish-washing. You can realize that you've been stuck in a judgmental low-level aversion to dish-washing and suddenly all the tension disappears, and you realize both the awesomeness and the mundaneness of it all at once. Water, sensations, plates are beautiful, you're living this life in some place, and it is what it is, and really it's amazing, we just constantly overlook it. When you then do not actually die, you have the chance to prioritize being as grateful and loving as you possibly can in every moment going forward, at least whenever you can bring that presence back to mind. Whether that's when cleaning or being with others. You might decide that there are activities you'd like to never ever do again. But in the end, there's no right or wrong activities or context, there's only being present or not. We can be present even while the activity is making plans.