Answer by Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena for How to overcome the suffering of attachement to the body's continued existence (in Western modernity)?

In preparation for death you should:

1. accept the fact everyone must die and let go of the fear of death
2. not procrastinate meditation to develop wisdom
3. make your mind equanimous as possible to handle the pain of death so you do not lose the balance and get re born in a lower realm

In order to achieve 1, best is to contemplate that everyone must die and it is inevitable.

In preparation for 3, 2 will be helpful contemplation and meditation as each breath you take might very well be you last.

When you die your mind must be equanimous. This is the target of preparation to die. This can only achived through wisdom by realising the arising and passing away nature of things.

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Meditating on a corpse is partly to realise that death is common to all and imminent, but another is to counteract the perception of beauty by seeing it rot. If the body is preserved it does not serve the latter purpose.

What you have to realise is beauty results when someone takes a certain shape and form here is beauty this might bring pleasure - attractive, displeasure - attractive, neutral - average or no special looks. When you analyse the anatomical parts separately this perception of beauty do not arise. Only when they are compounded and take a particular shape this perception of beauty happen. Likewise we take beauty or looks to be a constant than transitory. By looking at a old corpse you realize this, even perhaps even a old person. When it rots you see shape and form is subjected to decay, especially in a young corpse, and you see the transitory nature of beauty, i.e., something that was perceive so beautiful has suddenly become so repulsive. Since the subject is not repulsive there is a change your mind may develop aversion towards the object or even the body itself. This is not the objective of repulsive meditation. You have to maintain absolute equanimity though initially if you are lustful this can be used to counteract it. If your mind is feeling disgusted then this is not the type of meditation for your.

You should meditate on how your mind constructs beauty and the sensation that follow and the attractions or aversions (you may just not like how someone looks) that result from this perceived beauty.

from http://ift.tt/1SBeALk - User Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena - Buddhism Stack Exchange (http://ift.tt/1NMLzIc) by Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena (http://ift.tt/1ZwZIP2)