Life - a journey toward inevitable death
Despite our efforts to swim against the current of life, we will all eventually plunge into the endless waterfall of death. Vanish.
In life, we often strive to go fast and be efficient, aiming to maximize our potential. We plan for studying, working, and building a career. We make both short-term and long-term plans, but few people contemplate the ultimate endpoint of human life: death. Death is indeed frightening. We do not know when or how we will die, nor do we know when we will see our loved ones for the last time. Death is abrupt and irreversible. Despite our efforts to swim against the current of life, we will all eventually plunge into the endless waterfall of death. Vanish
Accepting death is acknowledging our limited existence. Death helps us cherish the sweetness of each fleeting moment of existence in life. Planning for death is the greatest preparation one can undertake, enabling us to make wise choices to live a life worth living.
In this blog series, I want to delve deeply into the finitude of my own life. I will research and discuss various subjects ranging from developmental psychology to mindfulness, and reflect on my experiences as a social worker and journalist. Through these writings, I hope to make wiser decisions for my own life. My first blog will explore the process of decay in the human body, aiming to confront death by experiencing the limited nature of our physical form.
Part 1: The decay of the human body
Our bodies are something we always treasure and dedicate countless hours to maintaining, preserving, and satisfying. I spend endless hours training to build bigger muscles and invest money in fashionable clothes to boost my confidence. I allocate significant resources to buy, prepare, and consume food. In order to enhance my appearance, I even go to the supermarket and purchase fresh pieces of meat from various animals. I chew on them to increase my muscle mass. My refrigerator becomes a temporary tomb for all the organisms I consume, while my muscles are formed by the flesh, bones, and the pain of these other creatures.
The emphasis placed on this physical body has led me to dedicate a significant percentage of my life to worrying about it. I am constantly anxious about not being as attractive as others, and I fear facing illness and death. Regardless of how hard I try, the body still undergoes aging and eventually decay. Recognizing the impermanent of the body raises questions about what truly holds importance in my life.
What is the ultimate outcome of all these efforts?
Why should I spend countless hours on something that is transient and impermanent?
The avoidance of death
In 2019, when my grandmother passed away, it was a rare occasion for me to witness the detailed process of the funeral. This process was carried out with great care and efficiency. When my grandmother passes away, we cover her in a blanket, then keep the body in the coffins and use dry ice to keep the body cold to prevent odor. My grandmother's body quickly vanished into the crematorium's flames, and her ashes were tightly buried beneath the deep ground. All that remained of her was a beautiful picture placed on the ancestral altar for her descendants to worship. Because everything was handled so professionally, I feel like I missed the opportunity to witness and observe death more closely.
In Buddhism, monks face death more directly. They use the decay of the physical body as a subject for meditation. This practice is known as the "contemplation on the nine stages of decomposition”. Below is the detailed process of Venerable Bhikkhu Sona observing a decaying corpse for over three-week in April 1992. Monks from the monastery took turns caring for the corpse, and one of them had the opportunity to spend one or more nights alone with the body as it progressed through the stages of decomposition.
Below, is an excerpt of the text and photos, to observe the detailed process, you can access the following website: 🔗 Link
Graphic warning: You are about to see the decomposition of a human corpse.
The body shown in the photos is that of a 42-year old Thai man. He lived about five kilometers from the monastery in a small village of about 100 people. He was the head-man of the village and was married with three children. He was in good health and was well liked by the people of his village. He was, by all accounts, a good man.
At about 7pm one evening in early April, just as the light was fading, as he was standing in his yard, a man pulled up on a motorcycle and without warning, shot the victim in the chest from close range, with a sawed-off shotgun. The unknown assailant then escaped. Family and neighbours came running at the startlingly loud blast and found the victim already dead.The villagers obligingly laid the corpse in a shallow grave in a homemade coffin with an easily removable lid. The spot chosen was about half a kilometer into the large forest surrounding the monastery – quiet, remote and secluded – an ideal location in which to practise corpse meditation. A meditation walking path was hacked out of the forest next to the grave, and a bare, level spot for sitting meditation was constructed immediately beside the corpse.
- Cemetery Contemplations Venerable Bhikkhu Sona, 1996
The first photo was taken within 24 hours of death. One can see red blood still oozing from the chest wound and blood on the face as well. The facial blood was probably caused by falling since the seven pellet wounds all centered around the heart. The mouth has already opened in the characteristic ‘death grin’. The hair is still in reasonably good condition while the body is beginning to deform. The healthy, shiny and clean look of the hair made a dissonant impression on me because the hair is something we judge to be a mark of style and beauty – but is here, so strangely, on this stinking corpse.
Photo 5. The mouth is completely covered by maggots and one can only guess that it is still open. In the photos one does not get the disturbing effect of the intense motion of these insects. They are in continuous activity in their feeding. It was difficult to take my eyes off the fountain-like effect they produce in and around the mouth. As well, these photos were taken in bright daylight
Photo 11. The fact that the skin has become dried and leathery, and has collapsed in the left leg, shows the surprising fact that the body is practically hollow. The skin is now merely a leathery covering for the bones.
This practice is one of the teachings of the Buddha, aimed at realizing that your current body shares the same nature as a decaying corpse. The Buddha said:
“Again, bhikkhus, as though he were to see a corpse thrown aside in a charnel ground, one, two, or three days dead, bloated, livid, and oozing matter, a bhikkhu compares this same body with it thus: ‘This body too is of the same nature, it will be like that, it is not exempt from that fate’.” - MN 119. Mindfulness of the Body
At Plum Village, there is a similar practice where participants do not have to directly observe a corpse but instead use their imagination. They lie down, stay still, visualize the process of their bodies decaying after death and approach our fear of death with a smile.
Below is a short excerpt. You can read the complete practice in Vietnamese here: Link
A Practice from Plum Village: Contemplation on the Decay of the Physical Body
Inhale, I see myself lying dead on the bed / Lying dead
Exhale, I smile at my lifeless body on the bed / Smiling at the lifeless body
…
Inhale, I see my body covered in maggots and wriggling worms / Body with maggots and wriggling worms
Exhale, I smile at my body filled with maggots and wriggling worms / Smiling at the body filled with maggots and wriggling worms
…
Inhale, I see myself as just a white heap of bones / White heap of bones Breathing Exhale, I smile at the white heap of bones / Smiling at the white heap of bones
The interconnectedness of decay
I have a suggestion for you to confront death in your everyday life. You can make the effort to visit the market early in the morning to witness the butchers dividing the meat, separating the flesh from the bones of freshly slaughtered pigs, cows, and chickens. On the sidewalks, there will be remnants of blood, bones, and skulls of animals. And just a few hours later, they will be swiftly washed away, leaving only fresh, pink chunks of meat on the meat counters, ready to serve customers. And when you're cooking meat, you can place the meat in the palm of your hand to feel its tenderness. Then, touch your own muscle, to feel the softness of your flesh.
Don't they all share the same nature, after all?
The process of decay is a rare phenomenon that we all share with other beings. One day, you too will die. Your skin and flesh will be devoured by worms, leaving behind only white bones on the ground, just like all of those creatures that you consume in your daily meals.
Death is the great equalizer for all beings, whether they are rich or poor, male or female, loved ones or strangers, human or animal, insect or germ. Death brings us familiarity and closeness, knowing that we all must face the same ultimate outcome of being born and eventually dying. After all, life is a journey that inevitably leads us toward death. And we are in the same boat, together.