How Death Can Help Us Live More Fully

During this dialogue, Peter read the part of the Satipatthana Sutta called “the charnal ground contemplation”.  He then commented on how our culture is shielded from the experience of death and what happens to the body as it disintegrates, which was a common occurrence during the time of the Buddha.  The intention of that contemplation was to motivate diligent practice, as in those days, life was typically short and a lot less certain than during this era.  How can we be motivated to be diligent in our practice since our culture is much more comfortable and secure than at that time?  This question was discussed around the group for the rest of the evening, with each person who shared talking of what makes her or him motivated to practice.

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