Reflections on the place we all have to come to...

"Of all footprints

That of the elephant is supreme;

Of all mindfulness meditations

That on death is supreme."

-Mahaparinirvana Sutra-

I made the decision this month to reflect on death, not out of a morbid sense, but out of the sense that it is something I often forget to think about in my day to day life. This, even though there are signs all around. One of these signs is a graveyard in the churchyard that I walk through on my way to the gym many times a week. As an American who grew up in the West where the cemeteries are no more than 150 or so years old, it is amazing to see those that are much older. Today, on a rainy and dreary day, I really enjoyed taking a closer look at what the churchyard had to show. The picture at the top, I thought, was fitting for the start of a month of long reflection.

February is also the time that Buddhist celebrate the Paranirvana of the Buddha and so I thought I would also be doing some reading about death. The two that I'll be reading are:

Graceful Exits: How Great Beings Die

(Death stories of Hindu, Tibetan Buddhist, and Zen Masters)

Compiled and Edited by Suchila Blackman

and

there's more to dying than death: a buddhist perspective

by lama shenpen hookham

The later I've already read, but want to return to it because it had so many wonderful and intriguing things to say and present. I hope to also share the photos that I took of the graves...some are a bit blurry as our camera is also on its last legs. And some have things to say themselves without any words!