Maranasati
Reflection on death, a Buddhist practice of mindfulness.
Maranasati means recollection of death. The Buddha advised his followers to reflect regularly on their mortality, not to become afraid, but to live with more attention and cling less to what passes anyway.
In the Anguttara Nikaya he praises monks who think of death with every breath. A dream about your own death can be read in this light as a spontaneous form of maranasati: the mind lets you feel what letting go is, and invites you to look at what really matters.
Related terms
- Dream yoga A Tibetan Buddhist practice of recognising the dream as a dream.
- Milindapañha A classical Buddhist text that names six causes of dreams.
- Bardo In Tibetan Buddhism, the intermediate state after death.
- Mara In Buddhism, the personification of craving, fear and death.
- Dukkha Suffering or unsatisfactoriness, the first of the four noble truths.
- Anicca Impermanence: everything that arises passes away.
- Sangha The Buddhist community of practitioners.
- Metta Loving-kindness: the practice of wishing yourself and others well.