Is it auspicious to see a dead body?

We all know that people will die one day, even if they don't want to experience their own death. However, we should ask ourselves whether we are ready for death.

Some people even believe that seeing a dead body is unlucky, so they try to avoid such occasions. Some practitioners who have never seen a dead body at any time in their lives encounter difficulties when they practice mindfulness of death[1]. In order to practice mindfulness of death, they must take a dead body as the object of meditation. When they heard the meditation instructions, they said they had never seen a dead body in their lives. Some practitioners even say, "Venerable Sir, in my country, seeing a dead body is considered unlucky." So even though death, like birth, is an important part of life, they have not seen any dead body with their own eyes. Therefore, when they practice the meditation subject of mindfulness of death, they must look at photos so that they can take the corpse as the meditation object.

On the contrary, whenever we see a dead body, it is an auspicious thing because it encourages us to reflect on our own mortality. When we see a dead body, we are facing some undeniable facts, and it gives us the opportunity to contemplate the truth of this physical body. Ever since we were kids, whenever we see a dead body, it makes us think.

Whenever we gaze upon the ugly, unclean skin of a corpse, it is as if we are looking at our own skin and feeling that it too is changing. We know that our lives, too, will end. Even in those young years, we can feel that life is meaningless, and an oppressive sense of dread arises in our hearts. But if you are young, and have conflicting feelings about the meaninglessness of life and fear, you may not know what to do. As we grow older, they will become an important part of our practice.

Therefore we can say that seeing a dead body is truly an auspicious thing. In fact, it gives those who have proper mindfulness an opportunity to think deeply, but it is a loss for those who do not. Seeing a dead body is an opportunity towards liberation. During the Buddha’s time, many disciples were able to put an end to suffering forever by seeing corpses and then practicing mindfulness of death.

Therefore, seeing the body is indeed an opportunity for us to be liberated.

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