Life - Death - Meditation -One of the most important Questions you need to ask yourself- And what Steve Jobs was incompetent at

I'm going to keep this brief and I'm going to ask you a question: "What if you die today?"
Did I ask a good question? Is it valuable? Is it something that you should be thinking about? Is there a better question to ask?

"What if you die right now?"

Have you ever thought about this? Have you ever asked this question in a positive light? I'm sure there are millions who have asked the above question from themselves. But how many were positive about it?

Why is death considered a negative thing?

In a previous post I talked about my worst Fear. It wasn't death or some thought that I'd cease to exist. I've been death-curious as a kid. Death was just a concept at the time. At the times I was afraid of death, what I really feared was the things/people I'd loose or just the painful process of dying. Those things aren't death. Death is a certain instant. It's an instant like the end of a test at school. The bell rings and you can write no more. Death is like an ICO coming to an end. No more tokens for you. Let's not talk about the life after death. Let's keep the life before death at sidelines. Let's just talk what would it be like to suddenly stop everything you are doing in your life.

In some Asian countries the accepted max age is 120 years. It's extremely rare for anyone to pass year 120. What if each birthday was celebrated as maximum 90 more years till death..... maximum 70 more years till death.... maximum 25 more years till death....etc. How would it feel like to live? Our life itself is on a long deadline and one thing about deadlines is that they make people more productive. But we are reminded less and less that we are about to die. You and I could very well live long enough to see those 120 years. We may have developed tech to live 240 years in the future. But as I mentioned, let's talk about death. Not the life before it and certainly not the afterlife.

Are you satisfied with your life?

_I mean you could be on a "path to satisfaction" but what if you got mugged and killed or mugged-raped-killed or the same 3 things in a different order. Murphy's law says "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong" and though not all bad things would befall your life, bad things can make you change the way you look at the world. But here is the thing. What if............

Now let's look at a movie based on a real story that was called "so factually accurate it is as close to a documentary as you can get and still be a drama" by the person who lived through the entire experience.

These things can change a person's life.But here is the thing. What if............you never face anything terrible in life. Why should a person face suffering to become enlightened? Why should a person try and fail to learn and gain experience? Isn't there a short track? Isn't there a trick transform lives without having to go through life altering situation?

What if you contemplate Death; Just because?

I love mental simulations. They are a great way to test the mind. They are a great way to test death. I used to be clever enough to walk 10 feet and figure out 3 horrible ways to die. I'm still that clever. One thing that this had done to me over time is that I don't worry much about by own death. I could imagine so many horrible ways to die at practically every single place and became desensitized to my own possibility of death. I didn't became depressed or paranoid. I realized there is no point in worrying about death. Each hour we pass a hundred ways we could die. Hell, one could gain a pill of immortality and choke on the damn thing.

What if told you Steve Jobs was according to some standards........ doing it all terribly. What if told you Steve Jobs was according to some standards........ should not be taken as an inspiration. What if told you Steve Jobs was according to some standards........ has to fix his incompetent ways and half assed attitudes regarding death......

Is there such a standard?

Yes. It's the standard set up by Buddha. In Buddhist meditation there is a practice of meditation called Marananussathi. Instead of technical descriptions I'll tell you a story. I'm reciting from my memory and I don't remember the sources. If anybody know the specific sutra, please leave a comment.

A group of monks practicing Marananussathi meets Buddha and the subject is brought to discussion. One monk tells that he contemplates that each day he wake up could be his last day. There are many different ways he could face death during the day. He claims to live with that realization.(This is sort of what Steve Jobs claimed to have practiced)

Now a second monk clams that he thinks not in days but in morning, afternoon and evening. Death could come in any of these moments. People die all over the globe and at all sort of times. So this monk lives a day fraction by fraction.

More monks start revealing details of their practice and realizations of the impermanent fleeting nature of life. Some says they contemplate that by the time they eat their meal.... they could be dead. Now how many times have you taken a plate of food and thought "I could be dead by the time I finish this. A bomb could go off or a meteor could crash."??? This is the level of practice and focus and standard Marananussathi had. That's a lot to live up to. Right...... Nope. I'm just screwing with your head. Some monks contemplate that they could be dead by the time they finish half the plate and the list goes on.

One monk goes on to say that he contemplates that the time he take a mouthful of food could be the time his lifetime countdown hit zero. Then another says that he lives with the realization that the length of his life could be the breath he take and he lives his life not day followed by another day but a breath followed by another breath.

At the end of it all, Buddha states that out of everyone who confessed their practices only the last two monks practiced Marananussathi in a proper way. The rest weren't doing it right. Steve Jobs was one with the worst performing group. He was at 0.005787037037037% of the standard. The calculation comes from the observation that a calm everyday breathing happens each 5 second and 17280 a day. Instead of thinking each of those fleeting moments as a life that could end anytime, Jobs and many other inspiring revolutionaries try to live day by day.

Death isn't something that happen while you get on bed and get out of breath. Death is everywhere all the time.
Understanding this is a powerful liberation. Trust me when I say that understanding death gives you a sense of freedom. I quit high school without a second thought and I haven't taken many decisions that I would come to regret. I live like a person who's going to die. It doesn't make you sad, depressed or weak minded. There have been times I've been a harsh prick without even trying. I've ended up acting bold to a fault. Those are results of death meditation. When you know and accept and make peace with the fact of getting something, you stop thinking about that thing. You mind become free from that thing. That's what happens with Marananussathi. You'll end up living your life to the fullest....... with each passing breath.