Read time 4 minutes. Acceptance Meditation Practice is a stand alone article in our series regarding Acceptance.
Today’s lesson turns to an old and powerful meditation technique: the practice of contemplating death and mortality. On the surface, it may sound grim. Yet, as with so many Zen practices, what seems dark at first becomes a gateway into life itself. In mortality we find impermanence, presence, letting go, and the freedom of acceptance.
Wayne Dyer once said we must learn to “die while we are alive.” This phrase has echoes across traditions: the Latin memento mori (“remember that you will die”), Buddhist impermanence, and countless cultural reminders that life is best lived in the shadow of death.
Working with, not against, the ego
How do we practice this? There are many approaches, some more formal than others. Early in my own exploration, I discovered that humor helped. Comedy and tragedy share a thin line, and a bit of levity can keep the ego from feeling attacked.
For example, when anxiety pressed in, I sometimes told myself: “Well, think of it this way. You could be dead.” It sounds sarcastic, but the effect was real—it broke the grip of fear. By joking with myself, I gave the ego space rather than making it an enemy. And in that space, contemplation deepened.
Acceptance practice does not demand we push the ego away. Rather, it invites the ego along gently, helping it release its hold. A little humor can open that door.
Acceptance meditation and the big picture
This practice creates room. It reminds us of the big picture. We all know the saying, “You can’t take it with you.” But how often do we stay with the thought? In the final moments, will our petty anxieties matter? Seen against mortality, most worries shrink into perspective.
To see life against its larger backdrop is to feel what it means to let go. Even in a small way, this glimpse of freedom is powerful.
Formal practice of contemplating impermanence
For those who wish to make it part of seated meditation, death contemplation can be woven into breath awareness. Each inhale and exhale becomes a teacher.
Breathing in: I observe the impermanence of this breath.
Breathing out: I acknowledge the impermanence of all things.
As this article from Still Water Mindfulness Practice Center discusses, impermanence is more than a philosophy. Thich Nhat Hanh explains it clearly:
“Impermanence is the first key to unlocking the door of reality. Impermanence is a samadhi, a form of concentration. Intellectually, you may agree that things are impermanent, but you might behave as if they were permanent. We have to train ourselves to maintain the insight of impermanence in every minute of our lives. Then we will always have wisdom and happiness.”
Words remind us, but practice must carry us further—beyond dialogue, beyond concept—into pure experience.
Possible benefits of acceptance meditation
Impermanence
Mortality is the ultimate change, and all change unsettles us. Yet impermanence also gives life its poignancy. It is both ending and beginning.
Transcending the ego
Death dissolves the illusion of separation. In contemplating mortality, we loosen ego’s grip and remember the true self beyond this life and body. Seeing the big picture humbles the ego and reduces its dominion.
Presence
Mortality is not an excuse to withdraw—it heightens our appreciation for people, experiences, and each fleeting moment.
Fearlessness
To face death directly is to face fear at its root. Each time we practice, fear diminishes. Presence, freedom, and self-knowledge grow stronger.
Death as a return home
Finally, context matters. Ask yourself: what memory do you have of before you were born? Why assume death will be any different? Death is not the end of life, but the end of the ego’s illusion of separateness. It is a return.
Acceptance meditation reminds us: death is not something to run from, but a truth that, faced honestly, frees us to live more fully.
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