Introduction

In Zen and Buddhism, reminding ourselves of our eventual death has been used as a tool of practice since the Buddha's time. No matter how long our life ends up being, we will feel at the time of death as if it has arrived for us quite soon. For me, one of the most poignant examples of this is an ancient gata or verse, sometimes chanted in Zen monasteries. I was first exposed to this at Zen Mountain monastery in upstate New York around the year 2000.