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As A Dying Buddhist, Here Are My Final Reflections

Written by Handful of Leaves

Edited by Heng Xuan

Illustrations by You Shan

2 mins read

Published on Nov 26, 2025

As A Dying Buddhist, Here Are My Final Reflections

TLDR: A dying practitioner reflects on life and the path. The mind states that arises and how we can cope better.

Opening Reflections by Sylvia Bay

A good friend, Amanda Quek, penned a thoughtful, short note some years back, on how a constant reflection on mortality is very helpful to our efforts to keep the mind pure while not giving in to unwholesome mental habits.

Amanda was dying from cancer then, but even though her physical condition could be debilitating, she never lost faith and remained a determined and conscientious Dhamma practitioner to the end in November 2020.

Amanda remains an inspiring figure for friends and is fondly remembered for her wise sharing. HOL is releasing this reflection on the 5th anniversary of her death. May Sister Amanda be well and happy wherever she has been reborn.

From Amanda to Dhamma Friends On The Path

Hi friends, thanks so much for visiting.

Here’s my 1-cent worth of insight on the catalytic role of mortality on the practice.

Once the notion of mortality is firmly ingrained in our minds, it will rewire our mind’s operating system. We will know this when we start to ask what we should do to live a meaningful life and adjust our priorities accordingly.

We will also know that kusala mental states are beginning to take less effort to arise, they are becoming stronger when arisen and they are staying around more frequently, whereas akusala ones are starting to fade gradually into the background.

We can then set aside the constant reflection of mortality to just focus on developing those kusala mental states (gratitude, contentment, acceptance, profound joy of having found a truly meaningful life and living it, Brahmaviharas, etc.)

Reflection of mortality is just a spark plug to get the Dhamma mind up and running. Our mind will rebel if we were to constantly remind it of mortality because we are programmed to seek pleasure and avoid pain after all. We can still have sensual pleasures, but in small doses or moderation, without attachment or indulgence. Naturally, our mind will choose to behave like this after a certain level of practice.

Sometimes we might find that the kusala mental states are starting to lose steam (i.e., complacency kicks in, things are taken for granted, etc.).

This is the time to bring back the reflection of mortality to stop the decline and increase the momentum of our practice on the kusala mental states. When things are on track, reflection of mortality can once again take a back seat.