Q&A: Let Him Be Reminded of the Day of Death. I Have No Experience with Dying, So What Should I Do?
Let Him Be Reminded of the Day of Death. I Have No Experience with Dying, So What Should I Do?
Question
I’m trying to fulfill the Sages’ instruction to remind him of the day of death, and I’m running into a difficulty 🤔
A. I don’t remember any such event that I personally went through, so how am I supposed to remind the evil inclination of it?
B. I have no experience at all with dying.
How does one acquire experience and seniority in that?
A few decades ago I volunteered a lot with the burial society, and still, that’s experience with other people. Is there any advice for how to gain real experience with it myself, so that I can live calmly with my evil inclination and send it reminders when necessary?
The question is, of course, serious.
If there’s a trick, I’d be happy to hear it.
Answer
It seems to me that fear of death does not require experience. On the contrary, experience itself might perhaps teach that there is nothing to fear. The point is simply to keep bringing that fear back into awareness all the time, with no connection at all to the question of experience and personal firsthand encounter. It seems to me that the burial society or attending funerals are excellent ways to do this.