Hi Akvan,
In thinking that mindfulness of death can lead to the sotapanna stage (according to this Dhamapada story), my thought process was like:
For three years, the girl did mindfulness of death as a “formal meditation”, and that made her mind ripe till the point where it took a “push” from the Buddha to the first magga phala. And that “push” from the Buddha (the 4 questions) was also related to death awareness. Of course, it must be assumed that she led a moral life in addition to her “formal meditation”.
Whether or not it leads to the first magga phala, I do believe this meditation can be greatly beneficial, and I’d like to try it. Has anyone here attempted to do this at the “granular” level prescribed here: “… the interval that it takes to swallow having chewed up one morsel of food … for the interval that it takes to breathe out after breathing in …”?
I can see that it’s possible to practice “swallowing one morsel of food” while eating, especially if I’m eating by myself.
For “the interval that it takes to breathe…”, it probably has to be during a formal sitting. Doing this throughout the day is a bit “disruptive” to the task at hand. Maybe we can “lengthen” the practice somewhat, such as:
If we have to read a lot in our work life, perhaps it can be “the interval it takes to finish this paragraph”. Or “the interval it takes to drive to work/home”, etc.
I’m grateful for any input from someone who does this practice regularly.
Best,
Lang