SadhanaOriental Meditation and Christian Prayer
Prayer with fantasy
[15]Your Funeral (1)
This exercise is meant to reinforce the good effort of the previous one, to give you a further love and appreciation for yourself.
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Imagine you see your body in its coffin laid out in a church for the funeral rites …… Take a good look at your body, especially at the expression on your face……
Now look at all the people who have come to your funeral…… Go slowly from one pew to another looking at the faces of these people……Stop before each person and see what he is thinking and what he is feeling……
Now listen to the sermon that is being preached. Who is the preacher? …… What is he saying about you? ……
Can you accept all the good things he is saying about you? ……If you cannot, notice what resistances there are in you to accepting what the preacher is saying ……Which of the good things he says about you are you willing to accept? How do you feel when you hear him speak? ……
Look again at the faces of your friends who have come to attend your funeral…… Imagine all the good things they will be saying about you when they return home from your funeral…… What do you feel now? ……
Is there something you would like to say to each of them before they go home? ……Some final farewell in response to all they are thinking and feeling about you, a response which, alas, they will never hear now? …… Say it, all the same, and see what this does to you……
Imagine that the funeral rites are over now. You stand in imagination above the grave in which your body lies, watching your friends leave the cemetery. What are your feelings now? ……As you stand here now, look back on your life and your experiences……
Was it all worth while? ……
Now become aware of your existence here in the room and realize that you are still alive and still have some time at your disposal……Think of these same friends now from your present point of view. Do you see them differently as a result of this exercise? Think of yourself now……Do you see yourself differently or feel differently about yourself as a result of this exercise? ……
(1) This article is quoted from Fr. De Mello’s book “Sadhana -a Way to God-“