text:
How do I do "contemplation of death" meditation? And is it dangerous?
How do I do "contemplation of death" meditation? And is it dangerous?
Because I read it might cause someone to commit suicide, so how do I make sure I won't reach that situation? And how exactly should I do this meditation - and for how long each time - and how many times each day?

How to do "contemplation of death" meditation ?

With each and every in and out breath reflect: "life is impermanent, but death is certain, hence will attend to what need to be done without delay."

“But how, bhikshu, do you cultivate the mindfulness of death?”
“Here, bhante, I do it thus:
'Indeed, should I live just the time it takes to breathe in and then out, to breathe out and then in,
    I would wisely attend to the Blessed One’s teaching, much indeed would be done by me!'
Thus, bhante, I cultivate the mindfulness of death.”

Source: (Aṭṭhaka) Maraṇa,sati Sutta 1 and also similar passage is in: (Chakka) Maraṇa,sati Sutta 1
A more detailed outline of the pratice is covered in: Maraṇa Sati Kathā by Piya Tan

and is it dangerous ?

Not if you pratice it correctly. Even crossing the road the wrong way will have dangers so does meditation. Key to do it the right way as with any other endeavor.
The intention of this pratice is to create urgency and eliminate procrastination as time is running out and what can be done within a lifetime ends with death. (Also see section How do you banish laziness?) Instead if you are developing a phobia or fear of death or some attraction to death or romanticizing with the concept of death or developing sorrow towards your pending death or of loved ones, then you are doing it wrong.

Cause i read it might cause someone to suicide - so how do i make sure i won't reach that situation ? and how exactly should i do this meditation - ...

As far as I know repulsive meditation has resulted in suicides, but not sure on contemplation of death. These are 2 separate practices. The purpose of repulsive meditation is to counteract the perception of beauty in the form and shape of oneself and others and developing lust and taking pleasure and delight in such formations. If you are developing aversion towards the body one oneself as unclean or the perceived lack of beauty then you are doing it wrong.
Both these practices do also reinforce the perception of impermanence, more particularly impermanence of life as well as our corporal body.

... and for how long each time - ...

I think a few minutes will do or as much as to keep you motivated to attend to what need to be done without procrastination.
Also an occasional reminder on the need of urgency as time is running out during the day may be helpful.

... and how many times each day ?

(Aṭṭhaka) Maraṇa,sati Sutta 2 and (Chakka) Maraṇa,sati Sutta 2 mentions you should do it 2 times at least when the day has ended and when the night has ended. You contemplate some mishap can happen your life can end in the next part of the day hence be attentive to what needs to be done without fail.
Also see my answer to: Is contemplation of death auto-suggestion?

How long should i do it ?  cause i can think about it 1 minute or 1 hour

About 5 minutes before about 1 hour of Vipassana

thanks a lot - i read in the link i add you should do it after smatha meditation  - even after reaching access concentration or reaching jhana  -   this was a bit deterring for me   - so its nice to read you say i should do it before the meditation   ( as well as i do a tiny metta meditation after the vipassna session so its more troublesome)
https://www.bcbsdharma.org/article/shining-the-light-of-death-on-life-maranasati-meditation-part-i/

also wanted to ask -  im not sure my own death contemplation is working on me - i think contemplation of death of loved ones is more effective --- am i right about this ??

Your death is the most important. What you are contemplating is I might the next instant hence do what needs to be done quickly in this instance or you will not have a chance to do it.

can you explain what is the reason to do it before the vipassana ? and why its 1 hour of vipassana ?

The idea behind doing contemplation of death is not to be lay in overcoming death and rebirth which can be done only through Vipassana. Say you get an ultimatum "you will die unless you do this task" then many people would infact follow through with the task to save oneself leaving aside any other unimportant tasks. Likewise the cycle of birth and death is overcome by Insight, hence you have should not procrastinate the most important thing which is to do Insight Meditation.

Mindfulness of death is described in the Maranassati sutta (AN 6.20) which urges a disciple to get rid of unwholesome mental states by reflecting that one's own death can come at any time soon:

"There is the case where a monk, as day departs and night returns, reflects: 'Many are the [possible] causes of my death. A snake might bite me, a scorpion might sting me, a centipede might bite me. That would be how my death would come about. That would be an obstruction for me. Stumbling, I might fall; my food, digested, might trouble me; my bile might be provoked, my phlegm... piercing wind forces [in the body] might be provoked. That would be how my death would come about. That would be an obstruction for me.' Then the monk should investigate: 'Are there any evil, unskillful mental qualities unabandoned by me that would be an obstruction for me were I to die in the night?' If, on reflecting, he realizes that there are evil, unskillful mental qualities unabandoned by him that would be an obstruction for him were he to die in the night, then he should put forth extra desire, effort, diligence, endeavor, undivided mindfulness, & alertness for the abandoning of those very same evil, unskillful qualities.

When you mentioned suicide though, what you may be referring to instead is "contemplation on foulness/unattractiveness of the body", rather than "mindfulness of death". Contemplation on foulness is performed to abandon lust, promoting disenchantment with regard to forms (AN 9.1) -- so that's when it's useful to do it, for as long as lust is present. In the Satipatthana Sutta (MN 10), in the section on mindfulness of body, we read:

"Or again, as if he were to see a corpse cast away in a charnel ground, picked at by crows, vultures, & hawks, by dogs, hyenas, & various other creatures... a skeleton smeared with flesh & blood, connected with tendons... a fleshless skeleton smeared with blood, connected with tendons... a skeleton without flesh or blood, connected with tendons... bones detached from their tendons, scattered in all directions — here a hand bone, there a foot bone, here a shin bone, there a thigh bone, here a hip bone, there a back bone, here a rib, there a breast bone, here a shoulder bone, there a neck bone, here a jaw bone, there a tooth, here a skull... the bones whitened, somewhat like the color of shells... piled up, more than a year old... decomposed into a powder: He applies it to this very body, 'This body, too: Such is its nature, such is its future, such its unavoidable fate.'

... i.e. one of the techniques to "contemplate foulness" is to see the body dead and coming apart.
Some monasteries in Thailand have skeletons in display which can be an aid for such kind of meditation. But one can perform this meditation without a decomposing body:

iii. "And what, Ananda, is contemplation of foulness? Herein, Ananda, a monk contemplates this body upward from the soles of the feet, downward from the top of the hair, enclosed in skin, as being full of many impurities. In this body there are head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, intestines, intestinal tract, stomach, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, saliva, nasal mucous, synovium (oil lubricating the joints), and urine. Thus he dwells contemplating foulness in this body. This, Ananda, is called contemplation of foulness.
-- AN 10.60

The likely reason you were told it may lead to suicide is because one sutta documents how a group of monks performed suicide after doing this practice (SN 54.9 ).
If one is mentally healthy (e.g. does not have suicide inclinations) and one is mindfull of bodhipakkhiyādhammā (e.g. one is able to direct his mind to joy, tranquility and equanimity), than I don't see danger in it.
Other than that, there was a US zen monk in recent times who, allegedly, was jogging and saw a dead corpse with a bullet wound in the head, thereafter deciding to come back to meditate over the corpse. As it so happens, he got in trouble with the police. So, don't do that.

West is obsessed with thoughts and thinking process. Contemplation implies thinking in West. Contemplation about death does not mean imagining death or deep thinking about it. It is a tool to see things objectively that this world of yours is about to be finished sooner or later. It is a way to create an urgency to meditate and find out if death is the ultimate thing or not. It is also a way to make you relaxed and therefore prepare you for meditation. If you are going to die what is point of stressing yourself out for trivialities?

Although suicide is performed visually in these practices, none of these Buddhist practices lead to such a behavior if done in a neutral, matter-of-fact manner.
In fact, there are myriad benefits to regular practice and it is one of the 3 most important buddhist practices.
The reason for this is the same reason as you would imagine yourself during your job interview and imagine what will happen: you will be more informed and ready long before it happens.
In no way, should you be depressed. In fact you should be almost happy and light and free, shedding your body and thinking of what is most important in this post-mortem state: vipassana, concentration, morality--the Three Trainings of Buddhism!
So, when you do this "skeleton meditation", you start off with accepting the suddenness of death and realizing the importance of energy and time.
Next you go on step by step through the points, imagining your corpse filling up with pus, bursting, and eventually your flesh being exposed and rotting away until you are just a skeleton.
Here is a very special instructional on how to practice this Buddhist technique to improve your chi levels alongside with history and gong-fu anecdotes. The author of the article has a lot of other free articles but this is not one of them--he just forgot to protect the link and I am sharing here.
Anyway, it will answer all your other questions about practice schedule and will help you understand this ancient practice in a modern, holistic light.


text:
what to do, when you can't meditate?
I am meditating on a daily basis since a couple of months. I noticed having ups and downs in my meditation, probably mostly caused by the amount of sati or (on the other side) stress I had during the day.
But I am also experiencing sittings, where I am just overwhelmed by the hindrances and not even able to recognize them properly.
What is the best way to deal with these extreme states of mind (in meditation)?

Related questions: Overwhelming thoughts - Mindfulness and awareness and Losing awareness

You are certainly not alone. Sounds like what you describe is a situation I have been in many times.
In order to find more balance, I would stay sitting still and try to remember that I could just be with the tension, fuzzy lack of clarity, confusion, anger, desire for the practice to go my way and whatever else arises. Usually this would lead to a better practice session.
This problem is mainly about unbalanced   faculties. A good teacher can help yogis balance the faculties. A good teacher can be a wonderful help when yogis are tangled up like this.

Do you have a general technique which, if you remember it, you've discovered that it helps to alleviate hindrances?
For example someone referenced the Nissaraniya Sutta recently, which mentions six "means of escape". From this list, for example, perhaps if you remembered "good will", then might that remembrance be enough to escape a hindrance? Or "non-self"? Or perhaps other teachings not on this list, would it help to remember "impermanence" for example, or a doctrine about "craving"?
If there are doctrines like that, which you find helpful when you remember them --if you want to remember them but don't-- then might a memory-aid (a semi-permanent sense-object) be useful? A little stone to hold in your hand, or the right word written on a piece of paper?

Or how about moving to a different type of meditation, e.g. "awareness of the breath", if there's too much turmoil for another kind of meditation?

Or I think that each of the formal hindrances have corresponding canonical techniques to counter them, for example The Five Mental Hindrances and Their Conquest references suttas which have advice for how to "denourish" each hindrance.

Or I think that meditation teachers (here is just one example) suggest you investigate the hindrance, as being a mental phenomenon which arises and which passes away.

... stress I had during the day.

Stress does have an associated sensation with it generally manifesting as a tightness in the head (as per Banthe Vimalasiri - see What is depression?) and / or lingering discomfort around the heart (as I have heard as being taught by other teachers to be consistent with the Abhidhamma as the mind is heart based). Based on the type of the sensation craving, aversion and / or ignorance would arise.
You have to relax both body and mind. The way to do this be equanimous of the session noting its arising and passing, or simply be with these sensation for a while analysing them before returning to your normal meditation object.
When you return to your normal meditation object have a mild smile. This is something you have is Goenka's meditation instruction though this is not emphasised much but Bhante Vimalaramsi emphasizes smiling a lot in his 6Rs formula.
Also one source of stress is worry which with you can counteract through concentration. When your mind wanders away realist it and bring it back. Periodically check if the mind is with the meditation object and even if it is fix your attention back at the object of meditation. Say if you are mindful of the body scanning part by part. You are looking at one part and the mind is still with it, then redirect the mind to the part again. If your mind is sticky stay with the part. If it is very restless either move from part to part quickly, or keep redirecting your mind to the object, i.e., fix your mind on the object, in quick succession. For someone who has practiced for a while this can break into tingling or electric sensation and further pratice this will become neutral. If you are moderately restless you can try Anapana meditation but if it is very restless best is quick scans as Vitarka dominates in this pratice. For a detailed study see: Saṅkhitta Dhamma Sutta, Uddhacca,kukkuca by Piya Tan.

... I noticed having ups and downs in my meditation, probably mostly caused by the amount of sati ...

Sati is useful to reduce though proliferation and eliminate Sankhara that follows. Make it pratice you review (paccavekkhana / vīmamsa) if you are mindful at defined intervals like end of each in or out breath cycles. This will help you strengthen your mindfullness. The description of how to review is found in Knowing and See, 4th edition by Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw p. 35 onwards though is a slightly different context.
Sometimes it might be worthwhile to try a Samatha meditation subject in these situations.

... But I am also experiencing sittings, ...

Perhaps you can try walking meditation. Be mindful of the sensations due to body part movements and sensation of touch of the dress and / or air on your legs.

... where I am just overwhelmed by the hindrances and not even able to recognize them properly. What is the best way to deal with these extreme states of mind (in meditation)?

Extreme states are associated with extreme feeling. E.g. you feel extremely sleepy or restless. Be mindful of the feelings. If you want to learn / analyse how feelings are associated with the Hindrances in more detail, look at the Mental Factors corresponding to each Hindrance which is associated with each type of Mind State and the corresponding feeling of that Mind State. In short Ill Will be painful and the rest will be either neutral or pleasant but leave it upto the reader to figure this out exactly.

“Nothing is worth clinging to”
When this was said, the venerable Mahā Moggallāna said this to the Blessed One:
    “In what way, bhante, in brief, is a monk freed through the destruction of craving, that is, one who has reached total perfection, the total security from bondage, the total holy life, the total consummation, the highest amongst gods and humans?”
“Here, Moggallāna, the monk has learned that nothing is worth clinging to.
    And, Moggallāna, a monk has learned that nothing is worth clinging to, thus: he directly knows all things [he directly knows the nature of the all].
    Having directly known the nature of all things, he fully understands all
    things.
Having fully understood all things, he knows whatever feelings there are, whether pleasant, painful or neither painful nor pleasant.
As regards to those feelings, [Section on Disillusionment and Revulsion (Nibbida) follows]
he dwells contemplating impermanence in them;
he dwells contemplating dispassion [fading away of lust] in them;
he dwells contemplating ending (of suffering) in them;
he dwells contemplating letting go (of defilements).
When he dwells contemplating impermanence in them, contemplating dispassion in them, contemplating ending in them, contemplating letting go, he does not cling to anything in the world.
    Not clinging, he is not agitated; being not agitated, he himself surely attains nirvana.

The above is from: Pacala Sutta on Sloth and Torpor but can be generalised to the other hindrances. A general outline of how the 5 hindrances can be eliminated is found in Nīvarana,pahana Vagga and also following 6 essays Nīvaraṇa, Kāma-c,chanda, Vyāpāda, Thīna,middha, Uddhacca,kukkuca, Vicikicchā by Piya Tan.
Now coming to when you cannot meditate. Insight meditation is to experience things as they are. When you say you can't meditate, it looks like you are trying to do something during meditation. Just relax and stay with what you experience (reality as it is) to the best extent you can. Also there are many meditation subjects. Change of subject also might help.
Also have 2 sessions of meditation per day at the end of the day and beginning of the night (evening) and end of the night and beginning of the day (morning). If this case one session would probably be more productive than the other if you have a storm in one session.

I expanded it a bit more.

Thanks for this answer - which made me take interest in death contemplation and probably going to start doing it shortly

Great that it was a help and a motivator.

BTW, the above answer is not ins the context of death contemplation. You might want to have a look at: http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/14363/how-do-i-do-contemplation-of-death-meditation-and-is-it-dangerous and http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/14386/is-contemplation-of-death-auto-suggestion

oops - didnt even look   - i remember you mentioned it in some answer as a way to overcome procrastination  - somehow wrongly remembered its in this question so didnt even look at it
so wherever that answer you wrote is thank for mentioning this type of meditation and its help with procrastination

Try this exercise I learned from that book "The Power of Concentration":

Stare at an object (like a door knob) for 10 full minutes
Focus on keeping your body perfectly still
Do not let other thoughts drift in

Do this exercise for 6-7 days and you will see that your body control and concentration would've improved, you will find it easy to relax, concentrate, and not be disturbed.

After a stressful or difficult day, either from work or daily activity that makes the practice of mindfulness difficult, return to mindfulness as soon as possible. Either during your method of returning home or once you get home. Increase your effort towards mindfulness sincerely and wholly as soon as possible. This will begin the process of bringing you back to being in the moment and starts calming the mind prior to formal or sitting meditation. One might refer to the mindful process I described as meditation. The method I offer is an alternative to say, walking into your meditation room, with your mind agitated and attempting to immediately sit down, meditate and calm the mind. As suggested in a previous post walking meditation can assist with this same purpose prior to taking to your cushion. As well, one may begin formal or sitting meditation with body-sweeping to calm the mind and bring the mind within.
With wishes for peace to all.

For various reasons -- when I am unable to practice my  regular meditation  (mindfulness of breathing anapanasati) well, I take on one of three responses:
1)  I make my focus my state of dissatisfaction with the meditation my object: Here is a thought, there is a responding mental painful feeling, here is aversion, here is craving for it to be different. Here is me grasping at some effort to create change, here is the result, here it goes again. The constant succession of conditioned links is beautiful and terrible to behold. One does lose enchantment with this experience pretty quickly, and wants no more. It is not a comfortable practice but it is an "enlightening" one if I mayuse the term without intending  full liberation. I think it does move you closer to that though.
2) I switch to one that is easier because it feels good and soothes painful mental states: Metta, or more properly  Brahma Viharra , any of the well recognized teachers does well with this, but my favorite guidance for this particular one is the anupada sutta dhamma talk by Bhante Vimalaramsi.
3) I switching to living life meditation, just begin my next tasks, whi8le holding the old meditation object in mind or the new one. When I absolutely can't seem to hold one, I use the  reflection on Buddha Dhamma, Sangha that I put to chanting tune.
Good luck. I think we have all been there Iknow I have been.

I recommend you to download some musics like flow of water or chanting of om  or music with slow beats.And you try to meditate only by listening to the music and soon you will get the good concentration.

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

sort: votes


text:
Do domesticated animals have control over their karma?
Are domesticated animals able to generate their own karma, or is it down to their masters to ensure that they are set on the right path? I am talking particularly in regards to Pets, here.
My dog, Bronson, has epilepsy and fits on a regular basis, perhaps as a result of bad karma? To what extent can he help himself, and to what extent can I?

I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that epilepsy in pets is often the result of inbreeding, especially in registered breeds. In that respect, the condition would be caused by human actions, not anything that a pet independently does.

He's a french bulldog from lithuania, so it's likely that he is inbred. So in that respect you are probably correct.

Are domesticated animals able to generate their own karma

Yes, they commit Kamma just like humans. But their range is limited compared to us. They are unable to commit highly potent good/bad Kamma except on rare occasions. Their minds are clouded by ignorance most of the time. So it's highly unlikely for them to commit a Triple Rooted Kamma required for a perfect human birth.
Examples of animals committing good Kamma(first 2 are highly potent due to the purity of the recipient):

Pārileyyaka the elephant and the monkey who took care of the Buddha in the forest.
Muchalinda the king cobra who sheltered the Buddha from rain in the 6th week after attaining enlightenment
Animals taking care of their offspring.

their masters to ensure that they are set on the right path? To what extent can he help himself, and to what extent can I?

Yes, the owners can teach them good manners. Train them not to kill other animals, not to steal food from others. The more domesticated the animal is, the less bad Kamma it would commit. Also, you can have it listen to the Dhamma. It's a long shot, but it has worked on some occations. ex: The story of Manduka Devaputta

My dog, Bronson, has epilepsy and fits on a regular basis, perhaps as
  a result of bad karma?

Yes, it is. This is called the Upattambaka(Supportive) Kamma. In case of lower births, this type of Kamma worsens the living conditions.

In the animal Kingdom the following dominates

sexual desire - root: craving / hindrance: sensual desire
fear - root: aversion / hindrance: ill will, doubt
hunger - craving / sensual desire
sleep (many animals eat and sleep a lot) - ignorance / sloth and torpor
bonding (e.g. dog with owner) - craving

In addition animals do not have:

moral fear
moral shame

... which are the basis of moral precepts for worldly beings.
This means animals most of the time create -ve Karma with no or little ability to practice generosity or observe moral precepts let alone concentration and wisdom. This is why if you fall into the Animal Kingdom it is hard to get out. They nevertheless do create Karma as the process of Dependent Origination is rolling creating new fabrications.
The way out is if some past good Karma surfacing to give you a better birth though very rare a good dead in the animal birth giving results. If you have past store of a lot of good Karma and birth is due to a relativelysmall mistake the when this bad Karma exhaust the animal will get a better birth, but when the being has a strong backing of good Karma.
Since it is not possible to teach the the a pet on moral conduct and how to eliminate the unwholesome mental states there is only little you can do, but you can protect him from these states arising and also help cultivate some positive states:

when in fear - comfort and pet to eradicate
reduce desire for food - generally give moderately tasty food (give treats occasionally) but in reasonable quantities so he is nerve too hungry
reduce bonding - do not pet too much and spoil the pet
give the dog activities so as he does not become too lazy
some pets can be trained as therapy dogs, guide dogs and rescue dogs, etc., like wise train your dog to do some good deeds. You need some imagination how to make this work. If the recipientsare pure and / or needy the results would be better.
Dogs may have some understanding of babies so try to teach some basic understanding of good and bad. E.g. if chances other animals then not to do this and be more friendly. Again you will have to use a lot of imagination on what can be achived and how it can be achieved

in my opinion nobody can help animals with regard to their kamma, they're simply to exhaust the kamma which caused their birth as an animal and bounce to the plane their remaining kamma allows them to
i'm not sure why pets would differ in this respect from wild animals
dhammic concept of kamma is ethical, only ethical intentions produce it, and since animals are incapable of having and committing ethically meaningful intentions and acts, because they don't control their urges and instincts, cannot judge them objectively and restrain or motivate themselves, they don't produce new kamma
the concept is not dissimilar to exoneration from liability on the grounds of incompetency
that's again my opinion

Thanks for your opinion :) I differ between domesticated and wild animals because wild animals do not have the assistance that can be provided by a human, whom may or may not be aware of kamma and could influence it's mind.

OK, i see, yet i don't think we the worldlings can in any way influence their kammic makeup so to speak, we cannot teach them to be moral, compassionate etc... who i believe can impact kamma of animals is awakened beings

I hope you don't mind me asking but I was curious to know your opinion about human children: are they capable of ethical action, and starting at what age/maturity? Might it be that animals (especially the "higher" animals) are a bit like children, and have a smaller but still a non-zero ability for ethical intention, compared with adult humans?

of course i don't mind, indeed children are relevant in this discussion, i'm not an expert in the area of children psychological development so cannot say for certain when they start bearing moral responsibility for their actions, but i think for humans the latest age when they do we can regard the earliest age of legal liability... in some traditional cultures formal maturity sets in a couple of years earlier than modern legal liability does... i heard that in Japan until the age of 5 children are given free rein

with regard to similarities between children's intellectual capacity and that of higher animals' i think that in order to answer your question it's important to first establish the degree of that similarity and the maximum human age to whos intellectual capacity the intellectual capacity of higher animals can be likened

I doubt physical animals can ever exhaust their 'kamma' since they will always behave in animal ways. If I am continually hunting, fighting, looking for sex & being territorial how can the mind ever exhaust the conditioned habits generated from those habitual cravings & actions? The results of (past) kamma (action) can only be exhausted by non-action. In the Pali suttas, unskilful speech of monks is called 'animal talk' giving the impression 'animal' refers to unreflective instinctual behaviour of people (rather than four-legged beasts).

i read that studies on animals awareness and intellectual level - showed dogs have more or less the self awareness and intellect of cows and chicken  --- and they past test like kids up to 2 year olds -- and pigs are the smartest and have self awareness and intellect of kids up to the age of 4  ////  i dont know how accurate it is and how much i remember but it does convey what i try to say that they are smarter than what usually people think about them

There is a series of Pali suttas starting with Samyutta Nikaya 56.102 that state an 'animal' can be 'reborn' as a 'human' by realising the Four Noble Truths. The impression here is 'animal' refers to people with certain kinds of habitual (shameless & immoral) behaviours (rather than four legged animals), such as in the Buddhist story of the reformed mass-murderer Angulimala or as described in the Lokapala Sutta.
The behaviour of biological animals is largely programmed by biology. The Pali scriptures explain taught 'karma is intention' expressed by various 'actions of body, speech & mind'.

"Intention, I tell you, is kamma. Intending, one does kamma by way of body, speech, & intellect."
Nibbedhika Sutta

~~

1. Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering
follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox.
2. Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts happiness
follows him like his never-departing shadow.
Dhammapada

It is unlikely the behaviour of animals falls under the laws of kamma, which appear to be about the behaviour of people.
Animals for the most part kill only to eat & have sex only for reproduction thus are generally 'moral'. Where as people create kamma based on greed, hatred & delusion. For example, many animals give birth &, soon after, expel their offspring from their presence. Whereas most humans cling to their offspring & families for their entire lives, which results in a kind of suffering from 'death' that animals do not experience.

authors: Баян Купи-ка

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
Is contemplation of death auto-suggestion?
Is doing contemplation of death  auto-suggestion to meditate ? is it working on my subconsciousness ? maybe i should just do auto suggestion telling my self many times to meditate - maybe its more effective ?
can i do my own version of death contemplation or should i say exactly the words in the sutta ?  if i can what are the guidelines that i should follow when make my own version ?
If i dont fear death and dont care to die - is it still useful ?
can i do death contemplation about people i care about ?
you can only answer some questions i asked or add something i didnt ask about which is related and can be helpful

Contemplating death achieves certain objectives and contemplation should be worded to realise the said objective though the wording can be different:

being fearless at the moment of death such that your last mind moment can be conducive to a better rebirth - hence contemplate along the lines that everyone will die including me, death is common to all. Is this form you can use other people like famous people, great people, powerful people, etc. who have died to re enforce that achievements do not stop death. In addition you can perhaps use living loved ones so you reduce your attachment to them so you will be less saddened when they actually die if you are to die before hand you will be able to let go of loved ones.
get the notion that time is running out hence attend to what needs attention without delay - hence contemplate along the lines that life is un certain, death is certain, hence be quick. This might be like auto suggestion to meditate. But auto suggestion to meditate will not achieve the same effectiveness as it does not embed the notion that time is limited, this limit is unknown and it is running out fast and death takes your ability to beat or win over death to achieve deathlessness. This notion fuels urgency and spiritual restlessness to practice. As a result this helps with eliminating or reducing procrastination.
letting go of possession and loved ones - hence contemplate along the lines that when I die I will not take anything or anyone with me and no one has in the past.

In devising your own wording, keep it short, sweet / easy to mentally recite (rhyming / rhythmic), to the point, in a language you understand.
Also see: How do I do "contemplation of death" meditation? And is it dangerous?

Thanks for the reply - i appricate your answers about this subject -   my biggest trouble is procrastination and if this helps to deal with it than it would be great

Item 2 in the above list helps.

Buddha used to send new disciples to cremation ground for few months to contemplate upon death. It does not matter what you do but make sure you have something which reminds of death. For example something you can wear, even an alarm on your phone. Humans are pretty evasive when it comes to death. Any form of reminder can make you aware of impending death and hence urgency to meditate. The whole point is create a situation for yourself which reminds you of death. But please do not be stressed by it.


text:
What is the "nature of reality" according to the Buddha?
I have read that the Buddha said the cause of suffering is ignorance of the "nature of reality". Is this correct?
What is the "nature of reality" that the Buddha talks about?

Sir, where yu read this? Please share as i want to know the context of his speech.

I'm afraid I can't remember! It might have been on a podcast too. I've listened to several recently, by Tara Brach, Pema Chodron and Thich Nhat Hanh.

I have read that the Buddha said the cause of suffering is ignorance of the "nature of reality". Is this correct?

Yes it is correct. If you knew the real nature of something you will not crave or averse to any experience which deals to suffering. E.g.:

attached to something impermanent as permanent and be sad when this thing you hold dear breaks or decays
we are in a roller coaster of sensation which we have no control over and laos changing, i.e., all thing we hold as good and pleasurable comes to an end, we encounter things we do not like and when things are neutral this also can change into some unwanted situation as we still creating a future for ourselves
consider things that actually bring displeasure in the long haul as me or mine

What is the "nature of reality" that the Buddha talks about?

From the simplest framework way this has been described to the hardest nature of reality is described is as follows:

Knowledge of Three marks of existence
Knowledge of the 4 Noble Truths
Knowledge of Dependent Origination
Knowledge of Patthana - Conditional Relations (7th book of the Abhidhamma) or a more elaborate description of Dependent Origination

Realities are called Paramattha Dhamma in Buddhism. There are 4 such realities.

Citta(consciousness)
ex: Vipaaka-citta, Karma, Kiriya-citta.
Cetasika(mental concomitants)
ex: Vedana, Sanna, Sankhara
Rupa(materiality)
ex: Patavi, Apo, Tejo, Vayo
Nibbana

What is the "nature of reality" that the Buddha talks about?

The first 3 realities listed above have 3 qualitative natures:

Anicca(impermanent)
Dukkha(unsatisfactory)
Anatta(impersonal)

The fourth reality only has the impersonal nature.
The cause for suffering is craving according to the 2nd noble truth. But craving cannot arise without ignorance. It also cannot be uprooted without eliminating ignorance. Ignorance is given as the first link of Paticca Samuppada, the dependent arising process which explains the origins of suffering.
I don't recall any sutta in which the Buddha making that exact statement, but it is inline with Buddhism. It would be more correct if you say "The cause of suffering is craving, which arises due to the ignorance of the nature of reality".

Can I answer that with some Wikipedia links? I don't know how much detail you want.
The "nature of reality" might refer to the "three marks of existence".
"Ignorance" is said to be the "root" of the "three poisons".
There's a description of ignorance on Access to Insight: which quotes a sutta which defines ignorance (its definition of ignorance is not knowing the "four noble truths"); and which quotes a sutta which explains why it's the cause of suffering (its explanation of the cause is as first of the "twelve nidanas").

Incidentally I was interested to read of the "Four Dharma Seals" recently: they are the three marks, plus nirvana as the fourth. Then there's a note which says, "As suffering is not an inherent aspect of existence sometimes the second seal is omitted to make Three Dharma Seals."

I have read that the Buddha said the cause of suffering is ignorance
  of the "nature of reality". Is this correct?

Coming into existence or 'birthing' (jati) is the cause of suffering (dukkha).
Dependent Arising - Paticca samuppāda by Piya Tan

What is the "nature of reality" that the Buddha talks about?

All conditioned things (forms, verbalization, mental thoughts), are forever changing (anicca), lead to suffering (dukka), and devoid of a permanent entity/owner (anattma). Read about the Tilakkhana or the Three Characteristics in the Dhamma.
may you be happy.

This may be wrong and may possibly not be answering your question completely, but are you maybe refering to "the ten factors" which I have heard described as the "fundamental reality of life".
Additionally, I have heard of delusion being, in essence, the root of suffering. The only problem is that I'm can't quite remember who had said this.
The ten factors go as follows:
Appearance-
Nature-
Entity-
Power-
Influence-
internal cause-
relation-
latent effect-
manifest effect-
consistency from beginning to end-
From this standpoint of logic, ignorence or mis-interpretation (i.e. delusion) of the the ten factors can cause one to not be "in-sync" with the "fundimentql reality of life" which then would lead to suffering.
I hope this helps, and I'm sorry that I havn't been able to give a very good explination or cite who said what very well in this answer, but if you look up "the ten factors" there should be better info. on it.

According to Buddhism, ultimate reality is samsara, endless existence, but it is also impermanent, ever in flux, ever changing. It is empty, yet full. That is, form is always a temporary state of being. Some forms last for millennia, like mountains and oceans, and some are as brief as a lightning bolt. Elements come together to create a particular form, but eventually those elements will break apart again and the object will cease to exist. This is true of everything in the universe.
Source : http://www.patheos.com/Library/Buddhism/Beliefs/Ultimate-Reality-and-Divine-Beings

I don't think that "ultimate reality is samsara". You quote Julia Hardy, but I suppose it's her personal opinion, not real Buddhist view. I understand samsara as a circular process which contains ignorance. Buddha is free from samsara, for him that circulation has stopped. How does that correlate with the idea of ultimate reality? I think that "ultimate reality" is beyond samsara.

You are talking about the nature of reality right now
If you really want to know,
You want to experience not reading or knowing.
Readimg and knowing can be a danger without proper guidance.
They can be a hinderance to not being ignorant.


text:
Does rebirth conflict with evolution?
I'm trying to understand how modern Buddhism deals with our current scientific understanding.
Science indicates that life began on this planet with a small set of life forms. So there was a point in time where only a few life forms would be capable of rebirth. Now, however, there are over 7 billion humans and immensely more other creatures which can all be reborn. Where did all the souls/consciousnesses that exist now come from? How does the idea of rebirth fit with the evolution of life on Earth?
I am very curious as to how modern Buddhism deals with this question. Please forgive me if it is a dumb question, my understanding of Buddhism is very minimal. Thanks in advance!

This question might be a duplicate or is nearly a duplicate of "Why is human population increasing? Better kamma?" isn't it? Or it may be a duplicate of some of the topics with the [tag:evolution] tag ... but I think this question is asking, "if science tells us that the number of sentient beings has increased since the time when life began on earth, does that contradict modern Buddhist doctrine of rebirth"?

Yes I mean the latter, something more like "if the number of sentient beings has increased, where do the increased souls come from?" I seek to understand how Buddhists answer this. I'm sure I'm not the first to ask this, but I didn't find an answer on this site yet or in the links you posted.

Check out an explanation with some math analysis here: http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=20441&p=286402#p286402

@santa100 Thanks I checked it out. However, if the number of beings is infinite as the answer below suggests, then it would render the chances of a being ascending and descending between planes irrelevant.

Irrelevant as a whole but relevant since you mention eartch specifically. Also the chances are actually relevant per the famous "blind turtle hitting the log in the ocean" sutta.

There are an infinite number of beings in all the places of existance and also an infinite number of universes. The earth being one of the humanoid worlds.  [Kosala Sutta 1] In some of the higher planes the number of beings are finite. In lower planes this might not be the case. As life span decreases the merit required to be born in the human plane decreases hence the population increase. Sometimes conflicts and natural disasters do reduce the population.
Aggañña Sutta does mention about evolution from being in higher plane and how the deteriorate incidentally occupying the lower planes. (At the start of the cycle there only a higher plane)

Their body was still coarse and roughly shaped. Thus, after a very long time, the mud-like substance began to be exhausted. Then, mushroom-like plants began to grow so fast that they replaced the mud-like ocean. The creatures began to devour them as well, and they also found it delicious, like sweet honey and milk. Their body hardened more and details began to turn finer.
After another very long time, the mushrooms also began to be exhausted, replaced by cassava or turnip-like plants. They also began to devour them night and day, and thus they began to notice differences amongst them. As the changes of their bodies varied between each other, the concept of difference arose. The concepts of the beautiful and the ugly were born. The beautiful scorns the ugly and they became arrogant because of their appearance.

Sourced from: Aggañña Sutta
Also see:

Buddhism and evolution
Buddhist cosmology of the Theravada school
Buddhist cosmology

Thank you for your detailed response! It is very helpful. I wish to clarify one thing if I may. So there are infinitely many beings, and our universe has only a finite number of beings.  What happens when the population of our universe increases? If I understand you correctly, the beings from other universes can cross into ours to compensate for population growth. Is this correct?

Our universe may have finite number of beings (but I believe each universe has infinite beings also as nothing is said about the number of beings in lower realms) but also there are infinite parallel universes. So Inf + n = Inf, Inf - n = Inf.

According to Buddhism, life began on this planet with a small set of beings too. Actually, it was just one being to start with.  One of the oldest Brahmas from the Abhassara Brahma realm who descended to earth after his life span ran out. He was mind-made, feeding on delight, self-luminous, moving through the air, glorious.
After living alone for a long time, he started to think that it would be better if there were other beings like him on earth. Then other beings who passed away on Abhassara realm, started to appear on earth too. This made the original being think that these new beings were created due to his wishing. This is the origin of the beliefs like "God created man in his image".
As the beings started descending from other worlds, the population increased and the appearance of those beings started to change as time passed by. More details can be found in Agganna Sutta. So there are similarities to evolution theory, but Buddhism doesn't subscribe to the scientific view that life originated on earth due to chemical reactions.