「念死」(Maraṇasati) 乃佛教禪法重要項目之一，主要的內涵在於提醒人們生死無常，並在禪修中養成覺知死亡與無常的敏感力，據此精進勤修，而能從死亡焦慮與畏懼中轉向對無畏死亡。「念死」的實踐所具有之自我的超越性，來自於從最屬己的死亡畏懼中超脫，亦即從「畏死」到「死無畏」的過度與超越。無論如何，死亡在此意義下都是關切於實踐者自身的。

然而，「念死」到「死無畏」的超脫若能將「無畏」或焦慮及
畏懼轉化在自我與他者之間的脈絡之中，死亡的畏懼之超克就可成為從自我轉化於他者的饒益型態。轉化的活動不僅是自通之法的推己及人，更是菩薩道自利利他的結構之中，透過死亡的警覺意識提醒自我與他者間倫理關係的微妙關係。在菩薩道中，「死亡」的哲學問題在自我與他者間就從對「己身苦難」與生死流轉的超脫，轉化而為「為一切眾生」苦難的超克以及圓滿智慧的成就，終極而言則以「不可得」的超越性來詮說自我與他者之間的倫理關係。

簡言之，本文從「念死」的屬己性論述死亡覺知的倫理思
惟，並進一步論述同樣是「念死」的方法，亦可轉化為「慈悲」的倫理思惟，將關切於自身解脫的超越性轉化為饒益有情、幫助他者超克苦難的終極關懷與超越性。

‘Mindfulness of Death’ (Maraṇasati) is one of the important practices of Buddhist Meditation, which implies on bringing into our awareness of the impermanence of life, and through it the cultivation of our sensitivity of awareness towards death and impermanence. With diligent practices, one can convert death anxiety and fear to dauntless death. The transcendence of oneself
possessed in the practices of ‘Mindfulness of Death’ stem from the deliverance of the dread of ones’ own death, and also from the transit and overcoming of ‘the dread of death’ to ‘dauntless of death’. Nevertheless, within this content, death always in concern with the practitioner himself.

Yet, if the transcendence of ‘Mindfulness of Death’ to ‘Dauntless Death’ is to be placed within the thread of the transformation of ‘dauntless’ or anxiety and dread between oneself and others, the overcoming of the dread of death will then become the pattern of beneficial from the transformation of oneself to others. The transformation is not just a sort of self-taught method of extending one’s own feelings to others, but is also the subtle relation of the ethical
relationships between oneself and others which was being reminded by the vigilance of death within the constitution of Bodhisattva-path of self-benefiting altruism and reciprocal altruism. As in Bodhisattva-path, the philosophical issues of ‘Death’ between oneself and others will have to be sought in the transcendental transformation of ‘one’s own sufferings and the circle of life and death to the overcoming of the sufferings of ‘all sentient beings and the attainment of perfect wisdom, ultimately the surpass feature of ‘unobtainable’ in paraphrasing the ethical relationships of oneself and others.

In short, this paper will expound the ethicality of the realization of death from the authenticity of ‘Mindfulness of Death’, and further on the discussions of the possibilities of the transformation of ‘Mindfulness of Death’ to the ethics of ‘Compassion’, which places concern on the transformation of the transcendence of one’s deliverance to the ultimate concerns and transcendence of benefitting sentient beings, helping others in overcoming sufferings.