Say we are eating our food. "Oh boy, is this delicious! I want to have some more", and we get carried away and so on. By reflecting, if I died in the next moment, "Oh, I don't want to die being all greedy, wanting food". Death reflection helps us to let go of greed. Death reflection not only helps to let go of greed for wanting food, but also not wanting certain food, "Uhh, not this yucky food again, oh, wait a minute, I don't want to die being upset at the cooks". I don't want to die just because the flavor is not what I want it to be.
Death reflection immediately lets go of aversion, immediately lets go of desire. If we use it wisely, well enough, often enough, it will come up, more and more often throughout our normal life. So there is no doubt about it, death reflection brings us more into this moment, brings us more Contentment in this moment. Combine death reflection with how fortunate you are and you have a big winner.
Death reflection is a winner in itself, combine it with how fortunate you are, what does it matter how the food tastes? Is food the biggest thing in your life? If some of you who are in retreat, the food is a big moment of the day, right? Watch some of the new students, try to remember what you were like in your first retreat. For a lot of you in your first retreat, the food was a big deal in your retreat!! But what if as you are walking down the hill to lunch and you trip and fall? What is the importance of the food? If we are lying there on the ground, dying, and we start thinking, "Huh, but I wanted the rice, I wanted the vegetables, I want, I want..." That would be a sad way to die, wouldn't it? So death reflection, use it often enough, it is going to slow down your desires, it is going to slow down your aversions. It is going to bring you to a place of more Equanimity, more Contentment, more Peace and inner happiness, which is quite different to the happiness of having nice food.