About This Answer
When contemplating death, images of pain, such as being struck by sharp objects, can arise and be disturbing. How should these be handled? Ajahn Dtun says such thoughts are the mind proliferating about things before they happen, and mindfulness and concentration are needed to cut them off, bringing oneself back to the present and using one's time well rather than living heedlessly.
Maraṇasati, recollection of death, is not cultivated to create fear. Taken to its limit, it can lead to stream-entry, the first level of realisation. Contemplating often that the body must break apart and die, one sees clearly that the body is not the mind and the mind is not the body, and begins letting go of attachment to it.
He says this attachment has three portions, and a direct view arising in the mind releases one third. Then greed diminishes and one is content with what one has; ill will, the wish to harm other beings, is completely eradicated, and any later dissatisfaction can be let go of very quickly.