First of all, why should we think about death? Why should we contemplate it? Not only did the Buddha encourage us to speak about death, he encouraged us to actually think about it, contemplate it and reflect on it regularly.
On one occasion the Buddha asked several of the monks, “How often do you contemplate death?”
One of them replied, “Lord, I contemplate death every day.”
“Not good enough,” the Buddha said, and asked another monk, who replied,
“Lord, I contemplate death with each mouthful that I eat during the meal.”
“Better, but not good enough,” said the Buddha, “What about you?”
The third monk said, “Lord, I contemplate death with each inhalation and each exhalation.”
That’s all it takes, the inhalation comes in, it goes out, and one day it won’t come in again – and that’s it. That’s all there is between you and death, just that inhalation, the next inhalation.