The Ultimate Meditation
A practice for a life without regret.
Your weekly dose of living fully
When people hear the phrase “the end of your life”, they often tense up. It feels heavy. Final. But a tool I have developed, which I am calling ‘The Ultimate Meditation’ is not about dying. It is about how you want to feel when your life has been fully lived.
That feeling becomes a compass. A quiet guide inside you.
And it matters: research suggests that more than 70% of adults (in the West) carry major regrets by the end of their lives. Not because they failed, but because they may never have paused long enough to ask what truly mattered.
The Ultimate Meditation gives you the chance to ask that question now, and align your life with your ultimate end goal. And it draws on something ancient.
The Origin
For thousands of years, Buddhist monks have practised maranasati, the meditation on impermanence. They quietly reflect on their own death, not as something dark, but as medicine for the mind.
The purpose is not fear. It is gratitude. After this practice they step into the day more awake to the gift of being alive. Food tastes richer. Friendships feel sacred. Small moments shine. They stop wasting time on what does not matter, because they remember every moment is precious.
I have evolved this ancient meditation into something gentle and modern.
“Let death be daily before your eyes, and you will never entertain any abject thought nor too eagerly covet anything.” (Epictetus)
Why meditate on your final feeling?
Instead of contemplating death itself, you focus on the feeling you want to arrive with at the end of your life: completion. Peace. A sense that nothing essential was left unlived.
This becomes a form of manifestation meditation. A way to align your life with your deepest values by imagining the emotional destination you want your days to move toward.
Millions of people use vision boards, journalling, manifestation practices and life plans. These tools help, but most stop halfway through the story. They focus on the goals. Career. Love. Health. Growth.
The Ultimate Meditation goes further. It takes you to the end of your life, because the end is where clarity becomes simple and honest.
When you imagine how you want to feel at that point, something shifts. You see what matters. You see what needs healing. You see what no longer belongs.
And uncertainty becomes less frightening. Fear feeds on vagueness. But when you know the feeling you want to end with, your mind is no longer walking blind.
You start moving toward something real. This is how impermanence becomes a quiet source of courage.
THE ULTIMATE MEDITATION
Find somewhere comfortable.
Sit or lie down.
Let your body soften a little.
Take a few slow breaths.
Feel the weight of your body.
Feel the ground supporting you.
Let your attention settle gently into yourself.
With each breath, allow a little more openness.
A little more softness.
A quiet sense of being held by the moment you are in.
Now imagine that many years from now, you have reached the end of a long, meaningful life.
You are somewhere peaceful.
Somewhere that feels perfect for you.
Are you inside or outside?
Is it warm or cool?
Morning or night?
Let the atmosphere form naturally around you.
What are you wearing?
Who is with you?
Or perhaps you rest alone in a way that feels completely right.
Let everything be simple.
Let everything be natural.
Now bring your awareness to the feeling of a life fully lived.
A life where nothing essential was left undone.
Everything that needed to be said has been said.
Everything that needed to happen has unfolded.
Do not force a picture.
Just feel into the emotional state of completion.
Peace.
Gratitude.
Relief.
Joy.
Softness.
Freedom.
Whatever arises, let it arise.
Take your time.
Let the feeling take shape slowly, like truth surfacing.
Now imagine this feeling expanding throughout your whole body.
Warmth spreading.
Ease deepening.
A quiet knowing that your life was lived honestly and fully.
Let it fill your chest.
Your belly.
Your hands.
Your face.
Every part of you.
Feel the deep satisfaction of a life well lived.
Almost as if the world is saying:
Thank you.
Thank you for your life.
Thank you for everything you brought into it.
Rest in this feeling for a moment.
Let your body remember it.
When you are ready, gently return to the present.
Bring the feeling with you.
Let it guide you.
End of meditation.
Integrating the practice
Do this meditation whenever you can, especially in the dreamy moments of morning and night as you lie in bed. The more you return to your ultimate feeling, the more familiar it becomes, and the more your life begins to reflect it.
This is where this meditation becomes practical. Emotion shapes intention, and the brain treats imagination like memory. When you return to the feeling of completion, your choices begin to reflect it without effort. Clarity softens fear. When you know what you are moving toward inside yourself, the unknown becomes less intimidating.
And this is what makes the practice unique. It blends maranasati, which awakens gratitude, with the openness of manifestation and the direction of life planning. Instead of visualising goals, you focus on the feeling you want to arrive with at the end of your life. Completion. Peace. No regrets.
When you can picture that feeling clearly, mortality becomes guidance rather than fear. You glimpse the life you are here to live, and you begin moving toward it in a natural way.
Visit the Tools page for this audio meditation and other guided exercises to help you live these ideas day to day.
Reverstory
This meditation is also the seed of something else I am building. A guided AI experience called Reverstory, which helps you reverse engineer your life from the end backwards, so you can live with no regrets - giving you a life plan with clear, meaningful steps. Reverstory will be available to paying subscribers.
If this newsletter landed with you, please comment, like, re-stack, or share it with a friend. This work is my calling, and every gesture helps it reach more souls who need it.
Live happy,
Hoppy
News:
Please join me at 3pm UK time on 4th December for a Live Video call with author, ceremonialist, celebrant and ritual weaver Isla Macleod to discuss ‘How Life’s Cycles Help Us Live with Purpose’. You will receive an email alert to join before the call, but here is the link too.
If you’re seeking facilitated clarity or direction, Hamish Mackay-Lewis runs a purpose discovery Workshop and a six month Course.
Latest video: Interview with Astrologer Sue Brayne
Website: Here
Go deeper: The Surprising Way Mortality Enhances Creativity / Surviving My Own Murder / The Ripple Effect of Denying Death
What people are saying about DTLWP: “This is beautiful, deep and touching. Honouring you for sharing to the world from your heart.” (Rowan)
There’s something quietly brilliant about flipping the whole thing and asking how you want the final feeling to land. Most folks spend their lives chasing goals and never pause long enough to check if any of it adds up to a life they’d actually want to remember.
Listened to the audio for the first time, as preparing to sleep. Lovely to hear the clarity and sincerity of your voice combined with the soothing music. I look forward to moving with it tomorrow!