The 5 Remembrances of Buddhism

If you read the sacred texts - amongst them the 5 Remembrances - of Buddhism you may find that many of the texts seem to contradict each other.

For example you have the Four Noble Truths, which is a very important principle of Buddhism. This concept states that:1) There is suffering in this world.2) This suffering has a cause.3) We can cease to create suffering for ourselves by removing the cause.4) The way to the end of suffering is the Noble Right Fold Path.

So this is one of the basic texts that is the foundation of Buddhism. Another is the Heart Sutra and still another is the 5 Remembrances.

On the other hand you have the Heart Sutra in which the Boddhisattva Avalokiteshvara tells us that there is no suffering, no cause of suffering, no cessation of suffering and no path leading to the end of suffering.

Isn’t this an obvious contradiction?

The way to reconcile these two texts is to understand the difference between Relative Truth and Absolute Truth.

Consider a wave in the ocean. The relative truth regarding that wave is that it has a beginning and an end, that its existence is transient and momentary, and that it is larger or smaller or prettier or younger or older than other waves. These are all relative truths about the wave and if the wave had self consciousness then all these aspects of it’s being may seem very important to it.

In this field or area of relative truth the wave may fear its impending demise and thus suffer; it may develop an inferiority complex by comparing itself with other waves and thus suffer just as we human beings do. For this self conscious wave the Four Noble Truths and the 5 Remembrances as explained by Buddhism would certainly be useful and inspiring.

So the Four Noble Truths help us walk the path of Relative Truth in order to reach Absolute Truth.

And what is absolute truth as applied to the wave. It is simply this: The wave is made of water; it is a part of the ocean; it is without beginning or an end (like the ocean); and it never was and never can be apart from the ocean. Once the wave reaches this level of insight it does not need either the Four Noble Truths or the 5 Remembrances.

And once this absolute truth is experienced then the message of the Heart Sutra applies – that there is no suffering, no cause of suffering, no cessation of suffering, and no path leading to the end of suffering. The wave has lost its illusory sense of a separate identity, it no longer exists, it is one with the ocean, so who is there to suffer.

But it is essential that we understand this not just conceptually but also experientially. We need to experience our oneness with the Universe – not just form and believe in concepts about it. There is a world of difference between sitting indoors in a dark room and forming theories about the existence and nature of the Sun, but never stepping outside and seeing the Sun for yourself with your own eyes. There is a world of difference between this and stepping outside and seeing the Sun for yourself with your own eyes. We need the authentic experience – not just concepts.

And the way to this experience, the way to absolute truth is to walk the path of relative truth.

One relative truth as expounded by Buddhism is the 5 Remembrances. The Buddha recommends that we recite the 5 Remembrances every day:

1) I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.2) I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape having ill health.3) I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape Death.4) All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.5) My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.

Frankly I have not started this practice myself although I am doing Vipassana meditation as taught by S.N Goenka and this meditation practice stresses impermanence. But the practice of reciting these Five Remembrances should impress upon us the fact that our possessions, our achievements, our relationships, our health, our work, our youth, our body, our mind, our life itself is transient. Everything that we now consider as comprising our separate individuality and separate self is of this moment only. We may then stop taking these aspects of our lives so seriously.

Again I am not speaking from experience since I have not started this practice. But I think it will help you if you do so. If the wave in the ocean stops filling its mind with the transient aspects of its being and considering them important then there is the possibility that it will realize that it is water.

I hope you enjoyed this article and that it will be useful to you.

Stay tuned for more articles in this continuing series.

Top of Page 5 Remembrances
Back to Home Page Eastern Philosophy and Meditation