Mindfulnessinaction’s Blog
An interactive Mindfulness Meditation blog1st Thought
“There are these five facts that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay follower or monk. Which five?
“‘I am sure to become old, I cannot avoid ageing…’
There is nothing easy about coming to terms with reality. Yet when we do, everything suddenly becomes easy. Getting a handle on the “situation at hand” is empowering, it gets your head out of the sand and gets you working on solutions, alternatives or simply the strength to just sit still and be.
None of us wants to grow old, we all would love to stay young, vibrant and never have to experience the effects of aging and all that comes with it. However, wanting is not going to change the reality. Wanting is what ushers in the very suffering that hounds us every moment of our existence. When we want the impossible our lives become miserable beyond compare.
There are two more components to this contemplation that the Buddha addresses that we will discuss in detail in upcoming posts. First he explains why we should contemplate this fact “often” and then he addresses how this understanding relates to all living beings in the web of existence.
Over the next few posts we will do a little more ground work discussing these components in more detail and their impact in our personal and social lives. We will then begin a series of short meditations, over a nine day period, using what we have discussed as our meditation subject.
To gain a little more perspective you can take a look at the page entitled The Five Thoughts for All. In this section you will find an introduction to this retreat as well as downloads of the full Sutra and an eBook of a dharma talk I gave back in May about this subject.
Your participation is priceless and your experience will no doubt help us all move along the path, so please don’t be shy in sharing your thoughts and comments.
May you ever be well, happy and peaceful!
3 Comments»
mindfulnessinaction wrote @
Thanks Ralph…Thanks so much for your kind words and for taking time to visit…you say you had not heard of the five contemplations before…I was first exposed to this when listening to sutra readings on line about two or three months ago. The contemplation has served me well.
Had not come across a discussion of the Five Contemplations before. Great to see it presented in this way; clear and easy to understand. Thanks for posting. Will follow!