The Five Daily Remembrances

I'm very interested and intrigued by Buddhism. "The study of the self". And boy do we need more of this in today's modern world in my opinion. Whether you're interested in Buddhism to any extent or not, I hope you'll continue reading this post. You don't need to be practicing or interested in Buddhism to connect with the Five Daily Remembrances.

---

*Fun fact:

Buddhism is one of the world's largest religions and philosophies, originating in India over 2,500 years ago. It focuses on personal spiritual development and the attainment of a deep insight into the true nature of life.

"The Buddha" means "the awakened one". Therefore, the Buddha is NOT just one single person, but rather a state of being or conciousness. The first Buddha however, and the founder of this practice/philosophy was, Siddhartha Gautama and his story is very cool.

---

The Buddha suggests practicing "The Five Daily Remembrances" twice per day (morning and night). Here are the Five Daily Remembrances. Following those, lets quickly touch on each one.

"My body is going to get old"

It's a fact. However, no where does this state this is "good" or "bad" right? In today's world, we attribute aging to "everything we CAN'T do". Yet THAT comes down to two things mostly; Our state of mind AND our lifestyle habits. In this practice, what these words remind us of is that our body WILL change, it WILL have different needs and we physiologically won't get younger. Sure, we won't be able to do things as we did when we were younger in some cases. But this also speaks to a case of enjoying the PRESENT moments. Being present in the NOW and taking things in AS THEY HAPPEN, so that we don't miss those moments. None of that says "it's bad".

"My body is going to get sick"

Now we all "say" we know this. Yet when we do get sick we try to "push through" or get down on ourselves for it happening for some reason. It's inevitable. It's nature. It's life. We WILL get sick. Sometimes for a short period, and other times for longer. Regardless, it WILL happen. What this reminds us of is to NOT stress about it, as it is a part of this ONE human life we get to experience for a brief amount of time in the grand scheme of things.

"My body is going to die"

Just like the book "The Top Five Regrets of the Dying", what I love about Buddhism is that it actually takes the REALITY OF LIFE and puts it in front of us. It doesn't hide anything from us. We tend to AVOID, in our western society, the fact that we're ALL going to die. When we begin to keep this FACT OF LIFE at the forefront of our minds, rather than buried deep in the back of our mind as if it won't happen to us, we can begin to live our life in a very different way. Things begin to take a much clearer perspective in terms of how we CHOOSE to live this ONE life. The things that REALLY don't matter in the end, begin to NOT impact us to same the extent as they do when we ignore the inevitable.

"Someday I will lose everybody and everything that I hold dear"

This reminds us that whether WE die before others, or whether they pass before us, it's another FACT OF LIFE; We WILL lose everybody. Boy that sure gets your attention quick doesn't it?! It makes you realize the importance of telling those you care about that you care, spending time with those who GIVE YOU energy rather than drain it... It puts perspective into our days.

The same goes with our physical possessions. EVERYTHING we have we will lose. Whether that's soon, in the future as we get older or after we die. EVERYTHING will NO LONGER be ours. In the case of physical possessions, SOMEONE else will need to keep things, part with things and ultimately DECIDE what THEY do with what was ONCE ours, but is no longer.

"The only real possessions I have are my actions"

No one else owns our actions. This daily remembrance makes me better understand the practice of buddhism that helps us be LESS reactive in our actions. If our actions are the only real possession we truly have, would we not want those actions to come from a deeper place of meaning to us then? I sure think so.

Do you feel uncomfortable reading this??

If you do, it's okay! It's NOT you. When I first read these things, I certainly felt a bit of unease for sure. This is our western culture and our environment at work within us. Unless we conciously choose to pursue this sort of practice and lifestyle, we WILL NOT be aware of it in such a way and we certainly will NOT feel comfortable talking about it (or thinking about it). The more we allow ourselves this time to meditate on these facts of life, the more at ease you become with it. And the more practicality you see of exploring this more deeply for yourself.

The more I learn about these things, even through means outside of Buddhism specifically, I find it creates a peace, a freedom and actually CULTIVATES A GREATER SENSE OF CONTROL within myself. It allows me to practice what is meaningful to ME and NO ONE ELSE. In life, in work and in play it allows us to have a much clearer perspective of what WE (as individuals) see as meaningful in this ONE SHOT AT LIFE.