The 5 daily remembrances

I love this short daily morning insight meditation practice from Tibetan Buddhism!

Try it tomorrow when you wake up. Remember to smile first and then recite the 5 remembrances - it should only take a few minutes. Pause for 3 deep breaths between each one.

·      Insight helps remove anger, ignorance, cravings

·      We focus on impermanence - This could be our last breath, last step, last meal, last day.  Getting older, death, changing bodies are all inevitable.  People are unreliable and often let us down or leave us.  Our happiness cannot depend on others or situations

·      We need to teach ourselves to be ok with unpleasant feelings.  If we wait, they will pass.  All feelings / things come and go.  This lesson we can use in our ordinary lives to great advantage.  We can become ok with things happening that we don’t want to happen

·      This is a mindfulness practice to help enjoy life, reduce stress and tension, be awake, aware, alive, alert.  The body cannot go backwards!

1. Just like everyone else, i am of the nature to grow old.  There is no way to escape growing old

2. Just like everyone else, I am of the nature to have ill health.  There is no way to escape getting ill

3. Just like everyone else, i am of the nature to die.  There is no way to escape death

4. All that is mine, everything I love and everyone i love, are of the nature to change and to leave me – there is no way to escape separation from these things

5. Just like everyone else, I am subject to the results of my actions. My actions are my only true belongings. i cannot escape the consequences of my actions.  They are the ground on which i stand