The Five Daily Recollections

The five daily recollections is a beautiful meditation for living in the present moment . This meditation was first introduced to me when I was studying with a Vipassana teacher. I believe it is a useful universal teaching. The Buddha came up with these daily recollections to help us understand how precious our present moment is.

I find this meditation to be a guidepost within my yoga practice, my massage work and life in general. The five recollections can take awhile, to be comfortable with, what comes up for you as these lines are repeated. I’ve had people say to me “but, it’s so depressing”, as a matter of fact, it’s quite the opposite. What’s depressing is the denial of age, sickness and death. Age, sickness and death are as equally part of life as birth, health and joys. When we are more aware of our impermanence then we are more likely to live more fully, with more respect for self and others. My personal favorite line is the last one.

I am of the nature to age; I have not gone beyond aging.

I am of the nature to sicken; I have not gone beyond sickness.

I am of the nature to die; I have not gone beyond dying.

All that is mine, beloved and pleasing, will become otherwise, will become separated from me.

I am the owner of my action, heir to my action, related to my action, abide supported by my action, whatever I do for good or for ill will, of that I will be the heir.

In the End

Before signing off, I would like to add a paraphrased lyric from Jon de Kadt’s album, One River. “In the end, when these bones are only bones, all that matters, is how much we gave and how much we loved.”