The Upajjhatthana Sutta ("Subjects for Contemplation"), also known as the Abhiṇhapaccavekkhitabbaṭhānasutta in the
Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana Tipiṭaka, is a
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
discourse (
Pali
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...
: ''sutta'';
Skt.: ''
sutra
''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aph ...
'') famous for its inclusion of five remembrances, five facts regarding life's fragility and our true inheritance. The discourse advises that these facts are to be reflected upon often by all.
According to this discourse, contemplation of these facts leads to the abandonment of destructive attachments and actions and to the cultivation of factors necessary for
Awakening. According to the ''Ariyapariyesana Sutta'' (''Discourse on the Noble Quest'')
MN 26, the first three remembrances are the very insights that led
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
to renounce his royal household status and become an
ascetic
Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
after experiencing strong feelings of spiritual urgency (
saṃvega
Saṃvega is a Buddhist term which indicates a sense of shock, dismay and spiritual urgency to reach liberation and escape the suffering of samsara. According to Thanissaro Bhikku, ''saṃvega'' is the "first emotion you're supposed to bring to ...
).
As the 57th discourse of the fifth book of the
Pali Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school.
During th ...
's
Anguttara Nikaya (AN), this discourse's abbreviated designation is AN 5.57 or AN V.57. Alternately, it may be designated as A iii 71 to signify that in the
Pali Text Society
The Pali Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts".
Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The Pā ...
's Anguttara Nikaya's third volume, this discourse starts on page 71.
Five remembrances
Below are two English translations and the original Pali text of the "five remembrances":
The Buddha advised: "These are the five facts that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained."
[Thanissaro (1997b).](_blank)
/ref>
Since the Buddha redefined kamma as intention in the Nibbedhika Sutta, intention or intentionally committed actions may be better translations of kamma in the last recollection.
Rationale and contemplation
In this discourse, the Buddha explains that the rationale for contemplating (''paccavekkhato'') the first three facts is to weaken or overcome conceit (''mada'') in youth, in good health and in being alive; the fourth contemplation is to weaken or overcome lust (''rāga''); and, the fifth contemplation is to weaken or overcome irresponsibility embodied in improper (''duccarita'') acts, speech and thoughts. Thus, by contemplating these facts, the Noble Eightfold Path
The Noble Eightfold Path (Pali: ; Sanskrit: ) is an early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth, in the form of nirvana.
The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: ri ...
(anchored in right understanding, conduct and effort) is cultivated and spiritual fetters
Legcuffs are physical restraints used on the ankles of a person to allow walking only with a restricted stride and to prevent running and effective physical resistance. Frequently used alternative terms are leg cuffs, (leg/ankle) shackles, foot ...
are abandoned.
One reflects upon (''paṭisañcikkhati'') each of these facts in the following manner:
Related canonical discourses
Two central Buddhist concepts highlighted in this discourse and echoed throughout Buddhist scriptures are: personal suffering ('' dukkha'') associated with aging, illness and death; and, a natural ethical system based on mental, verbal and physical action (Pali: ''kamma
Kamma may refer to:
*Kamma (caste), a caste or social group found largely in Southern India
*Kamma, India, village in Punjab, India
*The Pali and Ardhamagadhi term for karma
*Bava Kamma, a traditional Jewish civil law procedure (1st volume of Nezi ...
''; Skt.: ''karma'').
''Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta'' (SN 56.11)
In the Buddha's first discourse, ''Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
The ''Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta'' (Pali; Sanskrit: ''Dharmacakrapravartana Sūtra''; English: ''The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of the Dharma Sutta'' or ''Promulgation of the Law Sutta'') is a Buddhist text that is considered by Buddhists t ...
'' ( SN 56.11), the Buddha is recorded as defining "suffering" (''dukkha'') in a manner that incorporates the first four remembrances: "Birth
Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...
is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering, association with the unpleasant is suffering, dissociation from the pleasant is suffering, not to receive what one desires is suffering...." This formula is reiterated throughout the Pali Canon.
''Sukumāla Sutta'' (AN 3.38)
The first three remembrances are antidotes
An antidote is a substance that can counteract a form of poisoning. The term ultimately derives from the Greek term φάρμακον ἀντίδοτον ''(pharmakon) antidoton'', "(medicine) given as a remedy". Antidotes for anticoagulants are s ...
to the "threefold pride" of youthfulness (''yobbana-mada''), health (''ārogya-mada'') and life (''jīvita-mada''). Nyanaponika & Bodhi (1999) note:
The ''Sukumāla Sutta'' ( AN 3.38) illustrates the bodhisatta
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
's early insights. For instance, in this discourse, the Buddha is recording as having observed:
''Devadūta Sutta'' (MN 130 & AN 3.35)
In the ''Devadūta Sutta'' ( MN 130), King Yama
Yama (Devanagari: यम) or Yamarāja (यमराज), is a deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld who predominantly features in Hindu and Buddhist religion, belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities ...
, the righteous god of death, in judging a newly deceased person's destination, asks whether or not the person has seen and reflected upon five "divine messengers" (''devadūta''). These five are:
# a newly born, defenseless infant
# a bent over, broken-toothed old person (aging)
# a suffering ill person (illness)
# a punished criminal
# a dead person (death)
Regarding each of these, Yama would query:
In the similarly named sutta AN 3.35, Yama's interrogation is reduced to addressing the three universal conditions of aging, illness and death.
''Dasadhamma Sutta'' (AN 10.48)
In the ''Dasadhamma Sutta'' ( AN 10.48), the Buddha identifies "ten things" (''dasa dhamma'') that renunciates (''pabbajita'') should reflect on often:
# "I have become casteless"
# "My life is dependent on others"
# "My behavior should be different rom that of householders
Rom, or ROM may refer to:
Biomechanics and medicine
* Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient
* Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac
* ...
# "Can I fault myself with regard to my virtue?"
# "Can my knowledgeable fellows in the holy life, on close examination, fault me with regard to my virtue?"
# "I will grow different, separate from all that is dear & appealing to me"
# "I am the owner of my actions (''kamma''), heir to my actions, born of my actions, related through my actions, and have my actions as my arbitrator. Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I fall heir"
# "What am I becoming as the days & nights fly past?"
# "Do I delight in an empty dwelling?"
# "Have I attained a superior human attainment, a truly noble distinction of knowledge & vision, such that – when my fellows in the holy life question me in the last days of my life – I won't feel abashed?"
As can be readily seen, this list retains the fourth and fifth remembrances of the ''Upajjhatthana Sutta'' as its sixth and seventh contemplations.
''Cula-kammavibhanga Sutta'' (MN 135)
In the ''Cula-kammavibhanga Sutta'' ( MN 135), the Buddha is asked to elaborate on his statement:
The Buddha responds in the context of the Buddhist notion of rebirth
Rebirth may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Film
* ''Rebirth'' (2011 film), a 2011 Japanese drama film
* ''Rebirth'' (2016 film), a 2016 American thriller film
* ''Rebirth'', a documentary film produced by Project Rebirth
* ''The Re ...
. He identifies that killing or physically harming living beings, or being ill-tempered or envious or uncharitable to monastics or stubborn or uncurious about the teachings leads to inferior rebirths; while abstaining from these actions (''kamma'') leads to superior rebirths. The Buddha summarizes:
Alternate titles
Some alternate titles for the ''Upajjhatthana Sutta'' are based on this discourse's opening words (in English and Pali):
Thus, based on the discourse's third Pali word, the Pali-language SLTP (n.d.) text simply refers to this discourse as the '. In general, ' (pl. ') can be translated as "abode" or "state" or "condition." In the above translation, Thanissaro (1997b) translates ' as "fact."
In addition, based on the discourse's fourth and fifth Pali words, the Pali-language '' '' edition is entitled, '. Upalavanna (n.d.) translates this into English as, "Should be constantly reflected upon."
Furthermore, Nyanaponika & Bodhi (1999) provide this discourse with the English-language title, "Five Contemplations for Everyone."[Nyanaponika & Bodhi (1999), pp. 135-37.]
See also
* Pāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school.
During th ...
* Sutta Piṭaka
The Sutta Pitaka (; or Suttanta Pitaka;
Basket of Discourse; cf Sanskrit ) is the second of the three divisions of the Tripitaka or Pali Canon, the Pali collection of Buddhist writings of Theravada Buddhism. The other two parts of the Tripiṭa ...
* Anguttara Nikāya
* Majjhima Nikāya
The Majjhima Nikāya (-nikāya; "Collection of Middle-length Discourses") is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka (lit ...
* Samyutta Nikaya
* ''Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
The ''Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta'' (Pali; Sanskrit: ''Dharmacakrapravartana Sūtra''; English: ''The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of the Dharma Sutta'' or ''Promulgation of the Law Sutta'') is a Buddhist text that is considered by Buddhists t ...
''
* ''Samaññaphala Sutta
The Samaññaphala Sutta, "The Fruit of Contemplative Life," is the second discourse (Pali, ''sutta''; Skt., ''sutra'') of the Digha Nikaya.
In terms of narrative, this discourse tells the story of King Ajātasattu, son and successor of King Bi ...
''
* Four Noble Truths
In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: ; pi, cattāri ariyasaccāni; "The four Arya satyas") are "the truths of the Noble Ones", the truths or realities for the "spiritually worthy ones".[aFour Noble Truths: BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY Encycl ...
* Noble Eightfold Path
The Noble Eightfold Path (Pali: ; Sanskrit: ) is an early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth, in the form of nirvana.
The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: ri ...
* Patikulamanasikara
* Jarāmaraṇa
* Anussati
Notes
Sources
* Bhikkhu Bodhi, Bodhi, Bhikkhu (ed.) (2005). ''In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pāli Canon''. Boston: Wisdom Pubs. .
* Bodhgaya News (n.d.). Pali Canon Online Database. Available at http://www.bodhgayanews.net/pali.htm.
* Thera (trans.) (1994). ''Cula-kammavibhanga Sutta: The Shorter Exposition of Kamma'' ( MN 135). Retrieved 31 Aug 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.135.nymo.html.
* , Bhikkhu (trans.) & Bhikkhu Bodhi (ed.) (2001). ''The Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya''. Boston: Wisdom Publications. .
* Nyanaponika Thera
Nyanaponika Thera or Nyanaponika Mahathera (July 21, 1901 – 19 October 1994) was a German-born Theravada Buddhist monk and scholar who, after ordaining in Sri Lanka, later became the co-founder of the Buddhist Publication Society and author ...
& Bhikkhu Bodhi (1999). ''Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: An Anthology of Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya''. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press. .
* Piyadassi Thera
Piyadassi Maha Thera ( si, පියදස්සි මහා ස්ථවිරයන් වහන්සේ, 8 July 1914 – 18 August 1998) was a preacher of the Dhamma both in Sinhala and in English. He was born on 8 July 1914 at Kotahena in C ...
(trans.) (1999). ''Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth'' ( SN 56.11). Retrieved 30 Aug 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.piya.html.
* Rhys Davids Rhys Davids as a surname may refer to:
*Thomas William Rhys Davids, British scholar, founder and president of the Pāli Text Society, husband of next
* Caroline Augusta Foley Rhys Davids, British scholar, second president of the Pāli Text Society, ...
, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). ''The Pali Text Society’s Pali–English Dictionary''. Chipstead: Pali Text Society
The Pali Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts".
Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The Pā ...
. A general on-line search engine for the PED is available at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/.
* Sri Lanka Tripitaka Project (SLTP) (n.d.). ( AN 5.6). Retrieved 29 Aug 2007 from "MettaNet - Lanka" at http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara3/5-pancakanipata/006-nivaranavaggo-p.html.
* Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1994). ''Dasadhamma Sutta: Ten Things'' ( AN 10.48). Retrieved 31 Aug 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.048.than.html.
* Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997a). ''Sukhamala Sutta: Refinement'' ( AN 3.38). Retrieved 29 Aug 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.038.than.html.
* Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997b). ''Upajjhatthana Sutta: Subjects for Contemplation'' ( AN 5.57). Retrieved 3 Oct 2006 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an05/an05.057.than.html.
* Upalavanna, Sister (trans.) (n.d.). ''Nīvaranavaggo'' ( AN 5:6). Retrieved 29 Aug 2007 from "MettaNet - Lanka" at http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara3/5-pancakanipata/006-nivaranavaggo-e.html.
External links
Upajjhatthana Sutta read aloud
{{Buddhism topics
Anguttara Nikaya