The Five Remembrances meditation
We shouldn’t try to run away from fear but take time to recognize it, embrace it, and look deeply into its roots. ―Thich Nhat Hanh
👥 Serves: 1 person
🎚 Difficulty: Medium
⏳ Total time: 1-10 minutes
🥣 Ingredients: A quiet place with no distractions, “Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet” book (if you’re curious to find out more about it!)
🤓 Wholebeing Domains: Awareness, Discomfortability, Liberatory Learning, Meaning
💪 Wholebeing Skills: Acceptance, Breathing, Flourishing, Liberation, Mindfulness, Non-attachment, Perspective, Sense-making, Transcendence
The Five Remembrances meditation
📝 Description
A meditation to accept reality as it is and find peace.
In “Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet” (edited and with commentary by Sister True Dedication), late Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh introduces a practice called “the Five Remembrances” – a meditation to face and transform your fears. It may seem counterintuitive to find peace when contemplating the end of your life or of human civilization. For most, it would be paralysing or numbing. But, if applied with the right intention, it enables you to “break through to a new horizon of realism, possibility, and… peace.” This also leads you to the “realisation that every action of body, speech, and mind does have an impact; whatever we do resonates, far wider than we usually imagine.” We invite you to recite the Five Remembrances every night before going to sleep. Be aware of your breath as you recite them silently, digesting every line.
👣 Steps
Step 1 – First Remembrance (1’)
I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.
Step 2 – Second Remembrance (1’)
I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape having ill health.
Step 3 – Third Remembrance (1’)
I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
Step 4 – Fourth Remembrance (1’)
All that is dear to me and everyone I love is of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
Step 5 – Fifth Remembrance (1’)
I inherit the results of my actions of body, speech, and mind. My actions are my continuation.
Step 6 – Reflection • optional (5’)
Reflect on the following prompts offered by Sister True Dedication: Have I lived today in such a way that I can truly cherish everything I have and everyone I love? And how would I like to live tomorrow? What matters to me the most?