Daily recollections
As a lifelong follower of the Buddha’s teaching, I try to practice daily recollections. This practice can strengthen one’s mental resolve…
As a lifelong follower of the Buddha’s teaching, I try to practice daily recollections. This practice can strengthen one’s mental resolve and can also heighten one’s ability to keep unperturbed mind for longer than just a few fleeting seconds.
So, what is the practice of daily recollections? The practice consists of remembering to stop, at least once a day, to recall few basic facts of existence.
My favourite daily recollection is to examine our fascination with our bodies. There isn’t anything in this world that we cherish more than our own bodies. We truly love our body, we lavish it with undivided attention, we cater to its every whim, and we get seriously distraught if anything happens to it. Even the smallest scratch, even breaking a fingernail or some similar tiny inconvenience, can send us into an almost desperate state.
And yet, despite the fact that we never seem to spare any effort to serve our body, it keeps betraying us. Ever since we can remember, our body has been sending us the clear message that it is utterly unreliable. To begin with, it is extremely inconvenient to maintain this body. Our fingernails and toenails keep growing and we need to clip them. Our hair keeps growing and we need to cut and style it. Our facial hairs are also such a nuisance, as they keep growing and need to be trimmed.
Add to that the fact the our body is constantly leaking. We keep producing and swallowing saliva every moment of our lives. We keep sweating, and many times per day need to rush to the toilet. We excrete all kinds of unsavoury body liquids. Our body odour is disgusting, which forces us to wash it daily and apply deodorant and perfumes.
Our body gets injured very easily and we can start bleeding even after a smallest damage to the body. Our bones, joints, skin, teeth, are so easy to break and then it is super hard to heal (or, as is the case with teeth, once broken the cannot heal).
Given all that, why do we keep cherishing this body as if it’s the most precious thing in the universe? We know full well that pretty soon this body will perform its final act of betrayal — it will simply stop functioning when the dying moment arrives. Until then, we are given ample chance to experience many awfully unpleasant moments connected with this body. Often times the body is tired, uncomfortable, it aches, then it gets seriously ill, and even mild headaches or a toothache/earache/stomachache can completely ruin our day.
Bottom line, there are actually few and in-between moments when this body is not causing us much consternation.
So, why do we adore it so much? Why are we so blatantly mistaking the unpleasant for the pleasant?
The answer is simple: sensual pleasures. The Buddha called them base feelings; he explained how such emotions and sensations are wasteful. But we crave them nevertheless.
We see a lovely shape of a feminine curve on a woman’s body, and that sensation gives us immense pleasure. We see a beautiful garden with many pretty flowers blooming. We see a magnificent sight of a mountain range. We are attached to sensual pleasures.
We hear beautiful sounds. We are enchanted by great music. We smell beautiful rose. We smell a nice cake. We taste some enticing flavours. We touch some soft, seductive fabric. Or a soft, silky skin of the woman we love.
Lastly, there are thoughts, concepts, ideas, feelings and emotions. According to the Buddha’s teaching, those are also sensual pleasures. All six senses keep us glued to our body. To the body that is a traitor. To the body that we think we own and control, but in reality the body never asks us for a permission to do anything. The body does whatever it feels like doing, even in the most inopportune moments that may be critical for our wellbeing.
It is a laughable delusion that we think we can control this body. When was the last time our body asked us if it would be okay to get sick? Or, to get tired and sleepy? The body doesn’t care, doesn’t listen to our wishes.
Isn’t it time we abandon this traitor? Why cling on to a childish dream that one day maybe we’ll get to keep this body forever and it will serve our every whim? Freedom is much better than this humiliating slavery to the body.