9.
The Discourse about Udāyī
29.
Then the Blessed One addressed the Venerable Udāyī:
"How many states of recollection are there, Udāyī?"
When this was said, the Venerable Udāyī remained silent.
For the second time the Blessed One addressed the Venerable Udāyī:
"How many states of recollection are there, Udāyī?"
For the second time the Venerable Udāyī remained silent.
For the third time the Blessed One addressed the Venerable Udāyī:
"How many states of recollection are there, Udāyī?"
For the third time the Venerable Udāyī remained silent.
Then the Venerable Ānanda said this to the Venerable Udāyī: "The Teacher is calling you, friend Udāyī." "I am listening, friend Ānanda, to the Blessed One. Here, venerable sir, a monk recollects manifold past lives - that is, one birth, two births, etc. Thus with aspects and terms he recollects manifold past lives. This, venerable sir, is a state of recollection."
Then the Blessed One addressed the Venerable Ānanda - "I knew, Ānanda - 'This foolish man Udāyī does not dwell devoted to higher consciousness.' How many states of recollection are there, Ānanda?"
"Five states of recollection, venerable sir. Which five? Here, venerable sir, a monk, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, etc. he enters and dwells in the third meditative absorption. This, venerable sir, is a state of recollection that, when thus developed and cultivated, leads to pleasant abiding in the present life.
"Furthermore, venerable sir, a monk attends to the perception of light, determines the perception of day: as by day so by night, as by night so by day; thus with an open mind, unobstructed, he develops a mind of luminosity. This, venerable sir, is a state of recollection that, when thus developed and cultivated, leads to the attainment of knowledge and vision.
"Furthermore, venerable sir, a monk reviews this very body, upwards from the soles of the feet, downwards from the top of the hair, bounded by the skin, as full of many kinds of impurity: 'There are in this body head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, undigested food, excrement, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, spittle, snot, synovic fluid, urine.' This, venerable sir, is a state of recollection that, when thus developed and cultivated, leads to the abandoning of sensual lust.
"Furthermore, venerable sir, a monk, just as if he were to see a body abandoned in a charnel ground, dead for one day, or dead for two days, or dead for three days, bloated, discoloured, festering. He compares this very body thus - 'This body too is of such a nature, will become thus, has not gone beyond this.'
"Or just as if he were to see a body abandoned in a charnel ground, being devoured by crows, or being devoured by hawks, or being devoured by vultures, or being devoured by dogs, or being devoured by jackals, or being devoured by various kinds of creatures. He compares this very body thus - 'This body too is of such a nature, will become thus, has not gone beyond this.'
"Or just as if he were to see a body abandoned in a charnel ground, a skeleton with flesh and blood, held together by sinews... etc. a skeleton without flesh, smeared with blood, held together by sinews... a skeleton without flesh and blood, held together by sinews. Bones disconnected, scattered in all directions - here a hand bone, there a foot bone, here a shin bone, there a thigh bone, here a hip bone, there a rib bone, here a spine bone, there a shoulder bone, here a neck bone, there a jaw bone, here a tooth bone, there a skull; bones white, the colour of shells; bones heaped up, more than a year old; bones rotten, reduced to powder. He compares this very body thus - 'This body too is of such a nature, will become thus, has not gone beyond this.' This, venerable sir, is a state of recollection, when thus developed and cultivated, leads to the uprooting of the conceit 'I am'.
"Furthermore, venerable sir, a monk, with the abandoning of pleasure... etc. he enters and dwells in the fourth meditative absorption. This, venerable sir, is a state of recollection, when thus developed and cultivated, leads to the penetration of the various elements. These, venerable sir, are the five states of recollection."
"Good, good, Ānanda! Well then, Ānanda, remember this sixth state of recollection as well. Here, Ānanda, a monk goes forward mindfully, steps back mindfully, stands mindfully, sits down mindfully, lies down mindfully, determines upon his work mindfully. This, Ānanda, is a state of recollection, when thus developed and cultivated, leads to mindfulness and full awareness." The ninth.