Zan Murray’s Religion Column: Five Remembrances

In Buddhist practice, however, we are offered a teaching regarding these life changes called the “Five Remembrances,” which are recited daily by many monastics and lay people. Upon first hearing, many people say, “That’s depressing! I don’t want to hear that!” My reaction was different. When I first heard them, I felt my heart loosen in my chest, like I’d just let out a deep exhale, because they felt like someone was finally telling me the truth about life.

Here are the Five Remembrances:

• I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape aging.
• I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape illness.
• I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
• All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
• I inherit the results of my actions in body, speech, and mind. My actions are the ground on which I stand.

The first four speak to impermanence and how we experience it in ourselves, our relationships and our belongings.

They assure us that these conditions happen to everyone, and that age, illness and death are not a failure on our part. When taken to heart, these remind us to cherish our good health and strength when we experience it, and to appreciate and celebrate our family and friends and all that we have.

We can see growth, development, self-care, rest and release in these lines. Rather than lamenting inevitable loss, we acknowledge that change is part of living. Life is precious in its impermanence, and everything is in constant transformation.

The last lines call to me like a trumpet. My actions are the only aspects of my life that I truly have any control over. In Buddhist thought, this realization points two ways. One is that my actions emanate out from me like ripples, and I have no idea how far they will travel and who or what they will touch. These continue long after I’m gone, and create my only lasting gift or harm to the world. The second is that my actions, speech and thought also have a backwash – they will return to me in some way.

Sometimes this is called “karma.” Rephrasing a Biblical teaching, we reap what we sow.

The Five Remembrances also apply to our social and natural worlds. Although nations, cultures and planets have a different lifespan than a human being, they also are subject to aging, illness and eventual end. Individual actions congregate into collective actions.

Choices made by groups of people are amplified and have a global effect. All one needs to do is look around the world as it exists today to see how we experience the karma of our collective thinking, speaking and acting – both beneficial and harmful. Collective action changes through the choices of individuals.

I’d like to share with you five vows composed by Joanna Macy, a Buddhist teacher and scholar, from her book “Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re In without Going Crazy.” This set of intentions can help us, individually and collectively, to sow beneficial action and reap its harvest:

• To commit myself daily to the healing of our world and the welfare of all beings.
• To live on Earth more lightly and less violently in the food, products and energy I consume.
• To draw strength and guidance from the living Earth, the ancestors, the future generations, and my brothers and sisters of all species.
• To support others in our work for the world and ask for help when I need it.
• To pursue a daily practice that clarifies my mind, strengthens my heart and supports me in observing these vows.