The Five Remembrances
The great turning wheel of the Dharma reminds us to recognize that this human life comes with a set of non-preferable & unavoidable truths:
I am of the nature to grow old. I cannot escape old age.
I am of the nature to grow ill. I cannot escape sickness.
I am of the nature to die. I cannot escape death.
I will be separated from everything and everyone I hold dear.
My only true possession is my actions.
While these truths are difficult to turn towards without the grimace of dismay, the Buddha jovially taught that contemplating and embracing them can provide a pathway to a more open, connected, and joyful way of living.
The Five Remembrances, described in the Upajjhatthana Sutta, are meant to be memorized, recited, and reflected upon as a tool for understanding and accepting the impermanent nature of life.
Practicing with the five remembrances can help ground in us the embodied truth of impermanence so we might more wakefully and vividly commit to our lives and our offerings.
How would you spend today if you remembered that you could die tomorrow?
What would you tell your loved ones? What quality of mind would you maintain?
May these reminders, such as— “our actions are our only true belongings”—become a North Star guiding our day-to-day grasp on the pulse and immediacy of this vibrant uncertain life.
“Say I’m on my way out the door of this life, having lost everything—my home, my family, my friends, my sanity, my ability to keep from soiling myself. I’ve lost it all,” Lear writes. “And on my way out, I have to take everything I’ve done. Everything I’ve said. Seeing it like this gives me an intimate relationship with my actions that shapes how I live in the moment.”
Kali Basman
International yoga teacher Kali Basman enriches the paradigm of Yin Yoga to integrate distinct aspects of Self into an innate wisdom practice to awaken a rich inner life and radiate with ritual. Her offering honors Yin Yoga as a tool to surrender to our intrinsic wholeness.
On the textured path of mindful healing, Kali is celebrated for her integration of the 5 Elements and Chinese Meridian Theory with self-inquiry, embodied Anatomy, Buddhist Philosophy of Equanimity, and sharp intellect.