Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Visuddhimagga · Chapter 8

Other Recollections

Anussatikammaṭṭhānaniddesa — Part II: Samādhi (Concentration)

Setting
No narrative setting; the chapter completes the ten recollections begun in Chapter 7
Speaker
Buddhaghosa, continuing the survey of the forty meditation subjects previewed in Chapter 3
Form
Four subjects treated in sequence, markedly different in character from one another despite belonging to the same traditional category
Length
one of the longest chapters in the work, since mindfulness of breathing and mindfulness occupied with the body each receive extended, detailed treatment
Northern parallel
Recollection of death, contemplation of the body's parts, and mindfulness of breathing all appear widely across Buddhist meditation literature; this guide does not assert a specific matching passage
Difficulty
★★★☆☆ — four fairly distinct subjects covered in one chapter, with breathing's detailed step scheme the most technical material so far

Why this chapter

Chapter 7 covered six of the traditional ten recollections; this chapter completes the set with the remaining four — death, the body, breathing, and peace. Despite sharing the recollection label, these four differ from each other more than the six in Chapter 7 did from one another, and one of them, mindfulness of breathing, breaks the pattern set in the previous chapter entirely by reaching all the way to full absorption. The chapter is worth reading as much for that contrast as for the four techniques themselves.

Reading guide

Four subjects, one chapter

The chapter groups recollection of death, mindfulness occupied with the body, mindfulness of breathing, and recollection of peace together because, along with Chapter 7's six, they complete the traditional list of ten recollections — not because the four themselves are especially alike. Their character, difficulty, and depth of concentration all differ considerably.

Recollection of death

This recollection has a practitioner reflect on death's certainty and its unpredictable timing, using any of several traditional approaches — among them, reflecting on how death spares no one regardless of status or achievement, and reflecting on the body's fragility. The intended effect is a sense of spiritual urgency rather than morbid fear, and like most of Chapter 7's recollections, this one is said to reach only access concentration, given the weight of its object.

Mindfulness occupied with the body

This subject has a practitioner mentally divide the body into some thirty-two anatomical parts — hair, nails, teeth, skin, sinews, bones, and so on — reflecting on each in turn. Its purpose runs parallel to Chapter 6's foulness meditation: undermining an unexamined sense of the body as attractive or as a single, unified self, but applied to the living body rather than to a corpse's visible decay.

Mindfulness of breathing

Traditionally regarded as the most highly praised of all forty subjects, this recollection is set out through a detailed sixteen-step scheme organized into four groups of four: attending first to the breath itself (its length, the whole body of breathing, its calming), then to rapture and happiness arising with it, then to the state of mind itself, and finally to impermanence and letting go as objects of contemplation built on that same steady attention to breathing.

Why breathing stands apart

Unlike the six recollections of Chapter 7 and the death and peace recollections here, mindfulness of breathing is described as capable of reaching full absorption through all four levels of jhāna, on par with the kasinas. The chapter attributes this to breathing's nature as a single, continuously present physical process, rather than a complex set of qualities to be called to mind in sequence.

Recollection of peace

The final recollection reflects on the qualities of Nibbāna itself as the cessation of suffering. Like most of this chapter's other subjects, it is said to reach only access concentration, its object being too profound for full absorption to be reached by reflecting on it indirectly, prior to its direct realization.

What follows

Chapter 9 turns to the four divine abidings — loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity — each capable, like several of the kasinas and mindfulness of breathing, of reaching a deep level of absorption.

Key terms

maraṇānussati — recollection of death — reflecting on death's certainty and unpredictable timing, meant to cultivate a sense of urgency.
kāyagatāsati — mindfulness occupied with the body — reflecting in turn on some thirty-two anatomical parts, undermining the body's apparent attractiveness.
ānāpānassati — mindfulness of breathing — traditionally the most highly praised of the forty subjects, and the only recollection in this chapter capable of reaching full absorption.
upasamānussati — recollection of peace — reflecting on the qualities of Nibbāna as the cessation of suffering.
saṃvega — a sense of spiritual urgency — the quality recollection of death is meant to cultivate, distinct from ordinary fear.

Self-check quiz

Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.

Question 1 of 10
What four subjects does this chapter cover?
Correct: A. Completing the traditional list of ten recollections begun in Chapter 7.
Question 2 of 10
What is recollection of death meant to cultivate?
Correct: A. Reflecting on death's certainty and unpredictable timing.
Question 3 of 10
What technique does mindfulness occupied with the body use?
Correct: B. Hair, nails, teeth, skin, sinews, bones, and so on.
Question 4 of 10
What is mindfulness occupied with the body meant to undermine?
Correct: B. Its purpose runs parallel to Chapter 6's foulness meditation, applied to the living body.
Question 5 of 10
How is mindfulness of breathing traditionally regarded among the forty meditation subjects?
Correct: D. Set out through a detailed sixteen-step scheme in this chapter.
Question 6 of 10
How is mindfulness of breathing's method organized?
Correct: A. Moving from the breath itself, through rapture and happiness, to the mind, and finally to impermanence and letting go.
Question 7 of 10
What makes mindfulness of breathing unique among this chapter's four subjects?
Correct: B. Attributed to breathing's nature as a single, continuously present physical process.
Question 8 of 10
What does recollection of peace reflect on, and what is its ceiling on concentration?
Correct: D. Its object is described as too profound for full absorption to be reached indirectly.
Question 9 of 10
What does Chapter 9 turn to next?
Correct: A. Several of which are also capable, like mindfulness of breathing, of reaching deep absorption.
Question 10 of 10
Where can a reader go for Chapter 8's full translated text?
Correct: A. As with every page in this series, since none reproduces the translation itself.
Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

Further reading

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