This meditation has truly made me happier in life. It increased my faith and makes me joyful and content. It’s also such a great meditation technique to practice when you’re paying homage to the Buddha or offering water to the Buddha. I always feel happy afterwards and I feel like my desire for sensual pleasures reduced temporarily after performing good deeds and recollecting the Buddha.
In this post, I’d like to discuss this meditation and the benefits of it. I will only be posting the English translations of the suttas here. Anyone who would like to read the Pali version can read it on suttacentral.
At that time their mind is unswerving, based on the Realized One.
A noble disciple whose mind is unswerving finds inspiration in the meaning and the teaching, and finds joy connected with the teaching.
When they’re joyful, rapture springs up. When the mind is full of rapture, the body becomes tranquil. When the body is tranquil, they feel bliss. And when they’re blissful, the mind becomes immersed in samādhi.
This is called a noble disciple who lives in balance among people who are unbalanced, and lives untroubled among people who are troubled. They’ve entered the stream of the teaching and develop the recollection of the Buddha.
You should develop this recollection of the Buddha while walking, standing, sitting, lying down, while working, and while at home with your children.
This meditation can be done even if you have responsibilities to do or if your house isn’t quiet.
Cūḷanikāsutta
“First, Ānanda, a Realized One would fill the galactic supercluster with light. When sentient beings saw the light, the Realized One would project his call so that they’d hear the sound.
That’s how a Realized One could make his voice heard throughout a galactic supercluster, or as far as he wants.”
When he said this, Venerable Ānanda said,
“I’m so fortunate, so very fortunate, to have a teacher with such power and might!”
When he said this, Venerable Udāyī said to Venerable Ānanda,
“What is it to you, Reverend Ānanda, if your teacher has such power and might?”
When he said this, the Buddha said to Venerable Udāyī,
“Not so, Udāyī, not so!
If Ānanda were to die while still not free of greed, he would rule as king of the gods for seven lifetimes, or as king of the Black Plum Tree Land for seven lifetimes, because of the confidence of his heart.
However, Ānanda will be fully extinguished in this very life.”
This is what the commentary has to say. I’d actually recommending reading the entire commentary on this sutta because it goes into more details. It’s also a great read.
This is the part from the commentary that I want to hightlight.
“Mahārajjanti cakkavattirajjaṃ” — The term “great kingship” refers to the sovereignty of a Cakkavatti, a universal monarch.
Then comes a subtle point:Even though the Buddha, when teaching Dhamma to just a single disciple, spoke of the immeasurable benefits that arise from the faith that disciple develops —
Why then, here, did he seem to place a limit on the benefit of Ānanda’s faith which arose upon hearing the Buddha’s lion’s roar?
Answer:
Because a noble disciple (like Ānanda) has a limited number of rebirths left in saṃsāra due to his spiritual attainment.Even a disciple of slow wisdom who is a stream-enterer (sotāpanna) will only take up to seven more births in human or heavenly realms before attaining final liberation (Nibbāna).
So the Buddha spoke of Ānanda’s destiny in limited terms — because his future lives are few.
“Diṭṭheva dhamme” — This means “even in this very life.”“Parinibbāyissati” — He will attain final Nibbāna, the end of all suffering, without remainder.
The commentary is basically saying that the Buddha said Venerable Ananda would either be reborn as the king of gods or a universal monarch for 7 lives because Venerable Ananda was a stream enterer at that time and only had 7 lives remaining.
For any non-ariya disciple who has such confidence in the Buddha, they would be reborn in such lives (as king of gods or universal monarch) for countless lives.
We see a case like this in the Subhūtittheraapadāna.
Worshipping him I stood right there
for all those seven nights and days.
Rising up from meditation
the Teacher, Best One in the World,declaring my karmic result
then did speak these words to me there:
“Practice Buddha-recollection,
it’s the supreme meditation.Cultivating this mindfulness
will be fulfilling mentally.
For thirty thousand aeons you
will delight in the world of gods.Eighty times as the king of gods
you will exercise divine rule.
A thousand times you’re going to be
wheel-turning king of a country.And you will have much local rule
innumerable by counting.
You’ll experience all of that:
fruit of Buddha-recollection.Transmigrating from birth to birth
you will receive many riches.
In wealth never deficiency:
fruit of Buddha-recollection.In one hundred thousand aeons,
arising in Okkāka’s clan,
the one whose name is Gotama
will be the Teacher in the world.Discarding eight hundred million
and many slaves and workers too,
you’ll renounce in the great Teaching
of Gotama the Blessed One.Satisfying the Sambuddha,
Gotama, the Bull of Śākyas,
you will be known as Subhūti,
a follower of the Teacher.Seated in the monks’ assembly
he’ll fix you in two foremost spots:
in the group of gift-receivers,
and also of forest-dwellers.”Having said this, the Sambuddha
who was named for the lotus flower,
the Hero flew into the sky
just like a swan-king in the air.Thus instructed by the World-Chief
and having praised the Thus-Gone-One,
satisfied I always practiced
supreme Buddha-recollection.Due to that karma done very well
with intention and firm resolve,
discarding my human body
I went to Tāvatiṁsa then.Eighty times as the king of gods
I did exercise divine rule,
and too a thousand times I was
a wheel-turning monarch then.And I did have much local rule
innumerable by counting.
I experienced supreme success:
fruit of Buddha-recollection.Transmigrating from birth to birth
I did receive many riches.
In wealth never deficiency:
fruit of Buddha-recollection.In the hundred thousand aeons
since I performed that good karma,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth;
fruit of Buddha-recollection.The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught!Thus indeed Venerable Subhūti Thera spoke these verses.
This shows the power of practicing the Recollection of the Buddha. It’s truly the supreme meditation. The Venerable Subhuti was never reborn in any bad realms for one hundred thousand aeons since he practiced the Recollection of the Buddha.
Furthermore, the Buddhaapadana mentions this.
Thus the Buddhas can’t be fathomed;
unfathomable their Teaching.
Unfathomable’s the result
of pleasure in what can’t be fathomed.
I hope that anyone who read this will practice the Recollection of the Buddha. It’s truly the supreme meditation technique that will make you happy and reduce boredom in your life.