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Anussati (Pāli; Sanskrit: Anusmriti) means "recollection," "contemplation," "remembrance," "meditation" and "mindfulness."[1]InBuddhism, anussati refers to either:
Recollection of the Buddha (Pali Buddhānussati, Skt. Buddhanusmrti, Tib. Sans- rgyas -rjes-su dran pa)
Recollection of the Dhamma (Pali Dhammānussati, Skt. Dharmanusmrti, Tib. Chos- rjes- su dran pa)
Recollection of the Sangha (Pali Saṅghānussati, Skt. Sanghanusmrti: Tib. dge -hdun- rjes- su dran pa)[2]
The Dhammapada declares that the Buddha's disciples who constantly practice recollection of the Three Jewels "ever awaken happily."[3] According to the Theragatha, such a practice will lead to "the height of continual joy."[4]
Unlike other subjects of meditative recollection mentioned in this article, the Three Jewels are considered "devotional contemplations."[5] The Three Jewels are listed as the first three subjects of recollection for each of the following lists as well.
On a Buddhist sabbath (Uposatha) day, in addition to practicing the Eight Precepts, the Buddha enjoined a disciple to engage in one or more of Five Recollections:
According to the Buddha, for one who practices such recollections: "'his mind is calmed, and joy arises; the defilements of his mind are abandoned.'"[6]
The Buddha tells a disciple that the mind of one who practices these recollections "is not overcome with passion, not overcome with aversion, not overcome with delusion.[8] His mind heads straight, ... gains joy connected with the Dhamma..., rapture arises..., the body grows calm ... experiences ease..., the mind becomes concentrated."[9]
InMahayana practice, the first six recollections were commonly taught and the Buddha anusmriti was particularly emphasized in many popular sutras such as the Medicine Buddha sutra.[10]
In terms of the development of meditative absorption, mindfulness of the breath can lead to all four jhanas, mindfulness of the body can lead only to the first jhana, while the eight other recollections culminate in pre-jhanic "access concentration" (upacara samadhi).[5]
The standard formula when recollecting the Buddha is:
Iti pi so bhagavā arahaṃ sammā-saṃbuddho vijjācaraṇasaṃpanno sugato lokavidū anuttaro purisadammasārathī satthā devamanussānaṃ buddho bhagavā ti[15]
'Indeed, the Blessed One is worthy and rightly self-awakened, consummate in knowledge & conduct, well-gone, an expert with regard to the world, unexcelled as a trainer for those people fit to be tamed, the Teacher of divine & human beings, awakened, blessed.'[16]
It has been suggested that the Recollection of the Buddha identified in the Theravada canon might have been the basis for the more elaborately visual contemplations typical of Tibetan Buddhism.[17]
The standard formula when recollecting the Dhamma is:
'The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One, to be seen here & now, timeless, inviting verification, pertinent, to be realized by the wise for themselves.'[16]
The standard formula when recollecting the Sangha is:
'The Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples who have practiced well... who have practiced straight-forwardly... who have practiced methodically... who have practiced masterfully — in other words, the four types [of noble disciples] when taken as pairs, the eight when taken as individual types — they are the Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples: worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respect, the incomparable field of merit for the world.'[16]
For one accomplished in meditative concentration, there is the possibility of attaining the recollection of one's own past lives (pubbenivāsānussati).[18] In this case, anussati is not a meditative subject to achieve jhanic absorption or devotional bliss; it is the actual fruit of practice.
An example of one who has achieved such a power is described in the following manner by the Buddha in the "Lohicca Sutta" (DN12):
"With his mind thus concentrated, purified, & bright, unblemished, free from defects, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, he directs & inclines it to knowledge of the recollection of past lives (lit: previous homes). He recollects his manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, two births, three births, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, one hundred, one thousand, one hundred thousand, many aeons of cosmic contraction, many aeons of cosmic expansion, many aeons of cosmic contraction & expansion, [recollecting], 'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here.' Thus he recollects his manifold past lives in their modes & details...."[19]
^For more information about the import of passion, aversion and delusion in Buddhism, see kilesa.
^Thanissaro (1997a). As suggested by this quote and discussed further below, Gunaratana (1988) states that meditation on these recollected subjects leads to "access concentration" but not to higher jhanic attainment.
^For canonical material associated with the recollections of death, body and breathBullitt (2005) refers readers to the mindfulness (sati) practices identified in the Satipatthana Sutta.
Fischer-Schreiber, Ingrid, Franz-Karl Ehrhard, Michael S. Diener & Michael H. Kohn (trans.) (1991). The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen. Boston: Shambhala. ISBN 0-87773-520-4.
Nyanatiloka Mahathera (undated). Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines. Available on-line at http://www.yellowrobe.com/dictionary.
