[300] Then the Blessed One addressed the Venerable Udāyī: "Udāyī, how many subjects of recollection (anussatiṭṭhāna) are there?" When this was said, the Venerable Udāyī was silent. A second time the Blessed One addressed the Venerable Udāyī: "Udāyī, how many subjects of recollection are there?" When this was said, the Venerable Udāyī was silent. A third time the Blessed One addressed the Venerable Udāyī: "Udāyī, how many subjects of recollection are there?" A third time the Venerable Udāyī was silent. Then the Venerable Ānanda said to the Venerable Udāyī: "Friend Udāyī, the Teacher is addressing you."
"I am listening to the Blessed One, friend Ānanda. Here, venerable sir, a bhikkhu recollects his manifold past abodes (pubbenivāsa), that is: one birth, two births … Thus, with their aspects and particulars, he recollects his manifold past abodes. This, venerable sir, is a subject of recollection."
Then the Blessed One addressed the Venerable Ānanda: "I knew, Ānanda, that this foolish man (moghapurisa) Udāyī does not dwell devoted to the higher mind (adhicitta). Ānanda, how many subjects of recollection are there?"
"There are five subjects of recollection, venerable sir. What five? Here, venerable sir, a bhikkhu, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, … enters and dwells in the third jhāna. This, venerable sir, is a subject of recollection which, thus developed, thus made much of, leads to a pleasant dwelling in this very life.
"Again, venerable sir, a bhikkhu attends to the perception of light (ālokasaññā); he resolves upon the perception of day: as by day, so by night; as by night, so by day. Thus, with a mind (citta) open and unenveloped, he develops a mind imbued with luminosity. This, venerable sir, is a subject of recollection which, thus developed, thus made much of, leads to the obtaining of knowledge (ñāṇa) and vision.
"Again, venerable sir, a bhikkhu reviews this very body — upward from the soles of the feet, downward from the tips of the hairs, enclosed in skin, full of manifold impurities: 'There are in this body head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone-marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, large intestine, small intestine, contents of the stomach, excrement, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, saliva, snot, fluid of the joints, urine.' This, venerable sir, is a subject of recollection which, thus developed, thus made much of, leads to the abandoning of sensual lust.
"Again, venerable sir, just as if a bhikkhu were to see a corpse discarded in a charnel ground — one day dead, two days dead, or three days dead, bloated, livid, festering — he compares this very body with it thus: 'This body too is of such a nature, it will become like that, it has not gone beyond that.' Or just as if he were to see a corpse discarded in a charnel ground being devoured by crows, being devoured by hawks, being devoured by vultures, being devoured by dogs, being devoured by jackals, or being devoured by various kinds of creatures — he compares this very body with it thus: 'This body too is of such a nature, it will become like that, it has not gone beyond that.' Or just as if he were to see a corpse discarded in a charnel ground — a skeleton with flesh and blood, held together by sinews; a skeleton fleshless, smeared with blood, held together by sinews; a skeleton without flesh and blood, held together by sinews; bones with the connections gone, scattered in every direction: here a hand-bone, there a foot-bone, here a shin-bone, there a thigh-bone, here a hip-bone, there a bone of the spine, here the skull — he compares this very body with it thus: 'This body too is of such a nature, it will become like that, it has not gone beyond that.' Or just as if he were to see a corpse discarded in a charnel ground — bones white, the color of a conch shell; bones heaped up, more than a year old; bones rotten, crumbled to powder — he compares this very body with it thus: 'This body too is of such a nature, it will become like that, it has not gone beyond that.' This, venerable sir, is a subject of recollection which, thus developed, thus made much of, leads to the uprooting of the conceit 'I am' (asmimāna).
"Again, venerable sir, with the abandoning of pleasure … a bhikkhu enters and dwells in the fourth jhāna. This, venerable sir, is a subject of recollection which, thus developed, thus made much of, leads to the penetration of the manifold elements (dhātu). These, venerable sir, are the five subjects of recollection."
"Good, good, Ānanda! In that case, Ānanda, bear in mind this sixth subject of recollection as well: Here, Ānanda, a bhikkhu goes forward just mindful, returns just mindful, stands just mindful, sits just mindful, lies down just mindful, applies himself to work just mindful. This, Ānanda, is a subject of recollection which, thus developed, thus made much of, leads to mindfulness and clear comprehension."
End of the Ninth Sutta.
10. Anuttariya Sutta
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.