Four Protective Meditations
There are four practices that protect and advance an the individual who undertakes them. These four are: (1) Recollection of the Buddha, (2) loving-kindness, (3) the unattractiveness of the body, and (4) mindfulness of death. The virtuous meditator is wise to cultivate these four protections. An intelligent approach is to first develop the recollection of the Buddha ("buddhanussati") by contemplating the great sage's excellent unbounded qualities:
Recollecting the Buddha
1. Destroyed he alone all the
defilements without a trace
Fully purified was his mental-continuum,
And he was ever worthy of offerings.
2. Having perfectly understood
all temporal phenomena in every way
The sage alone
attained to omniscience.
3. With knowledge born of insight,
with conduct born of virtue,
endowed with accomplishments was he,
as the sun in the sky.
4. He attained th best state.
Never in vain were his words.
Knower in full of the threefold [sensual,
fine material, immaterial] world was he.
5. By his ocean-like virtue
highest of all beings became he
and with methods diverse
the tameable he tamed.
6. For the entire world he alone,
teacher of all beings became.
The blessed Noble One of qualities supreme
a treasury of all [ten] perfections was he.
7. He was wise in all ways
towards all beings compassionate
For his own and the good of others as well
Further high virtue had he.
THE BUDDHA
In about the 6th century B.C.E., Siddhartha Gautama was born into a royal family. When he was a young adult his experiences with the outside world drove him to seek out a greater understanding of life and spiritual fulfilment.
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