IS THERE ANY UPSIDE TO MEDITATING ON BIRTH, OLD AGE, SICKNESS & DEATH? - Dhamma Q&A

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast.

A question received following the Esala Poya Dhamma Session on the Four Noble Truths:

“Meditating on old age, sickness and death doesn’t seem like an uplifting meditation. Is there any upside to the meditation, other than the obvious of penetrating truth? I feel that once you see the truth, you don’t need to do this particular meditation any more. There are other meditations to focus on that will really lift the mind and make it happy. Am I missing something?”

The Buddha's words remind us the five frequent recollections “should often be contemplated upon by woman or a man, by a householder or one gone forth”. Aging, sickness and death are part of those five. And there's good reasons for it, which will be expanded on when we look to answer the question.

To listen to the ESALA POYA FULL DHAMMA SESSION - https://tinyurl.com/24yd5drz

**This session is for anyone who sincerely wants to follow Gautama Buddha's original teaching of the Four Noble Truths**

Some of the suttas that are directly or indirectly referred to:

• — Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta (SN 56.11)
• — Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (DN 22)
• — Dukkha Sutta (SN 48.72)
• — Anatta Sutta (SN 48.73)
• — Gotama Sutta (SN 12.10)
• — Nagara Sutta (SN 12.65)
• — Ādittapariyāya Sutta (SN 35.28)
• — Suttavebhaṅgiya (Pe 9)

Bohoma pin to the person that asked this question.

A VIDEO of this DHAMMA Q&A with presentation slides has been published to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgFdBvvBDYU

A VIDEO of this ESALA POYA FULL DHAMMA SESSION with presentation slides has been published to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riuNy43Ke2g AND on Spotify as a video podcast

Blessings of the Triple Gem. Theruwan saranai