Recollection of the Buddha

What I would like to do today for the meditation is a very simple meditation object.

These are often the best,

Simple,

Straightforward,

Recollecting the Buddha,

Buddha Nusrati.

The Buddha recommended it especially for the lay community.

If we remember the Buddha,

We feel close to him.

If we cultivate Buddha Nusrati,

A collection of the Buddha,

We feel like walking together with the Lord Buddha through our life.

It is as if he is constantly right with us.

And what could worry us,

What could trouble us,

What could upset or excite us,

If we are walking right with the Buddha.

So my personal favorite is to just repeat Bhagava arahant buddho buddho arahant bhagava Bhagava arahant buddho buddho arahant bhagava So the job is just to repeat that mentally.

Bhagava,

The blessed one,

The fortunate one,

The exalted one,

The supreme being in the whole universe,

The supreme wisdom,

The supreme liberation,

The perfect virtue,

The perfection of virtue,

The perfection of wholesome,

Skillful conduct,

Continuously acting,

Thinking and speaking for the benefit of himself and all other beings.

The perfection of samadhi,

Of concentration,

All attainments of samadhi,

The purification,

The emergence from them,

The psychic powers,

The totally liberated,

Freed and enlightened heart.

That is why it is called Bhagava,

The blessed,

Fortunate,

Exalted.

Arahant,

Worthy,

Noble,

Not nobility by birth,

But nobility by purity of heart,

Supremely worthy of receiving any offerings,

Supremely worthy to be put faith into.

Venerable Maha Kasapa,

When he saw the Buddha the first time,

He immediately fell at his feet and declared,

You are the teacher,

You are the blessed one,

I am your disciple.

By intuition he just saw the Buddha and he knew that's it.

And the Buddha said,

If a disciple of that quality,

Of that single-minded dedication,

And made that declaration to someone who is not worthy to be the teacher of such a great disciple,

That person's head would split into seven parts.

But the Buddha is worthy to accept even the most exalted disciples,

Because he truly has seen the end of suffering and he truly knows how to teach it,

How to share it.

He is truly motivated by compassion,

Not by wanting to be famous,

But wanting to be a big shot by getting money or power,

But entirely by the genuine compassion,

The worthy of gifts,

Worthy of following and surrendering our heart to him.

Arahant,

A Buddha,

Awakened,

Awake,

Aware,

Someone who woke up from the dream of delusion,

Awakened from the dream of ignorance,

Enlightened,

The heart where any blackness,

Any darkness has been dispelled by the supreme light of wisdom,

Nati Panya Samma Abha,

Nati Panya Samma Aloko.

There is no light,

There is no radiance,

There is no brightness comparable to the light,

The radiance,

The brightness of wisdom,

The Buddha,

With the awakened,

Enlightened mind.

When we repeat these Pali terms in the background,

All these qualities I mentioned and many more,

Resonating kind of in the background,

While we repeat these terms,

These epithets,

And that is what makes the mind so bright,

So radiant,

While we are doing that recollection.

Anantaguno,

Of infinite noble qualities,

Of infinite virtues,

And all those we know about,

They give this meditation strength,

Because when we repeat the epithets in the background of our mind,

We have that knowledge,

And we have the effect of knowing that,

The emotional effect of faith,

Of devotion,

Coming up while we repeat the epithets.

Bhagavah arahan butho,

Butho arahan Bhagavah,

Bhagavah arahan butho,

Butho arahan Bhagavah,

Bhagavah arahan butho,

Butho arahan Bhagavah,

Bhagavah arahan butho,

Butho arahan Bhagavah.

We just silently repeat that in our mind,

Continuously,

Without distraction,

Always bringing the mind back to that repetition,

To that mantra.

Bhagavah arahan butho,

Butho arahan Bhagavah,

Bhagavah arahan butho,

Butho arahan Bhagavah,

Bhagavah arahan butho,

Butho arahan Bhagavah.

Continuous repetition and non-stoping,

Just staying with that mantra,

Over and over again.

Over and over again.

If we get distracted by thoughts,

Fears,

Expectations,

Memories,

If we notice quickly,

And we return our mind to the mantra,

Repeating it with a heart of faith,

Bhagavad Gita,

Adahang,

Buddha,

Bodho,

Adahang,

Bhagavad,

Bhagavad,

Adahang,

Buddha,

Bodho,

Adahang,

Adahang,

Buddha,

Bodho,

Adahang,

Bhagavad,

Adahang,

Buddha,

Bodho,

Adahang,

Adahang,

You can even imagine a beautiful Buddha-rupa,

Feeling the presence of the Buddha-rupa,

Visualizing the beautiful symbol of the Buddha,

Like the Bodhi tree,

To strengthen the emotional response.

Repeating these epithets causes an emotional response in our mind,

The emotion of faith,

Of devotion,

Of trust,

Confidence,

Respect,

Veneration,

Or maybe even surrender.

And that is the emotion we want to bring up.

These are wholesome qualities that feel very pleasant to have faith in the supremely enlightened being.

It's uplifting to develop that devotion,

That respect.

So while we are repeating these words,

The mind becomes brighter in these beautiful emotions of faith,

Devotion,

Trust,

Confidence,

Hope,

And are aroused in our mind.

But the main thing is that we are developing that emotion,

That emotion of faith,

Of devotion,

Of trust,

Confidence,

Hope,

And are aroused in our mind.

But the main thing is to just stay with this mantra,

Repeat it,

Whatever comes.

Bhagavad,

Adahang,

Buddha,

Bodho,

Adahang,

Bhagavad,

Bhagavad,

Adahang,

Buddha,

Bodho,

Adahang,

Bhagavad,

Bhagavad,

Adahang,

Bodho,

Adahang,

Bhagavad,

Bhagavad,

Adahang,

Bodho,

Bodho,

Adahang,

Bhagavad.

And we have to notice if the mind is losing the mantra,

If we get caught up in thinking,

Fears,

Worries,

Memories and we re-establish our focus,

We bring the mind straight away back to repeating the mantra.

Adahang Buddho,

Buddho,

Adahang Bhagava,

Bhagava,

Adahang Buddho,

Buddho,

Adahang Bhagava,

Bhagava,

Adahang Buddho,

Buddho,

Adahang Bhagava.

And imagining possibly a beautiful Buddha statue,

Or some place you have experienced already in India,

Or imagining a beautiful symbol of the Buddha,

Like the Bodhi tree,

While repeating the mantra,

And allowing these qualities of faith,

Devotion,

Trust,

Confidence,

Veneration,

Allowing these to become stronger in our heart,

While we repeat the mantra.

The mantra is meant to bring up these feelings,

These emotions,

And the emotion of faith,

Devotion,

That is what carries the mind into samadhi.

This emotion should become so strong,

That the mind is kind of carried away into samadhi,

Blissful unification,

On that very feeling,

That very emotion,

At which stage the mind will drop the words all by itself,

And just stay with the emotion.

But until that emotion is strong enough to do that,

If you have to nurture and feed it,

Strengthen it by constantly repeating these epithets.

Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Adahang Bhagavah Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho Bhagavah Adahang Buddha Ho,

Buddha Ho