Subjects for Contemplation |
Upajjhaṭṭhana Sutta (AN 5:57)
Featuring works by: Angelica Atzin Garcia, Catherine Eaton Skinner, liset van Dommelen, Long Yinghan, Sudhir Pillai, Winifred Wong
Arranged by: Lee Ju-Lyn
The Upajjhaṭṭhana Sutta ("Subjects for Contemplation"), also known as the Abhiṇhapaccavekkhitabbaṭhānasutta in the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana Tipiṭaka, is a Buddhist discourse (Pali: sutta; Sanskrit.: sutra) famous for its inclusion of five remembrances, or the five facts regarding life's fragility and our true inheritance. The discourse advises that these facts are to be reflected upon often by all.
Accompanying some befitting art submissions, are extracts (in serif font) from this sutta:
"Upajjhatthana Sutta: Subjects for Contemplation" (AN 5.57), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.,
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN5_57.html
“There are these five facts that one should reflect on often,
whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained. Which five?
En el metro (2021)
Angelica Atzin Garcia
210 x 297 mm
wax and ink2021
atzin.garcia@gmail.com
“Now, based on what line of reasoning should one often reflect… that ‘I am subject to aging, have not gone beyond aging’?
There are beings who are intoxicated with
a (typical) youth’s intoxication with youth.
Because of that intoxication with youth, they conduct themselves in a bad way in body…in speech…and in mind. But when they often reflect on that fact, that youth’s intoxication with youth will either be entirely abandoned or grow weaker.…
“‘I am subject to aging,
have not gone beyond aging.’ This is the first fact that one should reflect on often.…
Emptiness in Form: Me? Diagram I (2012)
Long Yinghan
(re-interpretation of the traditional Chinese acupuncture points diagram.)
101.6 x 71.1cm
Charcoal and ink on paper
fleurir17@gmail.com
“‘I am subject to illness,
have not gone beyond illness’.….”
“Now, based on what line of reasoning should one often reflect… that ‘I am subject to illness, have not gone beyond illness’?
There are beings who are intoxicated with
a (typical) healthy person’s intoxication with health.
Because of that intoxication with health, they conduct themselves in a bad way in body…in speech…and in mind. But when they often reflect on that fact, that healthy person’s intoxication with health will either be entirely abandoned or grow weaker.…
“‘I am subject to death,
have not gone beyond death’.…
“Now, based on what line of reasoning should one often reflect… that ‘I am subject to death, have not gone beyond death’?
There are beings who are intoxicated with
a (typical) living person’s intoxication with life.
Because of that intoxication with life, they conduct themselves in a bad way in body…in speech…and in mind. But when they often reflect on that fact, that living person’s intoxication with life will either be entirely abandoned or grow weaker.…
Magpie print (May 2017)
liset van Dommelen
24 by 30 cm
textile framed on a canvas
“‘I will grow different, separate
from all that is dear & appealing to me’.…
“Now, based on what line of reasoning should one often reflect… that ‘I will grow different, separate from all that is dear & appealing to me’? There are beings who feel desire & passion for the things they find dear & appealing. Because of that passion, they conduct themselves in a bad way in body…in speech…and in mind. But when they often reflect on that fact, that desire & passion for the things they find dear & appealing will either be entirely abandoned or grow weaker.…
After (2022)
Winifred Wong
Poem
“‘I am the owner of actions [kamma],
heir to actions, born of actions, related through actions, and have actions as my arbitrator. Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I fall heir’.…
“Now, based on what line of reasoning should one often reflect… that ‘I am the owner of actions, heir to actions, born of actions, related through actions, and have actions as my arbitrator. Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I fall heir’?
There are beings who
conduct themselves in a bad way in body… in speech…and in mind.
But when they often reflect on that fact, that bad conduct in body, speech, & mind will either be entirely abandoned or grow weaker.…
silent, unseen
world of unnatural cause
peril sifts through trees
that still stand
onto ravage fields
and scored earth
do the ravens know
does the fox still hunt
unawares
down the food chain
of sadness
beauty rebuilt
on shifted shores
because
we are able
because
we must
time is uncertain
for repetition of the same
ravens continue to fly
foxes continue to hunt
oblivious
as we are
or are we not
CESkinner
2012
Ametsuchi Mandala I, Triptych (2011)
Catherine Eaton Skinner
229 x 72 x 5 in
Encaustic, oil, handmade Himalayan paper on three panels
http://www.ceskinner.com/marking-sacred-2
“These are the five facts that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained.
“Further, a disciple of the noble ones considers this: ‘I am not the only one subject to illness, who has not gone beyond illness’.… ‘I am not the only one subject to death, who has not gone beyond death’.… ‘I am not the only one who will grow different, separate from all that is dear & appealing to me’.…
“A disciple of the noble ones considers this: ‘I am not the only one who is the owner of actions, heir to actions, born of actions, related through actions, and have actions as my arbitrator; who—whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I fall heir. To the extent that there are beings—past & future, passing away & re-arising—all beings are the owners of actions, heir to actions, born of actions, related through actions, and have actions as their arbitrator. Whatever they do, for good or for evil, to that will they fall heir.’ When he/she often reflects on this, the (factors of the) path take birth. He/she sticks with that path, develops it, cultivates it. As he/she sticks with that path, develops it, & cultivates it, the fetters are abandoned, the obsessions destroyed.”
“Subject to birth, subject to aging,
subject to death,
run-of-the-mill people
are repelled by those who suffer
from that to which they are subject.
And if I were to be repelled
by beings subject to these things,
it would not be fitting for me,
living as they do.”As I maintained this attitude—
knowing the Dhamma
without acquisitions—
I overcame all intoxication
with health, youth, & life
as one who sees
renunciation as rest.For me, energy arose,
unbinding was clearly seen.
There’s now no way
I could partake of sensual pleasures.
Having followed the holy life,
I will not return.”
Tight rope walk of Buddha (2022)
Sudhir Pillai
143 cm x 114 cm
Acrylic on canvas