Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org

Ten Perceptions
Introduction
The Girimananda Sutta is a sutta delivered to a sick monk,
Girimananda, who recovered from his sickness when he
heard the ten saññā (perceptions) that the Buddha taught to
Ānanda. Ānanda came to the Buddha and said, “Venerable
Sir, Girimananda is sick. It would be good if you went to him
out of compassion.” Rather than going himself, however, the
Buddha considered with his eye of wisdom and saw that the
appropriate cure would be these ten saññā, and so he taught
them to Ānanda and said, “If you teach these to
Girimananda, it may be that he gets better.”
The ten saññā describe a detailed progression for practice of
the Buddha’s teaching. They are not exactly in order, but
they come together in a fairly detailed explanation of our
practice. These ten dhammas have to be experienced for
oneself, but learning about them can be helpful for
understanding the direction our practice should take. The
easy part is remembering them, though; the hard part is
understanding them. So once you see how hard it is to
remember them, you can appreciate how difficult they must
be to understand!
The perceptions are, in order:
1. aniccasaññā, the perception if impermanence;
2. anattasaññā, the perception of non-self;
3. asubhasaññā, perception of ugliness or
loathsomeness;
4. ādīnavasaññā, perception of the disadvantages or
the negative side;
5. pahānasaññā, perception of abandoning, giving up,
removing;
6. virāgasaññā, perception of dispassion;
7. nirodhasaññā, perception of cessation;
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