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Maraṇassati Sutta

1. Paṭhama Maraṇassati Sutta.– Taught at Nātika in the brick-hall Giñjakāvasatha. The Buddha tells the monks that mindfulness of death, if properly cultivated, leads to great fruit, great benefit, and culminates in the deathless. He then asks the monks how they practice it. One monk says that he wishes to live for a single day and night so that he can practice the Buddha’s teaching. Another wishes … to live for a single day … for a single meal … to eat four or five morsels of food … a single morsel of food .. for a single breath. The Buddha says that the first four dwell heedlessly, and urges the monks to practice diligently. A.iii.303f.

2. Dutiya Maraṇassati Sutta.– Taught at Nātika in the brick-hall. A monk must ever remember that death may overtake him at any instant by: 1) snake, scorpion, or centipede-bite, 2) falling down, 4) a disease of the bile, 5) phlegm, or 6) wind. He must, therefore, examine himself day and night and put away any evil states that may remain in him. A.iv.306 f.

3. Paṭhama Maraṇassati Sutta.– Almost identical to (1) above, but adds … Another monk wishes to live for half a day … half a meal. A.iv.317 f.

4. Dutiya Maraṇassati Sutta.– Almost identical to (2) above, but with eight, instead of six, ways that death might occur: 1) a snake, scorpion, or centipede-bite, 2) falling down, 3) food-poisoning, 4) a disease of the bile, 5) phlegm, 6) wind, 7) assault by human beings, 8) by non-human beings. A.iv.320 f.