Smṛti

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Smṛti (Skt., ‘recollection’). In Hinduism, the second part of ‘scripture’, less than śruti, but possessing authority. Smṛti, passed on orally by tradition, gains validity by being derived from śruti. It extends to a wide range of works, including Vedāṅgas, Smārta Sūtras, Purāṇas, Itihāsa, including Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa, Nīti-śastras.

In Buddhism, smṛti is the Skt. equivalent of sati, ‘mindfulness’: it is the meditational practice which observes closely and continuously what is going on in the interior life of the practitioner, especially the four mindfulnesses, the body (kaya), sensation (vedanā), mind (citta), and the Buddha's way (dharma).

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