31asb: 31 a-subha (non-beautiful)
31 flavors of foulness to delight in. See AN 6.29, MN 119 to see it in context with other meditation practices. MN 62 combines that with 4 elements and 16 APS.
STED (31asb) a-subha
STED (31asb) un-attractive [body parts]
| |
|
imameva kāyaṃ |
In-this-same body, |
uddhaṃ pāda-talā |
up (from the) feet-base, |
adho kesa-matthakā |
below head-hair-(on)-top, |
Taca-pariyantaṃ |
Skin-enclosed, |
pūraṃ nāna-p-pakārassa A-sucino |
Full-of many-*-things Im-pure. |
paccavekkhati: |
(he) reflects: |
‘atthi imasmiṃ kāye |
There-are in-this body: |
kesā lomā nakhā dantā taco, |
Head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin, |
maṃsaṃ nhāru aṭṭhi aṭṭhi-miñjaṃ vakkaṃ, |
flesh, tendons, bones, bone-marrow, kidneys, |
hadayaṃ yakanaṃ kilomakaṃ pihakaṃ papphāsaṃ, |
heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, |
antaṃ antaguṇaṃ udariyaṃ karīsaṃ, |
Large-intestines, small-intestines, stomach, feces, |
pittaṃ semhaṃ pubbo lohitaṃ sedo medo, |
bile, phelgm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, |
assu vasā kheḷo siṅghāṇikā lasikā muttan’ti. |
tears, skin-oil, saliva, mucous, fluid-in-the-joints, (and) urine. |
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Everybody Loves Some Body
Ajahn Chandako
July 1996
I spent my first vassa under jet planes, with a housing development construction site outside my window, surrounded by seductive sights in the heat and smog of Thailand's capital city. Venerable Ajahn Piak now lived in the urban jungle as sprawling Bangkok had gradually engulfed his tiny, once remote, monastery. The airplanes roared and the neighbours snored. I struggled with mind states. And through it all Ajahn Piak radiated. Serenity. Loving kindness. He was not an average man.
One day the Sangha was given the opportunity to witness an autopsy at the police hospital. This traditional practice of contemplating a dead person is a meditation technique for taking an honest inquiring look at the ephemeral nature of our bodies and our infatuated identification with them. Undertaken with wisdom, corpse contemplation assists in reducing attachment to the body, setting down a burden of dukkha and giving rise to joy. Deeply accepting the inevitability of death helps us to make our priorities clear. Naturally we then develop an appreciation for the preciousness of our life and the opportunities it affords us to cultivate the Path.
On the car ride over I tried to arouse a suitably serious contemplative attitude as the driver blared rock music. When I first came to stay with Ajahn Piek, I had four or five different methods of meditation going, the patchwork result of years of spiritual shopping. One evening I went to consult with him and asked for advice on which direction to pursue. He stressed the importance of understanding the truth about the body through practicing kayagatasati (mindfulness of the body) 1 and asubha (meditation on the unattractive qualities of the body). He gave instructions on mentally dissecting it, reducing it to its component parts for objective analysis, and reflecting on its eventual demise. That was my first attempt at systematically developing investigation of this body. I was
'getting into' my body - really getting in there and it was enough to fundamentally challenge perceptions I had about who I was.
1 Kayagatasati Sutta MN 119
The car stopped. Six brown robes, four Thai monks, one young novice and a phra farang (Western monk), paraded past white walls. Greeted with the smell of formaldehyde I entered the autopsy room prepared for gruesome and sobering sights, and there she was - our corpse, a Bangkok woman in her mid 20's. Freshly dead without a mark on her body and not the least bit blue or bloated, she looked more like Sleeping Beauty than the rotting, Mara-combating meditation object I'd expected. I feigned equanimity. The little novice had big eyes. I wanted to ask what suffering had driven her to hang herself, but the coroner and his scalpel interrupted. He made it clear this enchanted sleep was no fairy tale. With the monks standing on raised bleachers like the cheering section at a football match, the dissection began. The initial cuts shattered the perception of beauty. While retaining the mental image of her original condition for comparison, the subsequent dismantling began to take its effect. I remembered Siddhartha and his preoccupation when his enticing entertairlers could not assuage his wise sadness. What is that quality that separates the living from the dead? Why do I give importance to this corpse I call myself?
Meanwhile Sleeping Beauty had looked better. I wanted a closer peek, so I climbed down from the bleachers to stand next to her, my mind rotating between the emotions of fascination, repulsion, compassion and a questioning peace. Then the smell hit me. My head began to spin, and I decided it was time to back off. As I stepped into the hallway my sight began to fade, blackness gradually coming in from the sides reducing vision to a dot and then extinguishing it altogether.
"I am not going to faint!" I determined. - It would simply be too embarrassing for everyone present if the pra farang faints. I was, however, completely blind. Holding on to a thread of consciousness with all the willpower I could muster, I could hear the others preparing to leave. I grabbed onto someone's
robe to lead me out. Once outside, the others
noticed I looked at least as pale as the corpse and
gave me a seat. Within a few minutes vision
returned.
Upon returning to the monastery the work began
to integrate and internalize the day's experience.
Without bringing the question of death home to -2- bear on my life, I would be left only with another fascinating memory, my heart remaining relatively unchanged by the autopsy. I followed Ajahn Piek's advice to visualize the different layers of my body's composition.
What would I look like without hair? (an easy start for the ordained) Without skin? Without organs, sinews or flesh? Gradually specific parts of the body stood out more clearly than the rest: a full set of lipless teeth, a rib, and the hair on the back of my hand. Focusing on a single tooth or hair, simply seeing without conceptualizing, revealed physicality and mentality as interdependent yet distinctly separate processes, further unraveling the assumed notion of an inherent self. The world seemed turned upside down. A sense of spiritual urgency arose, as well as a seriousness which I found necessary to balance with regular development of loving-kindness.
The Buddha considered meditation on the parts of the body of central importance and it is included as part of the ordination ceremony for bhikkhus. These asubha practices are not an attempt to convince ourselves that all is ugly, but to balance the mind to see things as they truly are. The world is neither intrinsically beautiful nor ugly, but problems arise when projections of attractiveness on people, objects and ideas give rise to desire and dukkha.
In expounding the first Noble Truth the Buddha in no way denied that pleasure can be found in sensual gratification through the body. He did, however, point out that it is fleeting, carries a backlash of dukkha, and is inferior to the wholesome bliss of jhana and the peace of nibbana.
In developing kayagatasati an ability to concentrate the mind is essential to go beyond the superficial, and the contemplation of the body in turn conditions the mind to gather in one-pointedness. Even though one has seen the unsatisfactory nature of sensual pleasure, as long as one has not yet experienced the greater happiness of jhana it cannot be expected that one will be able to fully let go of attachment to those sensual pleasures. 2
In the Thai Forest tradition kayagatasati is the mainstay for developing insight. Ajahn Chah's teacher, Ajahn Mun, recommended, "In your investigation never allow the mind to desert the body for anywhere else.
You can examine the body's unattractiveness, view it as made up of elements, examine it to see it as aggregates or by way of the three
2 Culadukkhakkhandha Sutta MN 14
characteristics (impermanence, suffering and not-self). When any of these aspects are fully and lucidly seen by one's heart, all other exterior things will clearly manifest there too." 3
{Ajahn Mun says 31asb necesasry for higher wisdom}
It was only Ajahn Mun who could convince his eminent disciple Ajahn Tate to investigate the body. Until his 12th vassa Ajahn Tate figured that once the subtleties of the mind have been mastered why go back to investigate a coarse object such as the body. However, it was precisely due to his taking up this practice that he had a deep realization of Dhamma.
{Ajahn Piek 31asb instructions}
I later had the opportunity to speak with Ajahn Piek, and he explained in further detail the meditations on the body.
"First have the mind rest still, internally gathered. This is a necessary first stage. As soon as it begins to move take up an object of investigation, whichever aspect of kayagatasati you regularly use and are skilled with.
Suppose you investigate the earth element (solidity) 4 in the body. If the mind is peaceful with enough strength it will seem as though the body disperses, dissolves and completely disappears. It will be anatta (not-self).
Empty. Investigate whichever part of the body you choose. If you can't investigate all the parts of the body simply focus on one, but have it reach the point of anatta. Then reassemble it; back and forth, over and over, until it is seen very clearly: this body is only a collection of parts; it is impermanent; it arises, exists and passes away."
I asked, "Do you recommend taking one part of the body, the skeleton for instance, as a fixed object of samadhi?"
"Yes, you can certainly do that. If at first you can't visualize your bones it may be necessary to go look at a skeleton. Remember what it looks like.
Then imagine yourself as a skeleton. Take the skeleton out of yourself, then put yourself in the skeleton. With increasing skill, each time you are aware of yourself you can bring up the skeleton nimitta, (in this context) visual images of the body, either created or spontaneously arisen, or actually seeing into the body with the mind's eye, knowing 'you' are bones. Then when the nimitta is clear and stable, break it up and dissolve it into dust and anatta. If you use this as your main mode of investigation, each person you encounter or think of, you must see as a skeleton. When
3 Autobiography of a Forest Monk, Ajahn Tate, page 150.
4 Mahahatthipadopama Sutta MN 28
skilled, this will bring lightness and bliss. This is the way I practiced as a young monk."
"Should one investigate in the same manner each time or follow wherever the mind inclines?"
"Any part of the body is fine. If the mind goes to a particular spot then contemplate there. If distracting thoughts begin to increase, let the mind rest by returning to concentration meditation. After it has regained strength continue with the contemplation. Whichever part is clear, a tooth for example, make that nimitta as big or as small as possible. I used to take a tiny single hair and make it longer and longer until it filled all space.
Then I'd shrink it. It was good fun and I'd do it for hours. This type of fun is quite useful because you are playing with the meditation objects of hair, skin, bones etc. the entire time. It is important to enjoy meditation, or else one will inevitably begin looking outside for enjoyment."
In the following years the mental image of Sleeping Beauty's far from charming lineaments remained vivid and clear. And she taught: when the grand ball is over, the last dance has come to a halt and our mask is gently rolled back, what's behind our thin facade? The kiss of the coroner's blade invites us to awaken.
MINDFULNESS OF BODY
Q. What is mindfulness of body? What is the practising of it? What are its salient characteristic and function? What are its benefits? What is the procedure?
2. 1. Ndi. The Looked to be so-called 42, amandpam noted Khanikattd at 117-18: from here. being the niruddha ca point of For Jivitam ekacittasamdyuttd dhammdnam, the instance, of present te view attabhdvo kassa of in did yehi ddni the Vis. not ca lahuso changing khandhehi 'dha sukhadukkhd Mag. exist kujjhasil
vattati-kkhano. in 301 khandhas, the te this katam
past ca occurs: kevald and there will is no not important exist in the divergence future.
Anibbattena cittabhangamato na jdto, loko
paccuppannena jivati,
Subjects of Meditation 171
A. Mindfulness as regards the nature of the body is the practising of it. That mindfulness is mindfulness and right mindfulness. Thus is mindfulness of body to be understood. The undisturbed dwelling of the mind in this mindfulness is the practising of it. The becoming manifest of the nature of the body is its salient characteristic. The perception of disagreeableness is its function. The indication of the unreal is its manifestation.
1 What are its benefits? A man who practises mindfulness of body can endure. He can bear to see the fearful and he can bear heat, cold and the like. He is endowed with the perception of impermanence, the perception of not-self, the perception of impurity and the perception of tribulation. He attains to the four meditations, jhanas, with ease, gains a clear view of things, is pleased with his practice, fares well and approaches the ambrosial.
What is the procedure? The new yogin enters a place of solitude, sits down and guards his thoughts. With mind undisturbed, he meditates on the nature of his body. How does he practise mindfulness of body?
THIRTY-TWO PARTS OF THE BODY
This body consists of head-hair, body-hair, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, kidneys, liver, heart, spleen, lungs, bile, gorge, grease, fat, brain, --2--
midriff, intestines, mesentery, excrement, urine, pus, blood, phlegm, sweat, synovial fluid, tears, nasal mucus, saliva, and is impure.
{recite vocally, forward and reverse order}
The new yogin at first should recite vocally these thirty-two parts of the body in the direct and in the reverse order. He should always vocally recite well and investigate these (thirty-two parts). Vocally reciting well he should investigate always.
{reflect mentally in 4 ways}
Thereafter he should reflect on them only mentally in these four ways: through colour,
through the formations,
the form,
the basis.
He may, with discrimination, take one or two [433] or more and grasp the crude sign. Thus the yogin is able to cause the manifestation of three trends of thought, namely, of colour, of disliking and of space. When the yogin causes the arising of the sign through colour, he is able to meditate with facility through the colour kasina.
When he causes the arising of the sign through disliking he is able to meditate with facility on impurity.
When the yogin causes the arising of the sign through space, he is able to meditate with facility on the elements.
{kasinas can take you to 4th jhana}
If the yogin practises on the kasinas, he will get to the fourth meditation, jhana.
{impurity V&V limits you to first jhana}
If the yogin practises on impurity, he will get to the first meditation, jhana.
{elements meditation has too much V&V, not even first jhana}
If he practises on the elements, he will get to access-concentration.
{suggest for each personality type}
Here a walker in hate causes the manifestation of the sign through colour;
a walker in passion, through disliking;
and a walker in wisdom, through the elements.
And again, a walker in hate should meditate through colour;
a walker in passion, through disliking and
a walker in wisdom, through the elements.
2. 1. This M.I, atthiminjd references:—) udariyam lasikd is 57; muttan not 111,90; karisam vakkam among ti.
Atthi D. pittatn the hadayam II, questions.
imasmim 293-94; semharh yakanam kdye Vbh. pubbo kesd kilomakarh 193: lohitam lomd (mattholunga nakhd pihakam sedo medo dantd papphdsam does assu taco not mamsarh vasd antam occur khelo naharu antagunam singhdnikd in these affhi
172 Vimuttimagga
Dhyāna Samādhi Sutra 31asb
{from page 13, jhana via asubha}
{advanced practice}
If [the practitioner] is at the advanced level, [the master] should teach him as follows:
“[First, mentally] remove the skin and flesh [and reveal] the heart of ‘one inch’ in the body, and [then] fix your mind to five spots:
head,
forehead,
the area between the brows,
the tip of the nose,
and the heart.
Put your mind on these five spots and meditate on the bones without letting your mind be distracted by other objects. If your mind is distracted, you should concentrate it and return it [to the original objects of meditation].”
One should always mindfully observe the mind, and if the mind is distracted, one should control it. If the mind is exhausted, it will be fixed on the objects of mindfulness. It will abandon other objects and stay [there].
It is just like a monkey that becomes quiet only after it has been tied to a pole for a long time.
The object is like a pillar, mindfulness like ropes and chains, and the mind is compared to a monkey.
It is also like a nursemaid, who always watches the baby without letting it fall.
A practitioner should watch his mind in the same way; he should control the mind step by step and fix it on the object of meditation.
{meditation = jhāna}
If one’s mind is fixed for a long time, it conforms to the state of meditation. If one attains meditation, there are three signs:
(1) The body becomes comfortable, soft, and light;
(2) white bones emit rays of light like white jade;
(3) the mind becomes tranquil.
This is called the meditation on the pure.
{ones is percipent of body in first jhāna}
At that time, one obtains the mind [belonging to] the realm of form (rūpa dhātu). These are called the first signs of meditation practice.
If one obtains the mind [belonging to] the realm of form, the mind conforms to the state of meditation, which is an attribute of the realm of form.
The mind attains this attribute, but the body rests in the realm of desire (kāma dhātu). The four gross elements become soft and comfortable to the fullest extent. The complexion is pure, shining, and agreeable. Namely, one attains the joy and comfort [belonging to the first stage of meditation].8
{prolonged skeleton perception leads to luminosity}
The second [sign] is that, during the aforementioned meditation on the bones, when one visualizes the image of white bones, rays of light illuminate universally and turn everything into pure white.
{pure meditation/jhāna perhaps refers to 4th jhāna}
The third [sign] is that the mind is fixed on one spot, which is called pure meditation. Since one removes the flesh and observes the bones, [this meditation] is called pure meditation.
These three signs can be perceived by oneself but not by others.
Among the aforementioned three levels of practitioners,
an elementary practitioner refers to someone who has not yet made a resolve [to practice Buddhist meditation];
an intermediate practitioner refers to someone who has practiced for three or four lifetimes;
an advanced practitioner is someone who has practiced for one hundred years with his own body.
31 asb, Ajahn Mun biography
Chapter 1, The sign
Because of this sensitivity, he came to believe that the samādhi which he practiced was definitely the wrong path to follow. If it were really correct, why did he fail to experience peace and calm consistently in his practice? On the contrary, his mind felt distracted and unsettled, influenced by many sense objects that it encountered – much like a person who had never undergone any meditation training at all. Perhaps the practice of directing his attention outwards towards external phenomena violated the fundamental principles of meditation. Maybe this was the reason he failed to gain the promised benefits of inner peace and happiness.
Thus, Ācariya Mun came to a new understanding about himself. Instead of focusing his mind on external matters, he brought his citta back inside, within the confines of his own physical body. From then on, his investigations were centered only on his own body.
Keeping a sharp mindfulness, he examined the body from top to bottom, side to side, inside out and throughout; every body part and every aspect. In the beginning, he preferred to conduct his examinations while walking in meditation, pacing back and forth in deep thought. Sometimes he needed to rest his body from these exertions. So, he sat in samādhi for awhile, though he absolutely refused to let his citta ‘converge’ into its habitual state of calm. Rather, he forced it to stay put within the body’s domain. The citta had no other choice but to travel around the many parts of the body and probe into them. When it was time for him to lie down, the investigation continued inside his mind until he fell asleep.
He meditated like this for several days until he felt ready to sit in samādhi and try to attain a state of calm with his newly discovered method. He challenged himself to find out what state of calm the citta could attain. Deprived of peace for many days now, and having begun the intense training associated with body contemplation, his citta ‘converged’ rapidly into a calm state with unprecedented ease. He knew with certainty that he had the correct method: for, when his citta ‘converged’ this time, his body appeared to be separated from himself. It seemed to split into two at that moment. Mindfulness was in force during the entire time, right to the moment that the citta dropped into samādhi. It didn’t wander and waver about as it had previously.
Thus, Ācariya Mun was convinced that his newfound method was the right one for the preliminary work of meditation practice.
From then on, he continued to religiously practice body contemplation until he could attain a state of calm whenever he wanted. With persistence, he gradually became more and more skilled in this method, until the citta was firmly anchored in samādhi. He had wasted three whole months chasing the disk and its illusions. But now, his mindfulness no longer abandoned him, and therefore, he was no longer adversely affected by the influences around him. This whole episode clearly shows the disadvantages of not having a wise teacher to guide one. Misjudgments occur without timely advice and direction in meditation. Ācariya Mun was a perfect example of this. Having no teacher can lead to costly mistakes that can easily harm the meditator, or, at the very least, delay his progress.
...
The incredible energy, endurance, and circumspection that he put into his practice was truly amazing. Qualities such as these helped to ensure that samādhi and wisdom steadily progressed, never showing any signs of decline. Since the day he first discovered body contemplation to be the right method for the preliminary work of meditation, he kept that contemplation always in mind. Assiduously maintaining that method, repeatedly investigating his body, over and over again, he became very skilled at mentally dissecting the various body parts, large and small, and then breaking them apart with wisdom. Eventually, he could dissect his entire body at will and then reduce the whole lot to its constituent elements.
Through perseverance, Ācariya Mun steadily and increasingly attained more peaceful and calmer states of mind. He wandered through forests and over mountains, stopping at suitable locations to intensify his practice; but, never did he relax the persistent effort he put into all his activities. Whether walking for alms, sweeping the grounds, washing a spittoon, sewing or dying his robes, eating a meal, or simply stretching his legs, he was aware of striving to perfect himself at every waking moment and in all activities, without exception. Only when the time came to sleep did he relent. Even then, he resolved to get up immediately, without hesitation, as soon as he awoke. He made sure that this habit became ingrained in his character. The moment he was conscious of being awake, he rose quickly, washed his face, and resumed his meditation practice. If he still felt sleepy, he refused to sit in meditation right away for fear of nodding off to sleep again. Instead, he practiced walking meditation, striding back and forth to dispel the drowsiness that threatened to overtake him at the slightest lapse in vigilance. If walking slowly proved ineffective, he sought to invigorate himself by quickening his pace. Only when all drowsiness disappeared and he began to feel tired did he leave his meditation track to sit down to continue meditating until dawn.
Chapter 2, graduated teaching
footnote 31
31. This is a contemplation on the nature of the human body. Using kesā (hair of the head), lomā (hair of the body), nakkhā (nails), dantā (teeth), and taco (skin) as its most visible aspects, one analyzes the body according to its constituent parts (of which 32 body parts are traditionally cited). Each part is analyzed in turn, back and forth, until one specific part captures one’s interest. Then one focuses exclusively on an investigation into that body part’s true nature.
Meditation is a good means for making a clean break with the unseemly business of the kilesas. Meditation techniques are arguably somewhat difficult to practice, but that’s because they are designed to put pressure on the mind and bring it under control, much like trying to bring a monkey under control in order to tame it. Meditation techniques are actually methods for developing self-awareness. This means observing the mind which is not content to just remain still but tends instead to jump about like someone who’s been scalded with hot water. Observing the mind requires mindfulness to keep us aware of its movement. This is aided by using one of a number of Dhamma themes as an object of attention to keep the mind stable and calm during meditation. A very popular method and one that gives good results is mindfulness of breathing.29 Other popular themes include the use of a word such as “buddho”, “dhammo”, “sangho”,30 or kesā, lomā, nakhā, dantā, taco in forward and reverse order,31 or meditation on death,32 or whatever theme seems most suitable. The mind must be forced to stay exclusively with that object during meditation. Calm and happiness are bound to arise when the mind depends on a particular Dhamma theme as a good and safe object of attention.
What is commonly referred to as a ‘calm citta’ or a ‘citta integrated in samādhi’ is a state of inner stability that is no longer associated with the initial object of attention, which merely prepared the citta by holding it steady. Once the citta has entered into samādhi, there exists enough momentum for the citta to remain in this state of calm, independent of the preparatory object, whose function is temporarily discontinued while the citta rests peacefully. Later, if time permits, attention is refocused on the initial Dhamma theme when the citta withdraws from samādhi. When this is practiced consistently with dedication and sustained effort, a mind long steeped in dukkha will gradually awaken to its own potential and abandon its unskillful ways. The struggle to control the mind, which one experiences in the beginning stages of training, will be replaced by a keen interest in the task at hand.
The citta becomes unforgettably calm and peaceful once it enters samādhi. Even if this happens only once, it will be an invigorating and indelible experience. Should it fail to occur again in subsequent attempts at meditation, an indescribable sense of loss and longing will linger in the citta for a long time. Only with further progress, as one becomes more and more absorbed in increasingly subtler states of calm, will the frustration of losing the initial state of calm be forgotten.