Namo tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammâ Sambuddhassa!
A BUDDHIST APPROACH TO REVULSION - ASUBHA1
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“The body is beautiful.” This is a lie, a trick and an illusion. Because this is not widely known, especially outside Buddhist circles, the nature of the uninformed being is to take the body as beautiful, lasting, not subject to change and as “me, mine, I and myself.” None of these statements are true. They are lies and tricks played on the mind by Mara the Evil One to bind the uninformed being ever tighter to the never-ending round of birth and death (samsara).
Not convinced the body is not beautiful? Consider the body in its constituent parts, the parts that come together to form the so called ‘body.’ Starting from the top, there is head hair, facial hair, skin, blood, eyes, tears, eye balls and eye ball jelly, veins, ears, ear wax, the nose, snot, the tongue, saliva, facial muscles, sweat, the skull and the brain. Taken separately, the true nature of this so called ‘body’ becomes very apparent. Can the body when taken apart like this still be called the ‘body’? This word label has lost its meaning; in the same way as when a ‘car’ is taken apart to its constituent parts it can no longer be called a ‘car.’ So if there is no body really there, what really is there? Just a combination of matter that is subject to decay, rotting and death – in other words nothing substantial.
Lets us continue on our discovery of this so called ‘body.’ There are body hair, skin, muscles, heart, lungs, veins, blood, sweat, large and small intestines, faeces, bladder, urine, kidneys, half-digested food, the rib cage, the spine and other bones. Venturing onto the outer limbs there are bones, bone marrow, muscles, blood, veins, skin, hair, sweat and nails.2 Does the ‘body’ still look beautiful?
Isn’t this what we fail to see at all times? We get tricked by the whole and miss the real detail that’s there. This is what we need to regularly train ourselves to do as Buddhists, to see the true nature of this so called ‘body’ as it really is. Only then will wisdom (panna) arise in relation to the bodily form and the veil of delusion (moha) slip from the eyes (of the mind). This is referred to as the practice of asubha or the contemplation of the unpleasant nature of some topic – in this context the ‘body.’3 The idea behind this practice is to also reduce desire and attachment for the physical form. When asubha is practiced regularly, both as a contemplation ‘on the go’ in daily life as well as a meditation, one will slowly become aware of the true nature of the ‘body,’ which is normally hidden from view, giving rise to detachment, peace and the arising of the all-important wisdom (panna).
The other approach to seeing the true nature of this body is to see what happens to it following death, which is referred to as the ‘cemetery contemplation.’4 After death the face and ‘body’ becomes bloated and discoloured. In a few days it can become infested with worms and maggots that devour on the skin and flesh of the face, stomach and other sensitive areas. It may also be eaten by other wandering creatures such as wild dogs, crows, kites and hyenas in an open cemetery.5 After a few weeks the skin, flesh and organs would have been either eat away by animals or melted away on its own, leaving either a blood smeared or white skeleton. The bones maybe scattered, especially if animals fought over it earlier. After some months the bones would become brittle and disintegrate into powder. Constant reflection over this in relation to one’s own ‘body’ as well as other’s can cause one to see the reality behind the ‘body’ and gives rise to detachment.
The ‘body’ is mistaken by almost all to be beautiful, lasting, not subject to change and as ‘me, mine, myself and I.’ This is wrong or perverted understanding of the true nature of things. The true nature of the body can be seen by practicing asubha, the contemplation on the foulness or unpleasantness of the ‘body.’ This can be done by taking the ‘body apart into its constituent parts’ or by utilizing the ‘cemetery contemplation,’6 both of which can be practiced by mental visualization or by utilizing words. Once established in this practice, it will allow for the clear vision into the reality and true nature of the ‘body,’ thereby promoting detachment and reducing the desire for the flesh (lust), which will give rise to clear-sightedness, insight (vipassana) and wisdom (panna).
May you understand the reality of the ‘body’ and may it enable you to gain the lasting peace of Nibbana!
THE BODY
There are just bones,
flesh and waste,
tied together by skin;
this is all the body is.
As a whole attractive,
taken apart disgusting,
behold its true nature,
with its 32 parts;
a disgusting bundle of waste.
All parts impermanent,
subject to disease,
decay (old age),
and death.
PITY THE MORTALS
It is clear how hard it is to control desire,
only a contemplative,
or one dedicated to the Path,
could have control like this.
It is clear now,
pity the mortals,
who are held tightly captive,
by Mara's sensuous grip.
For those who know not the power of asubha - disgust,
almost all in this world,
and beyond too,
give in, fall and are tightly bound,
by Mara's sensuous whip!
Notes
1. The latest version of this document can be found in HTML format here http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=revul and in PDF format here http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=revulp
2. Refer to Establishing the Awareness of Body as Body! here http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/III/The_32_Parts.htm and Appendix A: Establishing the Awareness of Body as Body! below.
3. There are other themes that one can and should become disgusted with to reduce attachment to them, thereby help one along the Path towards the unbinding/release/realization of Nibbana. A good example of this is the theme of food.
4. Refer to Awareness of Body as a live Corpse & Skeleton! here http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/III/The_9_Corpse_Meditations.htm and Appendix B: Awareness of Body as a Live Corpse & Skeleton! below.
5. In ancient India, and perhaps even today, there were ‘charnel grounds’ where corpses were left to the ‘elements.’
6. Another method is contemplation of impending sickness, old age and death in relation to the body.
Appendix A: Establishing the Awareness of Body as Body!
Source: www.what-buddha-said.net
URL: http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/III/The_32_Parts.htm
How, Friends, does one view any Body only as a Form?
Herein, Bhikkhus & Friends, the Bhikkhu contemplates the body
from the soles of the feet upward, and from the top of the hair
downward: This filthy frame with skin stretched over it, which is
filled with many impurities consists of head-hairs, body-hairs, nails,
teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, vomit
diaphragm, spleen, lungs, intestine, membrane, stomach, excrement,
brain, bile, lymph, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, skin, tallow, spit,
snot, joint-fluid, and urine. Just as if a man with good sight would
examine a sack with openings at both ends, filled with various kinds
of grain; paddy, beans, sesame, on opening it would recognize its
contents thus: That is paddy, this is beans, that is sesame, this is
husked rice: Exactly so does the Bhikkhu investigate this body...
While always thus aware & clearly comprehending, & thus removing
any lust, urge, envy, frustration & discontent rooted in this world,
the intelligent Bhikkhu keeps contemplating & regarding any & all
body as an remote carcass of filthy foul form. As something bound
to emerge, decay & vanish... Not as mine, belonging to me or my self!
Not as lasting, stable & safe! Not as pleasant beauty or happiness!
In this way the intelligent Bhikkhu keeps reviewing any & all body
whether internal or external and he notes the cause of its arising
and the cause of its ceasing, or he just know: There is this body!
In this way he comes to live not clinging to & independent of body!
This is the way to contemplate the body only as a transient shell...
Source Text: Majjhima Nikaya 119: Kayagata-Sati Sutta
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Meditation_On_the_Body_Kayagata-Sati.htm
The reward is Fearlessness of Death & thereby Fearlessness of All!
Without fear there is the mental elevation of gladness and free joy!
It detaches and relinquishes from body & form and frees thereby...
See also: Bag of Bones: A Miscellany on the Body compiled by Bhikkhu Khantipalo:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/khantipalo/wheel271.htm
Just a painted puppet!
A chain of bones plastered by skin with 9 oozing holes!
A heap of sores & rotten excrement with evil intentions!
Appendix B: Awareness of Body as a Live Corpse & Skeleton!
URL: http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/III/The_9_Corpse_Meditations.htm
The Blessed Buddha said:
If a monk sees a corpse 1, 2, 3 days dead; swollen, blue & festering,
thrown in cemetery, he then utilizes this experience on his own body:
Verily, exactly so is also my own body; it is of the very same nature;
so disgusting will it inevitably become and it cannot ever escape it...
If a monk sees a body thrown in the cemetery, being eaten by crows,
hawks, vultures, dogs, jackals or by different worms and maggots...
If a monk sees a corpse reduced to a skeleton with some flesh and
blood still attached to it, and held together by the sinews...
If a monk sees a cadaver; a blood-besmeared skeleton, but without
any flesh, held together by the tendons as a chain of bones...
If a monk sees a carcass; just a skeleton without any flesh or blood,
yet still held together by the tendons...
If a monk sees a skeleton of separated bones, scattered in a mess,
here a hand bone, there a foot bone, the pelvis, spine & the skull...
If a monk sees a skeleton simply as bleached white shell-like bones...
If a monk sees bare bones thrown in the cemetery lying heaped up...
If a monk sees a stack of bones now gone rotten & turning into dust,
he then applies this experience to his his own body: Verily, exactly so
is also my own body; it is of the very same nature; so fragile & feeble
is it, it will inevitably turn into dust and it cannot ever escape it...
Then he lives fearless, detached, and clings to nothing in this world!!!
A heap of sores & rotten excrement with many evil intentions!
1. Majjhima Nikaya 119, Kayagata-sati Sutta, Mindfulness Immersed in the Body see http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.119.than.html and http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/Meditation_On_the_Body_Kayagata-Sati.htm
1. Offerings - On making offerings to the Lord Buddha's supreme qualities, see http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=offerings
2. Daily Dana - On giving and generosity, see http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=dailydana
3. Five Precepts - Developing virtue through the five precepts, see http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=pansil
4. Buddhist Positive Thinking - Positive thinking from a Buddhist perspective, see http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=posthink
5. Mental Purity - Five ways prescribed by the Buddha for subduing mental defilements, see http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=vitakkasantana
6. A Buddhist Approach to Disillusionment - A Buddhist approach to seeing past the trickery and into reality, see http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=disill
7. A Buddhist Approach to Disenchantment - A Buddhist approach to becoming disenchanted with all that gives rise to stress, see http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=disench
8. An Introduction to Buddhist Meditation - Basic instructions for doing the mediations of loving kindness (metta), awareness of breath (ana-pana-sati) and foulness of the body (asubha) , see http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=intromed
9. Attachment - An analysis of how attachment leads to unsatisfactoriness, see http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=attachment
10. One Hour of Unsatisfactoriness - The unsatisfactoriness that can be felt within the space of an hour, see
http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=onehour
11. A Buddhist Approach to Mental Health - A Buddhist perspective and approach to mental health, see
http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=mentalhealth
12. Four Noble Truths - The essence of Buddhism, see http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=fourtruths
13. Noble Eightfold Path - The path for ending stress and suffering, see http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=noblepath
1. AccessToInsight.org here http://www.accesstoinsight.org
2. Mettanet.org here http://www.mettanet.org
3. What-Buddha-Said.net here http://what-buddha-said.net
4. What-Buddha-Taught.net here http://what-buddha-taught.net
5. SuttaReadings.net here http://www.suttareadings.net
6. Buddhanet.net here http://www.buddhanet.net
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