Asubha

Untitled Documenthttp://www.oocities.org/venamathagavesi/med3.htm Tribute to Venerable Amatha Gavesi Pictures Asubha Bhavana - Contemplation of the Foulness of the Body Home Dhamma Talks Meditation Centres Practice meditation A Tribute - Australia Budhism in WWW Metta Dhammaloka Access to Insight Buddha Net Abhidhamma Vipassana Ven. Ajahn Mahaboowa Ven. Ajahn Chah Beyond the net Budusarana (Sinhala) Other Links Aloka Vihara (Australia) Meditation (Sigapore) KMSPKS (Sigapore) This is an important meditation from the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. Some advanced meditators claim that there is no attainment of nibbana without this meditation as it helps to break away from the attachment to the body. The purpose is not to feel disgust towards the body but to realize its foul nature and develop equanimity and lessen desire towards it. The technique is to visualize each part being taken out of your body and set out in front of you. This is because it is easier to feel a sense of foulness towards something which is not a part of you and outside than what is yours and inside your body. Remember each part and imagine taking them out of your body one by one and placing them in a heap in front of you. An easy way to remember all the parts is to go from outside (hair, nails, teeth, skin) to inside (vessels/nerves, flesh, bone, bone marrow). Then remember the organs inside (Abdomen: kidneys, liver, stomach, intestines, etc. Chest: lungs, heart. Head: brain, etc.) It is not necessary to memorize all the parts. Visualize the body and take out whatever you see from going from outside to inside. Now you have completed the solid components of the body. Think of the liquid part: saliva, sweat, tears, blood etc. This is a methodical way of remembering the body parts. If you do not remember or know a particular organ inside the body you can think generally in terms of 'other organs inside my abdomen', for example. After putting everything in heaps in front of you, you can contemplate about the foulness of each part as it lies in front of you as described below. Then put all the parts back into your body and do the final contemplation. As a general guideline you should stop this meditation (for the day) if you feel nausea towards your body. Ideally you should be under the guidance of a meditation instructor, in this as in most other meditations. If you feel depressed about you body for days after doing this you should not keep on doing this meditation but get help from an instructor. But experience shows that the majority of people who practice this meditation have no such problems, therefore it is quite safe to practice. The purpose of this meditation is to show us the truth about our bodies, therefore lowering our desire. This means that we will have less desire and that as a result of this it helps us to build our samadhi (lessens one of the Five Hinderances). This meditation helps to weaken/get rid of our self concept as a part to vipassana as well. Therefore this is a very important meditation to practice everyday. Contemplation technique: 1. Take out your body parts one by one and place them in front of you. 2. With each body part you take out, look at the emptiness left behind. Do this until the body is completely empty. 3. Contemplate the foulness of each part and see if there is a Self in the parts lying in front of you. 4. The final contemplation (see below). Meanings: Impermanent: Nothing in the body lasts. Even as we speak it is aging. Unsatisfactory: It is unsatisfactory because it doesn't last (is impermanent). Also because it undergoes disease and death. It also gives us painful sensations. Soulless: If the body was 'me' it would not give me suffering. 1 of 4 3/30/2012 5:33 PM dirt and dead skin cells. repulsive. 5. 7. unsatisfactory and soulless. dirty. impermanent. dirty. smelly. They produce foul smelling urine. If we found a hair in our food we would have a sense of disgust -but not when it is on our head. Pancreas.org/venamathagavesi/med3. It would get matted and twisted. putrid. unwholesome. impermanent.Once stripped of skin it looks like the meat dripping with blood seen in meat stalls. It is covered by the slimy membranes inside our abdomen.This is a large organ inside our abdomen which produces the bile which we see in vomit. It is foul. smelly. One side of the skin is raw and bloody. 15. unsatisfactory and soulless.Gets dirty. It is foul. putrid. smelly. Flesh.The very innermost portion is filled with this. smelly. putrid. unwholesome. It is foul.Yet another organ in our abdomen which produces juices to digest food. It is always in a state of becoming dirty. How would we feel if we found nails in our food? Notice how we don't feel the same way when it is not on our bodies. putrid. smelly. unsatisfactory and soulless. Body hair. repulsive. It is foul.htm I should be able to keep it as it is. putrid. putrid. which is itself dirty and is bloody at one end. putrid. impermanent. Teeth. They are covered in the slimy membranes inside our abdomen. The carry the foul smelling blood. It is rooted in skin. Liver. One side is bloody. Head hair -If hair is not washed for a week or two it would get naturally dirty and start smelling. So there is nothing there to call self either. smelly. repulsive. This is irrational. unwholesome. unsatisfactory and soulless. This is ugliness is covered only by a few millimeters of skin.Untitled Document http://www. unsatisfactory and soulless. It is foul. dirty. Contemplation of the the Body Parts: 1. It only looks clean when we wash it. We do not call such phenomena myself. The skin has sweat pouring on to it. Heart. repulsive. putrid. dirty. But it decays. impermanent. smelly. Bones -They are covered in blood on the outside. impermanent. dirty.Often we find these in cut sections of meat. Similarly the body ages and dies as it likes. Nails. unsatisfactory and soulless.Towards the end of the day our bodies start stinking. It has oily substances pouring on to it. Spleen. Kidney. It is covered with saliva on one side. putrid. unsatisfactory and soulless. unwholesome. unwholesome. It has the nauseating smell of blood. 12. Bone marrow. unwholesome. unsatisfactory and soulless. unwholesome. It is foul. unwholesome. dirty. Lungs. smelly. 2. It is foul. dirty. This is the sate we find it even when we think it looks nice. putrid.This is just more bloody flesh which is pumping blood around our bodies. 14.Two airy expanding bags in our chests covered with mucous. unwholesome. unsatisfactory and soulless. repulsive. impermanent. repulsive. unwholesome. 9. 4. We are covered all over by this substance. dirty. repulsive. impermanent. 11.Another organ in our abdomen which filters our blood. It is foul. smelly. discolored and covered with plaque if not brushed.oocities. unwholesome. Blood vessels and nerves. Not as 'I' like. Covered with blood on the other. putrid. repulsive. The mucous is mixed with dark dust which 2 of 4 3/30/2012 5:33 PM . 6. repulsive. dirty. It is foul. A skinned body is a hideous thing. impermanent. How would it feel if we found a tooth in our food? It is foul. All this is mixed up with dust. dies etc without my control. It is foul. They are the skeletons that we have seen.same as above 3. smelly. unsatisfactory and soulless. The other side gets dirty and discolored if we do not wash it. 10. impermanent. Flesh is stuck to them. dirty. It is foul. unsatisfactory and soulless. impermanent. A river flows. putrid. dirty. impermanent. impermanent. impermanent. repulsive. smelly.If not kept clean they collect dirt underneath. It moves in a hideous manner covered by slimy membranes inside our chest.Two of them lie in our abdomen. unsatisfactory and soulless. repulsive. unwholesome. repulsive. smelly. 8. It is foul. smelly. smelly. putrid. 13. dirty. They look like tubes of flesh and cords. repulsive. unwholesome. dirty. a dark cloud rains beyond our control. Skin. unsatisfactory and soulless. It looks like what we have seen inside animal bones. It is foul. In a way it is like urine which comes onto the skin. putrid. dirty. 3 of 4 3/30/2012 5:33 PM . Pus -when we have boils or infected wounds pus pours out from it. dirty. unsatisfactory and soulless. noses and guts. It coagulates into a thick repulsive substance which we see in when we get up in the morning. It is foul.This is a thick slimy fluid from the flesh of our bodies. putrid. impermanent. 23.oocities. we inhale. unwholesome. It pours out from deep wounds. unsatisfactory and soulless. putrid. unwholesome. It is foul. putrid. repulsive. 24. impermanent. smelly. unwholesome.This come out when we cry and even normally bathes the eye to mix up with the dust and dirt which settles on it. putrid. It is foul. unsatisfactory and soulless. smelly. unsatisfactory and soulless. unsatisfactory and soulless. 25. Stomach . 32. smelly. dirty.This is something which again comes up onto the skin and is greasy and foul. putrid. putrid. dirty. unsatisfactory and soulless. Tears. It is foul. impermanent. repulsive. brown/yellow colored faeces. If even a drop falls outside we find it repulsive but when it is in our mouths it is not -irrational. putrid. putrid. impermanent. smelly.It is the mal-odorous liquid which also contains certain things which are also excreted in the urine. unsatisfactory and soulless. Brain. Intestines. dirty. putrid. 18. repulsive. unwholesome. unwholesome.This is a soft whitish tissue mass which can be cut like butter with a knife. unwholesome. Normally we wouldn't put a repulsive thing in our mouths. soft. dirty. impermanent. smelly. unsatisfactory and soulless. unwholesome. Oil. repulsive. 29. repulsive.Long fleshy tubes which carry the digested food (vomit) and faecal matter. putrid. impermanent. Synovial fluid. smelly. unwholesome. dirty. They are like large worms because they move to squeeze the faeces outwards. Lymph. dirty.This thick sticky liquid lines our throats. Faeces. smelly. It is foul. unwholesome. dirty. unsatisfactory and soulless. repulsive. dirty. smelly. unsatisfactory and soulless. smelly. Blood. repulsive. putrid. putrid. 20. unwholesome. unsatisfactory and soulless. dirty. putrid.org/venamathagavesi/med3. dirty. smelly. 27. impermanent. smelly. 21. Sweat. impermanent. impermanent. unsatisfactory and soulless.This is a substance which has a nauseating smell when decaying and is thick and soon clots into a thick red jelly like mass. It is mixed with all the germs and decaying food particles. 28. smelly. Saliva . It is foul. Urine -This is the foul smelling repulsive liquid which we store in our bodies and excrete. impermanent.htm 16. repulsive.Untitled Document http://www. repulsive. 30. unsatisfactory and soulless. dirt and dead cells and make what we see on the skin. It is foul.This is a slimy membrane in our abdomen which covers the intestines like an apron. It is excreted to break down our food and makes our faeces less smelly. smelly. unwholesome. Smelly.This is what happens to all the tasty food on our plates. 22. Bile. It is foul. dirty. It mixes up with dust. dirty.The repulsive substance inside our noses.This is the greenish colored stuff in vomit. It is foul. unwholesome. putrid. If we couldn't we would soon die due to the poisons in it. impermanent. unwholesome. repulsive. impermanent. putrid. repulsive. impermanent. It is foul.This is the bag like part of our intestines which grinds and breaks down our vomit in the process of turning it into faeces. Mesentery. impermanent. It comes from the oil deposits underneath the skin which is like butter. smelly. repulsive. repulsive. It is foul.This is the thick fluid inside our joints which is like grease to a motor in lubricating our joints. 31. dirty. putrid. smelly. repulsive. It is foul. repulsive. unsatisfactory and soulless. dirty. It is foul. It is foul. unsatisfactory and soulless. unwholesome. repulsive. 26. impermanent. impermanent. Mucous/Phlegm . unsatisfactory and soulless. smelly. 17. dirty. It is disgusting even to touch but we have it inside our bodies. unwholesome. smelly. It is foul. It is thick and sticky and smells bad. repulsive. unsatisfactory and soulless. unwholesome. unwholesome. 19. impermanent. impermanent. It is foul. dirty.This is the liquid in our mouths. repulsive. unwholesome. unsatisfactory and soulless. smelly. Snot. putrid. It is foul. water and air. It is impermanent. unsatisfactory.oocities... soulless.. without which it will die . There is no soul in it..since it is not a permanent self Its not mine. impermanent.htm This whole body. © 2004 4 of 4 3/30/2012 5:33 PM . soulless.. a collection of all those parts is dirty..org/venamathagavesi/med3. It is born from mother and father coming together it exists due to food.Untitled Document http://www.. It is not me.. unsatisfactory.