11:07 PM
mr.vam
1. Mindfulness of the Body
Mindfulness of the Body is the teaching of only Lord Buddha. It goes beyond the teachings of other religions. Lord Buddha said that a monk who practices Mindfulness of the Body Meditation diligently will become disenchanted with the present impure body. This will yield the huge benefit of releasing the practitioner from attachment to the body, preparing for mindfulness and insight knowledge meditation (Nanadassana). This will bring happiness in the present life as well as penetration of knowledge, emancipation and the fruit of emancipation.
Mindfulness of the Body is contemplating the body and each of its parts as repulsive in order to counter the innate love for our own bodies we each feel. This love of our own body is one of the chief enchantments distorting our perception and preventing seeing reality as it really is. The meditation takes each of the designated 32 parts of the body in turn, as a meditation object.
Mindfulness of the body is categorized into fourteen headings:
1. Breathing (Anapana),
2. Posture (Iriyapatha) ,
3. Four Kinds of Mindfulness (Catusampajanna),
4. Contemplation of Repulsiveness (Patikulamanasikara),
5. Contemplation of Elements (Dhatumanasikara),
6-14. Nine Contemplations of Corpses (Sivatthika).
2. Posture (Iriyapatha) ,
3. Four Kinds of Mindfulness (Catusampajanna),
4. Contemplation of Repulsiveness (Patikulamanasikara),
5. Contemplation of Elements (Dhatumanasikara),
6-14. Nine Contemplations of Corpses (Sivatthika).
Lord Buddha classifies three of these, (1) Breathing, (2) Posture and (4) Contemplation of Repulsiveness, as Insight Meditation (Vipassana). The Nine Contemplation of Corpses are classified as a type of Insight Knowledge (Vipassana-ñana).
Lord Buddha stated:
A monk contemplates this body, from the soles of the feet up and from the tip of the hair on the head down, as wrapped with skin and full of pollutants. These are: head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, large intestine, small intestine, stomach, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, saliva, nasal mucus, synovium (oil lubricating the joints), urine and the brain in the skull.
When a being has set this forward course, only death lies ahead. It stays always close at hand. Just as a river runs low in the summer, like the fall of a fruit from a tree, like the breaking of a pottery container with a hammer, or as the morning dew is dried by sunlight, death is the inevitable natural end of all life.
Lord Buddha has said:
“Day after day, life moves closer to extinction. Age moves toward the end, like water in a river starts to dry up. Every being born lives with the ever present danger of death, like a ripening fruit in danger of falling in the morning.”[1]
2. Contemplating Destruction of Property
All property and prosperity in this world are temporary. Death is inevitable, like destruction of property. They will not last forever. They always have an end.Health, also, never lasts. Youth always fades. All life has death as its end. All beings in this world are followed by birth, chased by decay, overwhelmed by disease and finally destroyed by death. Lord Buddha has said:
“Just as a huge rock mountain which almost touches the sky rolls over and grinds all beings in the four directions, decay and death possess all beings including Kshatriya, Brahman, Vaishya, Shudra, and Harijans. All are oppressed by them.”[2]
There is no place for fighting the huge mountain with an army of elephants or calvary, or foot soldiers and no one can win by casting a spell or with a bribe.
3. Contemplating the Body as Subject to Diseases
This body is subject to parasites that stay on and cause death or illness leading to death. This body is subject to death caused by diseases which are internal factors and caused by external factors such as the bite of snakes or scorpions. Lord Buddha said:“Monks, when the day passes the night comes. Constantly contemplate that there are many potential causes of death. They include snake bite, scorpion sting or centipede sting. Through factors such as snake bite death approaches us, the condition of death threatens us.”[3]
4. Contemplating Age as a Weakness
The word age in this case means life. Age is a weakness because life is not durable. It is easy to die. According to an ancient teacher, life depends on five factors: (1) Breathing in and out, (2) Activity, (3) Heat and Cold, (4) the Four Elements and (5) Food.1. Breathing in and out: Life depends on breathing in and out. Without it, life would end. Even just inhaling but not being able to exhale would cause death. A person who can exhale but not inhale, would also die. Thus, life depends on breathing.
2. Activity: Activity means the four major activities including standing, walking, sitting and sleeping and the minor activities such as turning the head left and right or nodding the head up and down. Life needs to maintain appropriate activities for survival. We cannot walk or run too much, because this might cause death, such as by heart attack. Thus, life depends on appropriate activities.
3. Heat and cold: The body needs to maintain an appropriate temperature or the body will be subject to sickness. We can be also sick because of too much wind or too much dew. This life is weak and fragile.
4. Four elements: The Four Primary Elements include: Earth, Water, Fire and Wind. If one of the four elements gets out of balance [for example too much fire] sickness will occur. Therefore, life depends on the balance of the Four Elements.
5. Food: Food is necessary for life. Without it, life cannot survive. Lord Buddha said, “All beings can survive with food.” Therefore, peacefully contemplate that life is not durable. It is fragile. Without food, life cannot survive.
5. The Benefits of Mindfulness of Death
Finally, what are the benefits of practicing Mindfulness of Death Meditation? The Visuddhimagga summarizes them as follows:A monk who is constantly mindful of death will be diligent. He is disenchanted with all forms of being [existence]. He has conquered attachment to life. He abhors all evil. He is not greedy and does not hoard requisites. The perception of impermanence grows in him, followed by the perceptions of pain and non-self. Others who have not developed mindfulness of death become victims of fear, horror and confusion when the time of their death arrives. They may feel suddenly seized by wild beasts, ghosts, snakes, robbers or murderers. However, the monk dies fearless, without delusion. If he does not attain Nirvana at that time, then he is at least assured of a happy rebirth in heaven for the next lifetime. Therefore, a wise man diligently contemplates Mindfulness of Death whose benefits are ultimate.
There are sixteen methods of Mindfulness of Breathing (Anapanasati) [breathing in and breathing out as meditation objects] which Lord Buddha has praised:
Monks, Mindfulness of Breathing which one has developed is peaceful, refined and tranquil. It brings a happy life. Unwholesome states which have already arisen [in his mind] will suddenly be calmed.
Lord Buddha has also describes how to meditate:
“A monk in this Norm-Discipline who lives in the forest, at the roots of a tree or in a quiet shelter sits cross-legged and upright with stable mindfulness and he is mindful of breathing in and breathing out.”[4]
These sixteen methods of Mindfulness of Breathing are categorized into four groups of four which are called:
1. Mindfulness of the Breathing Body (Kayanupassana),
2. Mindfulness of Breathing Feelings (Vedananupassana),
3. Mindfulness of Breathing Mind (Cittanupassana),
4. Contemplation of Breathing Dhamma (Dhammanupassana).
Each step consists of a pair of breathing in and breathing out. Here is a brief summary explanation, giving both the Pเli and the translation.
6. Mindfulness of the Breathing Body (Kayanupassana)
When a monk takes in a long breath, he is mindful that he is taking in a long breath. When a monk lets out a long breath, he is mindful that he is letting out a long breath.One who practices Mindfulness of Breathing is firmly mindful of breathing in and out. He takes a long, deep breath in and out. When he takes a long deep breath in and out, he is mindful that he is taking a long deep breath in and out. One remains mindful as the breaths become shorter and shorter.
A Reminder: Do not accelerate the rate of breathing or take too long breathing in and out. This could easily make you exhausted. Another reminder: Do not pay too much attention to breathing in and out as this could make you become nervous.
When a monk takes in a short breath, he is mindful that he is taking in a short breath. When a monk lets out a short breath, he is mindful that he is letting out a short breath.
When one takes a short breath in, he is mindful that he is taking a short breath in. When one lets a short breath out, he is mindful that he is letting a short breath out. Keep contemplating the breath with mindfulness while breathing in and out until the breathing becomes calm and soft.
Mindfully, we will experience the whole breath as we take a breath in.
Mindfully, we will experience the whole breath as we let a breath out.
The definition of “we will experience the whole breath as we take a breath in” and “we will experience the whole breath as we let a breath out” is that the meditator will be mindful continually throughout the process of taking a breath in and letting a breath out, from the start to the end of each process. Mindfully, we will contemplate impermanence over and over as we take a breath in. Mindfully, we will contemplate impermanence over and over as we let a breath out.
The word “will” implies “the future,” so the process of taking a breath in and letting a breath out has not started yet, but it means that the meditator gets ready to practice the meditation.
Mindfully, we will calm down the body formation [breath in and out] as we take a breath in. Mindfully, we will calm down the body formation as we let a breath out.
By constantly contemplating breathing in and breathing out, we calm down the breath like it is about to stop. Some new meditators question why the breathing slows down like that, are we going to die? Some might even stop practicing temporarily. This is just the natural process of the mind becoming concentrated.
Group One is categorized as Mindfulness regarding the body because the breath is recognized part of the body.
7. Contemplation of Breathing Dhamma (Dhammanupassana)
The meditator repeatedly contemplates the impermanence of the psycho-physical organism or name and form (Nama-rupa) while taking a breath in and letting a breath out. What exactly does one observe? One observes that the Five Aggregates repeatedly arise and disintegrate instantaneously, every moment, in accordance with the natural law of Conditioned Genesis [Body, Sensation, Perception, Mental Formations and Consciousness]. They have the Three Characteristics of all conditioned phenomena: arising, temporary existence with constant change and then passing away.Mindfully, we will contemplate the abandonment of lust (Viraga) as we take a breath in. Mindfully, we will contemplate the abandonment of lust as we let a breath out.
Abandonment of Lust is the Pali word Viraga which has two meanings:
1. Khayaviraga is abandoning lust with the dissolution and disappearance of the psycho-physical organism [or mind and matter] that occurs every moment.
2. Accantaviraga is ultimate elimination of lust through experiencing Nirvana.
While taking a breath in and out, a meditator contemplates that dissolution of the Five Aggregates occurs all the time. As a result, one is able to abandon lust or reduce the level of lust in the Five Aggregates. This is Khayaviraga.
A meditator who contemplates Nirvana observes the characteristics of the Unconditioned. There is no growing old, getting sick or dying, no persistence with content change and no passing away. It is ultimate happiness. This is the opposite of the Five Aggregates which dissolve each instant. Thus, the meditator becomes bored with lust for this sensual world (Sankhara) and takes Nirvana as his basic inner sphere of reference. This is Accantaviraga.
Mindfully, we will contemplate Extinction of lust (Nirodha) as we take a breath in. Mindfully, we will contemplate Extinction of lust as we let a breath out.
The Pali word Nirodha has two meanings:
1. Khayanirodha means extinction or termination of lust and craving.
2. Accantanirodha means complete extinction of all lust and all craving by experiencing Nirvana.
Mindfully, we will contemplate detachment (Patinissagga) as we take a breath in. Mindfully, we will contemplate detachment as we let a breath out.
The Pali term Patinissagga or detachment has two meanings:
1. Pariccagapatinissagga is detaching by donation which means sacrifice without residual longing.
2. Pakkhandaparicca is detaching by fleeing from defilements including the Five Aggregates and Formations (Abhisanghara) which means Karma [formation of merit, demerit and the imperturbable such as the Formless Brahman]. This leads only straight to Nirvana.
Group Four is Contemplation of dhamma (Dhammเnupassana). It is only Vipassana where as Groups One, Two and Three are both Samatha and Vipassana.
8. Clear comprehension of cleansing the body
Uccara passavakamme = In defecating and in urinating" means: When the time is come, when the time is proper, if one does not defecate or urinate, then, one's body perspires, one's eyes reel, one's mind is not collected, and illness in the form of sharp pain, fistula, and so forth arise for one. But to one who defecates and urinates at the proper time none of these discomforts, disadvantages, troubles and illnesses arise. This is the sense in which this matter should be understood, and in this sense should clear comprehension of purpose in defecation and urination be taken.By defecating or urinating in an improper place, one commits disciplinary offences, one goes on getting a bad name, and one endangers one's life. Fields occupied or frequented by humans and places occupied or frequented by devas, and deva-sanctuaries, are improper. Angry men and spirits cause even death to those who defecate or urinate in such places. By using such places for cleansing the waste of the body bhikkhus and bhikkunis become guilty of the disciplinary offences of minor wrong-doing (dukkata) or of acts expiable by confession (pacittiya) according to the circumstances.
But to one evacuating the bowels or the bladder in a place suitable for such evacuation those offences or troubles just mentioned above have no reference. And by way of that fitness of place, clear comprehension of suitability should be understood.
By the non-abandoning of the subject of meditation, clear comprehension of resort should be understood.
Within there is no doer of the act of defecation or urination. Only by the diffusion of the process of oscillation born of mental activity defecation and urination occur, just as in a matured boil, by the bursting of the boil, pus and blood come out without any kind of wishing to come out and just as from an overfull water-pot water comes out without any desire for coming out, so too, the feces and urine accumulated in the abdomen and the bladder are pressed out by the force of the process of oscillation. Certainly this feces-and-urine coming out thus is neither that bhikkhu's own nor another's. It is just bodily excretion. When from a water-vessel or calabash a person throws out the old water, the water thrown out is neither his nor other's. It simply forms parts of a process of cleansing. In the form of reflection proceeding in this way clear comprehension of non-delusion should be understood.
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