Session
3 -
Reflection on the Repulsiveness of the Body, Reflection on the Material
Elements, and the
1) Beginning Meditation (5-8 minutes): Guided,
bringing minds into the present, settling into our bodies, finding the breath
and following it, returning to the breath when the mind wanders, short/long
breath, entire breath body; origination/dissolution factors.
2) Brief Review of Last Week's Talk
3) Questions/Discussion from Last Week
4) Reflection on the Repulsiveness of
the Body
a) Contemplation
on the Thirty-Two Parts of the Body
i)
Why is this included in
Satipatthana?
(1) There
are two major defilements in the human mind which are tied up with the physical
body:
(a) One
is sensual desire or craving. It is usually based on attending to the bodies of
others, especially those of the opposite sex.
(b) The
other is conceit, which is usually tied up with one’s own body, i.e.,
comparing oneself with others concerning beauty.
(2) These
two are obstacles on the path of deliverance.
(3) This
practice is helpful to break through the first perceptual distortion:
thinking of the human body as other than physical form.
(a) A
Note on "Repulsiveness" - this is not to be approached with aversion,
but merely that the body is not a thing to be grasped because the mind
perceives it (or any of its parts) as "beautiful".
(4) This
practice is often reserved for seasoned practitioners, since these obstacles
are not eliminated in the early stages of the path. But for anyone who is really earnest, it is
beneficial to do this earlier in one’s practice.
(5) Caution:
This particular practice may not be suitable for one in a marital relationship
if that relationship is grounded significantly on sexual union. It would be
more suitable at a later date when the relationship has matured, if the
meditator feels that it would be appropriate.
ii) The
method:
(1) Memorize
the first 5 parts: head hair, body hair, nails, teeth and skin.
(2) Thoroughly
examine your own body as to color, shape, odor, habitat and location:
(a) Is
it long or short? Straight or
curly? Stiff or soft? Standing up or laying down?
(b) How
is head hair different from hair on the rest of the body?
(c) How
are your fingernails different from your toe nails?
(d) How
is the skin on your face different from the skin on the back of your hand?
Under your arm? Is it smooth or wrinkled?
Soft or leathery?
(e) How
does skin smell when it is dirty and sweaty?
(3) Understand
that all 5 are already dead.
(4) Understand
that the body is not something to grasp and be attached to.
(5) Look
at these 5 parts in everyone you see (avoid one of the opposite sex, if that
would give rise to lust).
iii) This
meditation can be practiced as samatha (concentration) meditation, leading to
the first jhana, or as vipassana meditation.
If samatha, vipassana is practiced immediately afterward:
(1) "He
dwells contemplating the body in the body internally, or . . . externally, or .
. . both internally and externally."
(2) "He
dwells contemplating the origination factors . . . or the dissolution factors .
. . or both the origination and dissolution factors."
(3) "Or
his mindfulness is established as 'there is the body only.' "
(4) "Not
depending on (or attached to) anything by way of craving and wrong view, he dwells."
(5) "Nor
does he cling to anything in the world of the five aggregates of clinging."
5) Reflection
on the Material Elements
a) The
purpose of this meditation is to remove the concept of a being or seeing
yourself and others as beings.
b) As
a skillful butcher and his apprentice, having slaughtered a cow and divided it
into portions, were sitting at the junction of four highways, just so,
bhikkhus, a bhikkhu reflects upon this very body just as it is placed or
disposed, with regard to its primary elements, "There are in this body the
earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the air element."
c) This
is done by dividing the body into four parts and seeing them separately, each
of the four "great elements" -- not literally the named elements, but
the qualities they represent:
i)
Earth
(1) Characteristics
- stiffness, hardness or softness, solidity, extension in space.
(2) Function
- act as a foundation, something on which something else rests or exists.
(3) Manifestation
- receiving or accepting something.
ii) Water
(1) Characteristics
- trickling, cohesion (water+flour=dough), fluidity.
(2) Function
- to intensify.
(3) Manifestation
- holding things together.
iii) Fire
(1) Characteristics
- heat, cold, or "temperature".
(2) Function
- to mature things (destruction; aging); to cool or heat things.
(3) Manifestation
- continued supply of softness (as when noodles are cooked).
(4) Kinds
- warmed, age, burnt up (excessive heat), and digestive heat.
iv) Air
(1) Characteristics
- extension, expanding or distending (blow up a baloon).
(2) Function
- to cause motion.
(3) Manifestation
- conveying.
(4) Kinds
- up-going
(vomiting or hiccups), down-going (carry urine and feces out), wind in the
belly outside the bowels, wind in the bowels, wind that runs through all limbs,
and breath.
d) Walking
Meditation Example
e) The
same vipassana practices as before:
i)
"He dwells contemplating the
body in the body internally, or . . . externally, or . . . both internally and
externally."
ii) "He
dwells contemplating the origination factors . . . or the dissolution factors .
. . or both the origination and dissolution factors."
iii) "Or
his mindfulness is established as 'there is the body only.' "
iv) "Not
depending on (or attached to) anything by way of craving and wrong view, he
dwells."
v) "Nor
does he cling to anything in the world of the five aggregates of clinging."
f) You
see that there is no person or being, and you do not find anything to cling to.
6) Nine
Cemetery Contemplations
a) One
views a corpse in various stages of decomposition. It is used to develop
detachment from the body. As with
Contemplation of the 32 Parts of the Body, it should be used with caution by
meditators in a relationship grounded significantly on sexual union.
b) The
method: Viewing the corpse, one applies this perception to one's own body: "Truly,
this body too is of the same nature. It will become like that and will not go
beyond that nature."
c) This
meditation breaks or shatters that complacent thought: "I’m going to
live forever." "This body will continue on for all
eternity." When that happens,
irritation or anxiety arises. Then, a sense of detachment arises: a realization
that the body is based on causes and conditions and it will be gone when those
causes and conditions are no longer present. The end result of this meditation
is sense of lightness or happiness; that one is not bound up forever with this
body.
7) Questions
8) Homework
a) Sitting and Walking Meditation -
daily (afterwards, note your experiences in your journal)
b) Read the Sutra (through The Nine
Cemetery Contemplations) and Sutra Notes
c) Practice Exercises (below)
a) Contemplation
of the Four Elements
b) Stages of Life Contemplation
10) Closing Meditation