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Tribute to Venerable Amatha Gavesi

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Asubha Bhavana - Contemplation of the Foulness of the Body

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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.

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I should be able to keep it as it is. But it decays, dies etc without my control. A river flows, a dark cloud rains beyond our control. We do not call such phenomena myself. Similarly the body ages and dies as it likes. Not as 'I' like. So there is nothing there to call self either.

Contemplation of the the Body Parts:

1. Head hair -If hair is not washed for a week or two it would get naturally dirty and start smelling. It would get matted and twisted. If we found a hair in our food we would have a sense of disgust -but not when it is on our head. This is irrational. It is rooted in skin, which is itself dirty and is bloody at one end. It is foul, repulsive, dirty, smelly, putrid, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. 2. Body hair- same as above 3. Nails- If not kept clean they collect dirt underneath. 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. One side is bloody. The other side gets dirty and discolored if we do not wash it. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. 4. Teeth- Gets dirty, smelly, discolored and covered with plaque if not brushed. It is covered with saliva on one side. Covered with blood on the other. How would it feel if we found a tooth in our food? It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. 5. Skin- Towards the end of the day our bodies start stinking. The skin has sweat pouring on to it. It has oily substances pouring on to it. All this is mixed up with dust, dirt and dead skin cells. One side of the skin is raw and bloody. It only looks clean when we wash it. It is always in a state of becoming dirty. This is the sate we find it even when we think it looks nice. A skinned body is a hideous thing. This is ugliness is covered only by a few millimeters of skin. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. 6. Flesh- Once stripped of skin it looks like the meat dripping with blood seen in meat stalls. It has the nauseating smell of blood. We are covered all over by this substance. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. 7. Blood vessels and nerves- Often we find these in cut sections of meat. They look like tubes of flesh and cords. The carry the foul smelling blood. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. 8. Bones -They are covered in blood on the outside. Flesh is stuck to them. They are the skeletons that we have seen. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. 9. Bone marrow- The very innermost portion is filled with this. It looks like what we have seen inside animal bones. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. 10. Kidney- Two of them lie in our abdomen. They produce foul smelling urine. They are covered in the slimy membranes inside our abdomen. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. 11. Heart- This is just more bloody flesh which is pumping blood around our bodies. It moves in a hideous manner covered by slimy membranes inside our chest. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. 12. Liver- This is a large organ inside our abdomen which produces the bile which we see in vomit. It is covered by the slimy membranes inside our abdomen. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. 13. Pancreas- Yet another organ in our abdomen which produces juices to digest food. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. 14. Spleen- Another organ in our abdomen which filters our blood. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. 15. Lungs- Two airy expanding bags in our chests covered with mucous. The mucous is mixed with dark dust which

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we inhale. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Intestines- Long fleshy tubes which carry the digested food (vomit) and faecal matter. They are like large worms because they move to squeeze the faeces outwards. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Mesentery- This is a slimy membrane in our abdomen which covers the intestines like an apron. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Stomach - This is the bag like part of our intestines which grinds and breaks down our vomit in the process of turning it into faeces. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Faeces- This is what happens to all the tasty food on our plates. Smelly, soft, brown/yellow colored faeces. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Brain- This is a soft whitish tissue mass which can be cut like butter with a knife. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Bile- This is the greenish colored stuff in vomit. It is excreted to break down our food and makes our faeces less smelly. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Mucous/Phlegm - This thick sticky liquid lines our throats, noses and guts. It is disgusting even to touch but we have it inside our bodies. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Pus -when we have boils or infected wounds pus pours out from it. It is thick and sticky and smells bad. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Blood- 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 pours out from deep wounds. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Sweat- It is the mal-odorous liquid which also contains certain things which are also excreted in the urine. In a way it is like urine which comes onto the skin. It mixes up with dust, dirt and dead cells and make what we see on the skin. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Oil- This is something which again comes up onto the skin and is greasy and foul. It comes from the oil deposits underneath the skin which is like butter. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Tears- This come out when we cry and even normally bathes the eye to mix up with the dust and dirt which settles on it. It coagulates into a thick repulsive substance which we see in when we get up in the morning. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Lymph- This is a thick slimy fluid from the flesh of our bodies. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Saliva - This is the liquid in our mouths. If even a drop falls outside we find it repulsive but when it is in our mouths it is not -irrational. Normally we wouldn't put a repulsive thing in our mouths. It is mixed with all the germs and decaying food particles. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Snot- The repulsive substance inside our noses. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Synovial fluid- This is the thick fluid inside our joints which is like grease to a motor in lubricating our joints. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless. Urine -This is the foul smelling repulsive liquid which we store in our bodies and excrete. If we couldn't we would soon die due to the poisons in it. It is foul, repulsive, putrid, dirty, smelly, unwholesome, impermanent, unsatisfactory and soulless.

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This whole body, a collection of all those parts is dirty,..... impermanent, unsatisfactory, soulless. It is born from mother and father coming together it exists due to food, water and air, without which it will die ...since it is not a permanent self Its not mine, It is not me, There is no soul in it.

It is impermanent, unsatisfactory, soulless..

2004

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