There are in this body head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin,
flesh, sinews,
bones, marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen,
lungs, intestines, intestinal tract, stomach,
feces, bile, phlegm, pus,
blood, sweat,
fat, tears, grease, saliva,
nasal mucus, synovium (oil
lubricating the joints),
urine, and brain in the skull.
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| Theravada Buddhist monks in Thailand in front of beautiful gold Buddha (flickr.com). |
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| The Buddha points to the Path. |
[
King Udena of Kosambi consults Ven. Pindola Bharadvaja:]
"Bharadvaja, how can it come about and depending on what is it that
these young monks, youthful, black-haired, [
handsome] with the bloom of youth, in
the prime of life, never having enjoyed the pleasure of the senses [like
sex], can
practice the
[celibate] holy life fully and perfectly [from their youth] to the end of their days?"
"Sire, it has been said by the Blessed One who knows and sees, the [Buddha], the fully Enlightened One:
"'Come, monks, whatever woman is
a mother, think of her only as a mother [as your own mother]; whatever woman is a sister,
think of her only as a sister [as your sister]; whatever woman is a daughter, think of
her only as a daughter [as your daughter].
"That is how these young monks...can practice the [celibate] holy life...[from their youth] to the end of their days.'"
"But, Bharadvaja,
the heart is fickle! It may well be that at times
thoughts of desire arise towards those they think of just as mothers,
just as sisters, just as daughters.
"Is there any other cause, any other
reason whereby these young monks, youthful and black-haired [
and full of raging hormones like other youths]...can
practice the [celibate] holy life to the end of their days?"
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| But it looks so pretty on surface! |
"Sire, it has [also] been said by the Blessed One...:'Come, monks,
contemplate this body [as it truly is], upwards from the soles of the feet, downwards
from the top of the head, bounded by the skin, full of manifold [repulsive] things:
"There are in this body: head hair, body hair, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, kidneys, heart, liver,
pleura, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery [stomach contents], bowels,
feces, bile,
mucus, pus, blood,
sweat, fat, tears, tallow, saliva, synovic fluid,
urine.
- This is the standard set of "parts of the body" for meditation purposes given in the Discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipatthana Sutra, DN 22, MN 10)
and elsewhere in the Pali canon. See also the Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga, VIII, 83ff.) for
full details. Traditionally newly-ordained novices are given the first
five of these body parts to meditate on.
"That is how these young monks...can practice the
[chaste] holy life...[from their youth] to the end of their days.'"
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