The AP (via mail.com); Ven. Thanissaro (trans.), Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (editors), Asubha Sutra, "Unattractiveness Discourse" (AN 4.163); Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly
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| The Huntington has a large Amorphophallus titanum flower that stinks like Morphy. |
HANOVER, New Hampshire - A foul flower
that got its nickname from its putrid smell is blooming at Dartmouth College for the first time since 2011.
"Morphy," the Titan arum -- or
"corpse flower" -- began opening Friday afternoon at the Ivy League
college's Life Sciences Greenhouse. The 7½-foot flower is set to
collapse Sunday.
Morphy is native to Sumatra's equatorial
rainforests and has a long pointy stalk with a skirt-like covering.
Dartmouth greenhouse manager Kim DeLong said its odor has been described
as a cross between a decaying animal and urine.
DeLong said she plans to pollinate the endangered
flower to share seeds and pollen around the world. The greenhouse will
be open from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm Sunday.
- LIVE WEBCAM: dartmouth.edu/~grnhouse/morphy.html
SUTRA: Contemplating the Foul
Translated by Ven. Thanissaro, Asubha Sutra (AN 4.163) edited by Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly
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| Siddhartha the ascetic meditates on reality and faces Death (Mara) and fear. |
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| We stink and ooze poop, pee, sweat, blood... |
- Painful practice with slow progress
- painful practice with quick progress
- pleasant practice with slow progress
- pleasant practice with quick progress.
"What is painful practice with slow progress (wisdom, intuition, insight)? In this
case a meditator remains focused on unattractiveness with regard to the
body, perceiving loathsomeness (unattractiveness, foulness, repulsiveness) with regard to food, perceiving
non-delight with regard to the entire world, (and) focused on the radical impermanence of all formations [composites, things, phenomena, particularly the Five Aggregates].
"The perception of death is
well established within. One dwells dependent on the Five Strengths of a learner:
- strength of confidence (conviction, faith)
- strength of energy
- strength of mindfulness
- strength of concentration
- strength of wisdom.
"But these [as the] Five Faculties appear weakly.
Because of their weakness, one attains only slowly the immediacy*
that leads to the ending [abandoning] of the defilements (taints, outflows/inflows).
- *According to the Commentary, this means the concentration forming the Path. This is apparently a reference to this passage in Sn 2.1: "What the excellent Enlightened One extolled as pure and called the concentration of unmediated knowing, no equal to that concentration can be found. This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Dharma. By this truth may there be well-being."
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| What's that smell?! (huntington.org) |
This is called painful practice with slow progress.
"And what is painful practice with quick progress? In this case a meditator remains focused on unattractiveness with regard to the
body, perceiving loathsomeness with regard to food, perceiving non-delight with regard to the entire world, (and) focused on
impermanence with regard to all formations.
"The perception of death is
well established within. One dwells dependent on these Five Strengths of a learner:
- strength of confidence
- strength of energy
- strength of mindfulness
- strength of concentration
- strength of wisdom.
"And these Five Faculties [which are the same as the previous five but intensified and established] -- the faculty of confidence, the faculty of energy, the faculty of mindfulness, the
faculty of concentration, and the faculty of wisdom -- appear intensely.
"Because of their intensity, one attains quickly the immediacy that leads
to the ending of the defilements. This is called painful practice with
quick progress. More
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