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| I would eat you alive, son. - I know, Dad, and I bet you want to be eaten, too. - Hell no! |
1. "How, O meditators, should
the nutriment of edible food be understood and considered?
"Suppose a couple, a wife and husband, have set out on a journey through
the desert, carrying only limited provisions.
"These parents have with them their
only son, their dearly beloved child. Now, while the two travel through
the desert, their limited stock of provisions runs out, comes to an
end, yet there is still a stretch of desert to be crossed. The
two think:
"'Our small stock of provisions has run out, come to
an end, and there is still a stretch of desert to be crossed.
Should we not slaughter our only son, our dearly beloved child, and prepare from his corpse both dried and
roasted meat? By eating our own son's flesh, we might cross in that way the
remaining part of the desert. Otherwise, all three of us might perish.'
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| Beloved baby steaks for drying and roasting |
"And these two, husband and wife, kill their only son, their dearly
beloved child, prepare dried and roasted meat. And eating their
son's flesh, they cross in that way the remaining part of the desert.
"While eating their son's flesh, they beat their breasts
crying: 'Where are you, our only son, our beloved child, where are you?'
"What do you think, O meditators? Will they eat that food for pleasure, for enjoyment, for the sake of becoming more beautiful, for (the body's)
embellishment?"
- [13: The same phrases occur in the Buddhist monastic's reflection on alms food, e.g., at MN 2; explained in the Path of Purification or Visuddhimagga (trans. by Ven. Nanamoli, p. 31 ff.).]
"Certainly not, O venerable sir!"
"Will they not instead eat that food merely for the sake of crossing the desert?"
"Yes, just so, O venerable sir!"
"In the same way, I say, O meditators, should edible food be
considered:
"O meditators, if
the nutriment of edible food is comprehended,
LUST for objects of the five senses is (thereby) comprehended. And if
lust
for objects of the five senses is comprehended, there is no
bond fettered by which a noble [enlightened] disciple might come again to this world.
- [14: That is one has become a non-returner (anagami), the third of four stages of enlightenment, by eradicating the fetter of sense craving desire (kama-raga-samyojana) which, according to the Commentary forms a unit with those other fetters (samyojanas) that are abandoned (pahanekattha) at this stage, i.e., personality belief, skeptical doubt, attachment to rites and rituals, and ill-will.]
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| Can you make them stop eating me? |
2. "And how, O meditators, should
the nutriment of sense impression be understood or
considered? Suppose, O meditators, there is a skinned cow that stands close
to a wall. The creatures living in the wall will nibble at the cow.
"If the skinned cow stands near a tree, the creatures living in
the tree will nibble at it. If it stands in water, the creatures
living in the water will nibble at it. If it stands in the open air, creatures living in the air will nibble at it. Wherever that skinned
cow stands, the creatures living there will nibble at it.
"In that manner, I say, O meditators, should the nutriment
of sense impression be considered. If the nutriment of sense impression is
comprehended,
the three kinds of feeling
- [15: pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral feeling or sensation.]
are thereby comprehended. And if the three kinds of feeling are
comprehended, there is, I say, no further work left to do for the noble
disciple.
- [16: This refers to the attainment of arhatship or sainthood," full enlightenment, liberation from the Wheel of Life and Death (rebirth) and all suffering.]
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| Lady Gaga in her "meat dress," thinks Leo (Die Antwoord "Hey Fatty Boom Boom") |
.
3. "And how, O meditators, should
the nutriment of volitions be
understood and considered? Suppose, O meditators, there is a pit of glowing embers, filled
to cover a human's height, with embers glowing so brightly there are no flames or smoke.
"Now a person who loves life and wishes to live, who
wishes for happiness and detests suffering, comes along. Then two strong men seize both of that person's arms and drag the person to that pit of glowing embers.
"Then, O
meditators, far from it would that person's will recoil, far from it
that person's longing, far from it that person's inclination. Why? It is, of course, because that person knows:
'If I fall into that pit of glowing embers, I'll meet death or deadly
pain.'
"In that manner, I say, O meditators, should the nutriment of volitions be considered. If the nutriment of volitions is
comprehended,
the three kinds of craving
- [17: sensual craving, craving for (eternal) existence, and craving for self-annihilation.]
are thereby comprehended. And if the three kinds of craving are
comprehended, there is, I say, no further work left to do for the noble
disciple.
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| The life of a ruler is beset with bad karma. |
4. "And how, O meditators, should
the nutriment of consciousness be understood and considered?
"Suppose, O meditators, people have seized a criminal, a robber, and brought
that person before the ruler saying: 'O majesty, this is a criminal, a robber!
Mete out the punishment you think fit!'
"Then the ruler would tell
them: 'Go, and in the morning strike this person with a hundred spears!'
And they strike him in the morning with a hundred spears.
"At noon the ruler would ask them: 'How is that criminal?'
— 'That robber is still alive, your majesty.'
— 'Then go and strike that criminal again at noontime with a hundred
spears!' So they do, and in the evening the ruler asks them again: 'How
is that criminal?'
— 'That robber is still alive.' — 'Then go and in the evening
strike that criminal again with a hundred spears!' And so they do.
"What do you think, O meditators? Will that criminal -- struck with three hundred
spears during a day -- suffer pain and torment owing to that?"
"Even if that person were to be struck by only a single spear, that person would suffer
pain and torment owing to that. How much more if struck by
three hundred spears!"
"In that manner, I say, O meditators, should the nutriment of consciousness
be considered.
"If the nutriment of consciousness is comprehended,
mind-and-matter are thereby comprehended. And if mind and body are
comprehended, there is, I say, no further work left to do for the noble
disciple."
