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The truth of the body: the liberating role of physical (and mental) boundaries in asubhabhvan*
Giuliano Giustarini
The literary corpus of the Suttas outlines a soteriology based on a contemplative and investigative approach. The key instrument is given by the term pa (generally translated with wisdom or discernment) or by the kindred compound satisampajaa (mindfulnessunderstanding), mostly used in the satipahnas formulas. As the aim of the teachings contained in the Nikyas can be epitomized by the compound pa-vimutti (liberation by wisdom), any attempt to dene pa assumes crucial relevance. The term wisdom conveys only a part of the profound semantic signicance of pa, while the compound satisampajaa directly refers to a quality cultivable by means of a specic method (the four satipahnas). It is reasonable to argue that the equation pa=satisampajaa, with the consequent direct relationship between the four satipahnas and nal liberation, suggests the importance of contemplative practice over doctrinal formulas and ontology. In other words, meditative techniques show a profundity of thought that actually weaves the whole net of the Buddhist philosophical system. On this basis, I would like to explore some nuances of contemplative practices applied to physical experience, trying to outline their implicit rationale. The Nikyas treatment of the body in a contemplative perspective delineates a Buddhist view of death, of the conditioned realm, and of suering in general, and exemplies some attempts to overcome them. The Rohitassasutta (A iv.45-46, PTS ii.48-49; S i.107, PTS i.61-62) oers a precious contribution to the understanding of the relevance of the body in terms of liberation. This text also provides convincing evidence as to how immediate perception is the underpinning of pa, here portrayed as a sort of sharp, intuitive wisdom rather than as intellectual knowledge. The Rohitassasutta reports a conversation between the Buddha and Rohitassa, son of a deva and himself a deva in a previous life. Rohitassa complains about his fruitless attempts to reach the end of the world in search of emancipation from birth and death. The Buddha agrees that emancipationfrom birth and death, and therefore from suering, can be

Thai International Journal of Buddhist Studies II (2011): 96-124. The International PhD Programme in Buddhist Studies, Mahidol

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obtained only by arriving at the end of the world,1 but he adds that the extreme border of the world is not reachable by physically travelling: na kho panha avuso appatv lokassa anta dukkhassa antakiriya vadmi || api kvhha vuso imasmieva vymamatte kaevare saimhi samanake loka ca papemi lokasamudaya ca lokanirodha ca lokanirodhagmini ca paipadan-ti || Friend, I state that without having reached the end of the world, the end of suering cannot be realized. Moreover, I declare that in this very fathom-long body (vymamatta kaevara), endowed with mind and knowledge, there is the world, cessation of the world and the path leading to cessation of the world. This suggestive statement seems to indicate that the kernel of the Buddhist teachings, i.e. the truths about suering and the end of suering, here paraphrased, are unravelled through direct experience.2 It is easy to argue that the Rohitassasutta necessarily implies that the body itself is a teaching, and this teaching is itself sucient to reach the goal of nal liberation. The body is explicitly pointed out as the microcosm where the fundamental issue of suering and the end of suering can be clearly observed and eventually resolved.3 Hence, pa is a movement inward, not outward, as suggested by the very fact that although in a past life Rohitassa was a sky-goer (vehsagama), such an amazing skill was no help in his genuine quest. Furthermore, it is well known that pa is a combination of knowing and seeing the way phenomena manifest themselves (yathbhta jana passa).4
* I wish to express my gratitude to Mahidol University for making this work possible by supporting and encouraging my research, and to Mattia Salvini for reading a rst draft of this article and giving some precious suggestion.
1

S i.107, PTS i.62: lokassa anta dukkhassa antakiriya. The compound lokantag, that appears in the concluding stanza of this sutta, is indeed a title of the Buddha and of a liberated person. A very similar analogy is found in the Lokyatikasutta (A ix.4.38, PTS iv.428-432), where some Brahmins are said to be able to run at super-human speed, and yet they still belong to and are bound to the world (lokapariypanna). See also Lokantagamasutta (S iv.116, PTS iv.92.).

2 [for an Enlightened person] the arising of the world is understood and abandoned, and the cessation of the world is understood and realised. The individuals experience, then, can be metaphorically expressed as the world: his experience is for him the world, Hamilton 2000: 98. 3 The metaphor of the body as an analogue of the world, microcosm and macrocosm, is one of the more familiar ideas of the body from ancient India as well as one of the oldest, Wujastyk 2009: 195. 4

After a private conversation with Prof. Premasiri, I decided to translate yathbhta with the way phenomena manifest themselves instead of the more commonly used the

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Here the Buddha teaches that the action of knowing and seeing must be directed towards the end of the world (lokassa anta teyya daheyya) and the end of the world has, per force, to be found within the body.5 This statement directly relates the practice of kyagatsati (mindfulness applied to the body) to pa (wisdom) and to the subsequent dukkhanirodha (cessation of suering). In the Sayatana Sayutta there is an initial comment on this particular teaching of the Buddha, and according to the tradition it is oered by nanda, the Buddhas attendant. nanda says that the world has to be known by examining the way one perceives sense-experience and, quoting the Buddha, that the end of the world is connected to the end of suering.6 Regardless any possible psychological acceptation, to understand the world in terms of perception stresses the relevance of direct knowledge against a mere conceptualisation of the world itself. In the Sartthappakksin, his commentary to the Sayutta Nikya, Buddhaghosa equates lokassa anta to sakhralokassa anta, i.e. the end of the world (made by) the sakhras. Sakhra is sometimes translated with coecients, conditions, formations, physical or mental tensions, synergies, etc., but it is nevertheless an enigmatic term.7 I would suggest that here it refers to its association with avj in the sequence of paiccasamuppda. Thus, the end of the world would mean the end of everything created by ignorance, a sort of primordial tension from which all the individual and universal suering of sasra emerges. In this case, going to the end of the world would mean to reach the very roots of existence, the place-moment where the mind chooses the making (kamma) of the world, with its consequent suering, instead of the blissful peace of nibbna. In terms of paiccasamuppda, the shift from

way things are or reality, because the latter do not convey the sense of becoming implicit in the verb bhavati and may somehow suggest that phenomena have permanent qualities.
5 Wujastyk nds the body-macrocosm identity in a very similar passage from Indian medical literature: the Caraka Sahit contains a dialogue in which the teacher Punavarsu asserts that This human being is coincident with the world: whatever kinds of entity are to be found in the human being are in the world (5.3; Trikamji Acharya 1981: 325). Wujastik 2009: 195. The Sanskrit reads puruo ya lokasammitayvanto hi loke (mrtimanto) bhvavies tvanta purue tvanto loke, Trikamji A. (ed.) (1981) [1941]. Carakasahit, ricakrapidattaviracirya yurvedadpikvyakhyay savalita. New Delhi. Munshiram Manoharlal (quoted in Wujastik 2009: 222, n.3). 6 chakkhunsotenaghnenajivhyakyenamanena kho vuso lokasmi lokasa hoti lokaman S iv.116, PTS iv.95; na ca panha bhikkhave apatv lokassa anta dukkhassa antakiriya vadmti (ib. 96). 7

one of the most dicult terms in Buddhist metaphysics, in which the blending of the subjective--objective view of the world and of happening, peculiar to the East, is so complete, that it is almost impossible for Occidental terminology to get at the root of its meaning in a translation (PED).

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vj to avj could be reversed by examining its rst manifestation, namely the sakhras, so replacing the ordinary conditioning (anuloma) with the reverse (and liberating) path (pailoma).8 In this perspective, I would not dene conditioning as exclusively mental or ontological, since these two characteristics are mutually compatible. The term kaevara (or kaebara)9 literally means corpse, carcass, and presents considerable discrepancies from other terms that usually designate the body, and especially from kya, the Pli word that is normally used to illustrate meditative techniques. Unlike the latter, kaevara is not widely found in the Nikyas and its most common use belongs to the formula that denes death (maraa) in the list of the four truths (sacca) and in the chain of dependent origination (paiccasamuppda). The formula itself oers some noteworthy clues; the following is its version in the Vibhagasutta (S ii.2; PTS ii.2-3), wherein it describes maraa in the jramaraa link of the paiccasamuppda: Ya tesa tesa sattna tamh tamh sattanikya cuticavanat bhedo antaradhnam maccumaraa klakiriy kandhna bhedo kaebarassa nikkhepo || ida vuccati maraa || The decease of beings, their breaking up, their vanishing, their arriving at the end, their death, their reaching of time, the disintegration of the aggregates, the elimination of the corpse: this is called death. So, the locution kaebarassa nikkhepo (elimination of the corpse)10 eectively qualies the word kaevara and provides some hints to understand why it has been used in the Rohitassasutta instead of kya, a term much more suitable for the contemplation of the body. The reason for the choice could be to describe the body as something useless, repulsive, to be got rid of, because this is the best way to realize its key role in the pursuit of nal liberation. In this perspective, an illuminating clue comes from two stanzas of the Thergth, wherein kaevara is a vivid example of the lexicon used by Subh to argue her case for the renunciation to sense pleasures and her own commitment to spiritual life. Here, the whole scope of the argument is one of counterbalancing the attractiveness of the body
8 9

For the two lists of paiccasamuppda see e.g. Udna i.1-3.

Sk kalevara or kaevara, Lt cadver. See Burrow 2001: 98, 130, and 1971, 34: 538-559. 10 A more literal translation could be the putting down or the laying down (Bodhi 2000: 534). It is suggestive to note that one of the possible etymologies of Lt cadver is from Lt cadere (= to fall), perhaps referring to the falling apart of the body as well as to the action of putting it down.

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and the consequent involvement in worldly life. Also, this chapter of the Thergth sheds light on the very reason why contemplation of impurity (asubhnupassan) is taught and practiced in the Nikyas.11 Comparing the graphic verses of the Thergth with the aspects of the Rohitassasutta examined above, the resulting scenario seems to oer two somehow incongruent points of view. From the standpoint of the Thergth, attention has to be shifted away from the body. On the other hand, the Rohitassasutta lays great emphasis on the body. It is as if the latter were to state that despite being foul and repulsive, the body is the answer to the spiritual quest. The contradiction is only apparent: lust, or sense desire (kmacchandha), is indeed the rst hindrance (nvaraa) that blocks contemplation, but once it is subdued (often by asubha practice), the very attention to the body leads to ultimate freedom. So, the Rohitassasutta, by emphasizing the relevance of the body, actually stresses mindfulness applied to the body by displaying its direct, causal connection to nal liberation, i.e. to the highest aim of the Buddhist path. While in several suttas mindfulness of the body is indicated as leading to complete nibbna without remainder or to arahantship (anupd parinibbnya savattati arahattaphalasacchikiriyya savattati; e.g. A i.580-583, PTS i.4445), in contiguous passages the goal may consist in the condition of sakadgamin (once returner) and angmin (no-returner). Of course, the latter statement does not contradict the role of kyagatasati in the pursuit of nibbna, but it just implies its importance in reaching intermediate objectives. However, further considerations seem to suggest that, rather than being only a propaedeutic step to the other satipahnas, mindfulness of the body represents a complex structure of contemplative techniques, adequate per se to lead to liberation. The Amatavagga of the Aguttara Nikya, in fact, clearly and repeatedly states that it is possible to eoy nibbna, here paraphrased with amata (deathless) by practicing kyagatsati, but deathlessness cannot be obtained without practicing kyagatsati. Amatan te bhikkhave na paribhujanti ye kyagatsati na paribhuati. Amatan te bhikkhave paribhujanti ye kyagatsati paribhujanti (A i.600, PTS i.45). In the same chapter this statement is paraphrased another eleven times. Also, in the Kyagatsatisutta (M 119), one who constantly cultivates mindfulness of the body cannot be found and taken by Mra: yassa kassaci kyagat sati bhvit bahulkata, na tassa labhati Mro otra, na tassa labhati Mro rammaa (M iii.157, PTS iii.95). According

Th 368-501 (PTS 158-162). A similar use of kaevara is in another chapter of the same collection of verses, Sumedh (Th 448-524, PTS 168-174).

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to Gethin, it seems that the rst satipahna or kynupassan is in itself strictly sucient to bring the bhikkhu to the conclusion of the path to awakening (Gethin 2001: 57). The scope of kyagatsati can be also deduced through its relation with other contemplative techniques. The previous chapter of the Aguttara Nikya, the Kyagatsativagga, asserts that mindfulness applied to the body encompasses all the wholesome factors, just like the ocean receives every water stream. The chapter gives a long and detailed list of benets deriving from kyagatsati, each of them is both a fruit of this practice and a condition for liberation. Among these, there is a sense of urgency (savega), mindfulness and clear comprehension (satisampajaa), attainment of knowledge and vision (adassanapailbha), happiness in this life (dihadhammasukhavihra), pacication (passaddhi), relinquishment of ignorance (avj-pahna), and wisdom (pa). This suggests that mindfulness applied to the body is directly and indirectly related to liberation. Also, the anities between the wholesome factors and between kyagatsati and the wholesome factors are so many and so deep that it is dicult to distinguish between the primary and secondary causes of liberation. The meditative techniques pertaining to kyanupassan are meticulously described in several suttas, especially in the Kyagatsatisutta (M 119), in the Mahsatipahnasutta (D 22 and M 10) and in the npnasatisutta (M118, particularly focused on mindfulness of in-breath and out-breath). The modalities of this practice can be summarized within six main techniques: 1. mindfulness of in-breath and out-breath; 2. mindfulness of body postures; 3. mindfulness of physical actions and functions; 4. mindfulness of the parts of the body; 5. mindfulness of the elements; 6. the nine cemetery contemplations. Asubhabhvan is the fourth technique in the list of kyagatsati: as will be clear, the parts of the body have to be examined through the lens of asubha. First of all, in Buddhist texts the use of the term asubha in compounds like asubhasa or asubhnupassan clearly denes it as a quality that has not to be eluded but to be contemplated, observed, and deeply realized. As an adjective, asubha is translated by the PED with impure, unpleasant, bad, ugly, nasty, as a noun it is translated with nastiness, impurity. Compounds where asubha is applied to a contemplative practice are translated in PED as follows: -nupassin realising or intuiting the corruptness (of the body) -kammahna reection on impurity -bhvan contemplation of impurity (of the

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body) -sa idea of impurity.12 Nyanatilokas Buddhist Dictionary translates asubha with impurity, loathsomeness, foulness and denes the purpose of asubhabhvan as follows: The contemplation of the bodys impurity is an antidote against the Hindrance of Sense-desire (nvaraa) and the mental Perversion (vipallsa) which sees what is truly impure as pure and beautiful. On the basis of Woodwards translation, Hamilton usefully highlights the reference to impermanence as follows: Asubha can also be translated as what is not beautiful (Woodwards translation of SN.V.320 uses unlovely: KS.V.284). This translation has the same implication of impermanence as impure does (Hamilton 1996: 191 n.48). In this sense, it is noteworthy that asubha is often associated with dukkha, the quality of suering, or unsatisfactoriness, characteristic of the conditioned realm, thus working as an antidote to rga (craving). Another synonym (paikla = unpleasant, repulsive) points to the same approach and claries the function of this practice. The term is frequently used in compounds with -manasikra (= attention to what is unpleasant) or sa (awareness of the unpleasant), often associated with hra (food).13 Furthermore, in asubhabhvan the term asubha is often replaced by the adjective asuci (PED: impure, unclean). On the contrary, taking the body and sense-experience in general as subha (pure) is said to foster craving (tah) in those who are aected by attachment (rga): If a person with intense attachment, agitated by discriminative thought, focuses on purity, his craving increases, he consolidates the bond.14 Conversely, as stated in the following stanza of the Dhammapada, pacication of discriminative thought, cultivation of the perception of impurity and consistent mindfulness break the bond of Mra, the personication of suering: One who is joyful in the pacication of discursive thought, who cultivates [perception of] impurity, always mindful, he will nish [craving], he will cut the bond of Mra.15 That seems to suggest that, whether related to ones own body, to food or to any sense object, a sense of loathsomeness serves as a balancing factor to counteract the corrupting work of nand (enchantment), kma

12

The presence of the compound asubhasain in the Rohitassasutta suggests that sa, when referring to meditative techniques, is something more that a mere idea: in such cases, indeed, -sa is used with the same acceptation of anupassan. See below n. 28. See for instance A i.453-472 (PTS i.41).

13 14

Vitakkapamathitassa jantuno || tibbargassa subhnupassino || bhiyyo tah pavahati || eso kho daha karoti bandhana Dhp 349, PTS 98. This stanza is extensively discussed in Martini 2011 passim.

Vitakkpasame ca yo rato || asubha bhvayat sad sato || esa kho vyantikhiti esachecchati Mrabhandana Dhp 350, PTS 98. See below the commentary on this stanza (n.30).

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(sense-desire) and rga (attachment)16. These negative factors constitute the fetter of suering, which is weakened by focusing on impurity and severed by mindfulness. Moreover, the misperception of purity, i.e. looking for perfection in what is conditioned and ultimately impure, is one of the four perversion (vipallsa).17 Unlike the other techniques of contemplation, that generally use the term pajnti (to know), in the practice of asubhabhvan (as well as in the following contemplations of the elements and of the stages of decay) the act of watching is indicated by the term paccavekkhati, that literally means to look at, to consider, to examine, or to analyse.18 This slight shift of lexicon could be justied by the technique itself: the body has to be thoroughly scrutinized from the soles of the feet (pdatala) up to the tip of the hair (kesamatthaka) and vice versa, by means of direct, meticulous observation that includes the internal organs and thus resembles an actual practice of visualization.19 In two key suttas
16 The purpose of contemplating the nature of the body is to bring its unattractive aspects to the forefront of ones attention, thereby placing the attractive aspects previously emphasized in a more balanced context. The aim is a balanced and detached attitude towards the body. With such a balanced attitude, one sees the body merely as a product of conditions, a product with which one need not identify, Anlayo 2003: 122. In the Saddhammopyana (368; JPTS 1887:57) the mark of asubha has to be seen not only in the body but in the four major objects of mindfulness as listed in the satipahna (body, feelings, mind, phenomena) and it is said to be the eld of mindfulness. 17 Anicce bhikkhave niccan ti savipallaso cittavipallaso dihivipallaso, adukkhe bhikkhave dukkhan ti savipallaso cittavipallaso dihivipallaso, anattani bhikkhave att ti savipallasodihivipallaso, asubhe bhikkhave subhan ti savipallaso cittavipallaso dihivipallaso A iv.49, PTS ii.52. See also Vism xxii.53 (PTS 683) and Paism i.236 (PTS ii.81). 18 Explaining the process of npnasati and the three verbs used to describe it, i.e. sikkhati (training) paccavekkhati (considering) and upasaharati (comparing), Anlayo outlines a progression from comparatively simple acts of observation to more sophisticated forms of analysis (Anlayo 2003: 119). Likewise, we may recognize that paccavekkhati in asubhabhvan suggests a particular type of attention towards physical components. See also below n. 21. 19 Visualization most probably corresponds to two of the seven ways of practicing this examination of the body according to the Visuddhimagga, i.e. by visualizing the colour (vaa) and shape (sahna) of the thirty-two parts of the body (Vism viii.2, PTS 242 .). I also agree with Gethin when, considering a possible statement that nonMahyna texts would lack techniques of visualization, he notes that there is no specialized word or expression in Buddhist Sanskrit texts for visualization. Moreover the notion of visualization is somewhat loose, ranging from having some kind of vision, to deliberately cultivating a specic prescribed image. It seems worth considering the possible evidence in the non-Mahyna materials of a more general interest in the visual in a meditative context, Gethin 2006: 96. Apart the anussatis, this practice of contemplating the organs shows by itself the features of a visualization, as it would be dicult to observe ones organs without a visual technique. The very term paccavekkhati suggests a visual approach (pai + avekkhati: to look upon, consider, review, realise, contemplate, PED). Yet, it is possible that the meditator here has already developed a

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of contemplative practice, namely the Mahsatipahnasutta and the Kyagatsatisutta, the technique is extensively illustrated as follows: Also, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu examines the body from the tip of the feet up to the top of the hair, bounded by skin, with its impurity, thus: here in this body there are body-hair, hair, nails, teeth, skin, esh, sinews, bones, bone-marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, food in the stomach, faeces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, spittle, snot, oil of the joints, urine. Just as if there were a sack, with two holes at ends, full of many kinds of grains, like hill rice, red rice, beans, peas, millet, white rice, and a man with good sight opened it and examined it thus: this is hill rice, this is red rice, these are beans, these are peas, this is millet, this is white rice. In the same way, a bhikkhu examines his own body, with its impurity, thus: here in this body there are body-hair, hair, nails, teeth, skin, esh, sinews, bones, bone-marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, food in the stomach, faeces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, spittle, snot, oil of the joints, urine.20
particular sensitivity that provides him/her with a sort of tactile inner feeling. Even though the rst interpretation may sound more reasonable and would supply some material for an analysis of visualization in the Nikyas, I would leave the latter open to further study: texts on meditation often give detailed accounts of marvellous superpowers, compared to which awareness of internal organs is denitely easier to accept. Other examples of visualization in the Nikyas that might be cited are the cemetery practices that will be illustrated later, or the visualization of the colours in some meditative techniques (e.g. Mahsakuludyisutta, M 77, PTS ii.1-22).
20 Puna ca para, bhikkhave, bhikkhu imam eva kya uddha pdatal adho kesamatthak tacapariyanta prannnappakrassa asucino paccavekkhati: Atthi imasmi kye kes lom nakh dant taco masa nahr ah ahimij vakka hadaya yakana kilomaka pihaka papphsa anta antagua udariya karsa pitta semha pubbo lohita sedo medo assu vasa kheo sighik lasik muttanti. Seyyathpi, bhikkhave, ubhato mukh mto pr muggna msna tilna taulna; tam ena cakkhum puriso mucitv paccavekkheyya: Ime sl ime vh ime mugga ime ms ime til ime taul ti;-evam eva kho, bhikkhave, imam eva kya uddha pdatal adho kesamatthak tacapariyanta pran nnappakrassa asucino paccavekkhati; Atthi imasmi kye kes lom nakh dant taco masa nahr ah ahimij vakka hadaya yakana kilomaka pihaka papphsa anta antaguna udariya karsa pitta semha pubbo lohita sedo medo assu vas kheo sighik lasik muttan ti (M iii.154, PTS iii.90). It is noteworthy that in the Kynupassan-niddesa of the second book of the Abhidhamma, the Vibhaga, this is the only technique ascribed to the contemplation of the body. In other texts this list includes the brain (Gethin 2008: 285, n. 144). Even though the present work considers the PTS editions of the Nikyas, I would like to briey mention that the parallel asubhabhvan in the Saa-Sutra of the Gndhri Sayuktgama Sutras contains two words that are not found in the Pli version. In his inestimable study on the Gndhri manuscripts, in fact, Glass analyses the presence of raya and jala and, after a comparison with the Pli Dhammapada (rajo va jalla =

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The body, described in detail through this list, is compared to a sack of legumes and cereals.21 More than just stimulating repulsiveness, this analogy aims to signicantly reduce concern and involvement in sense experience, though the recommendation here is to recognize the fundamental quality of asubha. It is interesting to note that whilst the Mahsatipanasutta and the Kyagatsatisutta describe asubhabhvan as being followed by the contemplative practice focused on the elements (dhtu), in the Mahrhulovdasutta the two techniques are inextricably intertwined to the point that contemplation of the elements is contemplation of the physical organs (M ii.114-121, PTS i.422-3). In this perspective, the metaphor of the sack seems to encourage an objective observation that in turn ought to show the essential texture of conditioned reality. Let us try to examine this method further. In the Asubhnupasssutta of the Itivuttaka, the asubhnupassan is the rst step of a threefold contemplative process (asubhnupassan npnasati aniccnupassan) that culminates in the relinquishing (pahna) of ignorance and the consequent arising of true knowledge: asubhnupass, bhikkhave, kyasmi viharatha, npnasati ca vo ajjhatta parimukha spahit hotu, sabbasakhresu aniccnupassino viharatha. Asubhnupassna bhikkhave kyasmi viharata yo subhya dhtuy rgnusayo so pahyati. npnasatiya ajjhatta parimukha spahitya ye bhir vitakksay vightapakkhik te na honti. Sabbasakharesu aniccnupassna viharata y avj s pahyati, y vj s uppajjatti.22 Monks, abide contemplating impurity in the body, establish unshakeable mindfulness of in and out-breath internally and
dust and [wet] dirt; Dhp 141), with the Dharmapada Udnavarga and with the Chinese Madhygama list, concludes that we may understand the list to include an underlying tendons and networks, which ts very nicely with the context. However, given that my aim is to translate the text of this manuscript, which clearly does not support this interpretation, I follow the Chinese Madhygama and translate dust and networks and admit the possibility of translating dust and (wet) dirt if our scribe misunderstood jala (Glass 2007: 155). Despite the accuracy of this translation, I would follow the idea that ambiguity of the terms may have a proper function and suggest more technical meanings, i.e. rajju, the tendons of the spinal column, that would be suitable in such a meticulous description of the organs.
21

Seyyath pi bhikkhave ubhatomukh muto pr nnvihitassa dhaassa, seyyathda: slna vhna muggna msna tilna taulna (e.g. D ii.377, PTS ii.293-4; M i.110, PTSi.57; M iii.154, PTS iii.90). The association body-mater-food is not uncommon in the Suttas: another graphic analogy is with a mass of boiled rice and junket (odanakimmspacaya, e.g. M iii.7, PTS ii.77; S iv.204, PTS iv.194). Iti iv.6 (85); PTS 80-81.

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in the front, abide contemplating impermanence in all the conditioned phenomena. Monks, those who abide contemplating impurity in the body relinquish craving for [mistaken as] pure elements. When mindfulness of in-breath and out-breath is rmly established internally in the front, exterior thoughts associated with distress are relinquished. For those who abide contemplating impermanence in all the conditioned phenomena, ignorance is relinquished and knowledge arises. Imbued with the characteristic of impermanence, asubha represents a fundamental feature of both internal and external experience, wherein it is impossible to nd any authentic, permanent, pure contentment. In this light, asubha would be synonymous with conditioned (sakhata), and this is conrmed by the strict relationship between perfect purity and perfect liberation stated in the Mahniddesa.23 The practices illustrated in the Mratajjaniyasutta provide this reection with solid arguments. First of all, in this text we nd the practice of asubha with the use of the locution yathbhta pajnti, that confers an objective standpoint to the whole technique. The instruction on asubhabhvan is followed by three modalities denitely related to it: paiklasa, anbhiratisa and aniccnupassan (perception of the loathsome, perception of disenchantment and contemplation of impermanence). While the rst compound is often described as asubhabhvan itself, the second one indicates the contemplation of disenchantment towards sense objects. The last modality unveils the intrinsic characteristic of impurity in the conditioned world, i.e. impermanence. Whilst in this sutta asubhabhvan is applied only to the body, the other three approaches focus respectively on hra (food and, in a broad sense, matter), sabbaloka (the world, or the whole perceptive experience), sakhra (conditioned phenomena). These objects share so many features in common that they could even be interchangeable. In other words, the focus of awareness is progressively expanded for the sake of pa and virga (non-attachment, dispassion), allowing for the comprehension of anicca.24 Despite the evidence, drawing the conclusion that asubha is ultimately synonymous with anicca is reductive. In fact, in the Asubhasutta earlier mentioned (A iv.163, PTS ii.150-2), asubhnupassan and aniccnupassan are two distinguishable approaches in a list of kindred
23 suhhi v visuddhi v parisuddhi v mutti v vimutti v parimutti v (Mnidd iii.20, PTS i.76). 24 According to Hamilton, this is the true purpose of asubhbhvan: the purpose of meditating on impurity (or unloviness) is to realise its impermanence (Hamilton 1996:178-183).

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practices that include asubhnupassan (contemplation of impurity), hre paikklasa (awareness of the repulsive in food), sabbaloke anabhiratasa (awareness of the absence of delight in the whole world), aniccnupassan (contemplation of impermanence) and maraasa (awareness of death). Yet, the anity between asubha and anicca may oer signicant clues to the understanding of both terms. Due to its intrinsic impermanence, a phenomenon cannot be ultimately pure and, on the other hand, impurity itself signies that very lack of a permanent core and consequent inadequacy in providing permanent satisfaction. Some passages, such as the following strophe of the Theragth, replace dukkha with asubha in the list of the three fundamental marks (tilakkhaa): Bhaveyya aniccan ti anattasaa asubhasaa ca | lokamhi ca anabhirati: eta samaassa pairpa ||25 Awareness of impermanence, not-self and impurity are to be cultivated as well as disenchantment toward the world, this is suitable for a practitioner.26 Commenting on this verse in his Paramatthadpan Theragth Ahakath, the Buddhist scholar Dhammaplcariya27 displays remarkable subtlety interpretation of asubhasa. After glossing aniccasa and anattasa by emphasizing impermanence, selessness and emptiness of all phenomena, Dhammapla, through the peculiar commentarial lexicon, refers asubhasa to the human body: Awareness of impurity means: impurity is the oozing of the dirtiness (asuci) of delements in the whole body sprung from
25 26

Th 594 (PTS p. 61).

Sa is ecaciously translated by conception or cognition throughout the Nikyas and especially when referred to the khandhas list, yet I think that in this stanza the term indicates a process of deep awareness rather than a merely intellectual recognition of the truth of impermanence, not-self etc. Among the meanings given by PED, awareness seems to better convey a function of direct observation that sa obviously has when it is interchangeable with anupassan. One of the clearest examples of such interchangeability is in the Girimnandasutta, where aniccasa, anattsa and asubhasa are dened as synonyms of aniccnupassan, anattnupassan and asubhnupassan. Here the practice of asubha is described as iti imasmi kye asubhnupass viharati. Aya vuccatnanda asubhasa (A x.60; PTS v.109). Moreover, in the Mratajjaniyasutta itself the compounds paiklasain and paiklnupassin are perfectly interchangeable. As will appear later, contemplation is a more tting translation when sa refers to the actual observation of the physical body. See Anlayo 2003: 222. Tse-Fu Kuan 2008: 13-23 and 2005: 193-7. 7th-10th century? On the date of Dhammapla see Cousins 1996: 581 and 1998: 156.

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action (karaja-kya) or in the formation of the three worlds (tebhmaka-sankhra);28 awareness of suering that follows awareness of that which happens, this is [awareness of] impurity; therefore this is how awareness of suering is grasped and how it should be known.29 This exegesis seems to suggest that the physical body is an easy prey to delements and the way it is aected by delements has to be contemplated and clearly understood, since this is the very basis for suering. It is clear that the practice of asubha has at least the function of reducing the power of delements because they not only bring about suering, but also prevent the action of the key factor in the path to liberation, i.e. pa. Aected by rga (lust, attachment), the mind is not able to contemplate because its relationship with sense objects is conditioned by identication, craving and possession. This is explicitly stated by the meditative instructions found in texts like the Mahrhulovdasutta, wherein contemplation of the body, its organs and elements is aimed at cultivating a perspective based on selessness (anatt), and every modality is accompanied by the following advice: ta: neta mama, neso 'ham asmi, na meso att ti eva - eta yathbhta sammappaya dahabba30

28 On the three worlds (kma-rpa-arpa) and their correspondence to dimensions of consciousness cf. e.g. Sdhp (passim) and Gethin 1997: 192-193. In the commentary to the Dhammapada, the formation and the conditioning of the three worlds make the compound used to dene the bond of Mra (tebhmakavaasankhta Mrabandhana, Dhp-a xxiv.7, PTS iv.69). The corresponding stanza of the Dhammapada, quoted above, says that the always mindful (sad sata) will cut the bond of Mra (Dhp 350, PTS 98). 29

Asubha-saan ti; karaja-kye sabbasmim pi v tebhmaka-sankhre kilessucipaggharaato asubh ti pavatta-saa dukkha-sa parivr hi aya; etenevettha dukkha-sapi gahit ti veditabba (Th-a ii.253). In his translation of the Visuddhimagga, amoli translates karaja-kya with gross physical matter, that may refer to the quality of impurity intrinsic in the physical body (amoli 1991: 320). In this passage of the Visuddhimagga, Buddhaghosa states that the karajakya is overcome by means of the fourth stage of meditation (jhna) just as a man escapes a snake or an enemy (Vism x.1, PTS 326). In their respective commentaries to the Suttas, both Buddhaghosa (e.g. D-a ii.136, PTS ii.259) and Dhammapla (Iti-a 79, PTS 268), as well as the Niddvibhvana of the Sarsagaha (PTS 76), that for its section on meditation is inspired by the Visuddhimagga, consider karaja-kya as a sickness (gelaa), thus equating the whole of physical existence to a sort of imperfection, and recalling a widespread formula wherein the Buddha denes the ve aggregates as a disease (roga), an abscess (gaa), a pain (agha), etc. (i.e. M ii.133, PTS i.435; S iii.122, PTSiii.167; A iv.124, PTS ii.128). See e.g. M ii.114 (PTS i.421). Even though this is not the best occasion to go deeper into this, it is extremely interesting that in the Mahrahulovdasutta contemplation of body and elements is a preliminary practice to that of npnasati.

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This has to be deeply understood and seen in the way it manifests itself: this is not mine, this is not me, this is not my self. This deep understanding (sammappa) is explained in the rst sutta of the Itivuttaka as the key factor in the letting go of craving (lobha). The link between deep understanding and relinquishing (pahna) is insight (vipassan), i.e. the outcome of satipahna-practice. The process can be summed up in the following way: practice insight deep understanding relinquishing non-return stage31 Again, the paradox of the path is that the grip of the self view, expressed through the dyad attachment-aversion, has to be thoroughly observed and understood in order to be let go of, but this practice of observation is impeded by that very grip. The strategy used in the Nikyas to resolve this stalemate is to encourage letting go from the very beginning, and by oering convincing scenarios of right view well before the meditator has developed pa by himself. The practices described in the Mratajjaniyasutta are also listed in the Sasakhrasutta (A iv.169, PTS ii.155-6), in the Asubhasutta (A iv.163, PTS ii.150-2) and in the Gilnasutta (A v.121, PTS iii.1423), where we meet an additional meditative practice: maraasa (awareness of death). In the Asubhasutta these practices are said to lead to savna khaya (eacement of poisons), and in the Sasakhrasutta there is an explicit reference to the experience of nibbna in this very life: puggalo diheva dhamme sasakhraparinibbyi hoti.32 Last but not least, among the direct fruits of these techniques there is the development of the jhnas, which proves their meditative purpose.33 Nevertheless, there are points in the Nikyas where some adverse eects of asubhabhvan are mentioned. In the Aatitthiyasutta (A

31 Ekadhamma bhikkhave pajahatha. Aha vo pibhogo angmitya. Katama ekadhamma? Lobha bhikkhave ekadhamma pajahatha. Aha vo pibhogo angmity (Iti i.1, PTS 1). The condition of non-returning is an incontrovertible step preceding nal liberation. 32 33

See also savakkhayasutta (A v.70, PTS iii.83).

In the Kyagatsatisutta (M 119), each technique of contemplation of the body gives rise to relinquishing and then to samdhi (M iii.154-155, PTS iii.89.). In accordance with this sutta, a contemporary Theravda monk, Ajahn Brahmavamso, states that the rst purpose of body contemplation is to clear away the hindrances so that samdhi can happen, and then you can get into deep jhnas. The second stage of body contemplation is to use the experience of jhnas themselves, or the power conferred on the mind by those experiences to actually see this body so deeply that you can disentangle the attachment to it Brahmavamso 2001: 2.

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iii.69, PTS i.200-1), for instance, the risk of increasing dosa (aversion) is mentioned, and the whole practice of asubha is described as a delicate balance between rga (attachment) and dosa itself. This balance is pursued by cultivating both yonisomanasikra (close attention) and mettcetovimutti (release of mind by means of amity).34 Somehow, attention, especially if it is cultivated by focusing on the impurity of the object observed (i.e. the body), has to be softened because the delements can easily mislead it into conict with the object itself. Similarly, in the Meghiyasutta (Ud 31, PTS 33, 37, and A ix.3, PTS iv.3548) the purpose of asubhasa is to let go of craving and it is followed (and balanced) by mettbhvan, npnasati and aniccasa: mett is cultivated in order to relinquish aversion, npnasati to cut conceptual thought and aniccasa uproots the identication with and appropriation of a separate self.35 The Nvarappahnavagga of the Aguttara Nikya (A i.16-17, PTS i.4) suggests contemplation of asubhanimitta (the characteristic of impurity) as an antidote to the rst hindrance, kmacchandha (sense-desire) and to focus on mettcetovimutti to withstand bypda (aversion). The diculty of this practice is emphasized even more in the Bhradvjasutta of the Sayatana Sayutta, wherein Piola Bhradvja, a disciple of the Buddha, explains to King Udena why even young disciples of the Buddha look so committed and content with the spiritual life. He says that they are taught by the Buddha to practice asubhabhvan (here described in detail) to counteract the power of lust/craving (lobha). This practice is described as an easy (sukara) meditative practice for experienced meditators, that are already cultivated in body, cultivated in virtue, cultivated in mind, cultivated in wisdom (bhvitaky bhvitasl bhvitacitt bhvitapa), conversely it is dicult (dukkara) for those who are not so well trained. Asked about other reasons for the bhikkhus contentment, Bhradvja points to the practice of contemplation of the six senses by means of restraint (savara).36

34 This caution seems to be widespread in Buddhism. In the Avaghoas Saundarananda, for instance, it is recommended not to practice aubha when the mind is aected by aversion (vypda, dvea), as that would further increase this poison and dramatically damage the meditator. As in the Nikyas, a mind aected by aversion has to be treated by amity (maitr): vypdadoena manasy udre | na sevitavya tv aubha nimitta | dvetmakasya hy aubh vadhya | pitttmana tka ivpacra || vypdadoakubhite tu citte | sevy svapakpanayena maitr | dvetmano hi praamya maitr | pitttmana ta ivpacra SdNd 16.60. 35

Asubh bhvetabb rgassa pahnya, npnasati bhvetabb vitakkupacchedya, aniccasa bhvetabb asmimnasamugghtya. 36 S iv.127 (PTS iv.111). The same concept is illustrated in a similar way in the Mahsaccakasutta (M i.367-368, PTS i.239) through the relationship between the untrained mind (abhvitacitta) and feeling (vedan). On the role of savara in the

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An episode told in the Veslisutta of the npna Sayutta is even more eloquent: here the Buddha, after having exalted the benets derived from asubhabhvan, leaves for a half month on solitary retreat. Once back, nanda tells him that during his absence several monks, after meditating on asubha, had fallen into a state of despair and, overwhelmed by disgust, committed suicide. nanda asks the Buddha for a teaching and the Buddha illustrates npnasamdhi (concentration on the breath).37 This example shows how the risk of disparaging the body was taken into careful consideration in the Nikyas and that this very contempt was seen as a dramatic misunderstanding of the teachings.38 In this regard, it is relevant that the practice suggested is npnasati, a contemplation of the body that can also incorporate asubhnupassan. If we consider the role of npnasati in uprooting conceptual thought (vitakka), as mentioned earlier, it is clear that here the Buddha is oering a remedy to sever the obsessive thoughts that may arise from dwelling on asubha without right discernment. Also, as we have seen earlier in a passage from the Itivuttakas Asubhnupassisutta, the combination of npnasati and asubhnupassan produces a magnifying glass with which to recognize impermanence in all formations.39

contemplation of sense-experience see Anlayo 2003: 60 and Giustarini 2005: 153-178 (passim). 37 S v.985 (PTS v.320-2). Hamilton glosses this episode thus: An important story which illustrates the way in which certain early bhikkhus disastrously failed to understand both the meaning of purity and also the fact that meditating on the body is intended to give insight into its impermanence. [] This plea, and indeed the episode as a whole, perhaps indicates the diculty bhikkhus had in understanding that the purpose of meditating on impurity (or unloveliness) is to realise its impermanence (Hamilton 1996: 181-182). See also Anlayo 2006: 4. According to Hamilton, this has been a misunderstanding that many exegetes, including Buddhaghosa, ran into: Theravda Buddhism is often, one might say commonly, understood to have a negative attitude towards the human body. Though there are what appear to be negative statements about the body in the canonical material [] this negative attitude has largely been promulgated by Buddhaghosa, both in his Visuddhimagga and in the commentaries on the Pali canon: in spite of his exegetical claims, Buddhaghosas writing is in fact signicantly dierent in this respect from canonical material (Hamilton 1996: 170). Hamilton backs up her thesis by pointing out that the whole kyagatsati is based on putting aside any kind of judgment: The Suttas also imply in these exercises that there is nothing about any particular part, or condition, of the body that is intrinsically desirable or repugnant: be it breathing or posture, hair or pus, a young body or a rotting corpse, a bhikkhu is merely to observe it quite free from any connotation. The purpose of such mindfulness exercises is so to concentrate on an each specic subject of meditation that there follows clear comprehension of its precise nature, which is that it is impersonal and conditional (Hamilton 1996: 174).
39 38

Asubhnupass bhikkhave kyasmi viharatha, npnasati ca vo ajjhatta parimukha spahit hotu, sabbasakhresu aniccnupassino viharatha Iti iv.6 (85); PTS 80-81.

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It is clear that it is not disgust that needs to be cultivated, but mindfulness and wisdom, and focusing on the repulsive aspects of physical experience mitigates the inuence of craving on the mind, and lets these two crucial factors spring naturally from practice and unveil the truth of impermanence.40 In fact, a closer examination of the passages examined above displays three distinct elements. First, there is the factor of mindfulness-understanding (sati-sampajaa), that brings into focus the nature of perception and the perceived. Then there is the recognition of asubha, strictly related with the vision of the tilakkhaa. Finally, these two factors together are the antidote to the poison, which is the third element. The poison is identication with and attachment to, sense-experience, and the very resistance to contemplative practice. The cure consists of mindfulness and wisdom, but to make these work, the poison has to be diluted, and this is the task of asubhabhvan. The attachment reducing function is inferred through an overview of some qualities directly stimulated by contemplating impurity. In the Girimnandasutta (Ax.60, PTS v.111-112), for instance, asubhasa belongs to a series of meditations focused on virga (dispassion), nibbid (disenchantment), nirodha (cessation) and painissagga (relinquishment), and culminating in nibbna. Similarly, in the Nibbidsutta (A v.69, PTS iii.83) asubhnupassan fosters a process of relinquishing and understanding summarized by a list of wholesome qualities: nibbid, nirodha, upasama, the six abhis (supreme knowledge), sambodhi (perfect awakening) and nibbna. The text following the Nibbidsutta, i.e. the savakkhayasutta (A v.70, PTS iii.83), reiterates the same list and denes the process as savna khaya (eacement of the poisons). Likewise, in the Rohitassasutta the use of kaevara to indicate the body implicitly refers to a thorough understanding of impermanence by means of the contemplation of mortality. The Buddha here is not actually referring to the dead body (he says that in this instance, the body is seen as endowed with cognition, sa)41, but to the living, mortal body. The underlying purpose is to see limitation in order to transcend limitation. Moreover, the dyad kaevara-sa denes a human being as a mind-body compound (nma-rpa, lit. name and form), that ultimately corresponds to the ve aggregates (khandha). Mental faculties have to
40 Illustrating the role of aubha as described in the Khotanese Book of Zambasta and its similarities with the Theravda cognate practices, Martini writes: Seeing the body as aubha has the potential to develop calmness and to neutralise ones identication and attachment with the ordinary bodily perception [] the practice aims at freeing ones perception from mis-apprehension and helps align it with reality [] a means of counteracting lust and entanglement with the body, and developing detachment regarding the world, Martini 2011: 129-130. 41

In this sutta sa, rather than being a synonym of anupassan, means cognition, or apperception.

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be examined in the same way as the experience of physicality, and the two together form the boundaries of human existence with its relative suering, i.e. the conditioned realm. Within these very boundaries, the Buddha says in the Rohitassasutta, lies freedom from boundaries and the cessation of suering. Means suited to investigate the conditioned realm are given throughout the Nikyas, and particular emphasis is put on the contemplation of the body with the specic parameter of asubha: this helps to recognize what is conditioned as conditioned, and therefore its inability to provide denitive and authentic happiness. Even though there are obvious similarities, asubhabhvan is not and does not include the practice of mindfulness of corpses in cemeteries. The cemetery contemplations are, as briey mentioned above, the sixth exercise of kyagatsati and come after contemplation of the physical elements (dhtu). They comprise nine exercises (navama svathka) each of which is focused on a specic stage of decay of the body and includes the meditators reection on the inevitability of this process in regard to ones own body. As Anlayo points out, the exercise helps to develop loathsomeness towards ones own body and this disgust is eventually applied to others bodies (2003: 154). Besides loathsomeness as an antidote to greed, both contemplation in the cemetery and asubhabhvan aim to develop awareness of death (maraasa) and to the relinquishment of the idea of a separate and lasting self: An alternative insight to be gained through this meditation practice is the inevitability of death. The stages of decay of a dead body vividly depict the truth that whatever one clings to as an embodiment of I or mine will endure only a limited time.42 Let us examine the same meditative dynamics as displayed in a cognate and yet slightly dierent practice, found in the Bojjhaga Sayutta (S vii.238, PTS v.128.) as well as in the Aguttara Nikya (A x.57, PTS v.105; A x.238, PTS v.309), and partially included in the asubhakammahna list of the Visuddhimagga (Bodhi 2000: 1913, n. 117). It is a complex approach that comprises ten meditative techniques, the rst ve of which focus onstages in the decay of the body.43 Contemplations of
42

Anlayo 2003: 155. According to Buddhaghosa, asubhabhvan is indeed a practice of contemplation of death (maraasati), likewise the body-scan practice briey described above (Vism 14.67).
43

The Visuddhimagga lists ten asubhakammahnas instead of the ve described in the Nikyas, and order them in reverse order, namely from the contemplation of the rst stage of decay to the contemplation of the skeleton. This chronological order is obviously more reasonable than the one present in the Nikyas, and it is questionable if the priority of awareness would somehow have reversed the list. The series of kammahnas in the

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a corpse, graphically depicted, are applied to the following stages of decay: ahika (a skeleton), puavaka (a worm-infested corpse), vinlaka (livid), vicchidaka (ssured), uddhumtaka (bloated). Each technique is associated with the factors of awakening (bojjhaga), from sati (mindfulness) to upekkh (equanimity), supported by an attitude based on viveka (detachment), virga (dispassion) and nirodha (cessation), and leading to either dihe dhamme a (knowledge in this world) or angmit (condition of non-returner) yogakkhema (refuge from the fetters), savega (urgency) and phsuvihra (comfort). After the contemplation of a corpse, the teachings illustrate through the same dynamics the practises of the four brahmavihras and npnasati. Interestingly, the Bojjhaga Sayutta mentions asubhasa immediately after these ten techniques, in a separate list.44 This sophisticated system of contemplation can be schematised as follows:

Visuddhimagga is as follows: uddhumataka (bloated [corpse]), vinlaka (livid), vipubbaka (festering), vicchiddaka (cut up), vikkhyitaka (gnawed), vikkhittaka (scattered), hatavikkhittaka (hacked and scattered), lohitaka (bleeding), puuvaka (worm-infested), ahika (skeleton). Vism 178. Cf. Boisvert 1996: 41-43. The chapter on cessation (nirodhavagga) is comprised of this list and includes: asubha (impurity), maraa (death), patikkla (repulsive), anabhirati (absence of joy), anicca (impermanence), dukkha (suering), anatt (non-self), pahna (relinquishment), virga (dispassion) and nirodha (cessation). S vii.239 (PTS v.132-3). The Aguttara Nikya combines the two lists in a dierent way (anabhiratasa, ahikasa, puavakasa, vinlakasa, vicchiddakasa, uddhumtakasa) and considers these contemplations as leading to and related to deathlessness (amata). A x.57, PTS v.105.
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FRUITS

INSTRUMENTS

PRACTICES THAT SUPPORT THE INSTRUMENTS ahikasa puavakasa vinlakasa vicchidakasa mett karu mudit upekkh npnasati

GROUNDING OF THE PRACTICE

sambojjhagas: sati dhammavicaya viriya pti passaddhi samdhi upekkh

viveka virga nirodha

1) dihe dhamme a (or) angmit 2.a) yogakkhema 2.b) savega 2.c) phsuvihra

A shorter version of this list, including only the brahmavihras, is illustrated in the Mettsahagatasutta of the Bojjhagasayutta, with the same interrelation between sambojjhagas, each brahmavihra and the three modes of detachment (viveka, virga and nirodha), and aimed at vossagga (relinquishment). The peculiarity of the latter practices is that they are all focused on paikla (unpleasant, repulsive) and its opposite appaikla (non-repulsive). The consequent combination is noteworthy: the meditator, by means of each sambojjhaga and each brahmavihra, if he has the wish I would contemplate repulsiveness in non-repulsiveness, he contemplates repulsiveness therein, if he has the wish I would contemplate non-repulsiveness in repulsiveness, he contemplates non-repulsiveness therein, if he has the wish I would contemplate repulsiveness in non-repulsiveness and in repulsiveness, he contemplates repulsiveness therein, if he has the wish I would contemplate non-repulsiveness in repulsiveness and in nonrepulsiveness, he contemplates non-repulsiveness therein, if he has the wish having renounced to both repulsiveness and non-repulsiveness, I would live equanimous (upekkha), mindful (sata) and comprehensive (sampajna), he lives equanimous, mindful and comprehensive.45 If possible, the conclusion seems to be even more signicant: Or, he reaches the liberation of purity (subha), and I say that the goal of liberation of the mind by means of amity (mettcetovimutti) is purity,

So sace akkhati appaikkle paikklasa vihareyyanti || paikklasa tattha viharati || sa ce akkhati paikkle appaikklasa vihareyyanti || appaikklasa tattha viharati || sa ce akkhati appaikkle ca paikkle ca paikklasa vihareyyanti || paikklasa tattha viharati || sa ce akkhati paikkle ca appaikkle ca appaikklasa vihareyyanti || appaikklasa tattha viharati || sace akkhati appaikklaca paikklaca tad ubhaya abhinivajjetv upekha kho vihareyya sato sampajno ti || upekhako tattha viharati sato sampajno S v.235 (PTS v.119).

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for a wise monk that has not reached a higher liberation.46 Thus, in the case of mett practice, the high though limited purpose of the practice of brahmavihras is described as purity (subha), and this purity can be obtained by overcoming the duality of repulsiveness and non-repulsiveness. After an increasing familiarity with these two opposites, graphically described by the easiness in shifting from one to the other, the entire dichotomy is relinquished and replaced by a state of equanimity, mindfulness and comprehension: the instrument is not the goal. In the Pahamarohagatasutta of the Anuruddhasayutta, there is the same approach to paikla/appaikla, but the goal is not the limited cetovimutti pertaining to the brahmavihras. In the advice given by Mogallna to Anuruddha, in fact, this is the very way to practice the satipahnas, that in numerous passages are declared to lead to nal liberation.47 The stock formulas of the satipahna are combined with the contemplation of repulsiveness and non-repulsiveness as observed above, so giving an insightful clue as to how each satipahna has to be practiced: body, feelings, mind and dhammas are accurately contemplated just as in the standard instruction, and also by means of the play of repulsiveness and non-repulsiveness described above. The same attitude is taught for concentration deriving from mindfulness of in and out-breath (npnasatisamdhi), in the Padpopamasutta (S v.984, PTS 317-318), and for contemplation of sense-faculties in the Indriyabhvansutta (M 152, PTS 301-301). In these three cases directly concerning with sati, the path is easily recognizable: the paradigm of repulsiveness is used to assuage involvement in sense-objects and consequently to foster mindfulness, which is the key factor in reaching the nal extinction of suering. Once mindfulness operates relatively free from craving, it does not need to rely on repulsiveness (paikla) any more. This principle seems to
46

Subha v kho pana vimokkham upasampajja viharati || subhparamham bhikkhave mettcetovimutti vadmi || idha paassa bhikkhuno uttari vimuttim apaivjhato S v.235 (PTS v.119). The other brahmavihras are concluded with a slightly dierent formula, with a specic quality instead of subha to epitomize each resulting liberation: karucetovimutti (liberation of mind by means of compassion) ananta-aksa (innite space); muditcetovimutti (liberation of mind by means of altruistic joy) ananta via (innite consciousness); upekkhcetovimutti (liberation of mind by means of equanimity) akicaa (nothingness).

47

The importance of the satipahnas is also stressed in the introduction of this sutta, when Anuruddha reects thus: Those who have neglected the four satipahnas have neglected the noble path leading to the perfect dispelling of suering, those that are engaged in the four satipahnas are engaged in the noble path leading to the perfect dispelling of suering (yesa kesaci cattro satipahn viraddh || viraddho tesam ariyo maggo sammdukkhakkhayagm || yesa kesaci cattro satipahn raddh || raddho tesam ariyo maggo sammdukkhakkhayagm) S v.899, PTS v.294.

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underpin the whole structure of asubhabhvan, the task of which is to resist a movement of the heart, i.e. the dynamic of craving, by opposing it with another force. Although the latter risks nurturing aversion, the resulting balance of conicting forces may bring about an equanimous space in which both forces are let go of, and the fruit is nal release. To conclude, all the examples analysed above seem to oer a clear picture of the function of asubhabhvan and its cognate meditative factors: it is not a goal but an instrument to be used and eventually laid down. It opens a break in the clouds of attachment, so allowing mindfulness and wisdom to shine down on the true nature of phenomena. In that truth there is no room for concepts and for either negative or positive judgments: once the river is crossed, the raft becomes a dispensable burden.48 In the poignant conclusion of the Kevaddhasutta, the Buddha further claries that asubha and its opposite subha are ultimately concepts, and as such they are destined for cessation: vina anidassana ananta sabbato paha ettha po ca pahav tejo vyo na gdhati ettha dgha ca rassa ca anu thla subhsubha ettha nma ca rpa ca asesa uparujjhati viassa nirodhena ettheta uparujjhati ||49 Where consciousness is without characteristic, without boundary, completely luminous, there earth, water, re and air have no footing there long, short, small and great, pure and impure, there name and form cease without remainderthere this ceases due to the cessation of discriminating consciousness. If we re-examine the Rohitassasutta in the light of asubhabhvan, we may better understand what the Buddhas advice is about. The body seems to be the alchemic recipient where two crucial and accessible qualities (sati and pa), as well as all the qualities encompassed by them, lead to deathlessness. However, the body being such an easy prey to craving, one has to cultivate the mitigating action of asubhabhvan, that may slow down the outward movement of craving and hence allow the work of mindfulness. Therefore, craving (tah) is the entangling relationship of the mind with sense-experience while mindfulness, conversely, is the relationship that does not aim at acquisition (that

48 49

See Alagaddpamasutta, M 22 (PTS i.134-5). D i.499 (PTS i.223).

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is entanglement). The warning of the Buddha to Rohitassa is about stopping that gaining tension, because the pure knowledge that leads immediately to liberation is not a movement, but the dramatic arrest of the perennial oscillation of sasra: gamanena na pattabbo || lokassanto kdacana na ca appatv lokntam || dukkh atthi pamocana tasm bhave lokavid sumedho || lokantag vusitabrahmacariyo || lokassa anta samitviatv || nsisati lokam ima para c ti || ||50 It is not possible to reach the end of the world in any way by travelling, but without reaching the end the world, there is no liberation from suering. For this reason, a knower of the world, wise, ender of the world, who has completed the holy practice, peaceful after having known the end of the world, has no expectation about this world and the other. Undoubtedly, the Buddhas instruction in the Rohitassasutta aims at a form of reaching, but this reaching is not external and does not t with the conventional idea of reaching: reaching is stillness. The shift of attention from an external object to the carcass endowed with consciousness leads to the goal that is erroneously searched far, the end of the world. That reminds us of the suggestive story of Agulimla from the Majjhima Nikya, where Agulimla chases the Buddha without reaching him, until he shouts to the Buddha: Stop, contemplative, stop! The Buddhas answer is denitely rich in signicance: I have stopped, Agulimla. You stop!51 In contemporary Theravda, this concept is pointed out with two poignant analogies by the Thai teacher Ajahn Chah: Have you ever seen owing water?... Have you ever seen still water?... If your mind is peaceful it will be just like still, owing water. [] Right there, right where your thinking cannot take you, even though its peaceful you can develop wisdom. Your mind will be like owing water, and yet its still. [] Wisdom can arise here.52 So let go, put everything down, everything except the knowing. Dont be fooled if visions or sounds arise in your mind during meditation. Lay them all down. Dont take hold of anything at all, just stay with this unied awareness. Dont worry about the past or the future, just be still and you
50 51

S i.107 (PTS i.61-62). Tiha samaa, tiha samati || hito aha, Agulimla; tv ca tihti Agulimlasutta, M 86, PTS ii.99. Chah 2007: 253-254.

52

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will reach the place where theres no advancing, no retreating and no stopping, where theres nothing to grasp at or cling to. Why? Because theres no self, no me or mine. Its all gone [] Anyone can build a house of wood and bricks, but the Buddha taught that that sort of home is not our real home, its only nominally ours. Its home in the world and it follows the ways of the world. Our real home is inner peace.53 These two examples from the living Buddhist tradition may sound like two oxymora, as they arm that not just the goal, but the very reaching for the nal goal of liberation is an act of stillness. Yet, in the light of the above examination of the Nikyas, in primis the Rohitassasutta, they actually clean the concept of goal from its incrustation of goalness and gaining. With the end of any external movement, observation becomes direct, unltered, focusing on the fathom-long carcass endowed with perception, and thats where liberation may occur, not in the guise of a further escape, but as a simple realization of the nature of phenomena and a complete pacication of the old exhausting search for escape.

53

Chah 2007: 194, 198.

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A D M S Iti Th Th D-a Iti-a Paism Sdhp Vism PTS PED Sk Lt

Aguttara Nikya Dgha Nikya Majjhima Nikya Sayutta Nikya Itivuttaka Theragtha Thergth Dgha Nikya Atthakth Itivuttaka Atthakth Paisambbhidmagga Saddhammopyana Visuddhimagga Pali Text Society Pali-English Dictionary (see below) Sanskrit Latin

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Secondary Sources and Translations Anlayo (2003). Satipahna: The Direct Path to Realization. Birmingham: Windhorse. Anlayo (2005). Some Pali Discourses in the Light of Their Chinese Parallels, Buddhist Studies Review 25, 2: 93-106.

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