Reflections on the Repulsive Parts of the Body

Reflections on the Repulsive Parts of the Body

4 Reflections on the Repulsive Parts of the Body

Parts of the Body
Thirty one parts are given in the sutta
(head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone-marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, mesentery, bowels, stomach, excrement, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, tallow, saliva, snot, synovial fluid, urine. (With the addition of the brain, this comprises the later traditional meditation on the Thirty Two Parts of the Body).

Instructions:
The monk reviews this body from the soles

up and the scalp down, knowing the parts clearly as separate identities. The body is seen as enclosed by the skin and full of manifold impurities.

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 5 Four Elements

1. Earth
2. Water
3. Fire
4. Air

Instructions:
Again, the monk reviews this body in terms
of the elements, knowing the elements clearly as separate entities.

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6 Nine Charnel-Ground Contemplations
Stages

1. one, two, three days dead–bloated,
   discoloured, festering
   
2. eaten by crows, hawks, dogs, etc.
   
3. skeleton with flesh and blood, connected by
   sinews
   
4. fleshless skeleton smeared with blood,
   connected with sinews
   
5. skeleton without flesh and blood, connected
   with sinews
   
6. randomly connected bones–scattered
   
7. bones whitened
   
8. bones piled up–a year old
   
9. bones rotted away to powder
   
   
   Instructions:
   The monk compares his body with the one
   
   contemplated and reflects “this body is of the same nature, will become like that, is not exempt from that fate.” One performs this reflection with bodies in each stage. The body being contemplated is described “as if the monk were to see a corpse...”. Thus this meditation could be done with an actual corpse or done reflectively or imaginatively.
   
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