In the Buddha's Words - Bhikkhu Bodhi [105]
20. “Again, one might see that same woman afflicted, suffering, and gravely ill, lying fouled in her own urine and excrement, lifted up by some and set down by others. What do you think, monks? Has her former beauty and loveliness vanished and the danger become evident?”—“Yes, venerable sir.”—“Monks, this too is a danger in the case of form.
21. “Again, one might see that same woman as a corpse thrown aside in a charnel ground, one, two, or three days dead, bloated, livid, and oozing matter. What do you think, monks? Has her former beauty and loveliness vanished and the danger become evident?”—“Yes, venerable sir.”—“Monks, this too is a danger in the case of form.
22–29. “Again, one might see that same woman as a corpse thrown aside in a charnel ground, being devoured by crows, hawks, vultures, dogs, jackals, or various kinds of worms ... a skeleton with flesh and blood, held together with sinews ...a fleshless skeleton smeared with blood, held together with sinews ...a skeleton without flesh and blood, held together with sinews ...disconnected bones scattered in all directions—here a hand-bone, there a foot-bone, here a thigh-bone, there a rib-bone, here a hip-bone, there a back-bone, here the skull … bones bleached white, the color of shells ... bones heaped up … bones more than a year old, rotted and crumbled to dust. What do you think, monks? Has her former beauty and loveliness vanished and the danger become evident?”—“Yes, venerable sir.”—“Monks, this too is a danger in the case of form.
30. (iii) “And what, monks, is the escape in the case of form? It is the removal of desire and lust, the abandonment of desire and lust for form. This is the escape in the case of form.
31. “That those ascetics and brahmins who do not understand as it really is the gratification as gratification, the danger as danger, and the escape as escape in the case of form, can either themselves fully understand form or instruct others so that they can fully understand form—that is impossible. That those ascetics and brahmins who understand as it really is the gratification as gratification, the danger as danger, and the escape as escape in the case of form, can themselves fully understand form and instruct others so that they can fully understand form—that is possible.
[feelings]
32. (i) “And what, monks, is the gratification in the case of feelings? Here, monks, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a monk enters upon and dwells in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by thought and examination, with rapture and happiness born of seclusion. On such an occasion he does not choose for his own affliction, or for another’s affliction, or for the affliction of both. On that occasion he feels only feeling that is free from affliction. The highest gratification in the case of feelings is freedom from affliction, I say.
33–35. “Again, with the stilling of thought and examination, a monk enters upon and dwells in the second jhāna.… With the fading away as well of rapture ... he enters upon and dwells in the third jhāna.... With the abandoning of pleasure and pain he enters upon and dwells in the fourth jhāna.… On such an occasion he does not choose for his own affliction, or for another’s affliction, or for the affliction of both. On that occasion he feels only feeling that is free from affliction. The highest gratification in the case of feelings is freedom from affliction, I say.
36. (ii) “And what, monks, is the danger in the case of feelings? Feelings are impermanent, suffering, and subject to change. This is the danger in the case of feelings.
37. (iii) “And what, monks, is the escape in the case of feelings? It is the removal of desire and lust, the abandonment of desire and lust for feelings. This is the escape in the case of feelings.
38. “That those ascetics and brahmins who do not understand as it really is the gratification as gratification, the danger as danger, and the escape as escape in the case of feelings, can either