In the Buddha's Words - Bhikkhu Bodhi [150]
9. “In this way he dwells contemplating the body in the body internally, externally, and both internally and externally.… And he dwells independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That too is how a monk dwells contemplating the body in the body.
[4. Unattractiveness of the Body]
10. “Again, monks, a monk reviews this same body up from the soles of the feet and down from the top of the hair, bounded by skin, as full of many kinds of impurity thus: ‘In this body there are head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone-marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, stomach, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, spittle, snot, oil of the joints, and urine.’35 Just as though there were a bag with an opening at both ends full of many sorts of grain, such as hill rice, red rice, beans, peas, millet, and white rice, and a man with good eyes were to open it and review it thus: ‘This is hill rice, this is red rice, these are beans, these are peas, this is millet, this is white rice’; so too, a monk reviews this same body … as full of many kinds of impurity thus: ‘In this body there are head-hairs … and urine.’
11. “In this way he dwells contemplating the body in the body internally, externally, and both internally and externally.… And he dwells independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That too is how a monk dwells contemplating the body in the body.
[5. Elements]
12. “Again, monks, a monk reviews this same body, however it is placed, however disposed, as consisting of elements thus: ‘In this body there are the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the air element.’36 Just as though a skilled butcher or his apprentice had killed a cow and were seated at the crossroads with it cut up into pieces; so too, a monk reviews this same body … as consisting of elements thus: ‘In this body there are the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the air element.’
13. “In this way he dwells contemplating the body in the body internally, externally, and both internally and externally.… And he dwells independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That too is how a monk dwells contemplating the body in the body.
[6–14. The Nine Charnel Ground Contemplations]
14. “Again, monks, as though he were to see a corpse thrown aside in a charnel ground, one, two, or three days dead, bloated, livid, and oozing matter, a monk compares this same body with it thus: ‘This body too is of the same nature, it will be like that, it is not exempt from that fate.’37
15. “In this way he dwells contemplating the body in the body internally, externally, and both internally and externally.… And he dwells independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That too is how a monk dwells contemplating the body in the body.
16. “Again, as though he were to see a corpse thrown aside in a charnel ground, being devoured by crows, hawks, vultures, dogs, jackals, or various kinds of worms, a monk compares this same body with it thus: ‘This body too is of the same nature, it will be like that, it is not exempt from that fate.’
17. “…That too is how a monk dwells contemplating the body in the body.
18–24. “Again, as though he were to see a corpse thrown aside in a charnel ground, a skeleton with flesh and blood, held together with sinews…afleshless 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 shin-bone, there a thigh-bone, here a hip-bone, there a back-bone,