The Teaching of Ajahn Sumedho.
11 July 2023
Question: Could Tan Ajahn please give instructions on asubha meditation?
Tan Ajahn: Asubha meditation is to reflect on the repulsive aspect of the body. There are many aspects of the body that we don’t see.We see just the good-looking aspect, but we know inside our heart that the body has a lot of parts that we don’t like to see, and yet we remain blind to them.
What we want to do is force the mind to look at the repulsive aspect of the body. Since it is being protected by the skin, you would need the aid of medical journals, like the study of anatomy where they will show you all the parts under the skin, show you the skeleton and all the organs. And this is something that you want to keep in mind, constantly thinking about it until you don’t forget, until eventually when you look at a person, you see the inside (organs) also, not just the outside.
When you see both the outside and the inside of the body, then you can get rid of your desire for that person. If you only see the outside parts of a person, you can become deceived and have the desire, have lust for them. But when you can look inside by memorizing the picture that you see in the anatomy books, for instance, your desire/lust can be stopped or eliminated. So this is what you need to do.
If you cannot see it right now, if you cannot imagine the picture, then you need to see some illustrations in the anatomy books. Or if you want something more than that, you might go to a hospital or a medical school where they have dissection of the body. You can even ask to be an audience to watch the dissection of the body so you can see what is under the skin.
In the old days, since they didn’t have these kinds of illustrations, monks were instructed to go to the cemetery. During the Buddha’s time, when people died, they didn’t cremate or bury them. They just took the body to the cemetery and left it there to decompose or be eaten up by dogs, worms, or vultures.
Monks were instructed to see these parts of the body, to see how the body changes and decomposes after one, three, or seven days.
What we want to do is force the mind to look at the repulsive aspect of the body. Since it is being protected by the skin, you would need the aid of medical journals, like the study of anatomy where they will show you all the parts under the skin, show you the skeleton and all the organs. And this is something that you want to keep in mind, constantly thinking about it until you don’t forget, until eventually when you look at a person, you see the inside (organs) also, not just the outside.
When you see both the outside and the inside of the body, then you can get rid of your desire for that person. If you only see the outside parts of a person, you can become deceived and have the desire, have lust for them. But when you can look inside by memorizing the picture that you see in the anatomy books, for instance, your desire/lust can be stopped or eliminated. So this is what you need to do.
If you cannot see it right now, if you cannot imagine the picture, then you need to see some illustrations in the anatomy books. Or if you want something more than that, you might go to a hospital or a medical school where they have dissection of the body. You can even ask to be an audience to watch the dissection of the body so you can see what is under the skin.
In the old days, since they didn’t have these kinds of illustrations, monks were instructed to go to the cemetery. During the Buddha’s time, when people died, they didn’t cremate or bury them. They just took the body to the cemetery and left it there to decompose or be eaten up by dogs, worms, or vultures.
Monks were instructed to see these parts of the body, to see how the body changes and decomposes after one, three, or seven days.
Once they saw these things, then they could replay these images in their mind to keep them constantly alive. So every time they had lust, they could use these images to squash the lust/desire.
You need to have samatha first, because the mind will resist if you have no samatha, if you have no calm. Your defilements will create the bad feeling in you every time you look at something unattractive. Every time you look at the repulsiveness of the body, you will feel a gagging sensation. This is the working of your kilesa. If you have jhāna, your mind has suppressed this kilesa, so it will not create this bad feeling for you, and you can look at the body objectively.
You need samatha before you enter into vipassanā. If you don’t have that, you will find it very difficult. You might even eventually hate doing it and won’t want to do any more practice.
You need to have samatha first, because the mind will resist if you have no samatha, if you have no calm. Your defilements will create the bad feeling in you every time you look at something unattractive. Every time you look at the repulsiveness of the body, you will feel a gagging sensation. This is the working of your kilesa. If you have jhāna, your mind has suppressed this kilesa, so it will not create this bad feeling for you, and you can look at the body objectively.
You need samatha before you enter into vipassanā. If you don’t have that, you will find it very difficult. You might even eventually hate doing it and won’t want to do any more practice.
“Dhamma for the Asking, Dec 9, 2014”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com
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