THE PATH
OF PURIFICATION
(VISUDDHIMAGGA)
BY
BHADANTACARIYA BUDDHAGHOSA
Translated from the Pali
by
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
FIFTH EDITION
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
Kandy Sri Lanka
[(8) MINDFULNESS OCCUPIED WITH THE BODY]
42. Now comes the description of the development of mindfulness oc-
cupied with the body as a meditation subject, which is never promul-
gated except after an Enlightened One's arising, and is outside the prov-
ince of any sectarians. It has been commended by the Blessed One in
various ways in different suttas thus: 'Bhikkhus, when one thing is de-
veloped and repeatedly practised, it leads to a supreme sense of urgency,
to supreme benefit, to supreme surcease of bondage, to supreme mind-
fulness and full awareness, to acquisition of knowledge and vision, to a
happy life here and now, to realization of the fruit of clear vision and
deliverance. What is that one thing? It is mindfulness occupied with the
body' (A.i,43). And thus: 'Bhikkhus, they savour the deathless who sa-
vour mindfulness occupied with the body; they do not savour the death-
less who do not savour mindfulness occupied with the body.
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[240]
They have savoured the deathless who have savoured mindfulness occu-
pied with the body; they have not savoured ... They have neglected ...
they have not neglected ... They have missed ... they have found the
deathless who have found mindfiulness occupied with the body' (A.i,45).
And it has been described in fourteen sections in the passage beginning,
'And how developed, bhikkhus, how repeatedly practised is mindfulness
occupied with the body of great fruit, of great benefit? Here, bhikkhus, a
bhikkhu, gone to the forest...' (M.iii,89), that is to say, the sections on
breathing, on postures, on the four kinds of full awareness, on attention
directed to repulsiveness, on attention directed, to elements, and on the
nine charnel-ground contemplations.
43. Herein, the three, that is to say, the sections on postures, on the four
kinds of full awareness (see MA.i,253f.), and on attention directed to
elements, as they are stated [in that sutta], deal with insight. Then the
nine sections on the charnel-ground contemplations, as stated there, deal
with that particular phase of insight knowledge called contemplation of
danger. And any development of concentration in the bloated, etc., that
might be implied there has already been explained in the Description of
Foulness (Ch. VI). So there are only the two, that is, the sections on
breathing and on directing attention to repulsiveness, that, as stated there,
deal with concentration. Of these two, the section on breathing is a
separate meditation subject, namely, mindfulness of breathing.
[Text]
44. What is intended here as mindfulness occupied with the body is the
thirty-two aspects. This meditation subject is taught as the direction of
attention to repulsiveness thus: 'Again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu reviews this
body, up from the soles of the feet and down from the top of the hair and
contained in the skin, as full of many kinds of filth thus: In this body
there are head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones,
bone marrow, kidney, heart, liver, midriff, spleen, lungs, bowels, en-
trails, gorge, dung, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease,
spittle, snot, oil of the joints, and urine' (M.iii,90), the brain being in-
cluded in the bone marrow in this version [with a total of only thirty-one
aspects].
45. Here is the description of the development introduced by a commen-
tary on the text.
[Word Commentary]
This body: this filthy body constructed out of the four primary
elements. Up from the soles of the feet: from the soles of the feet upwards.
Down from the top of the hair: from the highest part of the hair
downwards. Contained in the skin: terminated all round by the skin.
Reviews ... as full of many kinds of filth: [241] he sees that this body is
packed with the filth of various kinds beginning with head hairs. How?
'In this body there are head hairs ... urine*.
46. Herein, there are means, there are found. In this: in this, which is
expressed thus: 'Up from the soles of the feet and down from the top of
the hair and contained in the skin, as full of many kinds of filth'. Body:
the carcase; for it is the carcase that is called 'body' (kdya) because it is
a conglomeration of filth, because such vile (kucchita) things as the head
hairs, etc., and the hundred diseases beginning with eye disease, have it
as their origin (dya).
Head hairs, body hairs: these things beginning with head hairs are
the thirty-two aspects. The construction here should be understood in
this way: In this body there are head hairs, in this body there are body hairs.
47. No one who searches throughout the whole of this fathom-long car-
case, starting upwards from the soles of the feet, starting downwards
from the top of the head, and starting from the skin all round, ever finds
even the minutest atom at all beautiful in it, such as a pearl, or a gem, or
beryl, or aloes,
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or saffron, or camphor, or talcum powder; on the con-
trary he finds nothing but the various very malodorous, offensive, drab-
looking sort of filth consisting of the head hairs, body hairs, and the rest.
Hence it is said: 'In this body there are head hairs, body hairs ,.. urine'.
This is the commentary on the word-construction here.
[Development]
48. Now a clansman who, as a beginner, wants to develop this medita-
tion subject should go to a good friend of the kind already described
(Ch. DI, §§61-73) and learn it. And the teacher who expounds it to him
should tell him the sevenfold skill in learning and the tenfold skill in
giving attention.
[The Sevenfold Skill in Learning]
Herein, the sevenfold skill in learning should be told thus: (1) as
verbal recitation, (2) as mental recitation, (3) as to colour, (4) as to
shape, (5) as to direction, (6) as to location, (7) as to delimitation.
49. 1. This meditation subject consists in giving attention to repulsive-
ness. Even if one is master of the Tipitaka, the verbal recitation should
still be done at the time of first giving it attention. For the meditation
subject only becomes evident to some through recitation, as it did to the
two elders who learned the meditation subject from the Elder Maha-
Deva of the Hill Country (Malaya). On being asked for the meditation
subject, it seems, the elder [242] gave the text of the thirty-two aspects,
saying 'Do only this recitation for four months'. Although they were fa-
miliar respectively with two and three Pitakas, it was only at the end of
four months of recitation of the meditation subject that they became
stream-enterers, with right apprehension [of the text]. So the teacher
who expounds the meditation subject should tell the pupil to do the
recitation verbally first.
50. Now when he does the recitation, he should divide it up into the
'skin pentad', etc., and do it forwards and backwards. After saying 'Head
hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin', he should repeat it backwards, 'Skin,
teeth, nails, body hairs, head hairs'.
51. Next to that, with the 'kidney pentad', after saying 'Flesh, sinews,
bones, bone marrow, kidney', he should repeat it backwards, 'Kidney,
bone marrow, bones, sinews, flesh; skin, teeth, nails, body hairs, head
hairs'.
52. Next, with the 'lungs pentad', after saying 'Heart, liver, midriff,
spleen, lights', he should repeat it backwards, 'Lungs, spleen, midriff,
liver, heart; kidney, bone marrow, bones, sinews, flesh; skin, teeth, nails,
body hairs, head hairs'.
53. Next, with the 'brain pentad', after saying 'Bowels, entrails, gorge,
dung, brain', he should repeat it backwards, 'Brain, dung, gorge, en-
trails, bowels; lungs, spleen, midriff, liver, heart; kidney, bone marrow,
bones, sinews, flesh; skin, teeth, nails, body hairs, head hairs'.
54. Next, with the 'fat sestad', after saying 'Bile, phlegm, pus, blood,
sweat, fat', he should repeat it backwards, 'Fat, sweat, blood, pus, phlegm,
bile; brain, dung, gorge, entrails, bowels; lungs, spleen, midriff, liver,
heart; kidney, bone marrow, bones, sinews, flesh; skin, teeth, nails, body
hairs, head hairs'.
55. Next, with the 'urine sestad', after saying 'Tears, grease, spittle,
snot, oil of the joints, urine', he should repeat it backwards, 'Urine, oil of
the joints, snot, spittle, grease, tears; fat, sweat, blood, pus, phlegm, bile;
brain, dung, gorge, entrails, bowels; lungs, spleen, midriff, liver, heart;
kidney, bone marrow, bones, sinews, flesh; skin, teeth, nails, body hairs,
head hairs'. [243]
56. The recitation should be done verbally in this way a hundred times,
a thousand times, even a hundred thousand times. For it is through
verbal recitation that the meditation subject becomes familiar, and the
mind being thus prevented from running here and there, the parts be-
come evident and seem like [the fingers of] a pair of clasped hands,
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like a row of fence posts.
57. 2. The mental recitation should be done just as it is done verbally.
For the verbal recitation is a condition for the mental recitation, and the
mental recitation is a condition for the penetration of the characteristic
[of foulness].
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58. 3. As to colour: the colour of the head hairs, etc., should be de-
fined.
4. As to shape: their shape should be defined too.
5. As to direction: in this body, upwards from the navel is the up-
ward direction, and downwards from it is the downward direction. So the
direction should be defined thus: 'This part is in this direction'.
6. As to location: the location of this or that part should be defined
thus: 'This part is established in this location'.
59. 7. As to delimitation: there are two kinds of delimitation, that is,
delimitation of the similar and delimitation of the dissimilar. Herein,
delimitation of the similar should be understood in this way: 'This part is
delimited above and below and around by this'. Delimitation of the
dissimilar should be understood as non-intermixed-ness in this way:
"Head hairs are not body hairs, and body hairs are not head hairs'.
60. When the teacher tells the skill in learning in seven ways thus, he
should do so knowing that in certain suttas this meditation subject is
expounded from the point of view of repulsiveness and in certain suttas
from the point of view of elements. For in the Maha-Satipatthana Sutta
(D. Sutta 22) it is expounded only as repulsiveness. In the Maha-
Hatthipadopama Sutta (M. Sutta 28), in the Maha-Rahulovada Sutta
(M. Sutta 62), and the Dhatuvibhanga (M. Sutta 140, also Vbh. 82) it is
expounded as elements. In the Kayagatasati Sutta (M. Sutta 119), how-
ever, four jhanas are expounded with reference to one to whom it has
appeared as a colour [kasina] (see Ch. 111,107). Herein, it is an insight
meditation subject that is expounded as elements and a serenity medita-
tion subject that is expounded as repulsiveness. Consequently it is only
the serenity meditation subject [that is relevant] here.
[The Tenfold Skill in Giving Attention]
61. Having thus told the sevenfold skill in learning, he should tell the
tenfold skill in giving attention as follows: (1) as to following the order,
(2) not too quickly, (3) not too slowly (4) as to warding off distraction,
(5) as to surmounting the concept, (6) as to successive leaving, (7) as to
absorption, (8)-(10) as to the three suttantas.
62. 1. Herein, as to following the order: from the time of beginning
the recitation [244] attention should be given following the serial order
without skipping. For just as when someone who has no skill climbs a
thirty-two-rung ladder using every other step, his body gets exhausted
and he falls without completing the climb, so too, one who gives it
attention skipping [parts] becomes exhausted in his mind and does not
complete the development since he fails to get the satisfaction that ought
to be got with successful development
63. 2. Also when he gives attention to it following the serial order, he
should do so not too quickly. For just as when a man sets out on a three-
league journey, even if he has already done the journey out and back a
hundred times rapidly without taking note of [turnings] to be taken and
avoided, though he may finish his journey, he still has to ask how to get
there, so too, when the meditator gives his attention to the meditation
subject too quickly, though he may reach the end of the meditation
subject, it still doss not become clear or bring about any distinction. So
he should not give his attention to it too quickly.
64. 3. And as 'not too quickly', so also not too slowly. For just as
when a man wants to do a three-league journey in one day, if he loiters
on the way among trees, rocks, pools, etc., he does not finish the journey
in a day and needs two or three to complete it, so too, if the meditator
gives his attention to the meditation subject too slowly, he does not get
to the end and it does not become a condition for distinction.
65. 4. As * to warding off distraction: he must ward off [temptation] to
drop the meditation subject and to let his mind get distracted among the
variety of external objects. For if not, just as when a man has entered on
a one-foot-wide cliff path, if he looks about here and there without
watching his step, he may miss his footing and fall down the cliff, which
is perhaps as high as a hundred men, so too, when there is outward
distraction, the meditation subject gets neglected and deteriorates. So he
should give his attention to it warding off distraction.
66. 5. As to surmounting the concept: this [name-] concept beginning
with 'head hairs, body hairs' must be surmounted and consciousness es-
tablished on [the aspect] "repulsive
9
. For just as when men find a water
hole in a forest in a time of drought, they hang up some kind of signal
there such as a palm leaf, and people come to bathe and drink guided by
the signal, [245] but when the way has become plain with their continual
traffic, there is no further need of the signal and they go to bathe and
drink there whenever they want, so too, when repulsiveness becomes
evident to him as he is giving his attention to the meditation subject
through the means of the [name-] concept 'head hairs, body hairs', he
must surmount the concept 'head hairs, body hairs', and establish con-
sciousness on only the actual repulsiveness.
67. 6. As to successive leaving: in giving his attention he should even-
tually leave out any [parts] that do not appear to him. For when a begin-
ner gives his attention to head hairs, his attention then carries on till it
arrives at the last part, that is, urine and stops there; and when he gives
his attention to urine, his attention then carries on till it arrives back at
the first part, that is, head hairs, and stops there. As he persists in giving
his attention thus, some parts appear to him and others do not. Then he
should work on those that have appeared till one out of any two appears
the clearer. He should arouse absorption by again and again giving atten-
tion to the one that has appeared thus.
68. Here is a simile. Suppose a hunter wanted to catch a monkey that
lived in a grove of thirty-two palms, and he shot an arrow through a leaf
of the palm that stood at the beginning and gave a shout; then the
monkey went leaping successively from palm to palm till it reached the
last palm; and when the hunter went there too and did as before, it came
back in like manner to the first palm; and being followed thus again and
again, after leaping from each place where a shout was given, it eventu-
ally jumped on to one palm, and firmly seizing the palm shoot's leaf
spike in the middle, would not leap any more even when shot—so it is
with this.
69. The application of the simile is this. The thirty-two parts of the body
are like the thirty-two palms in the grove. The monkey is like the mind.
The meditator is like the hunter. The range of the meditator's mind in the
body with its thirty-two parts as object is like the monkey's inhabiting
the palm grove of thirty-two palms. The settling down of the medita-
tor's mind in the last part after going successively [from part to part]
when he began by giving his attention to head hairs is like the monkey's
leaping from palm to palm and going to the last palm, [246] when the
hunter shot an arrow through the leaf of the palm where it was and gave
a shout. Likewise in the return to the beginning. His doing the prelimi-
nary work on those parts that have appeared, leaving behind those that
did not appear while, as he gave his attention to them again and again,
some appeared to him and some did not, is like the monkey's being
followed and leaping up from each place where a shout is given. The
meditator's repeated attention given to the part that in the end appears
the more clearly of any two that have appeared to him and his finally
reaching absorption, is like the monkey's eventually stopping in one
palm, firmly seizing the palm shoot's leaf spike in the middle and not
leaping up even when shot.
70. There is another simile too. Suppose an alms-food-eater bhikkhu
went to live near a village of thirty-two families, and when he got two
lots of alms at the first house he left out one [house] beyond it, and next
day, when he got three lots of [alms at the first house] he left out two
[houses] beyond it, and on the third day he got his bowl full at the first
[house], and went to the sitting hall and ate—so it is with this.
71. The thirty-two aspects are like the village with the thirty-two fami-
lies. The meditator is like the alms-food eater. The meditator's prelimi-
nary work is like the alms-food eater's going to live near the village.
The meditator's continuing to give attention after leaving out those parts
that do not appear and doing his preliminary work on the pair of parts
that do appear is like the alms-food eater's getting two lots of alms at the
first house and leaving out one [house] beyond it, and like his next day
getting three [lots of alms at the first house] and leaving out two [houses]
beyond it. The arousing of absorption by giving attention again and
again to that which has appeared the more clearly of two is like the alms-
food eater's getting his bowl full at the first [house] on the third day and
then going to the sitting hall and eating.
72. 7. As to absorption: as to absorption part by part. The intention
here is this: it should be understood that absorption is brought about in
each one of the parts.
73. 8-10. As to the three suttantas: the intention here is this: it should be
understood that the three suttantas, namely, those on higher conscious-
ness,
17
on coolness, and on skill in the enlightenment factors, have as
their purpose the linking of energy with concentration.
74. 8. Herein, this sutta should be understood to deal with higher con-
sciousness: 'Bhikkhus, there are three signs that should be given atten-
tion from time to time by a bhikkhu intent on higher consciousness. The
sign of concentration should be given attention from time to time, the
sign of exertion should be given attention from time to time, the sign of
equanimity should be given attention from time to time. [247] If a bhikkhu
intent on higher consciousness gives attention only to the sign of con-
centration, then his consciousness may conduce to idleness. If a bhikkhu
intent on higher consciousness gives attention only to the sign of exer-
tion, then his consciousness may conduce to agitation. If a bhikkhu
intent on higher consciousness gives attention only to the sign of equa-
nimity, then his consciousness may not become rightly concentrated for
the destruction of cankers. But, bhikkhus, when a bhikkhu intent on
higher consciousness gives attention from time to time to the sign of
concentration ... to the sign of exertion ... to the sign of equanimity, then
his consciousness becomes malleable, wieldy and bright, it is not brittle
and becomes rightly concentrated for the destruction of cankers.
75. 'Bhikkhus, just as a skilled goldsmith or goldsmith's apprentice pre-
pares his furnace and heats it up and puts crude gold into it with tongs;
and he blows on it from time to time, sprinkles water on it from time to
time, and looks on at it from time to time; and if the goldsmith or gold-
smith's apprentice only blew on the crude gold, it would burn and if he
only sprinkled water on it, it would cool down, and if he only looked on
at it, it would not get rightly refined; but when the goldsmith or gold-
smith's apprentice blows on the crude gold from time to time, sprinkles
water on it from time to time, and looks on at it from time to time, then it
becomes malleable, wieldy and bright, it is not brittle, and it submits
rightly to being wrought; whatever kind of ornament he wants to work it
into, whether a chain or a ring or a necklace or a gold fillet, it serves his
purpose.
76. 'So too, bhikkhus, there are three signs that should be given atten-
tion from time to time by a bhikkhu intent on higher consciousness ...
becomes rightly concentrated for the destruction of cankers. [248] He at-
tains the ability to be a witness, through realization by direct-knowledge,
of any state realizable by direct-knowledge to which he inclines his
mind, whenever there is occasion' (A.i,256-58).
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77. 9. This sutta deals with coolness: 'Bhikkhus, when a bhikkhu pos-
sesses six things, he is able to realize the supreme coolness. What six?
Here, bhikkhus, when consciousness should be restrained, he restrains it;
when consciousness should be exerted, he exerts it; when consciousness
should be encouraged, he encourages it; when consciousness should be
looked on at with equanimity, he looks on at it with equanimity. He is
resolute on the superior [state to be attained], he delights in nibbana.
Possessing these six things a bhikkhu is able to realize the supreme
coolness' (A.iii,435).
78. 10. Skill in the enlightenment factors has already been dealt with
in the explanation of skill in absorption (Ch. IV, §51,57) in the passage
beginning 'Bhikkhus, when the mind is slack, that is not the time for
developing the tranquillity enlightenment factor...' (S.v,113).
79. So the meditator should make sure that he has apprehended this sev-
enfold skill in learning well and has properly defined this tenfold skill in
giving attention, thus learning the meditation subject properly with both
kinds of skill.
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