i. And what,
Ananda, is contemplation of impermanence?
Herein,
Ananda, a monk having gone to the forest or to the foot of a
tree or to an empty house (lonely place) contemplates thus:
Matter (visible objects) is impermanent; feeling or sensation
is impermanent; perception is impermanent; formations are impermanent;
consciousness is impermanent. Thus he dwells contemplating impermanence
in these five aggregates. This, Ananda, is called contemplation
of impermanence.
ii. And
what Ananda is contemplation of anatta?
Herein,
Ananda, a monk having gone to the forest or to the foot of a
tree or to a lonely place contemplates thus: The eye is not
the self; visible objects are not the self; the ear is not the
self; sounds are not the self; the nose is not the self; smells
are not the self; the tongue is not the self; tastes are not
the self; the body is not the self; bodily contacts (tangible
objects) are not the self; the mind is not the self; mental
objects are not the self. Thus he dwells contemplating not self
in these internal and external bases. This, Ananda, is called
contemplation of anatta.
iii. And
what, Ananda, is contemplation of foulness?
Herein,
Ananda, a monk contemplates this body upwards from the soles
of the feet, downwards from the top of the hair, enclosed in
skin, as being full of many impurities. In this body there are
head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones,
marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, intestines,
intestinal tract, stomach, faeces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood,
sweat, fat, tears, grease, saliva, nasal mucous, synovium (oil
lubricating the joints), and urine. Thus he dwells contemplating
foulness in this body. This, Ananda, is called contemplation
of foulness.
iv. What,
Ananda, is contemplation of disadvantage (danger)?
Herein,
Ananda, a monk having gone to the forest, or to the foot of
a tree, or to a lonely place, contemplates thus:
'Many are
the sufferings, many are the disadvantages (dangers) of this
body since diverse diseases are engendered in this body, such
as the following: Eye-disease, ear-disease, nose-disease, tongue-disease,
body-disease, headache, mumps, mouth-disease, tooth-ache, cough,
asthma, catarrh, heart-burn, fever, stomach ailment, fainting,
dysentry, swelling, gripes, leprosy, boils, scrofula, consumption,
epilepsy, ringworm, itch, eruption, tetter, pustule, plethora,
diabetes, piles, cancer, fistula, and diseases originating from
bile, from phlegm, from wind, from conflict of the humors, from
changes of weather, from adverse condition (faulty deportment),
from devices (practiced by others), from kamma-vipaka
(results of kamma); and cold, heat, hunger, thirst, excrement,
and urine. Thus he dwells contemplating disadvantage (danger)
in this body. This Ananda, is called contemplation of disadvantage
(danger).
v. And what,
Ananda, is contemplation of abandonment?
Herein,
Ananda, a monk does not tolerate a thought of sensual desire
that has arisen in him, dispels it, makes an end of it, and
annihilates it. He does not tolerate a thought of ill-will that
has arisen in him, but abandons, dispels it, makes an end of
it, and annihilates it. He does not tolerate a thought of cruelty
that has arisen in him but abandons it, dispels it, makes an
end of it, and annihilates it. He does not tolerate evil, unprofitable
states that arise in him from time to time, but abandons them,
dispels them, makes an end of them, and annihilates them. This,
Ananda, is called contemplation of abandonment.
vi. And
what, Ananda, is contemplation of detachment?
Herein,
Ananda, a monk having gone to the forest, or to the foot of
a tree, or to a lonely place, contemplates thus: This is peaceful,
this is sublime, namely, the stilling of all conditioned things,
the giving up of all substratum of becoming, the extinction
of craving, detachment, Nibbana. This, Ananda, is called contemplation
of detachment.
vii. And
what, Ananda, is contemplation of cessation?
Herein,
Ananda, a monk having gone to the forest, or to the foot of
a tree, or to a lonely place, contemplates thus: This is peaceful,
this is sublime, namely, the stilling of all component things,
the extinction of craving, cessation, Nibbana. This, Ananda,
is called contemplation of cessation.
viii. And
what, Ananda, is contemplation of distaste for the whole world?
Herein,
Ananda, (a monk) by abandoning any concern and clinging to this
world, by abandoning mental prejudices, wrong beliefs, and latent
tendencies concerning this world, by not grasping them, but
by giving them up, becomes detached. This, Ananda, Is called
contemplation of distaste for the whole world.
ix. And
what, Ananda, is contemplation of impermanence of all component
things?
Herein,
Ananda, a monk is wearied, humiliated and disgusted with all
conditioned things.This, Ananda, is called contemplation of
impermanence of all component things.
x. And what,
Ananda, is mindfulness of in-breathing and out-breathing?
Herein,
Ananda, a monk having gone to the forest, or to the foot of
a tree, or to a lonely place, sits down, having folded his legs
crosswise, keeping the body erect, and his mindfulness alive,
mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out.
When he
is breathing in a long breath, he knows: 'I am breathing in
a long breath', when he is breathing out a long breath, he knows:
'I am breathing out a long breath'; when he is breathing in
a short breath, he knows: 'I am breathing in a short breath',
when he is breathing out a short breath, he knows: 'I am breathing
out a short breath.' 'Conscious of the entire process, (2)
I shall breath in', thus he trains himself. 'Conscious of the
entire process I shall breath out', thus he trains himself.
'Calming
the entire process, I shall breath in', thus he trains himself;
'calming the entire process I shall breath out', thus he trains
himself.
'Experiencing
rapture, I shall breath in', thus he trains himself; 'experiencing
rapture, I shall breathe out', thus he trains himself.
'Experiencing
bliss, I shall breathe in', thus he trains himself; 'experiencing
bliss, I shall breathe out', thus he trains himself.
'Experiencing
the mental formations (feeling and perception), I shall breath
in', thus he trains himself; 'experiencing the mental formations,
I shall breath out', thus he trains himself.
'Calming
the mental formations, I shall breath in', thus he trains himself;
'calming the mental formations, I shall breath out', thus he
trains himself.
'Experiencing
the mind (according to the fourfold absorptions, or Jhanas),
I shall breathe in', thus he trains himself; 'experiencing the
mind, I shall breathe out', thus he trains himself.
'Exceedingly
gladdening the mind (by Samatha, calming, as well as
by Vipassana, insight), I shall breathe in', thus he
trains himself; 'exceedingly gladdening the mind, I shall breathe
out', thus he trains himself.
'Concentrating
the mind (on the breath), I shall breathe in', thus he trains
himself; concentrating the mind I shall breathe out', thus he
trains himself.
'Liberating
the mind (from the Nivaranas, or hindrances), I shall
breathe in', thus he trains himself, 'liberating the mind I
shall breathe out', thus he trains himself; 'contemplating impermanence
(in body, feelings, perceptions, volitional formations, consciousness),
I shall breathe in', thus he trains himself; 'contemplating
impermanence, I shall breathe out', thus he trains himself;
'contemplating detachment, I shall breathe in', thus he trains
himself; 'contemplating detachment, I shall breathe out', thus
he trains himself; 'contemplating cessation, I shall breathe
in', thus he trains himself, 'contemplating cessation, I shall
breathe out', thus he trains himself; 'contemplating abandonment,
I shall breathe in', thus he trains himself; 'contemplating
abandonment, I shall breathe out', thus he trains himself.
This, Ananda,
is called mindfulness of in-breathing and out-breathing. If,
Ananda, you visit the monk Girimananda and recite to him these
ten contemplations, then that monk, Girimananda, having heard
them, will be immediately cured of his affliction.
Thereupon
the Venerable Ananda, having learnt these ten contemplations
from the Blessed One, visited the Venerable Girimananda, and
recited to him the ten contemplations. When the Venerable Girimananda
had heard them, his affliction was immediately cured. He recovered
from that affliction, and thus disappeared the affliction of
the Venerable Girimananda.
NOTES:
1. A.,
v. 108.
2. Sabbha-kaya. Literally, 'the whole (breath) body'.
According to the Visuddhi Magga, 'kaya' here does not
mean the physical body, but the whole mass of in-breathing and
out-breathing.