does anyone know of good asubha resources?

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Ben
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by Ben »

manas wrote:
Ben wrote:Dear members,

Please note that the posting of video and still images here on DW on autopsies, decaying corpses, medical procedures is not appropriate content for a family-friendly discussion board.
Keep in mind that amongst our members we have those who would be offended or disturbed by intense imagery, include children.
Thanks for your cooperation.

Ben
I/totally/agree/Ben!
however/would/*just/a/link*/be/ok?
and/if/so,/should/a/member/perhaps/indicate
that/the/said/link/might/lead/to/confronting/imagery
and/thus/give/due/warning
and/thus/protecting/members
in/that/way?

please/do/advise
what/the/site/admin/etc/expect
in/regards/to/this
thank/you/kindly
:anjali:
Manas, I'll send you the link via pm.
kind regards,

Ben
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BlackBird
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by BlackBird »

Sometimes, especially when I wanted to become a monk I would look at corpses in varying states of decomposition in order to help cultivate a sense of disenchantment and help quell my lust for the female form. I don't think there's any great harm in doing so, as long as your head's screwed on straight (as I'm pretty sure your's is Manas :) ). It's not hard to find these sorts of things, although I can pm you some links if you wish.

It helped me get some visual references for meditation on 32 parts of the body. I don't really do too much of it these days, as with no current plans for ordination on the horizon, I'm quite happy finding the female body endearing.

If you don't mind me saying Manas, I think it might be easier to read your posts if you started.placing.fullstops.in.place.of.your.broken.space.bar.instead.of/using/slashes/with/your/sentences/. But that's just my opinion :)

metta
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manas
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by manas »

BlackBird wrote:It's not hard to find these sorts of things, although I can pm you some links if you wish.

It helped me get some visual references for meditation on 32 parts of the body.
i.would.appreciate.that.thanks
i.want.more.skill.in.visualising.each.part
plus.its.relative.location.in.the.body
BlackBird wrote:If you don't mind me saying Manas, I think it might be easier to read your posts if you started.placing.fullstops.in.place.of.your.broken.space.bar.instead.of/using/slashes/with/your/sentences/. But that's just my opinion :)

metta
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it.is.to.be.hoped,today
moneys.been.very.short.lately
but.at.last.i.have.some.to.spare
anyway.now.that.you.mention.it
yes.full.stops.are.better
i.should.have.used.them.all.along! :tongue:
metta
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AnyataroBhikkh
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by AnyataroBhikkh »

Greetings,
Good question.
A simple Google asubha pictures can help.

And there's something i have found that can help :

Asubha Pictures
For practitioners only

INTRODUCTION

This book is intended only for serious practitioners who wish
to overcome greed and hatred.
In the forest tradition of Lungphu Mun and Luangta Maha Bua
the practice of asubha or seeing the loathsomeness of the
body is one of the key practices to overcome sexual craving
and greed and hatred...
In order to practice asubha, as taught by the Lord Buddha, by
watching corpses decay (we can't do that nowadays) and
contemplating the loathsomeness of the body we need some
incentives. Here in the tradition of Luangta Maha Bua pictures
of rotten corpses, body parts and people in various accidents
with torn-off limbs or swollen up bodies are used to get
experience in body contemplation. Once we are able to
internalize these images and see them more or less clearly
with our inner eyes, then we can compare these pictures with
the nature of our own body and investigate further until we
finally understand the true nature of the body.
Feeling the repulsiveness or loathsomeness of these pictures;
getting angry, wanting to throw up or falling unconscious are
all an integral part of these exercises. One can consider this as
a warm up exercise; for once we really see the nature of our
own body it will hit us hard.
Because within this exercise we have to deal with strong
unpleasant feelings, this book then is really only for the
practitioner, who has some experience in practice and has
learned to deal with these kinds of emotions in a wholesome
way.

If you have read it and you are ready http://www.luangta.eu/site/books/book15_asubha.php
Be Happy :buddha1:
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Mkoll
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by Mkoll »

Hi AnyataroBhikkh,

Thank you so much for sharing that website. It would be worth adding to the Theravadin Resource guide in the General Theravada Discussion Forum.

:anjali:
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by Spiny Norman »

manas wrote:32/parts/of/the/body/contemplation[
I normally use the properties in MN140, these are earth, water, wind, fire, space and consciousness.

"And what is the earth property? The earth property can be either internal or external. What is the internal earth property? Anything internal, within oneself, that's hard, solid, & sustained [by craving]: head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, tendons, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, membranes, spleen, lungs, large intestines, small intestines, contents of the stomach, feces, or anything else internal, within oneself, that's hard, solid, and sustained: This is called the internal earth property. Now both the internal earth property & the external earth property are simply earth property. And that should be seen as it actually is present with right discernment: 'This is not mine, this is not me, this is not my self.' When one sees it thus as it actually is present with right discernment, one becomes disenchanted with the earth property and makes the earth property fade from the mind."

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
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samseva
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by samseva »

AnyataroBhikkh wrote:[...]
Thank you, Ven. Anyataro.

I don't know if it has already been mentioned, but for anyone interested, I attached an article/document on asubha practice, by Ajahn Brahm.
Asubha Practice - Ajahn Brahmavamso.pdf
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Mkoll
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by Mkoll »

Thank you for sharing that, samseva.

:anjali:
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
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akashdhamma
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by akashdhamma »

I have a collection of what would appear to be very disturbing imagery that I have accumulated over the years - googling things like "beautiful dead woman", "real autopsy", "read dead body", etc. You will be surprised at the variety of content we can find on the internet and the kind of people who generally host this stuff. There are some people whose minds have developed the conditioning to actually be sexually aroused by the exact content that we are trying to absorb for disenchantment. I haven't gotten around understanding how messed up this is but I'm grateful for having my little collection that has mildly helped subdue my inner fires.

For hastened disenchantment, here are some tips :

1) Resolve that the costs of sexual pleasure far outweigh the benefits, and you would never indulge in it again even life offered the best of it.

2) Keep a strong guard of mindfulness that is alerted everytime passiona rises in the mind - and contemplate the opposite theme at that time, such as asubha and the drawbacks of sensuality, example :

This body has many pains, many drawbacks. In this body many kinds of disease arise, such as: seeing-diseases, hearing-diseases, nose-diseases, tongue-diseases, body-diseases, head-diseases, ear-diseases, mouth-diseases, teeth-diseases, cough, asthma, catarrh, fever, aging, stomach-ache, fainting, dysentery, grippe, cholera, leprosy, boils, ringworm, tuberculosis, epilepsy, skin-disease, itch, scab, psoriasis, scabies, jaundice, diabetes, hemorrhoids, fistulas, ulcers; diseases arising from bile, from phlegm, from the wind-property, from combinations of bodily humors, from changes in the weather, from uneven care of the body, from attacks, from the result of kamma; cold, heat, hunger, thirst, defecation, urination.' Thus I must remains focused on drawbacks with regard to this body.

3) Remember the simile that "The pleasure of sensuality is like the pleasure one gets from licking a drop of honey smeared across the edge of a sword's blade".

4) Keep practicing diligently and developing the factors of awakening. As you experience more piti, it will be much easier to let go of sensuality.

5) Diligently avoid making contact with sense objects that trigger your lust. This includes TV, Radio/Music, Media, Eye sense objects that trigger lust, Environments that are conductive for lust (like a crowded beach, disco, etc) and if possible abide in areas which are less developed/outside metros.

6) The commercial side of things pretty much revolves around lust, so avoid commercials. Never try to contemplate beauty of the sex you're attracted to - or appreciate the outer or sensual beauty of people around you (This is a very subtle trap) - (but its OK to appreciate calm features or qualities which may have developed from spiritual maturity - if you can spot them)

7) Never accept the feelings that "You're too young, its ok to indluge/still have much time" or any kind of "Trick pattern".

8) Never consciously create emotions of guilt or remorse after you've fallen back. If these rise automatically, just accept them and strengthen your resolve further to not repeat the same mistakes again.

9) Keep learning & growing. Its much easier if you're surrounded by people who are conductive to this, have a strong sense of purpose, very little free time, and are away from heavily sexualized city centers.

All the best !
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Kitti Saado,
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Assaji
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by Assaji »

In my experience, contemplation of the 32 parts of one's own body, as recommended in Sutta and Vimuttimagga, provides an excellent start for a balanced practice.

With the start on one's own body, it is much easier to avoid the trap of aversion, and progress to equanimity.
User156079
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by User156079 »

I dont recommend doing Asubha without a qualified teacher or before you have seen some bodypart sign come to you as result of other meditation (ie seeing teeth while doign Anapanasatti). Because this can seriously mess you up, side effects can be developing aversion, perverse views, uncontrollable and terrifying visions of corpses, of death or people coming to kill you etc. If you going to do it on your own, get in touch with some teacher online atleast.. dont be a fool.
If your goal is to get rid of sexual addiction i think Vipassana is a much better foundation.

My advice:

First of all never think about bodyparts as disgusting/foul/gross etc, dont even judge it as unattractive, just contemplate it. Visuddhimagga is good read to get a framework, but we can do better imo.

My advice is to additionally contemplate vulnerability of the body while doing the bodypart contemplation to better understand mortality of conventional reality, this will result in compassion, countering anger and probably makes it easier to reach absorbtion. Use your own body and do it with compassion to avoid "sour grapes" attitude to it and that of other's.

You can do this in several ways, imagine aging of the bodyparts ie "When i get old the skin will get wrinckled/ hair fall out, turn grey/ teeth falling out and rot. Another thing is imagining disease, sores, broken bones, ie when you contemplate blood you can imagine having serious infection, think back to times where you have been sick, think about how bones can break etc.

When contemplating the bodyparts, one should focus on them in/on ones own body, imagining body as skeleton, bones, etc..

Other things you could do is to think of the body as a house, consisting of Space, Water, Earth, Air and Fire elements. So Space Inside, enclosed by "walls" made of the other elements (Read: MN 28, 62, 140, 119) . There are many other things you could do like defining elements, elaborating on vulnerability, thinking of creatures living on skin, bones, sinews, comparing elements inside to elements outside etc.

Another important thing if/when you see images of body parts in front of you, in yourself or others is not to be scared. There is a book by Ven. Maha Bua called "Wisdom Develops Samadhi" you can find it on internet, it gives good advice on handling and developing the visions.

There is more to this practise than this!!!

Dont do it without a teacher rly, its a really bad idea. You can start off slowly and then you notice you have developed aversion or disgust overnight, what u gonna do then.. U can give rise to aversion etc quickly. Im not expert at this but i see alot of potential for fail.

What is this for anyway... To overcome sexuality this is far from a complete solution, more of a shortcut, it can only partially solve the problem. Unless developed to the Jhanas ( which is requires intensive practise) this wont really do much other than triggering some understanding. This doesnt adress craving, pleasurable sensations, desire and liking of those.
Last edited by User156079 on Wed Jul 27, 2016 10:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User156079
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by User156079 »

akashdhamma wrote:...
I tried to send a PM, but it seems that your account is unable to receive PMs. Send me an email adress if you want or get your account privileges upgraded. Gl
Cormac Brown
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by Cormac Brown »

Sadhu Akashdhamma, great advice.
“I in the present who am a worthy one, rightly self-awakened, am a
teacher of action, a teacher of activity, a teacher of persistence. But the
worthless man Makkhali contradicts even me, (saying,) ‘There is no
action. There is no activity. There is no persistence.’ "
AN 3.138, trans. Ven. Thanissaro
SEC201482
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by SEC201482 »

Ernest Becker unintentionally and unwittingly produced one of the best asubha resources out there in The Denial of Death with his discussion of "anality." It is a rather profound discourse on the preposterous nature of the human body and the incongruity of having sensual desire for it given its nature.

http://waywardblogging.com/2013/09/dual ... -of-death/
lostitude
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by lostitude »

The interesting thing about this is that those medical practitioners who carry out the autopsies, and medical students who have to dissect dead bodies, will never tell you that they are not attracted to their partners anymore. So I guess the way that kind of meditation is performed is much more important than the material at hand.
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