does anyone know of good asubha resources?

The cultivation of calm or tranquility and the development of concentration
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manas
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does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by manas »

Hello everyone

I am looking for some asubha bhavana resources, if anyone knows of some good ones
could they please either let me know via PM, or if appropriate for posting here publicly - considering that some members here could be under 18 years of age - then provide some links here?
I am interested in both 32 parts of the body contemplation
and the nine cemetery comtemplations
thank you
manas
:anjali:

WARNING: I've edited this post from the original to include a warning, because as I understand it, the aim of asubha-bhavana is to cultivate disenchantment with the body, not to become distressed, disturbed, or unhinged. I urge folks to consider carefully what they can cope with, especially before watching any linked videos members might have posted here.
Last edited by manas on Mon Jan 01, 2018 11:09 pm, edited 8 times in total.
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
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cooran
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Re: does/anyone/know/of/good/asubha/resources?

Post by cooran »

Hello manas,

I use this one:

The Nine Cemetery Contemplations:
http://silentmindopenheart.org/docs/cemetery/Death.html

with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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tiltbillings
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Re: does/anyone/know/of/good/asubha/resources?

Post by tiltbillings »

It is a practice better done with a qualified teacher, but you can always try it and see what happens. A good source is the Visuddhimagga.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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tiltbillings
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Re: does/anyone/know/of/good/asubha/resources?

Post by tiltbillings »

Keep in mind the sutta story of the monks that were given the "foulness" of the body meditation and killed themselves as a result of it.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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manas
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Re: does/anyone/know/of/good/asubha/resources?

Post by manas »

cooran wrote:Hello manas,

I use this one:

The Nine Cemetery Contemplations:
http://silentmindopenheart.org/docs/cemetery/Death.html

with metta
Chris
Thank/you/Chris
:anjali:
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
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manas
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Re: does/anyone/know/of/good/asubha/resources?

Post by manas »

tiltbillings wrote:Keep in mind the sutta story of the monks that were given the part of the body meditation and killed themselves as a result of it.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
Thank/you/for/the/warning/Tilt
I/agree/that/one/ought/to/be/careful
that/it/is/disenchantment/that/develops
rather/than/aversion

In/my/case/ive/dabbled/in/this/before
not/very/methodically/as/yet
but/the/time/has/finally/arrived/i/feel
when/it/is/now/appropriate/for/me
to/undertake/it/more/thoroughly
and/I/feel/ready
(first/encountered/the/Dhamma/at/20y.o.
and/am/now/44)

kind/regards
:anjali:
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
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Ben
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Re: does/anyone/know/of/good/asubha/resources?

Post by Ben »

tiltbillings wrote:It is a practice better done with a qualified teacher, but you can always try it and see what happens. A good source is the Visuddhimagga.
I second Tilt's advice and recommendation.
And be very careful. Asubha practice is meant to cultivate disenchantment not aversion.
kind regards,

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
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manas
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Re: does/anyone/know/of/good/asubha/resources?

Post by manas »

Ben wrote:
tiltbillings wrote:It is a practice better done with a qualified teacher, but you can always try it and see what happens. A good source is the Visuddhimagga.
I second Tilt's advice and recommendation.
And be very careful. Asubha practice is meant to cultivate disenchantment not aversion.
kind regards,

Ben
I/am/going/to/take/your/advices
there/is/a/senior/monk
very/wise/and/experienced
who/has/known/me/for/many/years
when/i/visit/him/(hope/to/soon)
i/will/ask/for/his/advice
but/i/really/do/feel/ready
EDIT/and/because/of/the/difficulty
in/travel/time,/distance/and/petrol
to/get/to/that/monastery
i/might/just/begin
on/my/own
and/consult/asap/if
i/run/into/problems.
but/if/all/goes/well
i/might/just/be/able/to/use
online/resources

kind/regards
:anjali:
Last edited by manas on Tue Apr 23, 2013 12:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
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LonesomeYogurt
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by LonesomeYogurt »

http://32parts.com/

This is a very helpful site, but of course I second the advice given by Ben and Tilt.
Gain and loss, status and disgrace,
censure and praise, pleasure and pain:
these conditions among human beings are inconstant,
impermanent, subject to change.

Knowing this, the wise person, mindful,
ponders these changing conditions.
Desirable things don’t charm the mind,
undesirable ones bring no resistance.

His welcoming and rebelling are scattered,
gone to their end,
do not exist.
- Lokavipatti Sutta

Stuff I write about things.
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manas
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by manas »

LonesomeYogurt wrote:http://32parts.com/

This is a very helpful site, but of course I second the advice given by Ben and Tilt.
Thanks/LY
just/had/a/look/at/it
it/will/be/very/helpful
:anjali:
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
EmptyShadow
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Re: does/anyone/know/of/good/asubha/resources?

Post by EmptyShadow »

tiltbillings wrote:Keep in mind the sutta story of the monks that were given the "foulness" of the body meditation and killed themselves as a result of it.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
Hi,
according to the Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw's book "Workings of kamma" page 213 thay didnt killed themselves as a result of the asubha meditation but because of past unwholesome kamma.
THE FIVE HUNDRED BHIKKHUS

Another example is the five hundred bhikkhus who killed themselves
and killed each other.773 The Buddha knew that they all shared a common
unwholesome kamma: in the distant past, they had all been hunters
in the same forest. Using weapons and traps, they had made hunting their
livelihood. With keen pleasure (ha;;ha·tu;;ha), they had throughout their
lives killed animals and birds. At their death, that kamma produced rebirth
in hell. Then a wholesome kamma gave them rebirth as human beings.
And, dependent on a good friend, they came into the presence of
The Buddha, and ordained as bhikkhus. Some of them became Arahants,
some became Non-Returners, some became Once-Returners, some became
Stream-Enterers, whereas some remained ordinary persons (puthu·jjana).
One morning, as The Buddha was surveying the world with His
Buddha-Eye (Buddha·Cakkhu), He saw that within two weeks those five hundred bhikkhus would die: indefinitely-effective ‘hunting-aslivelihood’
kamma would intercept the wholesome kamma that had
given them their human rebirth. The Buddha also saw it was impossible
to stop this result from arising. And He saw that the Arahants would not
be reborn; the other Noble Ones would have a happy rebirth; but those
who were still ordinary persons (puthu·jjana) would die with lustful desire
(chanda·raga), with attachment for their human life, and would die with
fear: that would produce a bad rebirth. If, however, He taught them to
practise foulness meditation, they would remove their attachment for
life, and fear of death. And with that wholesome kamma, they would attain
rebirth in the deva world: The Buddha saw that He could help them
only that way. And that way, their ordination as bhikkhus would still turn
out beneficial to them. So The Buddha told them to take foulness
(asubha) (the thirty-two parts of the body (dva·tti5·sakara)) as their main
meditation subject:774 in many ways He spoke in praise of that meditation.
The Buddha also knew that in those two weeks, the bhikkhus would
come and report: ‘Today one bhikkhu died’, ‘Today two bhikkhus died’,
etc. Knowing He could not stop it, knowing there was no purpose in His
hearing those things, and to protect those who might criticize Him for
not stopping it, The Buddha went into seclusion for those two weeks.
After two weeks, the five hundred bhikkhus had all either killed themselves,
or had themselves killed. When The Buddha returned, He asked
the Venerable Ananda why the Sa]gha was so diminished. The Venerable
Ananda told Him it was because the bhikkhus had practised foulness
meditation. And the Venerable Ananda suggested The Buddha teach
another meditation subject. The Buddha asked the Venerable Ananda to
have the remaining bhikkhus assembled, and then explained and spoke in
praise of mindfulness of breathing (an·apana·ssati).
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cooran
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by cooran »

LonesomeYogurt wrote:http://32parts.com/

This is a very helpful site, but of course I second the advice given by Ben and Tilt.
Thanks LY - excellent resource! :smile:

With metta,
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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Ben
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Re: does/anyone/know/of/good/asubha/resources?

Post by Ben »

EmptyShadow wrote:
tiltbillings wrote:Keep in mind the sutta story of the monks that were given the "foulness" of the body meditation and killed themselves as a result of it.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
Hi,
according to the Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw's book "Workings of kamma" page 213 thay didnt killed themselves as a result of the asubha meditation but because of past unwholesome kamma.
Actually, that comes from Saratthappakasini, Samyutta Nikaya-atthakatha (sub-commentary of the SN).
But regardless of how the mass suicide is explained, Tilt's caution is valid. These practices are potentially dangerous. The line between disenchantment and aversion is very thin. I have also witnessed many people who believe asubha practice is about developing aversion.
kind regards,

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
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Ben
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by Ben »

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
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
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manas
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Re: does anyone know of good asubha resources?

Post by manas »

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!
I/also/have/kids/of/my/own
I/would/not/want/anyone/to/get/disturbed
because/as/has/been/pointed/out
although/this/practice/is/recommended/in/the/suttas
it/is/not/for/everyone,/agreed.

however/would/*just/a/link*/be/ok?
and/if/so,/a/member/could/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:
Last edited by manas on Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:01 am, edited 2 times in total.
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
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