Short Essay On the 32 Parts of the Body (comments/critique appreciated)

On the cultivation of insight/wisdom
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samseva
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Short Essay On the 32 Parts of the Body (comments/critique appreciated)

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With the different translations and sources describing the meditation on the 32 parts of the body, there frequently seems to be inaccuracies regarding a number of the parts. Almost all sources have at least one mistranslation/misidentification, while most have two to four.

I'll attempt to describe the correct identifications, confirm correct translations, or correct/give more precise translations, of each of the 32 parts. Reliable sources I've referenced are Ven. Anālayo's book Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization, Ven. Nyanaponika's translation of the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (from The Heart of Buddhist Meditation) and a few others, although all of these have one or more mistranslations. The most important source, however, is Ven. Ñāṇamoli's translation of the Visuddhimagga, which not only describes the practice of the meditation subject, but also each individual part in detail. Finally, modern sources on anatomy were referenced.

Below, I'll list each part and describe how I came about the conclusion for each. Synonyms will be excluded, to avoid adding bulk to the descriptions.
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Skin Pentad
Head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin
These are usually correctly translated.
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ab
Kidneys Pentad
Flesh, sinews, bones, bone marrow, kidneys
Bones, bone marrow and kidneys are usually correctly translated (although kidneys is in singular form in the Visuddhimagga, for some reason).

Flesh
For flesh, with the description in the Visuddhimagga, what is meant is clearly muscles (since fat, which technically could be considered part of flesh, is another of the parts). While 'flesh' could be less precise at first glance ('pleasures of the flesh'), its more anatomical definition is still precise and more practical than 'muscles':
Visuddhimagga (p. 247) wrote:97. There are nine hundred pieces of flesh. As to colour, it is all red, like kiṃsuka flowers. As to shape, the flesh of the calves is the shape of cooked rice in a palm-leaf bag. The flesh of the thighs is the shape of a rolling pin. The flesh of the buttocks is the shape of the end of an oven. The flesh of the back is the shape of a slab of palm sugar. The flesh between each two ribs is the shape of clay mortar squeezed thin in a flattened opening. The flesh of the breast is the shape of a lump of clay made into a ball and flung down. The flesh of the two upper arms is the shape of a large skinned rat and twice the size. When he discerns it grossly in this way, it becomes evident to him subtly too.

98. As to direction, it lies in both directions. As to location, it is plastered over the three hundred and odd bones. [253] As to delimitation, it is bounded below by its surface, which is fixed on to the collection of bones, and above by the skin, and all round each by each other piece...
Sinews (nahāru)
This is occasionally mistranslated, however, similarly to flesh, the Visuddhimagga's description leaves no doubt of this being sinews:
Visuddhimagga (pp. 247-248) wrote:99. There are nine hundred sinews. As to colour, all the sinews are white. As to shape, they have various shapes. For five of great sinews that bind the body together start out from the upper part of the neck and descend by the front, and five more by the back, and then five by the right and five by the left. And of those that bind the right hand, five descend by the front of the hand and five by the back; likewise those that bind the left hand. And of those that bind the right foot, five descend by the front and five by the back; likewise those that bind the left foot. So there are sixty great sinews called “body supporters” which descend [from the neck] and bind the body together; and they are also called “tendons.” They are all the shape of yam shoots. But there are others scattered over various parts of the body, which are finer than the last-named. They are the shape of strings and cords. There are others still finer, the shape of creepers. Others still finer are the shape of large lute strings. Yet others are the shape of coarse thread. The sinews in the backs of the hands and feet are the shape of a bird’s claw. The sinews in the head are the shape of children’s head nets. The sinews in the back are the shape of a wet net spread out in the sun. The rest of the sinews, following the various limbs, are the shape of a net jacket fitted to the body.
[...]
Sinews (or tendons) are not commonly found in meat (or at least, barely noticeable), due to modern meat processing (being either minced or removed). Here is a picture of (slightly dry) deer sinew:

sinew_deer.png
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Lungs Pentad
Heart, liver, membranes, spleen, lungs
The heart, liver, spleen and lungs are usually correctly translated.

Membranes (kilomaka)
Among all the parts, 'membranes' (kilomaka) is the most commonly mistranslated. In Ven. Anālayo's Satipaṭṭhāna book (and a number of other sources), it is translated as 'diaphragm', while in Ven. Nyanaponika's translation of the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (also in a number of other sources), it is translated as 'pleura'. Ven. Ñāṇamoli translates it as 'midriff', although he does note that it is an inadequate translation. The main definition of midriff is 'the region of the front of the body between the chest and the waist', while also being the dated word for 'diaphragm' (both from New Oxford American Dictionary). Still, from carefully looking over Visuddhimagga's description of kilomaka, both pleura and diaphragm are incorrect translations:
Visuddhimagga (pp. 250-251) wrote:115. This is the covering of the flesh, which is of two kinds, namely, the concealed and the unconcealed. As to colour, both kinds are white, the colour of dukūla (muslin) rags. As to shape, it is the shape of its location. As to direction, the concealed midriff lies in the upper direction, the other in both directions. As to location, the concealed midriff is to be found concealing the heart and kidney; the unconcealed is to be found covering the flesh under the inner skin throughout the whole body. As to delimitation, it is bounded below by the flesh, above by the inner skin, and all round by what appertains to midriff...
The Visuddhimagga's description coupled with anatomical understanding of pleura and the diaphragm clearly cancels out these translations. For the diaphragm, it is a muscle component below the lungs, making breathing possible. As for pleura—of which there are two; the visceral and parietal pleura—these are serous membranes lining the thoracic cavity and covering the lungs. Also, from common sense, it is doubtful that the Buddha would have given such importance to these two (highly precise) parts of the body, especially when so many more important ones have been left out (out of convenience/realistically it not being possible to include all the parts).

For both, see:

diaphragm_pleura.png

If one consults the PTS dictionary for clarification on kilomaka, the definition given is:
PTS Pāḷi-English Dictionary wrote:Kilomaka [=Sk. kloman, the right lung, cp. Greek πλεύμων, Lat. pulmo] the pleura M i.185 = Kh iii, Nett 77=Vbh 193; J iv.292; Miln 26. Discussed in detail at Vism 257, 357.
...which, based on the Visuddhimagga, would be anatomically incorrect (or at least, imprecise).

Therefore, a correct translation of kilomaka would rather be 'membranes', which fits the description of the Visuddhimagga and also groups in the pleura, which is a membrane itself.
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Brain Pentad
Bowels, mesentery, gorge, feces, brain
For this pentad, the only parts that are usually correct are feces and the brain (although, the brain is occasionally listed as the last of the 32 parts).

Bowels (anta)
Commonly mistranslated as the large intestine.

First, I would like to start off by mentioning that the stark differentiation of the large and small intestine is a modern one (commonly present in articles and books). It is unlikely that such a stark differentiation would have been present at the time of the Buddha, or at least, it would have been much less ubiquitous than it is today.

The Visuddhimagga describes the bowels as:
Visuddhimagga (p. 251) wrote:[...] As to location, it is fastened above at the gullet and below to the excrement passage (rectum), so it is to be found inside the body between the limits of the gullet and the excrement passage.
The gullet is the esophagus—the long "pipe" from the mouth to the stomach. It is solid (it's the tube behind the Adam's apple, of which you can both touch yourself) and the material it is composed of is very much distinct from both the stomach and the intestine. Similarly to the large and small intestine, it seems as though the differentiation between the stomach and intestine (which is also ubiquitous and commonly understood today) isn't as significant, since although the role of the stomach is mostly unique, the material and look of it is very much similar to the intestines.

So, from the Vissudhimagga's description, the bowels (anta) would include both the large and small intestine, as well as the stomach.

Mesentery (antaguṇa)
Commonly mistranslated as the small intestine. With the Visuddhimagga's description, along with modern anatomy, it is clearly 'mesentery':
Visuddhimagga (pp. 251-252) wrote:119. This is the fastening in the places where the bowel is coiled. As to colour, it is white, the colour of dakasītalika (white edible water lily) roots. As to shape, it is the shape of those roots too. As to direction, it lies in the two directions. As to location, it is to be found inside the twenty-one coils of the bowel, like the strings to be found inside rope-rings for wiping the feet on, sewing them together, and it fastens the bowel’s coils together so that they do not slip down in those working with hoes, axes, etc., as the marionette-strings do the marionette’s wooden [limbs] at the time of the marionette’s being pulled along. As to delimitation, it is bounded by what appertains to entrails...
See:



Gorge (udariya)
'Gorge' is the contents of the stomach. Commonly mistranslated as 'stomach', however, this is not possible, since as described for bowels, the stomach is grouped with the gut. Furthermore:
Visuddhimagga (pp. 252-253) wrote:120. This is what has been eaten, drunk, chewed and tasted, and is present in the stomach. As to colour, it is the colour of swallowed food. As to shape, it is the shape of rice loosely tied in a cloth strainer. As to direction, it is in the upper direction. As to location, it is in the stomach.

121. What is called the “stomach” is [a part of] the bowel-membrane, which is like the swelling [of air] produced in the middle of a length of wet cloth when it is being [twisted and] wrung out from the two ends. It is smooth outside. Inside, it is like a balloon of cloth

[...]

122. As to delimitation, it is bounded by the stomach lining and by what appertains to gorge...
A long part from the abridged passage of the Visuddhimagga above describes the stomach itself, however, similar to the rest of the Visuddhimagga, it is not uncommon for there to be long and detailed descriptions of things partly deviating from the main subject. If this were to be overlooked, however, such a mistranslation would still have required completely ignoring the beginning and the end of the description of this body part, which both cancel out the possibility of udariya being the small intestine (along with the stomach already categorized as part of the bowels).
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Fat Hexad
Bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat
These are all usually correctly translated.

Urine Hexad
Tears, grease, spittle, snot, oil of the joints, urine
These are all usually correctly translated (although occasionally using synonyms).
_________________________

Conclusion
To conclude, with the descriptions above, the correct identifications and translations of each of the 32 parts of the body would be:
Head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin — Skin pentad
Flesh, sinews, bones, bone marrow, kidneys — Kidneys pentad
Heart, liver, membranes, spleen, lungs — Lungs pentad
Bowels (stomach, large and small intestine), mesentery, gorge, feces, brain — Brain pentad
Bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat — Fat hexad
Tears, grease, spittle, snot, oil of the joints, urine — Urine hexad
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Volo
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Re: Short Essay On the 32 Parts of the Body (comments/critique appreciated)

Post by Volo »

I think you put everything correctly. Here is a booklet with pictures and names in many languages + Vism quotes. I think there are also no mistakes.
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samseva
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Re: Short Essay On the 32 Parts of the Body (comments/critique appreciated)

Post by samseva »

Volo wrote: Mon Dec 24, 2018 3:18 am I think you put everything correctly. Here is a booklet with pictures and names in many languages + Vism quotes. I think there are also no mistakes.
Thank you. That's a great resource.
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salayatananirodha
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Re: Short Essay On the 32 Parts of the Body (comments/critique appreciated)

Post by salayatananirodha »

sutta only mentions 31
I host a sutta discussion via Zoom Sundays at 11AM Chicago time — message me if you are interested
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Volo
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Re: Short Essay On the 32 Parts of the Body (comments/critique appreciated)

Post by Volo »

salayatananirodha wrote: Wed Dec 26, 2018 7:48 am sutta only mentions 31
Khuddakapāṭha lists 32.
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Re: Short Essay On the 32 Parts of the Body (comments/critique appreciated)

Post by salayatananirodha »

late addition, contradicts the earlier one
I host a sutta discussion via Zoom Sundays at 11AM Chicago time — message me if you are interested
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