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We experience pleasures and pains due to ‘our selves’. These pleasures and pains cause us to adhere to this body and other things we call ‘us’ or ‘ourselves’ or to develop aversions to the same body and ‘ourselves’. If we think about what we do in our daily routine we spend quite an amount of energy and time pampering, and maintaining this body. With this body we stand among others in the society. Then we see others’ physical bodies. Sometimes, when we think about ourselves, we form different views about this body. As a result of the social behaviors, passage of time, social evolution and views many beliefs, myths and rituals are centered around human bodies.
We go in front of a mirror and try to make the body beautiful because we think we can make it more beautiful. Again this is a grasping or an attachment developed out of the view that it is beautiful. On the other hand, some people develop anger or aversion towards themselves by looking at themselves in a mirror. There was a story of a woman who had undergone severe depression and had become suicidal as well. She was describing the horrible experiences she had gone through due to the depression. When I first came to know about the beginning of her mental depression, it looked rather trivial to me. Later I realized what could have happened. The beginning of her depression was after an accident. An accident had left some scars on her face and she started worrying and other negative emotions about her appearance lead to a severe depression. This was another extreme case of aversion and negative experience due to the human body.
Buddha's Advice - Basics
Buddha's advice is to look at the body as it is, neither getting attached nor developing aversion towards it. Two thousand five hundred years ago also there were different beliefs among people. Some thought the body was created, there is an eternal soul connected with the body, some believed part of the body as eternal the other part is being destroyed after death etc. However, the Buddha did not get carried away by those beliefs. He took a very scientific approach which is unique and modern even among today's scientific developments. In modern scientific terms the Buddha's advice is to observe and analyze it without being biased by any views or prejudices and to develop mindfulness.
Before going into details of this mindfulness. Let us look at what we call ourselves. The physical or biological body is one part of it. Then four other unseen parts are there which are the consciousness, perceptions, feelings and karmic mental formations. Buddha's advice is to look all these five aggregates as they are. The grossest or the most visible component is the physical body. We know it consists of five senses. We interact with the outside world using these five sense. All our experiences of this body come from five sense and the sixth which is the mind. Based on our experiences we always form one kind or another view about this body. We are in the habit of forming different views and thoughts about this body either based on the experience of this life or (could be) based on past lives.
Practice of mindfulness of body is to overcome this drudgery of binding concepts and views that we form about it. To see the body as it is and to realize what it actually is. So instead of looking at this body as a beautiful body, ugly body or eternal body a person learns to look at the body as it is and avoid the mental pains that are caused by looking at it otherwise. The teachings in the satipattana sutta, are unique methods of meditation. There are four major sections in the sutta, the first section is on the establishment of mindfulness of the body.
There is this unique way, method or technique for the purification of beings, for the overcoming or elimination of sorrow, elimination of suffering, non satisfactory nature, sadness, development of wisdom and understanding and realization of nibbana. It is the way of four foundations of mindfulness. Of these the first is the mindfulness of the body. Before going into details there are very important preliminary things that need to be understood well.
With the effort in suppressing the mental impurities, clarity in comprehension (clearly comprehending), mindfully behaves without getting attached or developing aversion. The effort to suppress mental impurities (greed, hatred and delusion) is important because when the mind becomes impure analysis will be clouded and realization of true nature will not occur.
A person practicing this mindfulness well will not hold onto clinging that cause greed and aversion. Ultimate realization of nibbana will be the result if the practice is developed well.
Mindfulness of body
The discourse on four foundations of mindfulness or "Satipattana Sutta" contains four major sections: (1) mindfulness of body (kayanupassana) (2) mindfulness of feelings (vedananupassana) (3) mindfulness of mind (chittanupassana) (4) mindfulness of mental behaviors (dhammanupassana).
Within the first major section on mindfulness of body there are five
meditation methods.
(1) mindfulness of breathing (anapanasati)
(2) mindfulness of postures (iriyapatha)
(3) refelection on internal and external impurities and other vital
parts (kunapa)
(4) analysis of four elements (dathu)
(5) reflection on nine stages of a dead body (nava seevaththika)
(1) Start with mindfulness of breathing, which is a very pleasant meditation. The purpose of it is to become aware of an essential part of the body, which is in and out breath. Ultimately, the meditator becomes mindful of the complete breath starting from the nostril to stomach (back and forth). Finally, with awareness, the beginning, sustaining and ending of breath can be realized which is the same nature in every other conditioned thing, i.e., all of them have a beginning (due to conditions or determinants), sustain for some time and then change into something else (impermanence).
(2) Practice of mindfulness of postures is to observe all the bodily postures that we assume,( i.e., sitting, standing, walking, laying down, moving alms and legs, dressing and all the other bodily activities) with full awareness. The meditator becomes and observer of actions starting from the intentions. Therefore, this is not reflection after doing an action but becoming an observer from the inception to the completion of bodily actions.
(3) The reflection of internal and external impurities is done by seeing the disgusting or repulsive nature of the body parts starting from head hear to the toes. The repulsive nature of the body becomes apparent when a person does not attend to the needs of it such as cleaning, taking a bath etc. Buddha advised his disciples to analyze the 32 parts of the body which are repulsive in nature. The simile given in the sutta is the analysis of different types of grains in a sack.
(4) Analysis of the body is done by reflecting upon the constituent elements of the body. Human body consists of the element of hardness (solids), element of fluidity (liquids), gaseous element (gases), and element of energy (heat). Basically the body consists of these four elements. Analysis of the body into four elements must be done to become aware of the nature of the body. When a body is cremated after death the solid elements will become ashes or bone fragments, liquid element will either become gaseous element or comes out as liquid element, air element will be released to the atmosphere, and the heat element will also be released to the atmosphere.
(5) In ancient India the dead bodies are thrown in the cemetery so that it becomes food for the other scavenger animals and birds. When a body is laid in a cemetery the changes start to occur: discoloration, swelling, excretions, worms, scavenger animals taking bites out of it, and finally the skeleton will remain. Everyone's body is subject to this nature (if it is left in such a place)
Discussion:
(1) Analysis when practicing mindfulness of breathing. This is to be done after developing the mindfulness well and development of the five mental factors (mindfulness, effort, concentration, wisdom and confidence). When the mind wonders away from the breath mental effort and concentration is helpful.
(2) Practice of loving kindness.
(3) Handling of bodily discomfort when practicing anapanasati (at the beginning and later)
(4)Development of analysis and wisdom starts with mindfulness