Our Body Beautiful????

snowstar SG

1. Contemplation of the body as impure. Everyone sees his body as extremely precious. Because you think it is real, you are selfish and profit-seeking. Without a body there would be no selfishness.

We think our bodies are real and actual. Being selfish, we commit offenses and evil deeds. We cannot let go of the affairs of the world and calculate on behalf of our bodies all day long, looking for good food, beautiful clothes and a nice place to live -- a little happiness for the body. On the day we die, we are still unclear. "My body is dying," we moan. "How can it do this to me?" About that time we know our bodies are unreal, but it's too late, too late for our regrets.

Ultimately, is the body real? Stupid people think so, but wise people see it as merely a combination of the four elements: earth, air, fire, water. It is not ultmate.

"Then," you ask, "what us ultimate?"

Our own self-nature is bright and all-illuminating;
Our own self-nature is perfect and unimpeded.
It is nowhere and nowhere it is not;
to the end of empty space,
it exhausts to the Dharma Realm.

snowstar SG

Our bodies are temporary dwellings where our self-nature comes to live for a time. But teh person dwelling the hotel is not the hotel, and the same way, the body is not him. The traveller who thinks that he is in the hotel is mistaken. If you know that the body is just like the hotel, you should seek that which dwells within it, for once you have found it, you will recognise your true self.

From the time of birth, the body is impure -- a combination of its father's semen and its mother's blood. The child grows up with greed, hate, stupidity, pride and doubt. He commits offenses, creating the karma of killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and taking of intoxicants and drugs. Offense-karma is created because of the body. But is the body such a precious thing after all? No!

A precious jewel is pure and undefiled, without stain or the slightest trace of filth. Our bodies on the other hand, have 9 apertures, which constantly secrete impure substances: tears from the eyes; wax from teh ears, mucus from the nose...

<Precious> SG

OK, ok, wait arh..... I strip myself naked and go commando liao.... if police catch, I say you say must ignore our bodies one hor.... Razz

snowstar SG

There are religions whose members eat mucus. They say that they are "smelting the cinnabar". They also eat tears and ear wax thinking that these filty substances are precious jewels. Isn't that pitiful?

2 ears, 2 eyes, and 2 nostrils make 6 holes. The mouth is full of phlegm and saliva. That's 7 holes. Add the anus and urinary tract you have 9. Would you call this pure? Everyone knows that excrement and urine are unclean, and, if you don't believe it, just try seasoning some fine food with a tiny pinch of excrement. No one will eat it. People will want to vomit instead because it is unclean. Would you call this body, dribbling filth from the 9 holes, a jewel? If it's a jewel, why do such vile things flow from it?

If you don't bathe for a week, you itch and squirm and a thick crust forms on your body. Where did it come from? Soon you will stink with odour even a dog finds repulsive. What is the advantage of having a body? Contemplate the body as impure. If you see how filty it is, do you still love it? Are you still attached? What's the use of loving such a dirty thing?

An Eternal Now SG

Ignore your body, not ignore your morality lah...

snowstar SG

Hahaha Laughing

An Eternal Now SG

BTW doesn't mean ignore your body... it's just contemplating/mindfulness of the nature of your body.

snowstar SG

Your replies are so fast and efficient! Smile

goldevil SG

body conscious sux ,

mind hair , mind style , mind fashion is bad , i think .

i see my body as a vessel for my soul .

u know what , my cousin say body is a temporary vessel and he uses it as an excuse of nt bathing !!!!

Laughing

mind conscious i think is mindfulness of ur mind .

be mindfult about what ur mind is thinking or seeing things .

An Eternal Now SG

so so la.

lageihsif SG

ya our bodies are be-you-tee-full!

its made of simple shapes consisting of perfect shape of circles Laughing

An Eternal Now SG

Actually there is no soul. There are 8 consciousness (six sense conscousness, +7th consciousness of an 'I', and the 8th consciousness of storehouse consciousness), streaming through the body. All are utterly transient processes, and are conditioned arising. The 8th consciousness are possible due to the luminosity of our Buddha Nature -- pure awareness that perceives. But this pure awareness is not a soul in the body, it has no fixed location, yet manifests as conditioned arising.

Any description that makes it sound like a soul trapped in the body should not be taken too literally.

Life (Self) is nothing other than the continuous flow of the Now Moment.
The Now Moment ceases as it arises. This moment must completely ceased
and serves as the CAUSE for the next moment to arise.
Therefore Self is a process of series Self1, Self2, Self3, Self4, Self5, Self6...etc
A fixed entity 'Self' does not exist, what really exists is a momentary Self.
Under deep meditation, one is able to observe and sense the karmic and mental factors from moment to moment,
it is these factors that are succeeded from moment to moment and life and life but not a fixed entity.
When the karmic and mental factors subsides, it is known as "The True and Only (and Inherently egoless) Conscious Light (Itself)".

- Thusness

jacqn SG

bodies may be impure, but that does not mean we do not care for it. like a chinese saying, body is a gift from parents. you must not do anything harmful to your body, not to mention any surgery to make it more beautiful( personal opinion).
if you think your body is impure means you can do anything to it, it makes me think of cult. sorry if i misunderstand your thread and meaning.
Any opinions?

goldevil SG

body = vessel

appearance is temporary

surgery gt side effects .

body given to us is natural , y change it ?

yeah i heard of cult torturing their own body as spiritual training .

An Eternal Now SG

Want to add, this 7th consciousness, the stream of consciousness that takes rebirth lifetime after lifetime, the stream of consciousness that is the consciousness of a separate self, this self is illusory however the illusion of a self perpetuates and causes the 7th consciousness to continue functioning.

Ultimately, there is no self to be found. If we were to inquire on where or what is the self? We cannot locate it. Self or mind cannot be a part of our body, it's not outside our body nor inside our body, not east not west not south. The self or the mind cannot be located, because the idea that there is a separate self, an inherently existing mind, is an illusion.

Our true nature, Buddha Nature, is all pervading, omnipresent, luminous, is that which knows. It is that which 'lights' up all our consciousness, that which allows us to feel pain, hear the music, see the trees. It is luminous and all pervading like space.

----------------

From Master Shen Kai:

Q: Could Shi Fu please give us a discourse on what is True Self?

A: True Self is the opposite term of False Self, if you would like to know what True Self is, you would need to know what False Self is. We often say this shirt is mine, this house is mine, everything are ours. After saying for half a day, we still do not know where I is.

If you say that our nose is I, then the eyes are who? If you say the eyes are I, then the ears are who? If you say the ears are I, then mouth is who? If you say the hands are I, then the legs are who? Actually all these are not Self. Therefore we say: My nose, My eyes, My ears, My mouth, My hair, My hands, My legs we say everything belongs to me, but do not say that these are Me. What exactly is Self then? Everyone would like to find out where is the I, please close your eyes to search and see if you can locate the "I". Shi Fu wants everyone to find the "I", everybody should know where is "I", if Shi fu were to find the I for you, then this I is no longer special. Often we hear many people are intelligent, yet they cant even find the I, since we cannot even find the "I", how can we say My dad, My son, My sons wife, My valuable possessions everything is Mine, where exactly is I then?

Here there is a layman (ju shi) who answered I is the mind, then please, this layman find your mind and show everyone. In the past the 2nd Zen Patriarch went to find Patriarch Bodhidharma, saying Venerable! My mind is in pain. Please pacify my mind. Bodhidharma replied, Show it to me and I will pacify it for you. Shen Kuang said in amazement, Cannot find the mind! Actually everyone is very clever, if someone wishes to deceive us it is not easy, yet the whole life we are deceived by our Mind, yet we are not aware of it at all.

I see that to find the I is very difficult for everyone, why not put it that way: Everyone has eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind consciousness these are the Six Roots. In relative to the Six Roots are Sight, Sound, Odour, Taste, Touch, Six Dust. We say our eyes are the Eye Root, seeing the colours are called Six Dust, the reason why know whether this is white, black, red etc. is because of Eye Consciousness. We will be able to hear the sound of cars, the sound of speaking, the sound of the aeroplanes, the voice of singing, is because of Ear-consciousness, allowing us to differentiate, perceive so many sounds. Other than that, a single tongue, why is it able to know Sour, Sweet, Bitter, and Spicy, perceive so many tastes? It is because of Tongue-consciousness. Nose can smell so many kinds of odour, knowing perfumes are fragrant, excrement are foul-smelling; this is Nose-consciousness. Even if we close our eyes,
We can raise out our hands to touch, and therefore know that this is table, chair, microphone, clothes, etc this kind of using body to feel and perceive is called Body-consciousness. Also, when we close our eyes and think What you say is very meaningful, what you said is right, your solution can work, and his sayings are meaningless This kind of pondering is called Mind-consciousness.

Other than the six consciousnesses said above Eye-consciousness, Ear-consciousness, Nose-consciousness, Tongue-consciousness, Body-consciousness and Mind-consciousness, there is also a Seventh and Eighth consciousness. Seventh consciousness is Self False Self, and is the master of this body. The eighth consciousness can be said to be our Warehouse, it can also be said to be a Videotape. For example we meet someone in America, our eyes see at once, the mind immediately forms an impression I think I recognize this person! Oh! Yes yes yes! This is Mr Zhang, or Mr Wang. But, where have I met him before? This, I must think a while. When we finally remembered, this is when we take out our videotape from the Eighth consciousness and playing it.

Actually the Seventh Consciousness False Self is very strange! When our Six Roots (Six Sense Organ) are resting, it never rests; when our six roots are sleeping, it never sleeps; it wants to take out all the videotapes from the Eighth consciousness to watch. Yet this False self can function beyond our life, it can bring us to Heaven, it can also bring us to Hell. During the time of death, the False Self changes into a Transient-invisible-body (antarabhava; bardo). The Transient-invisible-body then goes into rebirth. We, the people who wishes to learn from the Buddha and cultivate, is to stop this False Self, not let it exist. False Self would ask our eyes to see bad things, it will also ask our mind to think of bad things, it would also ask our legs to do bad things, therefore False Self is not good at all to cultivation.

There are many methods of cultivation aimed at defeating False Self. The Zen sects method is to do sitting meditation and koans, for example striking seventh chan, is to keep sitting and not letting the False Self arise. This so-called Strike Seventh is to strike down the Seventh Consciousness and not allowing the sentient-mind to arise. Chanting-Buddha dharma door is to chant Amituofuo, Amituofuo, keep on chanting until the Seventh Consciousness ceases its function. There is a saying Striking the (sentient) mind dead, the Dharmakaya (dharma body) lives, this is the meaning. If we cannot strike dead this False Self, then the Dharmakaya (dharma body) cannot live. Human Vehicle Buddhism advocates Striking Seventh every moment, by ceasing the Seventh Consciousness, the Dharmakaya reveals itself; once the Dharmakaya lives, True Self will be produced. Actually True Self is only a name, if you think that True Self is really True Self, then that is wrong, it should be No-Self is Self, that is True Self.

snowstar SG

In response to jacqn,

You may ask, "Then can I stab myself? Can I kill myself?"

No. That's not necessary. You must borrow this false body and USE it to cultivate the Truth.

Contemplate your body as impure. Do not place too much attachment to it.[/b]

An Eternal Now SG

Contemplation of body's impurities is meant to help us drop and overcome all our fascination, attachments, to the sensual world, our (and others') body, as well as lust for sensual pleasures. By contemplating on the impurities of the body one is able to completely see through one's deluded views and attachment of the body -- wisdom will immediately penetrate into the very impure nature of the body once a thought or sight of a body arises. But this is only part of the stage.. there will come a time where a practitioner inquires into what is the source to which these aversion and attraction arise... when one realises the answer, he realise that our mind is the source of all such images, attraction and repulsion.. Once wisdom penetrates this deception with absolute clarity, the mind immediately relinquishes all external perceptions of beauty and ugliness, and turns inward to concentrate on the source of such notions. The mind itself is the perpetrator and the victim of these deceptions; the deceiver and the deceived. Only the mind, and nothing else, paints pictures of beauty and ugliness. So the asubha images that the meditator has been focusing on as separate and external objects, are absorbed into the mind where they merge with the revulsion created by the mind. Both are, in fact, one and the same thing. When this realization occurs, the mind lets go of external images, lets go of external forms, and in doing so lets go of sexual attraction. ~ Ajahn Maha Boowa (but as Ajahn Maha Boowa says, even that is not the end of the path yet)

Our body is impure, but it is still precious. Firstly like you said it is a gift from our parents and that we must take care of it on behalf of our parents. We should therefore also be grateful, pay gratitude and be filial to our parents.

Secondly, our body is a 'vessel' for cultivation. Buddha has said many times, human life is most precious. He likened the number of beings in the universe who are able to take human birth as a handful of sand in the entire shore while those able to know the true dharma are only like the sands in the fingernail.

We must appreciate this rare opportunity to know and learn and practise the dharma, and walk the Bodhisattva path to Buddhahood.

http://www.purifymind.com/PreciousLife.htm

Fundamental teachings
Precious Human Life
(from In Search of the Stainless Ambrosia, Jewel Ornament of Liberation, Jewel Treasury of Advice and Transformation of Suffering)
by Khenchen Konchog Gyaltsen Rinpoche

To attain Enlightenment one must take birth in human form, and to attain this form, one must have the eighteen qualities which include the Eight Freedoms and Ten Endowments. The Eight Freedoms are one must not be born

1. in the Hell realms
2. as a hungry ghost
3. as an animal
4. in a place where teachings are unavailable
5. as a long-life god (always content and therefore has no motivation for progress)
6. with wrong view (no understanding of karma, and no understanding of past and future lives)
7. where no Buddha has appeared
8. deaf, dumb, blind or mentally deficient

If one is born in any of the above realms, there is no chance of studying and practicing the teachings. What is therefore necessary are the Ten Endowments which consists of Five Inherent Endowments and Five Karma Provisions. The Five Inherent Endowments are one is born

1. as a human being
2. where there are teachings
3. possessing five senses
4. not having committed heavy negative karmas
5. having confidence in and devotion to the Triple Gem

The Five Karma Provisions are one is born

1. where a Buddha has appeared
2. where a Buddha has taught
3. where the Dharma teachings flourish
4. where there are followers who enter the pure path of Dharma
5. where there is support from the kindness of others, including the spiritual master.

In addition, we need The Three Confidences and they are:

1. Faith in the clear mind arises when we see the supreme qualities of the Three Jewels. We develop devotion for and interest in the Buddha as the teacher who shows the path, the Dharma which becomes the path, and the Sangha which guides one in order to accomplish the path.

2. Faith of desire, the wish to be enlightened, to study and practice the Dharma. Seeing what samsara is, we sincerely wish to escape, to reach enlightenment. Recognizing the assets of virtue, we wish to make them our own. Seeing the defects of non-virtue, we wish to avoid them. These wishes inspire the faith of desire.

3. Faith in the truth of karma (causes and effects), trusting that happiness is the fruit of virtuous causes and suffering is the fruit of non-virtuous causes.

One must have all the above qualities together to be freed from samsara.

There are many obstacles to Enlightenment. Our human body is called "precious" because with this vehicle one can avoid all non-virtue and achieve virtue, cross the ocean of samsara, and complete the path of Enlightenment ending in full Buddhahood. Therefore, the human form is superior to any others, including those of gods and nagas. As this advantage is difficult to obtain, we must have ethics and morality and practice the ten virtuous actions. We must not waste the wonderful opportunity we have to practice, as it is extremely rare. In fact, the Buddha gave the following analogy to demonstrate the rarity of this opportunity: a blind tortoise was swimming in an ocean in which there was a yoke with a hole in it. This yoke was tossed about in every direction by the waves, while the tortoise only came to the surface of the water once every hundred years. There is as much chance of being born in a human body as there is that the blind turtle's neck will meet up with the hole of the yoke! if one has this opportunity, one is very fortunate. Therefore, one should rejoice and use this opportunity to the full, both for oneself and others. In fact, one should use human life to cross the ocean of samsara as one uses a ship to cross the sea.

To achieve Enlightenment, we need devotion and confidence in Buddhahood. Without these, it is difficult to attain to a spiritual quality in the mind. Just as a rotten seed cannot produce a healthy plant, so faltering devotion cannot produce virtue. Devotion and confidence mean an understanding of cause and effect. A positive cause creates peace and happiness, and a negative cause leads to suffering. Afflicting emotions cause different levels of suffering to arise, whereas Enlightenment is sacred and precious, free from confusion and pain. To achieve this state, one must have devotion and confidence in the Buddha as the teacher who shows the path, the Dharma as the path itself, and in the Sangha as the community which cultivates the Enlightenment mind and acts as a guide to Buddhahood. Devotion and confidence are like water to a seedling; if one is endowed with these qualities, one can meet many great masters and receive the precious teachings. So when the precious human body containing the Eight Freedoms and Ten Endowments and in addition possesses devotion and confidence, the being has the basis for achieving Enlightenment.

It is asked why, if we are born as humans many times before, and have met spiritual masters, we did not previously achieve Enlightenment. The reason is that we fell into conditions of error such as attachment to this life, attachment to samsaric pleasures and laziness, attachment to our own liberation, and not understanding the method for achieving Buddhahood. To dispel such errors, there are four antidotes: the contemplation of impermanence, understanding the suffering in samsara and the truth of karma and result, the practice of loving kindness and compassion, and the cultivation of the Enlightenment mind.

Obtaining a life of leisure and endowments is like arriving at a continent of jewels.
Whether we attain liberation or not is up to us.
Be sure, therefore, not to leave empty-handed.
This is my heart's advice.
(from Jewel Treasury of Advice)

An Eternal Now SG

Yes, and Buddhism is against the practice of asceticism as it does not lead to enlightenment. Denial of the body cannot lead to enlightenment -- and neither do sensual indulgence in the body and any form of sensual pleasures or luxuries.

That is why, the Buddha taught the Middle Way that is emptiness of all extremes. To realise this, we must not indulge in the pleasures of the body, and neither deny the body -- the middle way can only be achieved through the practise of Mindfulness, in which mindfulness of our body is important also.

"When religions arose, this disassociation became even more pronounced as the "you are not your body" belief. Countless people in East and West throughout the ages have tried to find God, salvation, or enlightenment through denial of the body. This took the form of denial of sense pleasures and of sexuality in particular, fasting, and other ascetic practices. They even inflicted pain on the body in an attempt to weaken or punish it because they regarded it as sinful. In Christianity, this used to be called mortification of the flesh. Others tried to escape from the body by entering trance states or seeking outof-the-body experiences. Many still do. Even the Buddha is said to have practiced body denial through fasting and extreme forms of asceticism for six years, but he did not attain enlightenment until after he had given up this practice.

The fact is that no one has ever become enlightened through denying or fighting the body or through an out-of-the-body experience. Although such an experience can be fascinating and can give you a glimpse of the state of liberation from the material form, in the end you will always have to return to the body, where the essential work of transformation takes place. Transformation is through the body, not away from it. This is why no true master has ever advocated fighting or leaving the body, although their mind-based followers often have.

Of the ancient teachings concerning the body, only certain fragments survive, such as Jesus's statement that "your whole body will be filled with light," or they survive as myths, such as the belief that Jesus never relinquished his body but remained one with it and ascended into "heaved with it. Almost no one to this day has understood those fragments or the hidden meaning of certain myths, and the "you are not your body' belief has prevailed universally, leading to body denial and attempts to escape from the body. Countless seekers have thus been prevented from attaining spiritual realization for themselves and becoming finders.

~ Eckhart Tolle"

Here's an exercise:

"FEELING THE INNER BODY

Although body identification is one of the most basic forms of ego,
the good news is that it is also the one that you can most easily go beyond.
This is done not by trying to convince yourself that you are not your body,
but by shifting your attention from the external form of your body and from
thoughts about your body beautiful, ugly, strong, weak, too fat, too thin
to the feeling of aliveness inside it. No matter what your body's appearance
is on the outer level, beyond the outer form it is an intensely alive energy
field.

If you are not familiar with inner body awareness, close your eyes
for a moment and find out if there is life inside your hands. Don't ask your
mind. It will say, I can't feel anything. Probably it will also say, Give me
something more interesting to think about. So instead of asking your mind,
go to the hands directly. By this I mean become aware of the subtle feeling
of aliveness inside them. It is there. You just have to go there with your
attention to notice it. you may get a slight tingling sensation at first, then a
feeling of energy or aliveness. If you hold your attention in your hands for a
while, the sense of aliveness will intensify. Some people won't even have to
close their eyes. They will be able to feel their inner hands at the same
times as they read this. Then go to your feet, keep your attention there for a
minute or so, and begin to feel your hands and feet at the same time. Then
incorporate other parts of the body legs, arms, abdomen, chest, and so on
into that feeling until you are aware of the inner body as a global sense of
aliveness.

What I call the inner body isn't really the body anymore but life
energy, the bridge between form and formlessness. Make it a habit to feel the
inner body as often as you can. After a while, you won't need to close your
eyes anymore to feel it. For example, see if you can feel the inner body
whenever you listen to someone. It almost seems like a paradox: When you
are in touch with the inner body, you are not identified with your body
anymore, nor are you identified with your mind. This is to say, you are no
longer identified with form but moving away from form identification
toward formlessness, which we may also call Being. It is your essence
identity. Body awareness not only anchors you in the present moment, it is a
doorway out of the prison that is the ego. It also strengthens the immune
system and the body's ability to heal itself."

What did the Buddha teach? The four foundations of mindfulness, http://www.satipatthana.org/satipatthana_sutta.html, consists of mindfulness of body, feelings, mind, and mental qualities.

jacqn SG

Originally posted by snowstar:

In response to jacqn,

You may ask, "Then can I stab myself? Can I kill myself?"

No. That's not necessary. You must borrow this false body and USE it to cultivate the Truth.

Contemplate your body as impure. Do not place too much attachment to it.[/b]

i wont ask myself the above questions, like i say, our physical body is precious to us. i agree a body is just an object without a soul/ mind. but without one, how are we able to help others? we must care for ourselves decent enough so that we can care and help the others.
of course treat our body good enough, not saying must have the best food clothes or any irrelevant indulgent.