Never to experience it again.
Never to undergo rebirth again.
Never again to pass through the cycle of birth and death.
The Discourse on Mindfulness of the Body in the Madhyama Āgama states:
“Whatever condition this body may be in, whether agreeable or disagreeable, one examines it from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet and sees that it is filled with various kinds of impurity.”
The discourse then lists the components of the body:
“Hair of the head, body hair, nails, teeth, outer and inner skin, flesh, sinews, bones, heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, large intestine, small intestine, spleen, stomach, feces, brain and related tissues, tears, sweat, mucus, saliva, pus, blood, fat, marrow, phlegm, bile, and urine.”
The meaning is clear: people regard the body as beautiful because they see only its outer layer of skin and its carefully groomed appearance. When the body is examined by separating it into its constituent parts, however, it is seen to be merely a combination of organs, bones, blood, fat, mucus, saliva, feces, urine, and other physical substances.
The discourse also uses an analogy: the body is like a sack filled with different kinds of grain. When the sack is opened, one sees only the various grains it contains. In the same way, when the body is carefully examined, one finds only its individual components; there is no separate, complete, permanent, and inherently “beautiful body.”
Why does Buddhism describe the body in such unpleasant terms?
Its principal purpose is to counteract three kinds of attachment:
1. Attachment to physical appearance
When one sees an attractive person, strong desire and attachment may arise. The practice therefore directs one to contemplate what actually lies beneath the surface of the skin.
2. Attachment to one’s own body
People tend to regard the body as “me” or “mine,” and consequently fear ageing, illness, and death. Contemplation of the body reveals that it is merely a temporary combination of physical elements.
3. The illusion of permanent youth and life
Although people know intellectually that they will grow old and die, they often feel inwardly that death remains distant. Cemetery contemplation directly breaks through this illusion by confronting the inevitable decay of the body.
Therefore, the contemplation of bodily impurity is not intended to make people feel ashamed or inferior, nor does it teach that the body is sinful. Buddhism describes the body as impure and impermanent, yet it also instructs practitioners to care for it, treat illness, and eat in moderation. The body remains an important instrument for spiritual cultivation and for helping other beings.
Buddhism does not say that “the body is evil.” Rather, it teaches that the body should not be mistaken for something permanent, perfectly pure, or representative of a true and unchanging self.
What Buddhism seeks to eliminate is not the body itself, but attachment to the body and mistaken views about its nature.
You should train yourself thus:
In seeing, there is only the seen;
in hearing, there is only the heard;
in knowing, there is only the known;
in sensing, there is only the sensed.
Thus should you train yourself.
When, in seeing, there is only the seen;
in hearing, only the heard;
in knowing, only the known;
and in sensing, only the sensed—
then you have no place in which to be established.
When you have no place in which to be established, you are neither in the present world nor in a future world, nor are you established in either of the two worlds.
Thus comes the end of suffering.
— The Thai Tipiṭaka, Khuddaka Nikāya, Volume I, Sutta 10, “The Bāhiya Sutta”
This passage is extraordinarily concise. Its essential meaning is this: when an experience occurs, experience it simply and truthfully as it is, without constructing upon it the attachments of “I,” “mine,” or “I am the one experiencing this.” Once this attachment disappears, the cycle of birth and death—and the suffering founded upon that attachment—loses the ground on which it stands.
To see, without allowing craving or aversion to arise toward what is seen;
to hear, without being carried away by what is heard;
to feel, without identifying the feeling as “I” or “mine”;
to know, without clinging to one’s own judgment as absolute truth.
“You have no place in which to be established” means that within pure seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing, no independent and permanent “self” can be found abiding anywhere.
What the Buddhist scriptures mean by “setting one’s mind aright” is not forcing oneself never to have distracting thoughts, still less forcibly suppressing unwholesome ones. Rather, it means becoming aware of them promptly, recognising them as they truly are, not allowing them to develop further, and gradually cultivating wholesome states of mind. A fairly comprehensive approach includes the following methods.
1. Establish Right View First
In the Noble Eightfold Path, Right View and Right Intention come first. One should regularly contemplate that:
* Actions inevitably have corresponding consequences;
* Greed, hatred, and delusion lead to suffering;
* All feelings and thoughts arise and cease through causes and conditions, and are not the self;
* What is truly worth cultivating is a mind free from greed, ill will, and harmfulness.
Only when one’s fundamental understanding changes can one’s thoughts begin to change at their source.
2. Regulate the Mind Through the Four Right Efforts
This is one of the most direct and systematic methods taught in the scriptures:
* Prevent unwholesome states that have not yet arisen from arising;
* Abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen;
* Bring forth wholesome states that have not yet arisen;
* Develop and perfect wholesome states that have already arisen.
For example, before anger arises, avoid repeatedly recalling things that provoke or upset you. Once anger has arisen, recognise it and stop feeding it through further imagination. Then bring forth loving-kindness and practise it regularly until it becomes increasingly stable.
3. Observe With Mindfulness Instead of Immediately Following
The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, or Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness, teaches the contemplation of body, feelings, mind, and phenomena. When a thought arises, one may clearly recognise:
“There is greed in the mind now.”
“There is anger in the mind now.”
“The mind is unsettled now.”
“This thought is weakening.”
Simply observe how the thought arises, remains, and passes away, without hastily identifying with it or immediately acting upon it. The moment one can observe a thought, some distance has already opened between oneself and that thought.
4. Counteract Unwholesome Thoughts
The Vitakkasaṇṭhāna Sutta in the Majjhima Nikāya sets out several specific methods:
* Replace the unwholesome thought with its wholesome opposite: cultivate loving-kindness when there is hatred, and contemplate impurity and impermanence when there is sensual desire;
* Reflect on the harmful consequences of the thought: continuing to dwell on it will harm both oneself and others;
* Temporarily disregard it and withdraw one’s attention from it;
* Investigate the cause from which it arose, thereby depriving it of support;
* If it remains powerful, restrain it firmly so that it does not govern one’s speech or actions.
These methods proceed from gentler to stronger measures; forceful suppression is not the first response.
5. Guard the Six Sense Faculties
The scriptures frequently speak of “guarding the sense doors.” After seeing, hearing, or otherwise encountering something, do not immediately seize upon the particular features most likely to provoke greed or aversion and then continue elaborating upon them in the mind.
Many unwholesome thoughts begin as no more than a momentary contact. Only through repeated recollection, comparison, and imagination do they grow into powerful afflictions. Guarding the six senses does not mean escaping from the world; it means not allowing the mind to be carried away at will by external conditions.
6. Cultivate Loving-Kindness and Compassion
The meditation on loving-kindness is especially important when dealing with anger, resentment, and jealousy. One may gradually extend the following wishes:
* May I be safe, peaceful, and free from hostility;
* May those close to me be safe and peaceful;
* May those toward whom I feel neutral be safe and peaceful;
* May even those I dislike be free from suffering;
* May all beings be safe and peaceful.
Loving-kindness does not mean approving of another person’s wrongdoing. It means refusing to allow that person’s wrongdoing to continue polluting one’s own mind.
7. Observe the Precepts and First Restrain Conduct
The Five Precepts and the Ten Wholesome Courses of Action are themselves foundations for setting the mind aright, because bodily and verbal conduct in turn conditions and shapes the mind:
* Refraining from killing cultivates compassion;
* Refraining from stealing cultivates contentment;
* Refraining from sexual misconduct reduces craving and attachment;
* Refraining from false speech makes the mind truthful;
* Refraining from intoxicants and other substances that lead to heedlessness preserves clarity and awareness.
Some thoughts may not yet be completely eliminated, but one can at least begin by resolving: “I will not express them in speech, act upon them, or continue to feed them.”
8. Repent, Make Aspirations, and Begin Again
Mahāyāna scriptures place particular emphasis on repentance. Repentance is not self-humiliation. It means:
* Acknowledging the unwholesome states one has allowed to arise;
* Recognising their harmful consequences;
* Not making excuses for oneself;
* Resolving, as far as possible, not to repeat them;
* Gradually transforming old habits through concrete wholesome actions.
True repentance should make the mind clearer and stronger, rather than trapping a person in prolonged self-blame.
In daily life, one may follow a very simple process:
When a thought arises, first become aware of it;
once aware, do not immediately speak or act;
discern whether it belongs to greed, hatred, and delusion, or to compassion and wisdom;
observe the causes and conditions from which it arose and the consequences to which it may lead;
release the unwholesome thought and turn toward the corresponding wholesome state;
even if you fail, become aware again and begin again.
One of the most important principles of Buddhist mental cultivation is this: do not conclude that you are an evil person merely because an unwholesome thought has arisen. Thoughts are manifestations of causes, conditions, and habitual tendencies. What truly determines the direction of the mind is whether you recognise them, whether you continue to feed them, and whether you are willing to turn toward what is wholesome again and again. Setting the mind aright is not accomplished once and for all; it is gradually cultivated each time a thought arises.
The Diamond Sutra teaches that a bodhisattva should “practise giving without dwelling on appearances.” It also says:
“Let the mind arise without abiding anywhere.”
“Not abiding anywhere” is wisdom: it means not dwelling on the notion of a self, the notion of others, or the notion of merit. “Letting the mind arise” is compassion: one still brings forth the aspiration to benefit all beings. Therefore, having a mind of non-attainment does not mean being indifferent or doing nothing. It means acting without grasping, appropriating, or constructing from one’s actions a self-image of “I am a good person.”
Thus, the perfection of goodness in Mahāyāna Buddhism may be summarised as follows:
Let compassion determine the direction, let wisdom dissolve attachment, and let good deeds be accomplished with a mind of non-attainment.
For example, the same act of helping another person may occur on three different levels:
1. Helping in expectation of repayment, recognition, or karmic blessings;
2. Sincerely wishing to free the person from suffering, without particularly seeking anything in return;
3. Wholeheartedly benefiting beings, while remaining free from the notions that “I am helping this person,” “this person owes me,” or “I have accumulated merit.”
The third approaches the perfection of wisdom—prajñāpāramitā. The action remains good, but inwardly one no longer turns goodness into a possession of the self.
“Signlessness” does not mean being unable to perceive appearances or phenomena. It means understanding that all appearances are temporary manifestations arising through causes and conditions, and not regarding them as eternal, independent, or fixed entities. “The absence of inherent nature” means that all phenomena come into being in dependence upon various conditions; apart from those conditions, no independent and unchanging essence can be found.
Therefore, what Mahāyāna calls “right” does not mean clinging to a rigidly fixed answer. True right view falls neither into the extreme of believing that all things possess substantial existence, nor into the extreme of believing that nothing exists and that good and evil are therefore meaningless. As the Madhyamaka tradition emphasises:
Because things are empty, dependent arising and change are possible;
because cause and effect operate, emptiness is never annihilation or nothingness.
This may be expressed clearly in a single sentence:
The deepest goodness is to benefit all beings without clinging to the idea that there are beings to be liberated; the deepest right view is to see clearly that all phenomena are empty, without ever abandoning cause and effect or compassion.
This is why the Diamond Sutra contains a statement that appears paradoxical but is in fact profoundly meaningful: the bodhisattva vows to liberate all beings, yet in truth no being is liberated. The first part expresses compassion that never abandons sentient beings; the second expresses wisdom that does not abide in appearances. Without either of these, the spirit of Mahāyāna Buddhism is not complete.