Note: This page deals specifically with meditation on 31 body parts. For broader treatment of a-subha (un-attractive) meditations,
It's only as hard as you make it
A toolkit for destroying lust and passion for sensuality (kāma and 5kg)
AN 3.16 1. guard sense doors, 2. moderation in eating, 3. walk and sit meditation in free time.
SN 8.4 Ananda's advice to (future) arahant Vangisa obsessed with lust. Turning away from subha nimitta and also do
31asb🧟.
SN 35.127 1. see women as mom, sister, daughter. 2. When I do
a-subha 🧟 with
31asb🧟, I still just see subha (beautiful women). 3. guard sense doors
SN 12.63 clarifies the purpose of
AN 3.16's understanding the nutriment of food leads to understanding the nature of lust.
AN 7.51 men's unwise attention to masculine features leads to lust for feminine features. Working out in gym is much more dangerous than you think.
MN 14: even though a disciple see with wisdom that sensual pleasures are dangerous and unsatisfying, until they have the pleasure of jhānas
4j🌕 (at minimum
j1🌘), they are still tempted by coarse sensual pleasures.
Vin: In the Vinaya, studying Pārājika #1 and relevant Saṅghādisesā sections on lust, as well as keeping in mind this advice the Buddha gave his monks: 👉👄🐍
It would be better, foolish-man,
for your penis to enter the mouth of a terrible and poisonous snake
rather than {inserting your penis into a} woman’s vagina.
Summary of tools in key suttas above
1. asubha counteracts subha.
1b. become aware of covert subha.
1c. neutralize subha by substituting perceptions.
2. eat food correctly.
2b. understand nutriment of food to understand lust and passion.
3. guard sense doors, always.
4. do jhāna and partial jhāna, all the time.
5. what not to do and why.
1. do
a-subha 🧟 perception (most notably using
31asb🧟), to counteract perception of subha (beautiful women).
      1b. become aware of sly and covert subha perceptions that we don't think of as feeding lust, such as building strong muscles at the gym (
AN 7.51).
      1c. neutralize subha by substituting perceptions: trick mind into turning subha of beautiful women into neutral perception of platonic blood relatives. See women nonsexually, according to age, as you would your sister, daughter, mother, etc. In general, use
5👑abi️ to turn any negative perception into a skillful one. For example, when feeling horny (negative), turn it into a positive by perceiving that one has strong mojo and force in order to feel horny, the same force allows one to clear up energy channels and advance in jhānas quickly. Whereas indulging in horniness will quickly kill or lower jhāna quality and health.
2. Eat food in moderation.
      2b. When solid food (is) completely-understood, {desire for the} five sensuality-strings
5kg is completely-understood. When 5kg is completely understood,
nirvana happens.
      2c. (Non EBT comment: eating nutrient rich foods like meat, pungent roots like garlic and onion stimulates lust and production of sexual fluids)
3. Guard 6 sense doors as in
AN 4.14 and
AN 3.16, right now, every moment, not 5 minutes from now when lust has grown from a campfire into a raging 2000 acre inferno.
4. Develop 4 Jhānas. Not only is the mind in samādhi necessary to penetrate into the nature of lust to transcend it, but when you have a pleasure much greater than lust, and even greater than pleasure in the highest god realms, you won't be tempted on inferior
5kg lust. First Jhāna is much easier than you think (
j1🌘 easy).
5. Lessons from the instructive dead, or: sometimes the best way to learn what you should do is by carefully studying and understanding what things you
shouldn't do and
why. See
Vin sex offense rules and
kāma crime database.
Understanding the nature of lust
MN 54 similes for disadvantages of kama
MN 75 best simile of all time, leper scratching itch.
AN 5.55 mother and son incest
SN 46.51 feeding the mind with
a-subha 🧟 to starve lust for subha.
Inspiring stories of conquering lust
AN 5.75 AN 5.76 similes of warriors conquest over temptation.
SN 8.4 Ananda's advice to (future) arahant Vangisa obsessed with lust, just like the rest of us.
Multimedia a-subha 🧟 tools 🔗part 1 |
🔗part 2 (for advanced)
🔗
audio material
🔗
AN 7.51 so you think working out at the gym is healthy and harmless?
🔗
MN 13 helpful images: gratification, drawback, escape from 5kg, rūpa, and vedana
| Imam-eva kāyaṃ |
In this very body, |
就在這個身體當中, |
| uddhaṃ pāda-talā |
from the base of the feet |
從腳底 |
| adho kesa-matthakā |
to the hair on top of the head, |
到頭頂的髮, |
| Taca-pariyantaṃ |
all enclosed in skin |
整個被皮膚包覆, |
| pūraṃ nāna-p-pakārassa A-sucino |
and filled with many kinds of impure things. |
充滿了各種不淨之物。 |
| paccavekkhati: |
they equanimously-observe that: |
他們平靜地觀察到: |
| ‘atthi imasmiṃ kāye |
"In this body there are |
「這個身體裡有 |
| kesā lomā nakhā dantā taco, |
Head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin, |
頭髮、體毛、指甲、牙齒、皮膚, |
| maṃsaṃ nhāru aṭṭhi aṭṭhi-miñjaṃ vakkaṃ, |
flesh, sinews, bones, bone-marrow, kidneys, |
肌肉、筋腱、骨骼、骨髓、腎臟, |
| hadayaṃ yakanaṃ kilomakaṃ pihakaṃ papphāsaṃ, |
heart, liver, flesh and organ membranes, spleen, lungs, |
心臟、肝臟、肌膜與器官薄膜、脾臟、肺臟, |
| antaṃ antaguṇaṃ udariyaṃ karīsaṃ, |
intestines, intestine membrane, stomach mush, feces, |
腸子、腸膜、胃中食糜、糞便, |
| pittaṃ semhaṃ pubbo lohitaṃ sedo medo, |
bile, phelgm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, |
膽汁、痰液、膿、血液、汗水、脂肪, |
| assu vasā kheḷo siṅghāṇikā lasikā muttan’ti. |
tears, skin-oil, saliva, snot, fluid in the joints, urine." |
眼淚、皮脂、唾液、鼻涕、關節液、尿液。」 |
| Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, |
It’s as if there were |
就好比有一個 |
| ubhatomukhā putoḷi |
a bag with openings at both ends, |
兩端開口的袋子, |
| pūrā nānāvihitassa dhaññassa, |
filled with various kinds of grains, |
裡面裝滿了各種穀物, |
| seyyathidaṁ—sālīnaṁ vīhīnaṁ muggānaṁ |
such as fine rice, wheat, mung beans, |
例如精米、小麥、綠豆、 |
| māsānaṁ tilānaṁ taṇḍulānaṁ. |
peas, sesame, and ordinary rice. |
豌豆、芝麻,以及普通稻米。 |
| Tamenaṁ cakkhumā puriso muñcitvā paccavekkheyya: |
And a person with clear eyes were to open it and examine the contents: |
一個眼力清晰的人打開它,察看裡面的東西: |
| ‘ime sālī ime vīhī ime muggā |
‘These grains are fine rice, these are wheat, these are mung beans, |
「這些是精米,這些是小麥,這些是綠豆, |
| ime māsā ime tilā ime taṇḍulā’ti. |
these are peas, these are sesame, and these are ordinary rice.’ |
這些是豌豆,這些是芝麻,這些是普通稻米。」 |