..續本文上一頁eness of the human body. This is the body”s natural condition; by nature, it is filthy and disgusting. Essentially, the whole body is a living, stinking corpse—a breathing cesspool full of fetid waste. Only a paper thin covering of skin makes the whole mess look presentable. We are all being deceived by the outer wrapping, which conceals the fundamental repulsiveness from view. Merely removing the skin reveals the body”s true nature.

　　 By comparison to the flesh and internal organs, the skin appears attractive. But examine it more closely. Skin is scaly, creased, and wrinkled; it exudes sweat and grease and offensive odors. We must scrub it daily just to keep it clean. How attractive is that

　　 And the skin is firmly wedded to the underlying flesh, and thus inextricably linked to the loathsome interior. The more deeply wisdom probes, the more repulsive the body appears. From the skin on through to the bones, nothing is the least bit pleasing.

　　PROPERLY DONE, BODY CONTEMPLATION is intense and the mental effort is unrelenting; so, eventually, the mind begins to tire. It is then appropriate to stop and take a rest. When meditators who are engaged in full-scale body contemplation take a break, they return to the samadhi practice they have developed and maintained so assiduously. Reentering the still peace and concentration of samadhi, they abide in total calm where no thoughts or visualizations arise to disturb the citta. The burden of thinking and probing with wisdom is temporarily set aside so that the mind can completely relax, suspended in tranquility. Once the mind is satiated with samadhi, it withdraws on its own, feeling reinvigorated and refreshed and ready to tackle the rigors of body contemplation again. In this way, samadhi supports the work of wisdom, making it more adept and incisive.

　　 Upon withdrawal from samadhi, the investigation of the body immediately begins anew. Each time you investigate with mindfulness and wisdom, the investigation should be carried out in the present moment. To be fully effective, each new investigation must be fresh and spontaneous. Don”t allow them to become carbon copies of previous ones. An immediacy, of being exclusively in the present moment, must be maintained at all times. Forget whatever you may have learned; forget what happened the last time you delved into the body”s domain—just focus your attention squarely in the present moment and investigate only from that vantage point. Ultimately, this is what it means to be mindful. Mindfulness fixes the mind in the present, allowing wisdom to focus sharply. Learned experience is stored as memory, and as such should be put aside; otherwise memory will masquerade as wisdom. This is the present imitating the past. If memory is permitted to replace the immediacy of the present moment, then genuine wisdom will not arise. So guard against this tendency in your practice.

　　 Keep probing and analyzing the nature of the body over and over again, using as many perspectives as your wisdom can devise, until you become thoroughly skilled in every conceivable aspect of body contemplation. True expertise in this practice produces sharp, clear insights. It penetrates directly to the essence of the body”s natural existence in a way that transforms the meditator”s view of the human body. A level of mastery can be reached, such that peoples” bodies instantly appear to break apart whenever you look at them. When wisdom attains total mastery of the practice, we see only flesh, sinews and bones where a person once stood. The whole body is revealed as a viscous, red mass of raw tissue. The skin will vanish in a flash, and wisdom will quickly penetrate the body”s inner recesses. Whether it”s a man or a woman, the skin—which is commonly considered so appea…

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