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- Anguttara Nikaya X.60
- Girimananda Sutta
- To Girimananda
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Savatthi,
in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. And on that occasion Ven. Girimananda was diseased, in pain, severely ill. Then Ven. Ananda went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down
to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One, "Lord,
Ven. Girimananda is diseased, in pain, severely ill. It would be good if the Blessed One
would visit Ven. Girimananda, out of sympathy for him."
"Ananda, if you go to the monk Girimananda and tell him ten perceptions,
it's possible that when he hears the ten perceptions his disease may be allayed. Which
ten? The perception of inconstancy, the perception of non-self, the perception of
unattractiveness, the perception of drawbacks, the perception of abandoning, the
perception of dispassion, the perception of cessation, the perception of distaste for
every world, the perception of the undesirability of all fabrications, mindfulness of
in-&-out breathing.
[1] "And what is the perception of inconstancy? There is the
case where a monk -- having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an empty
building -- reflects thus: 'Form is inconstant, feeling is inconstant, perception is
inconstant, fabrications are inconstant, consciousness is inconstant.' Thus he remains
focused on inconstancy with regard to the five aggregates. This, Ananda, is called the
perception of inconstancy.
[2] "And what is the perception of not-self? There is the
case where a monk -- having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an empty
building -- reflects thus: 'The eye is not-self, forms are not-self; the ear is not-self,
sounds are not-self; the nose is not-self, aromas are not-self; the tongue is not-self,
flavors are not-self; the body is not-self, flavors are not-self; the intellect is
not-self, ideas are not-self.' Thus he remains focused on not-selfness with regard to the
six inner & outer sense media. This is called the perception of not-self.
[3] "And what is the perception of unattractiveness? There is
the case where a monk ponders this very body -- from the soles of the feet on up, from the
crown of the head on down, surrounded by skin, filled with all sorts of unclean things:
'There is in this body: hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin, muscle,
tendons, bones, bone marrow, spleen, heart, liver, membranes, kidneys, lungs, large
intestines, small intestines, gorge, feces, gall, phlegm, lymph, blood, sweat, fat, tears,
oil, saliva, mucus, oil in the joints, urine.' Thus he remains focused on unattractiveness
with regard to this very body. This is called the perception of unattractiveness.
[4] "And what is the perception of drawbacks? There is the
case where a monk -- having gone to the wilderness, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty
dwelling -- reflects thus: 'This body has many pains, many drawbacks. In this body many
kinds of disease arise, such as: seeing-diseases, hearing-diseases, nose-diseases,
tongue-diseases, body-diseases, head-diseases, ear-diseases, mouth-diseases,
teeth-diseases, cough, asthma, catarrh, fever, aging, stomach-ache, fainting, dysentery,
grippe, cholera, leprosy, boils, ringworm, tuberculosis, epilepsy, skin-disease, itch,
scab, psoriasis, scabies, jaundice, diabetes, hemorrhoids, fistulas, ulcers; diseases
arising from bile, from phlegm, from the wind-property, from combinations of bodily
humors, from changes in the weather, from uneven care of the body, from attacks, from the
result of kamma; cold, heat, hunger, thirst, defecation, urination.' Thus he remains
focused on drawbacks with regard to this body. This is called the perception of drawbacks.
[5] "And what is the perception of abandoning? There is
the case where a monk does not tolerate an arisen thought of sensuality. He abandons it,
destroys, it dispels it, & wipes it out of existence. He does not tolerate an arisen
thought of ill-will. He abandons it, destroys, it dispels it, & wipes it out of
existence. He does not tolerate an arisen thought of harmfulness. He abandons it,
destroys, it dispels it, & wipes it out of existence. He does not tolerate arisen
evil, unskillful mental qualities. He abandons them, destroys them, dispels them, &
wipes them out of existence. This is called the perception of abandoning.
[6] "And what is the perception of dispassion? There is
the case where a monk -- having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an
empty building -- reflects thus: 'This is peace, this is exquisite -- the stilling of all
fabrications, the relinquishment of all acquisitions, the ending of craving, dispassion,
Unbinding.' This is called the perception of dispassion.
[7] "And what is the perception of cessation? There is the
case where a monk -- having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an empty
building -- reflects thus: 'This is peace, this is exquisite -- the stilling of all
fabrications, the relinquishment of all acquisitions, the ending of craving, cessation,
Unbinding.' This is called the perception of cessation.
[8] "And what is the perception of distaste for every
world? There is the case where a monk abandoning any attachments, clingings, fixations of
awareness, biases, or latent tendencies with regard to any world, refrains from them and
does not get involved. This is called the perception of distaste for every world.
[9] "And what is the perception of the undesirability
of all fabrications? There is the case where a monk feels horrified, humiliated, &
disgusted with all fabrications. This is called the perception of the undesirability of
all fabrications.
[10] "And what is mindfulness of in-&-out breathing?
There is the case where a monk -- having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree,
or to an empty building -- sits down folding his legs crosswise, holding his body erect,
and setting mindfulness to the fore. Always mindful, he breathes in; mindful he breathes
out.
"[i] Breathing in long, he discerns that he is breathing in long; or breathing out
long, he discerns that he is breathing out long. [ii] Or breathing in short, he discerns
that he is breathing in short; or breathing out short, he discerns that he is breathing
out short. [iii] He trains himself to breathe in sensitive to the entire body, and to
breathe out sensitive to the entire body. [iv] He trains himself to breathe in calming the
bodily processes, and to breathe out calming the bodily processes.
"[v] He trains himself to breathe in sensitive to rapture, and to breathe out
sensitive to rapture. [vi] He trains himself to breathe in sensitive to pleasure, and to
breathe out sensitive to pleasure. [vii] He trains himself to breathe in sensitive to
mental processes, and to breathe out sensitive to mental processes. [viii] He trains
himself to breathe in calming mental processes, and to breathe out calming mental
processes.
"[ix] He trains himself to breathe in sensitive to the mind, and to breathe out
sensitive to the mind. [x] He trains himself to breathe in satisfying the mind, and to
breathe out satisfying the mind. [xi] He trains himself to breathe in steadying the mind,
and to breathe out steadying the mind. [xii] He trains himself to breathe in releasing the
mind, and to breathe out releasing the mind.
"[xiii] He trains himself to breathe in focusing on inconstancy, and to breathe
out focusing on inconstancy. [xiv] He trains himself to breathe in focusing on dispassion [literally,
fading], and to breathe out focusing on dispassion. [xv] He trains himself to breathe in
focusing on cessation, and to breathe out focusing on cessation. [xvi] He trains himself
to breathe in focusing on relinquishment, and to breathe out focusing on relinquishment.
"This, Ananda, is called mindfulness of in-&-out breathing.
"Now, Ananda, if you go to the monk Girimananda and tell him these ten
perceptions, it's possible that when he hears these ten perceptions his disease may be
allayed."
Then Ven. Ananda, having learned these ten perceptions in the Blessed One's presence,
went to Ven. Girimananda and told them to him. As Ven. Girimananda heard these ten
perceptions, his disease was allayed. And Ven. Girimananda recovered from his disease.
That was how Ven. Girimananda's disease was abandoned.