Paṭikkūlamanasikāra | 32 Parts of the Body

1. Paṭikkūlamanasikāra

Paṭikkūlamanasikāra is a Pāḷi term that is generally translated as "reflections on repulsiveness".

It refers to a traditional Buddhist meditation whereby 31 parts of the body are contemplated in a variety of ways.

In addition to developing sati (mindfulness) and samādhi (concentration), this form of meditation is considered conducive to overcoming desire and lust.

Along with cemetery contemplations, this type of meditation is one of the 2 meditations on "the foul"/unattractiveness (Pāḷi: aśubha)

2. Translation

Paṭikkūla (Pāli) literally means "against" (paṭi) "the slope" or "embankment" (kūla) and has been translated adjectivally as "averse, objectionable, contrary, disagreeable" and, in its noun form, as "loathsomeness, impurity".

Manasikāra (Pāli), derived from manasi (locative of mana thus, loosely, "in mind" or "in thought") and karoti ("to make" or "to bring into") and has been translated as "attention" or "pondering" or "fixed thought".

In contemporary translations, the compound term Paṭikkūla-manasikāra is generally translated as "reflections on repulsiveness" or, adding contextual clarity at the expense of literal accuracy, "reflections on repulsiveness of the body".

Alternate translations include "attention directed to repulsiveness" and "realisation of the impurity of the body".

3. Benefits

This type of meditation is traditionally mentioned as an "antidote" to sensual passion.

This is also one of the "4 protective meditations:

In individual discourses, this type of contemplation is identified as a contributor to a variety of mundane and transcendental goals.

For instance, in the Girimānanda Sutta (AN 10.60), Ānanda’s recitation of this and other contemplations immediately cures an ailing monk.

In the Sampasādanīya Sutta (DN 28), Ven. Sāriputta declares that meditating on these 31 body parts leads to "the attainment of vision, in 4 ways",

and briefly outlines how this method can be used as a springboard by which one "comes to know the unbroken stream of human consciousness that is not established either in this world or in the next".

In addition, in the Iddhipāda Saṁyutta's Vibhaṅga Sutta (SN 51.20), this meditation subject is used to develop the 4 bases of power (Iddhipāda) by which one is able to achieve liberation from suffering.

While the Pāḷi Canon invariably includes this form of contemplation in its various lists of mindfulness meditation techniques,

the compendious 5^th-century Visuddhimagga identifies this type of contemplation (along with Ānāpānasati) as one of the few body-directed meditations particularly suited to the development of Samādhi (Vism. VIII, 43).

4. Objects of contemplation

In Buddhist scriptures, this practice involves mentally identifying 31 parts of the body, contemplated upon in various ways:

head hairs (Pāḷi: kesā), body hairs (lomā), nails (nakhā), teeth (dantā), skin (taco),

flesh (maṁsaṁ), tendons (nahāru), bones (aṭṭhi), bone marrow (aṭṭhimiñjaṁ), kidneys (vakkaṁ),

heart (hadayaṁ), liver (yakanaṁ), pleura (kilomakaṁ), spleen (pihakaṁ), lungs (papphāsaṁ),

large intestines (antaṁ), small intestines (antaguṇaṁ), undigested food (udariyaṁ), faeces (karīsaṁ),

bile (pittaṁ), phlegm (semhaṁ), pus (pubbo), blood (lohitaṁ), sweat (sedo), fat (medo),

tears (assu), skin-oil (vasā), saliva (kheḷo), mucus (siṅghānikā), fluid in the joints (lasikā), urine (muttaṁ).

In a few discourses, these 31 body parts are contextualized within the framework of the mahābhūta (the elements) so that the earth element is exemplified by the body parts from head hair to faeces, and the water element is exemplified by bile through urine.

A few other discourses preface contemplation of these 31 body parts in the following manner:

The 31 identified body parts in Paṭikkūlamanasikāra contemplation are the same as the first 31 body parts identified in the "Dvattiṁsākāraṁ" ("32 Parts [of the Body]") verse (Khuddakapāṭha 3) regularly recited by monks.

The 32^nd body part identified in the latter verse is the brain (matthaluṅga).

English:

Pāḷi

The Visuddhimagga suggests the enumeration of the 31 body parts implicitly includes the brain in aṭṭhimiñjaṁ, which is traditionally translated as "bone marrow".

5. Methods of contemplation

A canonical formulation of how to meditate on these is:

In regards to this and other body-centred meditation objects, the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (DN 22) provides the following additional context and expected results:

Or he remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to the body, on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to the body, or on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to the body.

Or his mindfulness that 'There is a body' is maintained to the extent of knowledge & remembrance. And he remains independent, unsustained by (not clinging to) anything in the world...."

According to the post-canonical Pāḷi Aṭṭhakathā (commentary) on the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, one can develop "7 kinds of skill in study" regarding these meditation objects through:

6. Traditional sources

The name for this type of meditation is found in the sectional titles used in the Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Dīgha Nikāya 22) and the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (MN 10),

where the contemplation of the 32 body parts is entitled, Paṭikkūla-manasikāra-pabbaṁ (which, word-for-word, can be translated as "repulsiveness-reflection-section").

Subsequently, in the post-canonical Visuddhimagga and other Aṭṭhakathā works, Paṭikkūlamanasikāra is explicitly used when referring to this technique.

This form of meditation is mentioned in the following Suttas in the Pāḷi Canon (listed in order of nikāya and then sutta number within Nikāya):

Elsewhere in Pāḷi literature, this type of meditation is discussed extensively in the post-canonical Visuddhimagga (Vism. VIII, 44-145).

In several of these sources, this meditation is identified as one of a variety of meditations on the body along with, for instance, the mindfulness of breathing (Ānāpānasati).