The phrase “contemplating his navel” is a common euphemism for meditation. It evokes an image of an overweight, bare-chested man sitting cross legged, head drooped in a meditative stupor. Someone who’s lost in thought must be wasting time. Another phrase is “navel-gazing.” Answers.com defines navel-gazing as “excessive introspection, self-absorption, or concentration on a single issue.” It’s often used to describe someone or some group trying to figure out what went wrong. Each of these phrases has, at least slightly, a negative connotation.
Meditation, introspection, meditative absorption, and concentration are activities central to Buddhist practice. They have everything to do with developing a tranquil mind and gaining insight into reality. The reality the Buddha speaks of is the impermanence of everything that comes into existence, the unsatisfactoriness of anything impermanent, and that no “self” can be found in anything at all.
Navels gazing inward
Meditation involves fixing one’s attention on an object such as the breath, an image, or even the navel. It can also involve maintaining awareness of the arising and passing away of sounds or sensations felt throughout the body. This is easier said than done, because the mind is such an unruly thing as it bounces from one thought to the next. Always in search of anything but the here and now, the mind serves up a constant stream of distractions. One of those distractions is a preoccupation with the body – either one’s own, or another’s. Being self-absorbed with one’s own body certainly fits with navel-gazing. Being absorbed in thoughts of another’s body is just plain lust. As pleasurable these thoughts may be, they definitely are a hindrance to insight and tranquility.
Controlling the flow of thoughts that hinder meditation is part of the meditative process. One of the methods the Buddha offers to help control lust and other body-oriented distractions is called Contemplation of the 32 Parts of the Body. When the body is seen as a composite of not-so-pretty parts it becomes easier to relax the grip of delusion and return to the task at hand: maintaining a stable and focused mind where tranquility and insight can be nurtured. The meditator brings attention to each one of the 32 parts so as to notice its inherent repulsiveness as it stands alone and out of context. The bouncy red hair of a woman isn’t so attractive when a strand or two are found in a casserole or on a pillow where it ought not be. When seen this way, the body – any body – becomes less desirable and less of a distraction.
The 32 parts of the body*
Hair of the head
Hair of the body
Nails
Teeth
Skin
Flesh (muscles)
Sinews (tendons)
Bones
Bone marrow
Kidneys
Heart
Liver
Pleura (membranes, e.g., diaphragm)
Spleen
Lungs
Large intestine
Small intestine
Gorge (contents of the stomach)
Dung
Bile
Phlegm
Pus (lymph)
Blood
Sweat
Fat
Tears
Skin-oil
Spittle
Mucous (snot)
Fluid of the joints
Urine
Brain
Turning my attention now to the purpose at hand, my goal is to use all 32 parts of the body, not only as individual objects of meditation, but as prompts for writing. I intend to work my way down the list, using each part as the subject of an essay. The idea came to me last summer, inspired by this post on the The Buddha Diaries where Peter offers up – in essay form – a full-frontal self-portrait. I considered taking my own shot at it, but I couldn’t imagine how I could individualize it enough to appear as anything other than a cheap knock-off of an original. Hence, the 32-Parts Project. I have no idea how it will evolve, how long it will take, or if I finish at all, but it begins today with this intention.
*Some references in the texts list only 31 parts, leaving out the brain.
For more information on the Contemplation of the 32 Parts, follow these links:
The 32-Parts Project
The phrase “contemplating his navel” is a common euphemism for meditation. It evokes an image of an overweight, bare-chested man sitting cross legged, head drooped in a meditative stupor. Someone who’s lost in thought must be wasting time. Another phrase is “navel-gazing.” Answers.com defines navel-gazing as “excessive introspection, self-absorption, or concentration on a single issue.” It’s often used to describe someone or some group trying to figure out what went wrong. Each of these phrases has, at least slightly, a negative connotation.
Meditation, introspection, meditative absorption, and concentration are activities central to Buddhist practice. They have everything to do with developing a tranquil mind and gaining insight into reality. The reality the Buddha speaks of is the impermanence of everything that comes into existence, the unsatisfactoriness of anything impermanent, and that no “self” can be found in anything at all.
Navels gazing inward
Meditation involves fixing one’s attention on an object such as the breath, an image, or even the navel. It can also involve maintaining awareness of the arising and passing away of sounds or sensations felt throughout the body. This is easier said than done, because the mind is such an unruly thing as it bounces from one thought to the next. Always in search of anything but the here and now, the mind serves up a constant stream of distractions. One of those distractions is a preoccupation with the body – either one’s own, or another’s. Being self-absorbed with one’s own body certainly fits with navel-gazing. Being absorbed in thoughts of another’s body is just plain lust. As pleasurable these thoughts may be, they definitely are a hindrance to insight and tranquility.
Controlling the flow of thoughts that hinder meditation is part of the meditative process. One of the methods the Buddha offers to help control lust and other body-oriented distractions is called Contemplation of the 32 Parts of the Body. When the body is seen as a composite of not-so-pretty parts it becomes easier to relax the grip of delusion and return to the task at hand: maintaining a stable and focused mind where tranquility and insight can be nurtured. The meditator brings attention to each one of the 32 parts so as to notice its inherent repulsiveness as it stands alone and out of context. The bouncy red hair of a woman isn’t so attractive when a strand or two are found in a casserole or on a pillow where it ought not be. When seen this way, the body – any body – becomes less desirable and less of a distraction.
The 32 parts of the body*
Turning my attention now to the purpose at hand, my goal is to use all 32 parts of the body, not only as individual objects of meditation, but as prompts for writing. I intend to work my way down the list, using each part as the subject of an essay. The idea came to me last summer, inspired by this post on the The Buddha Diaries where Peter offers up – in essay form – a full-frontal self-portrait. I considered taking my own shot at it, but I couldn’t imagine how I could individualize it enough to appear as anything other than a cheap knock-off of an original. Hence, the 32-Parts Project. I have no idea how it will evolve, how long it will take, or if I finish at all, but it begins today with this intention.
*Some references in the texts list only 31 parts, leaving out the brain.
For more information on the Contemplation of the 32 Parts, follow these links:
http://www.arrowriver.ca/dhamma/body.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.010.than.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/khantipalo/wheel271.html