(Photo source: Pexels)
When the Buddha was still around, he often taught his disciples to practise the “contemplation of impurity”. In India, it is easy to do this practice, because there are people who carry out “sky burials” for the dead—the bodies of the deceased will be carried to the wilderness where they are left exposed to the weather elements. And the corpses will decompose and be feasted upon by the birds.
There was once a spiritual cultivator who often walked back and forth in the fields. The owner of the fields found it very strange and thought, "Why does he not practise spiritual cultivation and come here every day instead?"
One day, the owner saw the cultivator walking in the fields again, so he stopped him and asked, "Why do you come here every day?"
The cultivator replied, "It is because I have to find some witnesses every day to ‘testify’ for me."
The owner did not understand what he meant, so he inquired further: "What witnesses are you looking for?"
The cultivator replied, "Follow me, and I’ll show you those faithful witnesses!"
Thus, the owner followed him along, and the two men arrived at a desolate wasteland, where they saw piles of bones and putrid dead bodies. Many birds were feeding on the corpses. The cultivator stood there solemnly to watch the birds fly about and feed on the dead bodies.
When the owner saw the unsightly scene and smelled the nauseating stench, he was terrified. He could not understand why the cultivator made the effort to walk back and forth every day just to see the birds feed on the dead bodies. Moreover, he seemed so focused on the gruesome scene.
When the cultivator was about to turn around and leave the place, the owner asked him: "Are these birds the witnesses that you are referring to?"
The cultivator replied, "Yes! I ask these birds to ‘testify’ for me every day."
The owner asked further, "Have you committed any crime? Why do you need them to testify for you?”
The cultivator explained, “These dead bodies are so impure, and my internal organs are no different from them. This is the nature of the human body. When I see the putrid corpses, I will carefully reflect on myself. I will ask myself if it is worth it to keep creating bad karma in daily life just for the sake of our physical body. All the bad karma and sins in this world are committed by the body, and these acts stem from the thoughts that arise in the mind. So, I hope that I am able to focus my mind and clearly see the impurities of the body and mind so that all my delusions will die away.”
He added, "But it is still very difficult for me to eliminate my deluded thoughts as I still have the intentions to create negative karma. This is why I come here every day, hoping that these birds can ‘testify’ for me. Each day, I would reveal my thoughts to them, including the thoughts that arose from my mind a day before. I would pledge to them that I would calm and settle my mind, and not be affected by any external conditions. And I ask them to be my witness."
Serving others while reflecting on ourselves regularly
We are all ordinary beings. It is not difficult for us to understand that our physical body is impure and reflect on ourselves when we see (the process of body decomposition). But when the experience is over and the scene changes, our minds will once again be swayed and affected by external conditions.
Likewise, when we are listening to the Dharma, we will find that it makes sense and are able to understand and experience it, but are we able to gain any realisations about people and things in the next 24 hours, (after listening to the teachings)? Are we able to reflect on ourselves, and truly settle and still our mind (so that it does not waver)? Therefore, we must learn to “transform the external conditions” with our minds instead of being swayed and affected by them.
For example, we often see patients with skin ulceration, a torn belly or a broken head in the hospital, and I wonder how our volunteers think and feel after seeing such scenes. What is there to bicker about for the sake of our body, which is just a “stinking bag of flesh”?
Every one of us should make good use of our body to do things that are beneficial in life. In our daily lives, the more we are able to contribute to the masses, the more blessings we will sow. On the contrary, if we bicker over something, we will only be creating more bad karma. Therefore, I hope that every one of us can take care of our mind, look inwardly, and reflect on our nature.
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