
                         *Meditation on the Elements*

        //(A translation of a text by Ven. Ledi Sayadaw followed by an
                     explanation by Sayagyi U Chit Tin)//


     1. There is in this body of mine: the earth group[1], the water group, 
  the fire group, the wind group, and the consciousness group.

     2. What is the group of earth in this [body of mine]? It is: hair of 
  the head, body hair, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone 
  marrow, liver, midriff, spleen, lungs, intestines, entrails, stomach, 
  excrement, and the brain.[2]  These are to be called the earth group.

     3. What is the group of water in this [body of mine]? It is bile, 
  phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, saliva, mucus, oil of the 
  joints, and urine. These are to be called the water group.

     4. What is the group of fire in this [body of mine]? It is burning, 
  warmth, digestion, and ageing. These are to be called the fire group.

     5. What is the group of wind (motion) in this [body of mine]? Winds 
  that go up, winds that go down, winds in the abdomen, winds in the belly, 
  winds that shoot through all the limbs, the in-breath, and the out-breath. 
  These are to be called the wind group.

     6. What is the group of consciousness in this [body of mine]? Eye 
  consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue 
  consciousness, body (contact) consciousness, and mental [objects] 
  consciousness. These are to be called the consciousness group.

     7. In the group of the hair of the head, the action that is hard is 
  named earth; the action that is cohesion is named water; the action that 
  is heat is named fire; the action that is support is named wind; colour, 
  odour, taste, and nutritive essence are thereby derived; all conditioned 
  mental states are dependently originated, without a self, without a soul, 
  empty, and void; they are subject to destruction, subject to falling away, 
  and subject to fading away; because of destruction they are impermanent; 
  because they fall away they are misery; because they are without substance 
  they are without a self.

     8. Similarly, [the same should be understood for] the groups of body  
  hair, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone marrow, liver,  
  midriff, spleen, lungs, intestines, entrails, stomach, excrement, and the 
  brain.

     9. In the group of the bile, the action that is hard is named earth; 
  the action that is cohesion is named water; the action that is heat is 
  named fire; the action that is support is named wind; colour, odour, 
  taste, and nutritive essence are derived; all these conditioned mental 
  states are dependently originated, without a self, without a soul, empty, 
  and void; they are subject to destruction, subject to falling away, and 
  subject to fading away; because of destruction they are impermanent; 
  because they fall away they are misery; because they are without substance 
  they are without a self.

     10. Similarly, [the same should be understood for] the groups of 
  phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, saliva, mucus, oil of the 
  joints, and urine.

     11. In the group of burning, the action that is hard is named earth; 
  the action that is cohesion is named water; the action that is heat is 
  named fire; the action that is support is named wind; colour, odour, 
  taste, and nutritive essence are derived; all these conditioned mental 
  states are dependently originated, without a self, without a soul, empty, 
  and void; they are subject to destruction, subject to falling away, and 
  subject to fading away; because of destruction they are impermanent; 
  because they fall away they are misery; because they are without substance 
  they are without a self.

     12. Similarly, [the same should be understood for] the groups of 
  warmth, digestion, and ageing.

     13. In the group of winds that go up, the action that is hard is named 
  earth; the action that is cohesion is named water; the action that is heat 
  is named fire; the action that is support is named wind; colour, odour, 
  taste, and nutritive essence are derived; all these conditioned mental 
  states are dependently originated, without a self, without a soul, empty, 
  and void; they are subject to destruction, subject to falling away, and 
  subject to fading away; because of destruction they are impermanent; 
  because they fall away they are misery; because they are without substance 
  they are without a self.

     14. Similarly, [the same should be understood for] the groups of winds 
  that go down, winds in the abdomen, winds in the belly, winds that shoot 
  through all the limbs, the in-breath, and the out-breath.

     15. In the group of the eye consciousness, there are the four 
  aggregates: (1) sensation is the aggregate of sensations, (2) perception 
  is the aggregate of perceptions, (3) volitional thought is the aggregate 
  of formations, (4) consciousness is the aggregate of consciousness. All 
  these conditioned mental states are dependently originated, without a 
  self, without a soul, empty, and void; they are subject to destruction, 
  subject to falling away, and subject to fading away; because of 
  destruction they are impermanent; because they fall away they are misery; 
  because they are without substance they are without a self.

     16. Similarly, [the same should be understood for] the groups of ear 
  consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body (contact) 
  consciousness, and mental (objects) consciousness.

     17. Thus, in this body of mine, these forty-eight aspects, the group of  
  (physical) elements, the group of (mental) states, [all of these] are 
  dependently originated, without a self, without a soul, empty, and void; 
  they are subject to destruction, subject to falling away, subject to 
  fading away, and subject to destruction; because of destruction they are 
  impermanent; because they fall away they are misery; because they are 
  without substance they are without a self.


                   ---------------------------------------

  	The text above is a translation of a Pali text by Venerable Ledi 
  Sayadaw. Details of this meditation subject are found in numerous texts  
  in the Pali Canon[3]  and in Ashin Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga.[4]  Two  
  discourses given by the Buddha to his son, Venerable Rahula, are 
  especially pertinent to understanding how to meditate on the four elements  
  and on the consciousness group. In "The Great Exhortation to Rahula,"[5]  
  the Buddha instructs Ven. Rahula to meditate on the four elements. In "The 
  Shorter Exhortation to Rahula,"[6]  he teaches him how to observe the 
  senses and the states of consciousness associated with them.
 
  	The first discourse to Ven. Rahula is of particular interest to 
  meditators in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin as it shows how 
  meditation on the four elements can be an aid to mindfulness of breathing 
  and insight meditation. According to the commentary, Ven. Rahula was 
  eighteen when the Buddha gave this discourse. It seems that as Ven. Rahula 
  was following the Buddha going out on the alms round one morning, he 
  thought to himself, "I am handsome like my father, the Blessed One. The 
  Buddha's form is beautiful, and mine is similar to his." The Buddha read 
  Ven. Rahula's thoughts and decided to reprove him. This he did in an 
  indirect way, but Ven. Rahula was able to understand immediately as soon 
  as a hint was given to him.

  	The Buddha's reproach was in the form of a meditation subject. He 
  instructed Ven. Rahula to dissociate himself from all material form (rupa) 
  by saying to himself with reference to all material forms: "This is not 
  mine, I am not this, this is not my self." The Buddha, therefore, was 
  giving his son a meditation subject that was directly related to his lack 
  of understanding, and the method given was directly related to developing 
  insight into the lack of a permanent self (anatta). Ven. Rahula asked the 
  Buddha if only material form was to be seen in this way, so the Buddha 
  enlarged on his first instruction by saying that the same was true for all 
  five of the aggregates that sustain renewed existence: material forms 
  (rupa), sensations (vedana), perceptions (sanna), mental formations 
  (sankhara), and consciousness (vinnana).

  	Ven. Rahula decided that, after being given such instructions by the 
  Buddha, he should not continue on the alms round but begin to meditate 
  immediately. As he sat meditating, Ven. Sariputta came by. The commentary 
  says that when the chief disciples resided in the same monastery as the 
  Buddha, they always waited until he went out before they went on their 
  alms round. Ven. Sariputta had ordained Ven. Rahula and was therefore one 
  of his teachers. Seeing him seated in the cross-legged position and not 
  being aware that the Buddha had already given a meditation subject, Ven. 
  Sariputta told his pupil to develop mindfulness of breathing (anapana- 
  sati).

  	Ven. Rahula now had two different sets of instructions, and he was 
  not able to make any progress. That evening, he went to the Buddha for 
  more details on how to proceed. He simply asked how mindfulness of 
  breathing was to be developed. The Buddha did not tell Ven. Rahula to go 
  back to the original instructions he had been given. Instead, he gave a 
  discourse in which he showed him how to use meditation on the elements, 
  the four divine abidings, contemplation of impurity,[7] and the perception 
  of impermanence as preparation for mindfulness of breathing. He said that 
  contemplation of the elements[8]  will lead to the same realization that 
  he had told Ven. Rahula to work for that morning: "This is not mine, I am 
  not this, this is not my self." In this way, he would be repulsed by each 
  of the elements and detached from them.
  
  	The Buddha instructs Ven. Rahula to develop detachment with respect  
  to agreeable and disagreeable sensory impressions by considering the 
  indifference of the elements to anything with which they come into contact 
  whether it be clean or unclean, faeces or urine or spittle or pus or 
  blood. The earth is not troubled or worried or disgusted by any of these, 
  nor is water or fire or wind or space. In this way, the Buddha gave a more 
  detailed way to meditate on mind (sensations, perceptions, mental 
  formations, consciousness) and body. 

  	The next meditation subjects explained by the Buddha will help 
  eliminate harmful mental states: loving kindness will eliminate ill will, 
  compassion will eliminate harming, sympathetic joy will eliminate 
  aversion, equanimity will eliminate repugnance, contemplation of impurity 
  will eliminate sensual desire, and the perception of impermanence will 
  eliminate egotism. After explaining all these types of meditation, the 
  Buddha then instructs Ven. Rahula in mindfulness of breathing in great 
  detail, including attaining the absorption states (jhanas). 

  	We can see, then, that contemplation of the elements as given in 
  Ven. Ledi Sayadaw's text may be helpful for meditators who also develop 
  concentration through mindfulness of breathing and insight through knowing 
  impermanence (anicca). 

  	Ashin Buddhaghosa gives a long explanation of how to meditate on the 
  parts of the body and on the elements in the Visuddhimagga.[9]  He begins 
  his description of meditating on the parts of the body by saying that this 
  meditation subject, which helps to develop insight, is only available 
  during the period in which a Buddha's Teachings are available. This is no 
  doubt because one of the main elements in observing the body is learning 
  to appreciate the lack of a permanent, controlling self. In his first 
  discussion of meditating on the parts of the body, Ashin Buddhaghosa 
  includes seeing them as repulsive. When he discusses the inclusion of the 
  parts of the body in the meditation on the four great elements, however, 
  they are not to be seen as repulsive but should be experienced as having 
  the various characteristics of the four great elements: solidity, 
  cohesion, heat, and support. For meditation students who have already made 
  some progress in developing concentration and insight, it will not be 
  necessary to develop any further an appreciation of the repulsive nature 
  of the parts of the body. But the appreciation of the temporary coming 
  together of the four great elements in the various parts of the body can 
  be used in connection with appreciating their impermanence. None of these 
  four elements exists independently of the other three. The parts of the 
  body associated with each element possess that element as the predominant 
  characteristic, but all four will be present to a greater or lesser 
  extent.

  	Many of Ashin Buddhaghosa's instructions for the meditator will be 
  of use no matter which technique is being followed, so we will give some 
  of them here. Ashin Buddhaghosa makes it clear that the meditator must 
  find the method that helps him progress. Someone may know all the Pali 
  Canon but will still need to simply repeat the names of the parts of the 
  body in order to keep the attention on them and to gain insight into their 
  true nature. It is clear from what he says that theoretical knowledge is 
  no substitute for practice. He gives many ways of investigating the parts 
  of the body -- by colour, shape, direction, location, limiting what is 
  similar and dissimilar -- but these are less useful for us. His insistence 
  on the importance of repetition is valid for all meditation practice, 
  however, as this is the way to make the meditation subject become familiar 
  and to keep the mind from running away. Ashin Buddhaghosa is speaking of 
  repeating the names of the parts of the body, but repetition can also 
  include repeating the task at hand.

  	Ashin Buddhaghosa then gives ten types of skill to be developed by 
  the meditator:

  	First, the proper order should be followed. In a general way, each 
  technique has an order in which things are to be done, and we should be 
  careful to respect the right order. If we do not, he says, we will be 
  exhausted by skipping around, like someone trying to go up a ladder two 
  rungs at a time.

  	Second and third, the meditator should not go too fast or too slow. 
  If we are in too big a hurry, we will be like a man who never notices the 
  way even though he has made a long journey a hundred times and constantly 
  has to ask directions. If we are too slow, we will resemble a man who 
  wastes so much time on a journey it takes him two or three days rather 
  than one.

  	Fourth, we must avoid distractions, otherwise, we will be like a man  
  going along a narrow ledge on a high cliff. If he does not pay attention, 
  he may fall.

  	Fifth, we should not get hung up on concepts; we should rather 
  develop true understanding. Concepts, or mere intellectual understanding, 
  are like a sign to show where a water hole can be found in a forest -- it 
  is only necessary in the beginning; once a clear path has been worn to it, 
  everyone will be able to find it without the sign.

  	Sixth, we should know when to leave aside any aspect of our 
  meditation that is not clear. For this aspect, the similes given in the 
  Visuddhimagga are more pertinent to meditating on the repulsive aspects of 
  the body.

  	Seventh, we should understand that every part of our practice is 
  important for fixing our attention (appana).

  	The last three points are based on the instructions given in three 
  discourses in the Pali Canon. In the first discourse,[10]  the Buddha 
  tells the bhikkhus that it is important, when meditating, to keep 
  concentration, effort, and equanimity in proper balance. If only 
  concentration is developed, there will be a tendency to idleness. If there 
  is too much effort, there will be a tendency to agitation. If equanimity 
  is over emphasized, right concentration may not be attained. The Buddha 
  compares this balancing with the way a goldsmith will heat crude gold and 
  blow on it from time to time, sprinkle water on it from time to time, and 
  examine it from time to time. If he overdoes any one of these, he will not 
  properly prepare his gold.

  	The second discourse of the Buddha deals with attaining supreme 
  coolness (i.e., Nibbana).[11]  He says the meditator should be intent on 
  six things: on restraining the mind when necessary, on exerting the mind 
  when necessary, on gladdening the mind when necessary, on observing the 
  mind with indifference when necessary, on the supreme [goal], and on 
  delighting in Nibbana.

  	The third discourse by the Buddha[12]  deals with knowing the right 
  time to develop the Factors of Awakening. When the mind is sluggish, the 
  factors of tranquility, concentration, and equanimity should not be 
  developed. When the mind is sluggish, the factors of investigating mental 
  states, energy, and rapture should be developed. When the mind is elated, 
  the opposite is true. The factor of mindfulness can be developed at all 
  times, however.

  	The Buddha's discourse to Ven. Rahula discussed above does not go 
  into detail about the senses. In "The Shorter Exhortation," given to his 
  son when Ven. Rahula was twenty-one, the Buddha instructs him in 
  contemplation of the various aspects of the six senses: sight, hearing, 
  smell, taste, touch, and mental activity. This meditation subject was 
  given because the Buddha realized that Ven. Rahula was mature in his 
  understanding and ready for the highest attainment, Arahatship.

  	The Buddha gives three things to be realized concerning every aspect 
  of the senses: each aspect is impermanent (anicca), misery (dukkha), and  
  must be considered as, "This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my  
  self" (in other words, anatta, no-self). The various aspects to be 
  considered include the sense organ (the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, 
  mind), the object perceived by the sense organs (material forms, sounds, 
  smells, tastes, tangible objects, mental objects), the types of 
  consciousness arising from the coming together of the sense organ with an 
  object, the associated mental consciousness, and the four mental 
  aggregates that are the result of this, namely sensations, perceptions, 
  mental formations, and consciousness. When all this is understood 
  correctly, it will lead to turning away, to being dispassionate, and to 
  freedom. Realizing that freedom has been attained will come at the highest 
  stage of development, when the meditator knows, "Birth is destroyed; the 
  holy life has been fulfilled; what should be done has been done; there is 
  no future life after this."


                             Truth Will Triumph!

                              Sayagyi U Chit Tin



                                FOOTNOTES:

  [1] The word `group' has different meanings in this text. 1) Under the  
  headings of the four physical elements the component parts of the body are 
  grouped according to their predominant physical quality. E.g., hair, body 
  hair etc. are in the earth group as their predominant quality is solidity. 
  Under the heading of consciousness group the six types of consciousness 
  based on the six sense organs are grouped. 2) The component parts of the 
  body become groups themselves when they are seen as consisting of all four 
  elements. E.g., though the hair is mainly hard, it also contains the 
  characteristics of the other three elements. 3) The six types of 
  consciousness become groups themselves when they are seen as consisting of 
  the four mental aggregates. 4) Finally, all four physical elements are 
  seen as one group and all the mental states are seen as one group.

  [2] The texts in the Pali canon do not specifically mention the brain in 
  this enumeration, but Ashin Buddhaghosa says it should be considered as 
  included with bone marrow (//Path of Purification//, Chapter VIII, S 44).

  [3] For example: Majjhima-nikaya, suttas no. 28 and no. 140 (//Middle 
  Length Sayings// I 230-238, III 287-289).

  [4] //The Path of Purification//, Chapter VIII, SS42-114; Chapter XI, 
  SS27-117; Chapter XIV, SS37-57.

  [5] Majjhima-nikaya sutta no. 62 (//Middle Length Sayings// II 91-97). 
  Translated by Narada Thera and Bhikkhu Mahinda in //The Wheel//, no. 33, 
  pp. 19-33 with information from the commentary in the notes.

  [6] Majjhima-nikaya sutta no. 147 (//Middle Length Sayings// III 328-330). 
  Translated by Nyanaponika Thera in The Wheel, no. 33, pp. 33-39 with 
  information from the commentary in the notes.

  [7] This is the contemplation of the decomposition of a corpse and is more 
  appropriate for monks than for lay people.

  [8] In this discourse, the Buddha includes the fifth element of space 
  (akasa) in addition to the four elements of earth (//pathavi//), water 
  (//apo//), fire (//tejo//), and wind (//vayo//).

  [9] For meditating on the parts of the body, see //The Path of 
  Purification//, Chapter VIII, SS42-144, in the second on "Mindfulness 
  Occupied with the Body." For meditating on the four elements, see Chapter 
  XI, SS27-117.

  [10] Anguttara-nikaya I 256-258 (//Gradual Sayings// I 235f.).

  [11] Anguttara-nikaya III 435 (//Gradual Sayings// III 304).

  [12] Samyutta-nikaya V 113-115 (//Kindred Sayings// V 95ff.). Ashin 
  Buddhaghosa mentions one sutta, but the instructions are in two suttas.

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                            DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT

  TITLE OF WORK: Meditation on the Elements
  FILENAME: ELEMENTS.ZIP
  AUTHOR: Sayagyi U Chit Tin (includes text by Ven. Ledi Sayadaw)
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  PUBLISHER'S ADDRESS: International Meditation Centre, Splatts House,
       Heddington, Calne, Wiltshire SN11 OPE, England
  COPYRIGHT HOLDER: The Sayagyi U Ba Khin Memorial Trust, U.K.
  DATE OF PUBLICATION: 1994
  DATE OF DHARMANET DISTRIBUTION: 1994
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