Asubha 9 cemetary stage differences between Theravada Pali, Chinese & Japanese system

 

frank k wrote: ↑Mon Feb 21, 2022 8:23 am

Meormineisnotreal wrote: ↑Mon Feb 21, 2022 5:47 am...
I'd be curious to see how that japanese system came up with their 9 stages, differing quite a bit from Theravada.

Ok, I have prepared some notes & explanations from the Chinese & Japanese system on the asubha practice (just a brief summary). The core of all this came from the commentary made by Chinese Buddhist Master Chih-i 智顗 (538-597), founder of Tiantai School, from his comprehensive treatise on meditation "摩訶止觀" (Mo-ho chih-kuan), The Great Calming and Contemplation (止 is the translation for samatha, 觀 for vipassana, and 摩訶, a transliteration for Maha – great). See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohe_Zhiguan
(The Master's commentary on this is excruciating long, I'll just input from another author who used his framework and who had also summarized it too).

It is called "Kusōzu", (9 appearances) but in front of the nine corpse drawings, there are also those that draw ten scenes by adding the appearance of life, or life when it have just been terminated.

1. 死想 (Death Stage) (Aka fresh stage, I'd say) (想 means a perception or an appearance, in here Ima just use the idiomatic English term "Stage" to translate it)
(The author employed a long series of poems to describe this stage, here is just a snippet):
All love and affections shall one day end,
This body, how long will it last once it is quenched?
Pointless it is to cry and to lament,
How many who know where it commenced?
....

2. 脹想 (Bloated Stage)
(Again, a lot of poetry, but the poet inside me is crying out, so I'm just gonna leave you with the prose).

The corpse has dark skin and becomes swollen.
The body is stiff and the limbs turn around like scattered flowers,
The inflated body is like a leather bag inflated with the wind.
From the nine holes, filth overflows, and it is ugly
The monk notices himself,
"This is the same for myself,
and so is the woman I like
whom I can't give up my regrets."
.....

3. 青瘀想 (Blue and Stagnant Stage)

After a while, the swollen corpse becomes indistinguishable as it is blown by the wind and exposed to the sun,
tearing and breaking its skin and flesh, causing its body to crack and change its shape and color.
It is half blue and half dark, thin and slack,
Attend closely, do not be fooled by this body bag.
.....

4. 壞想 (Decaying Stage)
You will also see the remaining skin and excess meat dry and roasted in the wind and sun, smelling rotten and darkening.
The internal organs stick out, and countless maggots eat its soft part
Attend wisely, do not be fooled by this body bag
....

5. 血塗想 (Bleeding Stage)

Blood overflows from the place where it broke.
It scatters and accumulates here and there
dyes spots in places,
overflows and soaks into the ground,
...

6. 膿爛想 (Pus-leak-out Stage)

You will also see a corpse that is pus-filled and crushed.
The flesh melts and flows, like a lit candle, which is called Pus-leak-out Stage.
......

7. 噉想 (Eaten by Animal Stage)

Also, seeing this corpse eaten by a fox, a wolf, an owl, and an eagle,
fighting for a piece of meat, tearing it apart and scattering it,
this is called Eaten by Animal Stage.
.....

8. 散想 (Scattered Stage)
Also, seeing that the head and hands are different,
the internal organs are scattered and no longer converge.
Which makes this Scattered Stage .
....

9. 骨想 (Skeleton Stage)

You also see two types of bone, one pus-filled and one pure white and clean.
Sometimes bones are gathered, and sometimes it's scattered.
....

10. 燒想 (Cremated Stage)
Everthing is burned on a pyre,
Seeing this blazing fire,
Only smoke, and nothing left
Would crying now do any help?
....

And a little information about the Kusōzu

Seeing and thinking about the transformation of a corpse is called "Kusōzu".

This is a practice to get rid of the anxieties that hinder the enlightenment of the monks and to know that the body of this world is unclean and unconventional. No matter how beautiful you look, it's like covering up with a temporary figure on the filth underneath.

The scriptures that preach the Kusōzu view are said to have been handed down to Japan during the Nara period, and these paintings were made from the Kamakura period to the Edo period. Since the Buddhist priests are basically men, the corpses depicted in the Kusōzu were the women, especially the beautiful women, who were the subject of their worldly desires. The people used as the subject were Empress Danrin and Ono no Komachi, and it is said that Empress Danrin was particularly religious and actually left her body after death to draw a "Kusōzu".