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AN 4.170 forum question: how does the 4th way of samatha and vipassana work?

AN 4.170  170. Yuganaddhasutta 170. In Conjunction Evaį¹ƒ me sutaį¹ƒ— So I have heard. ekaį¹ƒ samayaį¹ƒ āyasmā ānando kosambiyaį¹ƒ viharati ghositārāme. At one time Venerable Ānanda was staying near Kosambi, in Ghosita’s Monastery. Tatra kho āyasmā ānando bhikkhÅ« āmantesi: There Ānanda addressed the monks: “āvuso bhikkhave”ti. “Reverends, monks!” “Āvuso”ti kho te bhikkhÅ« āyasmato ānandassa paccassosuį¹ƒ. “Reverend,” they replied. Āyasmā ānando etadavoca: Ānanda said this: “Yo hi koci, āvuso, bhikkhu vā bhikkhunÄ« vā mama santike arahattappattiį¹ƒ byākaroti, sabbo so catÅ«hi maggehi, etesaį¹ƒ vā aƱƱatarena. “Reverends, all of the monks and nuns who declare in my presence that they have attained perfection, did so by one or other of four paths. Katamehi catÅ«hi? What four? Idha, āvuso, bhikkhu samathapubbaį¹…gamaį¹ƒ vipassanaį¹ƒ bhāveti. Take a monk who develops serenity before discernment. Tassa samathapubbaį¹…gamaį¹ƒ vipassanaį¹ƒ bhāvayato maggo saƱjāyati. As they do so, the path is born in them. So taį¹ƒ maggaį¹ƒ āseva

subha is skin deep: a collection of pictures. (part of safe asubha practice edition)

  for a-subha (non-beauty, foul perception), Ajahn Mun points out the skin (from 31asb body parts)  is especially important Ajahn Mun: "When we get infatuated with the human body, the skin is what we are infatuated with. When we conceive of the body as being beautiful (subha) and attractive, and develop love, desire, and longing for it, it’s because of what we conceive of the skin. When we see a body, we suppose it to have a complexion—fair, ruddy, dark, etc.—because of what we conceive the color of the skin to be. If the body didn’t have skin, who would conceive it to be beautiful or attractive? Who would love it, like it, or desire it? We’d regard it with nothing but hatred, loathing, and disgust. If it weren’t wrapped in skin, the flesh, tendons, and other parts of the body wouldn’t hold together and couldn’t be used to accomplish anything at all—which is why we say the skin is especially important. The fact that we can keep on living is because of the skin. The fact that we ge