असुभ
Asubha
Unattractiveness / Contemplation of the unbeautiful
不淨
Grammar 語法
adjective (a-stem): a- (not) + subha (beautiful/pleasing)
Definition 釋義
Contemplation of the unattractive or repulsive qualities of the body — a direct antidote to lust (kāma-rāga) and sensual attachment. The asubha contemplations in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta include: (1) the 32 parts of the body (hair, nails, teeth, skin... through to brain); (2) the nine charnel ground contemplations (navasīvathika) — meditating on corpses in various stages of decomposition. Asubha does not cultivate disgust for life but dismantles the cognitive illusion that the body is beautiful and permanent, uprooting a core cause of craving.
Canonical Example 典籍例句
Idhāvuso bhikkhu asubhānupassī kāye viharati.
Here, friend, a monk abides contemplating the body as unbeautiful.
Source: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, MN 10
At a Glance
- Pali
- Asubha
- IAST
- Aśubha
- Devanagari
- असुभ
- Chinese
- 不淨
- Difficulty
- intermediate
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