Impure substance
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Impure substance (Skt. aśucidravya; T. mi gtsang ba'i rdzas མི་གཙང་བའི་རྫས་). An impure thing.[1]
In the Sanskrit tradition, one contemplates the "impure substances" of the human body in order to come to overcome attachment to the physical body.[2]
The Indo-Tibetan Lexical Resource states:
- In Buddhist Sanskrit texts, lists of impure bodily substances are often given. Although most of the items are contained in each of these lists, variations occur on a regular basis as well. Often, these lists are accompanied by lists of external impure substances (in particular, lists of corpses in their various stages of decay).[1]
Thirty-six impure substances
A list of thirty-six impure substances (T. mi gtsang ba'i rdzas so drug) is found in the Khenjuk and other texts. These thirty-six substances are:[2][3]
- hair on the head
- facial hair
- teeth
- nails
- excrement
- urine
- sweat
- mucus
- tears
- saliva
- secretions*
- skin
- flesh
- blood
- bones
- fat
- marrow
- veins
- sinews
- lungs
- heart
- liver
- spleen
- kidneys
- stomach
- small intestine
- large intestine
- colon
- urinary bladder
- grease
- lymph
- pus
- phlegm
- bile
- brain
- cerebral membrane
*Secretions (dri ma) includes eye secretions, ear wax, and plaque.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
མི་གཙང་བའི་རྫས་, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mipham Rinpoche 2000, s.v. Chapter 13, line 45.
- ↑
Thirty-six impure substances, Rigpa Shedra Wiki
Sources
Mipham Rinpoche (2000), Gateway to Knowledge, vol. II, translated by Kunsang, Erik Pema, Rangjung Yeshe Publications
