解脫道論 膖脹想的功德與取相

The ten impurities open here. For the swollen-corpse perception, contemplation in accordance is its characteristic, revulsion its function, and attention to foul impurity its basis. The source lists only these and does not separately explain how “revulsion” operates.

Contemplating Item by Item

Before taking the sign, the source lists conduct that is not twofold, unmoving mindfulness, absence of delusion, faculties drawn inward, and the mind not going outside. At the place one stays away from the contrary wind, sits neither far nor near, and uses a stone, mound of earth, tree, stump, and vine for making a sign and making an object. The text then says “ten modes” but gives only nine headings. “By place” receives no separate explanation; the place-of-light wording after the statements of direction, the combined depressions and even ground, and “from me” all retain problems of attachment. The expressions remain in source order. The treatise answers the meaning of sitting and contemplating the whole sign everywhere: for not being deluded.

The Corpse Rises and Pursues; Not Arousing the Mind to Contemplate

The preceding text has already spoken of taking well, retaining well, and settling well, yet the final passage still says that when the impure sign appears directly before one, fear arises. It then continues, “if the corpse rises and pursues, not arousing the mind to contemplate, in this way having known, retain it with mindfulness and right wisdom,” and closes, “Attending in this way is called not being deluded.” All these items occur in this passage, but the source does not explain how they relate to one another.

Reading: the final passage explains in sequence conduct that is not twofold, causing mindfulness not to move, the road there and back, staying away from the contrary wind, sitting neither far nor near, and contemplating the whole sign everywhere. Each is kept to its own answer and is not expanded into a general rule.

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Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · The Swollen-Corpse Perception: Its Qualities and Taking the Sign · Doorway · Summer 2026

Seven Questions Set Forth Together

Question: What is the developed sign? How is it cultivated? What is its characteristic? What is its function? What is its basis? What are its qualities? How is its sign taken?

Meaning of the Name

Answer: The developed sign fills every place. It is like a bellows-bag filled with a foul, filthy corpse. This is called swollen.

Knowing the swollen sign with right wisdom is called the swollen-corpse perception.

Cultivation, Characteristic, Function, and Basis

When one cultivates this perception, the mind abides without distraction. This is called cultivation.

Contemplating in accordance with the sign of the swollen-corpse perception is its characteristic; revulsion toward the swollen-corpse perception is its function; attention to foul impurity is its basis.

Nine Qualities

As to its qualities, the swollen-corpse perception has nine qualities: one gains mindfulness of the internal body, gains the perception of impermanence, gains the sign of death, has much revulsion and subdues sensual desire, cuts off pride in beauty, cuts off pride in freedom from illness, inclines toward a good destination, and inclines toward the Deathless.

The Preparatory Practice for Taking the Sign

As to how the sign is taken: a new meditator directly takes up the impure perception of a swollen corpse. With conduct that is not twofold, with mindfulness unmoving and without delusion, with the faculties drawn inward, and with the mind not going outside, one goes to that place.

There are corpses in that impure place. One remains there away from the contrary wind, neither far from nor close to the impure sign, either leaning or sitting.

When the meditator leans or sits near the impure place, the source lists a nearby stone, mound of earth, tree, stump, or vine, and then writes: “For making a sign and making an object, one contemplates: this stone, impure. This, the impure sign. This stone. In the same way with the mound of earth and so forth, a sign has been made and an object has been made” 〔T32 424c28–425a01〕. The source does not explain how “for making a sign and making an object, one contemplates” attaches to the short statements that follow, how to punctuate the repeated “this stone,” or what “a sign has been made and an object has been made” continues. At minimum, five kinds of nearby things are first listed, several short statements are given with the stone as the example, and “the mound of earth and so forth” gathers the rest at the end.

“Ten Modes” and the Nine Items Actually Listed

The treatise says that one should contemplate the swollen impure sign according to its own nature through “ten modes.” Yet only nine items are actually marked immediately afterward: by color, by female or male form, by direction, by place, by discrimination, by joints, by openings, by depressions, and by level ground. It then says to contemplate every place evenly 〔T32 425a01–03〕. Because the stated number and the listed number do not agree, no tenth item is supplied and the items are not renumbered. “By place” receives no separate explanation below.

Color: if it is black, contemplate it as black; if neither black nor white, contemplate it as neither black nor white; if white, contemplate it as white. The final phrase reads, “if foul skin, contemplate by foul skin.” It is certain only that contemplation remains according to “foul skin”; the syntax is not further explained.

Form: whether the form is female or male, contemplate according to what is seen. The source next lists “whether young, long, or old.” The following sentence lists: if long, contemplate as long; if short, as short; if fat, as fat; if small, as small. The source does not explain how young, long, and old belong in relation to the following group of long, short, fat, and small.

Direction and the “place of light”: the passage “by direction” points out in sequence the direction in which the head, hands, feet, back, abdomen, the place where I sit, and the impure sign lie. The source then writes “in this way contemplate according to the place of light,” and lists, within the place of light, the places where the hand, foot, head, my seat, and the impure sign lie 〔T32 425a08–13〕. It does not mark whether “by the place of light” continues “by direction” or begins another item. Nor can it simply be used to fill the earlier “by place,” which receives no separate explanation.

Discrimination: from head to foot and again from below to the head, bounded by hair and skin, contemplate it as a single heap of excrement.

The source next writes “by discriminating contemplation, contemplate; as to by joints.” It does not explain how the repeated “contemplate” joins what precedes and follows. It then explicitly lists six joints in the two hands, six joints in the two feet, the hip joint, and the neck joint, together called the fourteen great joints.

Empty openings: the marked list has “by openings,” while the explanation reads “as to empty openings.” One contemplates whether the mouth is open or closed, whether the eyes are open or closed, and the openings between the hands and between the feet. Four witnesses read “flesh” in place of “empty openings”; both readings are recorded without judgment.

Depressions, level ground, and the positions of observer and object: the list separately gives “by depressions” and “by level ground,” while the explanation combines them as “as to by depressions and even ground.” If the impure sign is in an open space or on the ground, contemplate it according to its location. The source also gives the cases where I am in an open space and the impure sign is on the ground, or the impure sign is below and I am on the ground. The final statement reads, “through every place from me, neither taking near nor far, whether two or three fathoms, contemplate accordingly” 〔T32 425a21–22〕. The source does not explain what “from me” attaches to or how it relates syntactically to neither near nor far and two or three fathoms. The sequence is therefore retained without assigning the phrases independently.

Taking Well, Retaining Well, and Settling Well

When the meditator has thus rightly contemplated everything and seen that sign, “Good, good”: one retains it in this way and settles oneself well.

Having taken the sign well, retained it well, and settled oneself well, the meditator proceeds in conduct that is not twofold, with mindfulness unmoving, the mind undeluded, the faculties drawn inward, and the mind not going outside. On the road there and back, whether walking or sitting, one contemplates that impurity and constantly retains it in mind.

Analysis of the Expressions

What is the meaning of conduct that is not twofold? It is for gaining bodily seclusion.

Causing mindfulness not to move is through not being deluded, through drawing the faculties inward, and through the mind not going outside.

What is the meaning of the road there and back? It is for gaining bodily seclusion.

What is the meaning of staying away from the contrary wind? It is to avoid the foul odor.

What is the meaning of sitting neither far nor near? If one takes it from far away, the removal-sign is not accomplished. If one takes it from too near, revulsion toward it is not accomplished and its nature is not seen. Because its nature is not seen, that sign does not arise. Therefore it is taken neither far away nor close by.

What is the meaning of sitting and contemplating the whole sign everywhere? It is for not being deluded; this is called not being deluded.

If the meditator enters a secluded place and sees the impure sign as if directly before him, the mind becomes frightened. The source then writes: “Therefore, meditator, if the corpse rises and pursues, not arousing the mind to contemplate, in this way having known, retain it with mindfulness and right wisdom” 〔T32 425b05–06〕. “Not arousing the mind to contemplate” follows “the corpse rises and pursues,” but the relation of agent and recipient between them is unclear. Nor does the source explain how to punctuate or connect “in this way having known” and “retain it with mindfulness and right wisdom.” What is certain is that all these expressions stand in a single sentence; they cannot be rearranged into a sequence of actions. The source then says: having contemplated the sign everywhere, this is its pervasive sign. Attending in this way is called not being deluded.

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Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · The Swollen-Corpse Perception: Its Qualities and Taking the Sign · Vernacular · Summer 2026

The ten impurities open with this passage, whose first subject is the swollen-corpse perception. It first answers questions about the name, cultivation, characteristic, function, basis, and qualities; then it describes in detail going to where the corpse lies, choosing a seat, marking nearby objects, contemplating item by item, retaining the sign, and the analysis at the end. The source explicitly gives “revulsion” as the function of the swollen-corpse perception and later explains the meaning of “sitting and contemplating the whole sign everywhere” as “for not being deluded.” The same final passage also expressly says that fear may arise in the mind. All three statements are retained at their own locations; no causal account is built among them.

Meaning and Qualities: Its Function Is Revulsion

“The developed sign fills every place. It is like a bellows-bag filled with a foul, filthy corpse. This is called swollen. Knowing the swollen sign with right wisdom is called the swollen-corpse perception” 〔T32 424c16–18〕. The question says “developed sign,” while the answer immediately turns to the name “swollen”; the treatise does not state the relation between the two names. The present wording of the simile has 排 in “排囊,” while four witnesses read 韛. “When one cultivates this perception, the mind abides without distraction. This is called cultivation” 〔T32 424c18–19〕. “Contemplating in accordance with the sign of the swollen-corpse perception is its characteristic; revulsion toward the swollen-corpse perception is its function; attention to foul impurity is its basis” 〔T32 424c19–20〕. These three items are respectively contemplation in accordance with the swollen sign, revulsion toward it, and attention to foul impurity. This passage lists only “revulsion” as its function; it neither supplies another operation here nor establishes a universal correspondence with the other practices.

Nine qualities are then listed: “one gains mindfulness of the internal body, gains the perception of impermanence, gains the sign of death, has much revulsion and subdues sensual desire, cuts off pride in beauty, cuts off pride in freedom from illness, inclines toward a good destination, and inclines toward the Deathless” 〔T32 424c21–23〕. The base text says nine, but the current punctuation yields eight items. Whether “has much revulsion” and “subdues sensual desire” should be separated into two is not determined by the source's punctuation, so the wording is preserved without forcing a numerical assignment. The character 相 in “sign of death” has a repeated variant 想; this too remains undecided. The exposition keeps the source order—mindfulness of the internal body, impermanence, the sign of death, revulsion and subduing desire, cutting off two kinds of pride, a good destination, and the Deathless—without remaking the list into stages.

Preparations and the Ten Modes of Contemplation

“A new meditator directly takes up the impure perception of a swollen corpse. With conduct that is not twofold, with mindfulness unmoving and without delusion, with the faculties drawn inward, and with the mind not going outside, one goes to that place” 〔T32 424c23–25〕. When going there, the source places side by side conduct that is not twofold, unmoving mindfulness, absence of delusion, faculties drawn inward, and the mind not going outside. Later, “conduct that is not twofold” is itself explained as “for gaining bodily seclusion”; it is not connected to the “taking the wind sign through two modes” in the wind practice. Upon arrival one “remains there away from the contrary wind, neither far from nor close to the impure sign, either leaning or sitting” 〔T32 424c26–27〕. Staying away from the contrary wind is later explained as avoiding the foul odor, and the faults of distance and nearness are answered separately at the end. The text then lists a stone, mound of earth, tree, stump, and vine, each “for making a sign and making an object” 〔T32 424c28〕. It gives no separate account of the function of each nearby thing; they are retained in sequence.

The syntax of the nearby objects must also be seen as it stands: “A stone or mound of earth, a tree, stump, or vine, for making a sign and making an object, one contemplates: this stone, impure. This, the impure sign. This stone. In the same way with the mound of earth and so forth, a sign has been made and an object has been made” 〔T32 424c27–425a01〕. Five kinds are listed at the start. The body uses “this stone” repeatedly as its only example, then gathers the rest under “the mound of earth and so forth.” It does not provide one matching explanation for each of the five. Nor does it explain the punctuation of “this stone, impure; this, the impure sign; this stone,” or whether the second “this stone” continues what precedes or begins what follows. Only the closing “a sign has been made and an object has been made” is certain; no purpose is supplied for the short statements.

The ten modes unfold at 〔T32 425a02–03〕, but under the current punctuation only nine headings appear: color, female or male form, direction, place, discrimination, joints, openings, depressions, and level ground. “By place” receives no separate explanation, preserving the omission. The detailed explanation begins with colors—black as black, neither black nor white as neither black nor white, white as white, and foul skin as foul skin 〔T32 425a04–05〕—then gives female or male form, young, long, or old, and long, short, fat, or small 〔T32 425a05–08〕. Under “by direction,” it locates the head, hands, feet, back, abdomen, my seat, and the impure sign, and then the source writes “in this way contemplate according to the place of light,” followed by the hand, foot, head, my seat, and the impure sign in the place of light 〔T32 425a08–13〕. It does not say whether “by the place of light” continues “by direction” or begins anew; nor does it say that this phrase is the earlier “by place” that lacks a separate explanation. Next comes contemplation from head to foot and from below to the head, bounded by hair and skin, as “a single heap of excrement” 〔T32 425a14〕. After the repeated wording “by discriminating contemplation, contemplate; as to by joints,” it lists six joints in the hands, six in the feet, the hip joint, and the neck joint as fourteen great joints 〔T32 425a14–16〕. It then contemplates the openings of mouth and eyes and those between hands and feet 〔T32 425a16–18〕; “empty openings” has the variant “flesh,” recorded without judgment. The headings separately list depression and level ground, but their explanation combines them as “by depressions and even ground,” followed by the positions of object and observer and the distance of two or three fathoms 〔T32 425a18–22〕. All these words remain in source order; unclear headings and attachments are not reassigned.

The continuous wording after “by direction” can be counted directly. Before “in this way contemplate according to the place of light” come seven items: head, hand, foot, back, abdomen, my seat, and impure sign 〔T32 425a08–10〕. After that phrase come five: hand, foot, head, my seat, and impure sign 〔T32 425a11–13〕. Head, hand, foot, my seat, and impure sign occur on both sides; back and abdomen occur only in the first, and the order differs. This establishes only the distribution of items in the received wording; it does not decide whether “by the place of light” is attached or independent. The fourteen great joints can be added directly: six in the two hands plus six in the two feet, the hip joint, and the neck joint make fourteen. This numerical agreement is distinct from the “ten modes” whose headings number nine under current punctuation; both counting situations are retained.

The detailed explanation of depressions and level ground begins “as to by depressions and even ground,” differing from the separate headings “by depressions, by level ground.” It continues: “The impure sign accords with its location, whether in an open space or on the ground; contemplate it according to that place. Further, I am in an open space and the impure sign is on the ground, or the impure sign is below and I am on the ground; contemplate accordingly” 〔T32 425a18–21〕. The certain sequence is the location of the impure sign and then the relative positions of observer and object, followed by “through every place from me, neither taking near nor far, whether two or three fathoms, contemplate accordingly” 〔T32 425a21–22〕. What “from me” attaches to and how neither near nor far relates to two or three fathoms are not explained. The whole sequence is therefore retained.

All five critical notes in the passage fall on these key expressions. The base 排 in the bellows-bag simile has 韛 in four witnesses 〔T32 424c17〕. The base 相 in the quality “gains the sign of death” has 想 in four witnesses 〔T32 424c21〕. “Empty openings” has “flesh” in four witnesses 〔T32 425a16〕. In “contemplate the openings between the hands and feet,” the base 穴 has the variant sequence 穴隨觀 in four witnesses 〔T32 425a18〕. In “if one takes it from far away, the removal-sign is not accomplished,” the Palace edition lacks the negative 不 〔T32 425b01〕. The first four change respectively a character in the simile, the wording sign/perception, the contemplated object as opening or flesh, and the internal word order. The presence or absence of the final negative directly reverses the statement about distance. The body follows the Taishō base in every case, recording the variants without using them to supply an implicit function.

“When the meditator has thus rightly contemplated everything and seen that sign, ‘Good, good’: one retains it in this way and settles oneself well. Having taken the sign well, retained it well, and settled oneself well” 〔T32 425a22–24〕. The source gathers the sequence under taking the sign well, retaining it well, and settling oneself well. It then repeats conduct that is not twofold, unmoving mindfulness, the undeluded mind, faculties drawn inward, and the mind not going outside, adding that on the road there and back, whether walking or sitting, one contemplates the impurity and constantly retains it 〔T32 425a24–26〕. What can be established is the successive order of taking, retaining, settling, and constant retention while walking and sitting; the treatise gives no separate explanation of how the first three connect.

The five expressions used in going to and leaving the place can be checked against each other. Going there reads “with conduct that is not twofold, with mindfulness unmoving and without delusion, with the faculties drawn inward, and with the mind not going outside” 〔T32 424c24–25〕. After taking the sign well, the text reads “one—conduct that is not twofold, with mindfulness unmoving, the mind undeluded, the faculties drawn inward, the mind not going outside” 〔T32 425a24–25〕. The later wording separates unmoving mindfulness from the undeluded mind and places “one” before “conduct that is not twofold”; both retain the faculties drawn inward and the mind not going outside. Only then does the treatise add “on the road there and back, whether walking or sitting, one contemplates that impurity and constantly retains it” 〔T32 425a25–26〕. These differences are recorded as written and are not merged into a new formula.

Checking the Sequence Exactly as Given

If the passage is reordered only by its own sequence and no new meaning is added, it proceeds as follows. First it explains the name swollen; next cultivation, characteristic, function, and basis; then the nine qualities. It then directs the new meditator to go there while maintaining conduct that is not twofold, unmoving mindfulness, absence of delusion, faculties drawn inward, and the mind not going outside. At the place one first avoids the contrary wind and sits neither far nor near, then uses the stone, mound of earth, tree, stump, and vine for making a sign and making an object. The text next announces “ten modes” but gives nine headings and proceeds in order through color; male or female form and other expressions of form; the directional statements; the statements about the place of light whose attachment is unclear; discrimination; joints; empty openings; and the combined depressions and even ground. “By place” has no separate explanation. The actual list includes head, hands, feet, back, abdomen, and the place of sitting; after “place of light,” hands, feet, head, seat, and impure sign; head to foot and foot to head; fourteen great joints; openings of mouth, eyes, hands, and feet; and the relative positions of observer and object in an open space or on the ground. Finally come the unclear attachments among “from me,” neither near nor far, and two or three fathoms, followed by taking well, retaining well, and settling well. On leaving, the same five expressions are again maintained; on the road there and back, walking or sitting, the impurity is still contemplated and constantly retained. This is only a restatement of the received sentence order, without deciding unclear headings or short statements.

The analysis at the end can likewise be checked question by question. Conduct that is not twofold is answered as being for bodily seclusion. Causing mindfulness not to move is followed by absence of delusion, faculties drawn inward, and the mind not going outside. The road there and back is answered as being for bodily seclusion. Staying away from the contrary wind is answered as avoiding the foul odor. Sitting neither far nor near separately gives the wording about taking from far and taking from near. Contemplating the whole sign everywhere is answered as being for absence of delusion. The passage then separately proceeds through entering a secluded place, seeing the sign directly before one, fear arising, the corpse rising and pursuing, not arousing the mind to contemplate, retaining with mindfulness and right wisdom, contemplating the sign everywhere, and attending in this way. The source joins these expressions, but it explicitly answers only the preceding questions. Relations not answered remain in the source wording. They are not turned into steps for treating fear, nor is “not being deluded” restated as the necessary disappearance of fear.

Pause at the Question: If the Corpse Rises and Pursues Me, What Then?

After the item-by-item analysis, the passage continues: “If the meditator enters a secluded place and sees the impure sign as if directly before him, the mind becomes frightened. Therefore, meditator, if the corpse rises and pursues, not arousing the mind to contemplate, in this way having known, retain it with mindfulness and right wisdom” 〔T32 425b04–06〕. Pause here. In seated meditation the impure sign appears as if present before one—even “the corpse rises and pursues.” What then?

First see the sequence clearly. Earlier the source has already said taking well, retaining well, and settling well; here it still explicitly says “the mind becomes frightened.” The same sentence continues with “if the corpse rises and pursues, not arousing the mind to contemplate, in this way having known, retain it with mindfulness and right wisdom.” Both “not arousing the mind to contemplate” and “retain it with mindfulness and right wisdom” are retained literally. The passage closes, “Having contemplated the sign everywhere, this is its pervasive sign. Attending in this way is called not being deluded” 〔T32 425b06–07〕. Fear, not arousing the mind to contemplate, retaining with mindfulness and right wisdom, and not being deluded are all listed; the source does not arrange them into an expandable chain of operations. The exposition does not supply how fear is removed.

Analysis of Six Expressions, Each by Its Own Answer

The final passage analyzes six expressions in order: “What is the meaning of conduct that is not twofold? It is for gaining bodily seclusion” 〔T32 425a26–27〕; causing mindfulness not to move, through absence of delusion, faculties drawn inward, and the mind not going outside 〔T32 425a27–28〕; “What is the meaning of the road there and back? It is for gaining bodily seclusion” 〔T32 425a28–29〕; “What is the meaning of staying away from the contrary wind? It is to avoid the foul odor” 〔T32 425a29〕; sitting neither far nor near, because at a distance “the removal-sign is not accomplished” and too near “revulsion is not accomplished and its nature is not seen” 〔T32 425b01–02〕; and sitting and contemplating the whole sign everywhere, answered as “for not being deluded” 〔T32 425b03–04〕. Five of the six are asked through “What is the meaning?”, while causing mindfulness not to move is directly explained without a question. Each answer stops at the wording of this passage and is not made into a universal rule for other operations. The Palace edition lacks 不 in “if one takes it from far away, the removal-sign is not accomplished”; its presence or absence reverses the statement, so both are recorded without judgment while the body follows the base.

Conclusion

Return to the observation: this passage sets out taking the sign of the swollen-corpse perception item by item. Carry away three things: one definition—contemplation in accordance is its characteristic, revulsion its function, and attention to foul impurity its basis; one contemplation announced as ten but listed under nine headings—“by place” receives no separate explanation, and the directional statements, place-of-light statements, depressions and even ground, and “from me” retain their unresolved attachments; and one analysis—conduct that is not twofold, the road, wind, distance, and contemplation of the whole sign each have the source's own answer. The final lines say both that fear arises and that there are not arousing the mind to contemplate, retaining with mindfulness and right wisdom, and not being deluded. Their relation is not further developed. The next passage turns to the jhāna of the swollen-corpse perception.

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Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · The Swollen-Corpse Perception: Its Qualities and Taking the Sign · Exposition · Summer 2026