Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

At a subsequent meeting, Mr. Chen showed the
writer a photograph of a learned Chinese upasaka
standing beside a skeleton and other human remains
which he used in his practice.
What is the object of our meditation upon impurity as a
whole? To counteract the poison of greed or lust (lobha,
raga).
b. The second of the eight headings for our subject is its
common nature. We must think of impermanence to
which all are subjected; all beings experience death.
Even the great Arhats could not escape from it, so what
of us?
c. Its karmic quality. Meditation on impurity leads to a
revulsion toward the things desired by ordinary people
and therefore decreases the unskillful or "black" karma
of desire. Detachment leads to the performance of more
and more "white" actions.
d. Time. In the past, the Enlightened Ones and their
noble followers have passed away in countless numbers.
In the present, neighbors, parents, children—the young
as well as the old, all are dying; in the future the same
process will continue. This is our meditation with
reference to the three times.
e. Reason of condition or correspondence. Because we
meditate upon impurity, we shall not pursue the
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