The Practice Which leads to Nibbana - A Buddhist Library

w 64discerning the parts of the body. You should practise like thiswhenever your light of concentration fades.You should practise to see all of the thirty-two parts with theassistance of the light of concentration of the fourth jhŒna based onmindfulness of breathing. Practise so that if you begin to discernfrom head hair down to urine, or backwards from urine up to headhair, you are able to clearly see each with penetrating knowledge,and keep practising until you are skilled in doing this.Then using the light of concentration of the fourth jhŒna basedon mindfulness of breathing to assist you try to discern the nearestperson or being who is sitting near you. It is especially good todiscern a person, or being, who is in front of you. Then you shoulddiscern in that person, or being, the 32 parts of the body, beginningfrom the hairs of the head down to urine. Then from urine up to headhair. You should discern these 32 parts forwards and backwardsmany times. When you are successful at doing this you should startto discern the 32 parts one round internally, and then one roundexternally, and continue to do this many times, again and again.When you are able to discern the 32 parts of the body internallyand externally like this then the power of the meditation will increase.Using this method you should gradually extend the field of yourdiscernment by increments from nearby to faraway. You will beable to increase the area of discernment of the 32 parts of the body inbeings until you can discern them in all ten directions. Above, below,east, west, north, south , north east, south east, north west, southwest. Whoever in these ten directions that you find discernible byyour light of concentration be they, human, animal or other beings,you should take each one and discern the 32 parts one roundinternally and one round externally one person or being at a time.Eventually when you don't think of what you see as men, woman,or buffaloes, cows, or animals, but instead see only a group of 32