The Practice Which leads to Nibbana - A Buddhist Library

w 5The meditator at Pa Auk Tawya is then taught the developmentof meditation based on bones which is one of the 32 parts of thebody. He can use the perception of bones to develop the first jhŒnabased on repulsiveness, or he can use the white color of the bones asa kasiöa object and develop the white kasiöa to the fourth jhŒna.The meditator begins to develop the meditation on bones byfirstly again developing the fourth jhŒna based on the Mindfulnessof Breathing. Then when the light associated with that concentrationis strong and brilliant he turns his awareness to the discernmentof the 32 parts of the body internally. Then he discerns the 32 partsexternally in a person sitting nearby. Then he selects and discernsonly the bones of the skeleton that are internal. When those boneshave become clear to him then he takes the repulsiveness of thosebones as an object and develops that perception. He perceives themas "repulsive, repulsive, repulsive bones, repulsive bones or bones,bones". He them develops that perception in such a way that hismind stays with the perception of repulsiveness for one or two orthree hours. Because of the assistance of the fourth jhŒna based onmindfulness of breathing it should not take long for him to attain thefirst jhŒna based on the perception of the repulsiveness of the bones.When he is able to do this he can also develop in a similar waythe perception of the repulsiveness of bones externally in other peopleand animals. After he has become skillful in this he can move onto develop the white kasiöa.To develop the white kasiöa he develops his concentration asbefore and until he is able to discern the repulsiveness of the bonesexternally. Then he looks at a very white part of those externalbones such as the back of the skull of the person sitting in front ofhim and by giving attention to it as only "white, white", he eventuallyremoves the perception of repulsiveness and bones and is justaware of the white colour. This may appear to him as a smallwhite circle.