Ucchuṣma: One of the Twenty-five Holy Perfect-Penetration Methods in Volume 5 of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra

Original text:乌刍瑟摩。于如来前。合掌顶礼佛之双足。而白佛言。我常先忆。久远劫前。性多贪欲。有佛出世。名曰空王。说多淫人。成猛火聚。教我遍观百骸四肢。诸冷暖气。神光内凝。化多淫心成智慧火。从是诸佛皆呼召我。名为火头。我以火光三昧力故。成阿罗汉。心发大愿。诸佛成道。我为力士。亲伏魔怨。佛问圆通。我以谛观。身心暖触。无碍流通。诸漏既销。生大宝焰。登无上觉。斯为第一。

Explanation: Ucchuṣma came before the Buddha, pressed his palms together and bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: I often recall that in the distant kalpas of the past, my mental disposition was dominated by greed and desire. There was a Buddha who appeared in the world, named King of Emptiness Buddha, who told me that where people abundant in lust are born, great fierce fires often gather, burning them with the fire of desire. He also taught me to observe thoroughly every day in meditative concentration the vital energies throughout the hundred bones and four limbs of the body, perceiving all of them, whether cool or warm. In the course of this contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), meditative concentration arose, the mind-spirit became gathered and concentrated, no longer scattering outward; the lustful mind was extinguished and the mind of wisdom was born, being adept at transforming the lustful mind into the fire of wisdom. From then on, all the Buddhas called me Fire Head. Because of the power of the fire-light meditative absorption (samādhi) I had realized, I became a great arhat. Thereupon I made a great vow: whenever the Buddhas attain the Way, I will serve as a mighty warrior, personally subduing Māra and his adversaries, and protecting and upholding the Buddhas. Now the Buddha asks me about the dharma gate of perfect penetration: through deep and subtle contemplative practice of the warm sensation on body and mind, the warm sensation pervades and touches body and mind, all afflictive outflows are exhausted, the mind gives rise to a vast flame of wisdom, and I ascended to the unsurpassed path of awakening. This is the foremost dharma gate of perfect penetration of my practice.

Why can meditative concentration and meditative absorption (samādhi) subdue and eradicate the afflictions of greed and desire? Because meditative concentration can transform body and mind, endowing body and mind with the sensation of bliss; this bliss is extremely pure and sublime, surpassing the pleasure of sexual desire in the human world, especially the meditative concentration of the first dhyāna and the third dhyāna. When a person possesses the more sublime bliss of meditative concentration, naturally they no longer delight in the coarse and crude pleasure of sexual desire. After attaining meditative absorption (samādhi), the bliss of body and mind becomes even more sublime and more pure, and the lustful mind is transformed into the fire of wisdom. Therefore meditative concentration can subdue afflictions, and meditative absorption can eradicate afflictions; for those who wish for liberation, neither of the two can be lacking.