The Methods and Objectives of Contemplative Practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) for the Elimination of Self-View (ahaṃkāra-mamakāra-parityāga)

Eliminating self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) is the contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) on the five aggregates (pañcaskandha)—their unreality, their emptiness (śūnyatā), and their selflessness—not about transforming the body into some particular state. Changing the body relies on the power of meditative concentration (samādhi); even without eliminating self-view, one who only cultivates meditative concentration can change the material body, making it incomplete and disabled, and only then could one confirm that the aggregate of form (rūpa) is without self. But aren't those people who are paralyzed or disabled still deeply entrenched in self-view? If through contemplative practice one could transform the material body into gold, perhaps the self-view would become even heavier. The key lies in one's understanding and cognition: to know through direct perception (pratyakṣa) that the material body is false, empty, and unreal. Change your thinking, not your body. Do not contemplate yourself into becoming a cripple—if your meditative power happens to grow stronger and your body really develops problems, wouldn't that be terrible? It is enough to contemplate that the body is something assembled together.