Answers to Questions on Contemplative Practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness 23

Question: With the 36 objects of the white-bone contemplation and the contemplation of impurity, when contemplating one's own body, wherever the contemplation reaches, that place relaxes. I feel that wherever the contemplation reaches, the mind's grasping toward that place becomes lighter, and so it relaxes. Is that right?  

Answer: Yes. The body's state of tension arises precisely because there is grasping in the mind. Whichever part you grasp at, that part becomes tense and stiff. So the body's condition is also caused by emotions. Remove the emotions, relax the mental state, and the body relaxes. When contemplating the 36 objects within the body, contemplate with an objective attitude, as if you were contemplating someone else's body rather than your own. Without grasping, the body loosens and becomes soft; the emptier the mind, the softer the body. 

The feelings of suffering experienced in body and mind all arise from the grasping of the manas. If there is no grasping, there is no suffering. The knots and bonds in the mind are also produced by grasping—knots and bonds are like ropes; where there are knots and bonds, there is obstruction and blockage. When there is no grasping, the mind is open, spacious, and unobstructed—ascending to heaven or descending into the earth, all according to my will. When you experience a feeling of suffering, you should reflect: what have I grasped at in the past and now, such that this suffering has appeared? All suffering has a cause. Only by finding the cause and resolving the cause is there a way to extinguish the fruit of suffering.