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For centuries, humans have devised countless products in an attempt to improve the appearance of the body, disguise its odor, halt its decay, mask its physical and mental pain—all to create an illusion of beauty, happiness, and constancy. Markets flourish selling jewelry, fashionable clothing, hair dyes, makeup, anti- wrinkle creams, deodorants, perfumes, alcohol, drugs, and more.

The truth of the material body has been buried deep in the unconscious mind, and its products are the soil that covers the casket. The Buddha unearthed the truth of material form. He understood experientially its moment-to-moment decay and the overall withering that leads to death, and discovered that the truth of anicca within the body was the key to nibbāna.

We all have inklings of this truth but hide from it, because it exposes a deeply pervasive fear of loss entangled with our strong attachment to the mistaken perception of a permanent body housing an eternal “I.”

Vipassana meditation brings the mind-body’s true nature into view, with its incessant changing quality—anicca. Developing equanimity towards the reality of the mind-body is what breaks down our attachment to it and leads us to liberation.


Ambapālī’s Verses

At the time of the Buddha, Ambapālī was an exquisitely beautiful and famous courtesan. She had a son who became an eminent elder in the Buddha’s monastic order. One day she heard her son give a discourse on Dhamma and was inspired by its truth to renounce the world and ordain as a bhikkhunī. Through observation of the decay of her once-beautiful body, she understood the law of impermanence to its full extent and became an arahant.

This selection of her verses describes the changes that transform the body in old age.

My hair was black,
the color of bees,
each hair ending in a curl.
Now, on account of old age,
they have become like fibers of hemp.
Not otherwise is the word of the Speaker of Truth.

Covered with flowers,
my head was fragrant
like a casket of delicate scent.
Now, on account of old age,
it smells like the fur of a dog.
Not otherwise is the word of the Speaker of Truth.

Formerly my eyebrows were beautiful,
like crescents well painted by an artist’s hand.
Now, on account of old age,
they droop down, lined by wrinkles.
Not otherwise is the word of the Speaker of Truth.

Brilliant and beautiful like jewels,
my eyes were dark blue
and long in shape.
Now, hit hard by old age,
their beauty has utterly vanished.
Not otherwise is the word of the Speaker of Truth.

Formerly my teeth looked beautiful,
the color of plantain buds.
Now, on account of old age,
they are broken and yellow.
Not otherwise is the word of the Speaker of Truth.

Formerly my two breasts were beautiful,
swollen, round, compact, and high.
Now they hang down and sag,
like a pair of empty water bags.
Not otherwise is the word of the Speaker of Truth.

Formerly my body was beautiful,
like a well-polished sheet of gold.
Now it is all covered with wrinkles.
Not otherwise is the word of the Speaker of Truth.

Formerly my feet looked beautiful,
as if made of cotton wool.
Now, because of old age,
they are cracked and wrinkled all over.
Not otherwise is the word of the Speaker of Truth.

Such is this body,
now decrepit,
the abode of a jumble of suffering.
It is nothing but an aged house
from which the plaster has fallen.
Not otherwise is the word of the Speaker of Truth.
—Therīgāthā 13.252–270, Amadeo Solé-Leris, translator























Dvipādakoyaṃ asuci,
duggandho parihārati;
Nānākuṇapaparipūro,
vissavanto tato tato.
Etādisena kāyena,
yo maññe uṇṇametave;
Paraṃ vā avajāneyya kimaññatra adassanāti.

This two-footed dirty body,
carrying about a bad odor and full of impurities
that pour out from different places— with a body like this,
if one thinks highly of oneself and looks down upon others,
to what can this be due, except ignorance?
—Sutta Nipata 1.207-208

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