起信論疏筆削記 20.8

20.8

Under the fourth, the Śāstra says: "Impure, etc.": the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa says: "This body is impure, filled with filth and evil." Now there are five kinds: first, impurity of seed, because it is formed from the father's semen and the mother's blood; second, impurity of dwelling place, because it dwells between the stomach and the intestines; third, impurity of nature, because thirty-six substances combine together. As for the thirty-six: the external marks are three times four ugly things, namely hair, bodily hair, nails, teeth, rheum, tears, snivel, saliva, filth, sweat, feces, and urine; the vessel of the body is composed of two times six, namely skin, flesh, blood, sinews, pulse, bones, marrow, fat, grease, brain, and membrane; the interior contains twelve foul items, namely spleen, kidneys, heart, lungs, liver, gallbladder, intestines, stomach, red phlegm, white phlegm, the stomach, and the intestines. Fourth, impurity of intrinsic marks, because the nine apertures constantly discharge various foul evils; fifth, ultimate impurity, because when the body breaks up and life ends, it is unbearable. With a physical form like this, what can be delighted in? The Commentary says: "Eliminating the four inversions": permanence, pleasure, self, and purity are the four kinds of inversions clung to by ordinary beings; therefore now, with the four contemplations of impermanence and the rest, they are counteracted one by one, just as four medicines cure four illnesses.