SuttaCentral
Coming at this from a Sarvāstivādin POV, who seemed to focus on this more than say Theravāda, I recommend Ven. Dhammajoti’s paper “Meditative Experiences of Impurity and Purity—Further Reflection on the as ́ubha ̄ Meditation and the s ́ubha-vimoks.” found here: Religions | Free Full-Text | Meditative Experiences of Impurity and Purity—Further Reflection on the aśubhā Meditation and the śubha-vimokṣa
A must read on the topic IMO for any well informed Buddhist.
This conversation has become circular 
And? The problem here is?
So, you in fact consider that asubha practice is the core teaching of the Dhamma based on your “personal experience”?
Cf.:
It is important to note that the Chinese iddhipāda-samyutta was lost, and therefore we can only rely on the Pāli iddhipāda-samyutta for an idea of the core teachings found there. But the iddhipādas are considered a core of the sutra-anga in the theoretical ‘samyutta-kathā.’ So the fact that they are not currently available in Chinese does not mean they weren’t important. I will not reference this because I am certain you are aware of it.
In the Iddhipāda-samyutta, we have the vibhanga for the four iddhipādas that defines and describes their practice. Here is an excerpt:
It’s when a mendicant develops the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to enthusiasm, and active effort.
They think: ‘My enthusiasm won’t be too lax or too tense. And it’ll be neither constricted internally nor scattered externally.’ And they meditate perceiving continuity:
as before, so after; as after, so before;
as below, so above; as above, so below;
as by day, so by night; as by night, so by day.
…
And how does a mendicant meditate as below, so above; as above, so below?
It’s when a mendicant examines their own body up from the soles of the feet and down from the tips of the hairs, wrapped in skin and full of many kinds of filth. ‘In this body there is head hair, body hair, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, undigested food, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, saliva, snot, synovial fluid, urine.’
SN 51.20
So this is the passage describing the meditation on the parts of the body, which it says is what ‘as above, so below’ (yathā adho tathā uddhaṁ, yathā uddhaṁ tathā adho) refers to. Note that this refrain is mentioned in the standard full description of the iddhipādas elsewhere (e.g. SN 51.11, 51.12, 51.14, etc.). In comparing the parallels to MN 10, the body parts is also the only practice that is in common across all Satipatthana compilations of all traditions, including extracts found in Abhidharma analyses. This means that outside of SN/SA, it is the standard example of ‘kāyānupassanā’ across all schools of Early Buddhism.
The phrase ‘kāye kāyānupassī viharati’ is never analyzed further within the SN/SA collections outside the context of ānāpānasati. If the satipatthānā only refer to ānāpānasati, it would be strange for them to be something that mindfulness of breathing “fullfills” or for them to be a separate samyutta and category all together. It seems that the satipatthānā must be a larger, more general framework for sammāsati, and ānāpānasati is a prime example of a way of fulfilling them.
So then we can ask: does contemplating the body parts match with observing the body / an aspect of the body? Well, of course. They are called ‘body parts’ in English precisely because these are merely aspects of the larger body, just as breath is an aspect of the body. So maintaining proper remembrance and sustained awareness of them would be an example of ‘kāyānupassanā.’
But maybe that’s not convincing to you. Well then, we can look outside of these two samyuttas to one that does have a Chinese parallel: SN 35.127 (SĀ 1165). Here, there is an explicit description of this practice in common across parallels and found in the sūtra-anga of the SN/SA (salāyatana-samyutta), therefore qualifying it as a part of the “core collection” of the SN/SA in Early Buddhism. I paste the relevant Chinese below:
尊者賓頭盧語婆蹉王優陀延那：「更有因緣，如世尊說，如來、應、等正覺所知所見，為比丘說：『此身從足至頂，骨幹肉塗，覆以薄皮，種種不淨充滿其中；周遍觀察，髮、毛、爪、齒、塵垢、流唌、皮、肉、白骨、筋、脈、心、肝、肺、脾、腎、腸、肚、生藏、熟藏、胞、淚、汗、涕、沫、肪、脂、髓、痰、癊、膿、血、腦、汁、屎、溺。』大王！此因此緣故，年少比丘於此法、律，出家未久，安隱樂住，乃至純一滿淨。」
And the Pāli:
“Vuttaṁ kho etaṁ, mahārāja, tena bhagavatā jānatā passatā arahatā sammāsambuddhena: ‘etha tumhe, bhikkhave, imameva kāyaṁ uddhaṁ pādatalā adho kesamatthakā tacapariyantaṁ pūraṁ nānappakārassa asucino paccavekkhatha—atthi imasmiṁ kāye kesā lomā nakhā dantā taco maṁsaṁ nhāru aṭṭhi aṭṭhimiñjaṁ vakkaṁ hadayaṁ yakanaṁ kilomakaṁ pihakaṁ papphāsaṁ antaṁ antaguṇaṁ udariyaṁ karīsaṁ pittaṁ semhaṁ pubbo lohitaṁ sedo medo assu vasā kheḷo siṅghāṇikā lasikā muttan’ti
Hope that’s helpful.
Asubha practice is certainly found in the sutra-anga of SN/SA. However, the practice is not included in the notion of ‘right view’ in terms of the so-called seeing-knowing ‘things as they really are’:
Also, all the nine progressive stages of meditation (i.e. the 4 rūpas, 4 arūpas, and the cessation of perception-and-feeling ‘saññā-vedayita-nirodha’) are the results of mental projection (saṅkhārā). Only the ‘cessation of desire-hatred-delusion’ is based on true insight of the real world (i.e. ‘right view’):
So, asubha practice is not the core teachings of SN/SA.
I agree, of course, that reviewing the body parts is part of sammāsati, and is not equivalent to attaining liberation. But it is a factor leading to that, and when practiced properly with the other aspects of the path, it can be the impetus for liberation.
You seem to be equating “core teachings” with “must be equivalent to an explanation of right view.” Right view is only one aspect of the noble eightfold path, and in order to ‘see things truly’ one must develop sammāsati. One example of sammāsati is asubha practice.
Asubha practice (which I prefer to call by a more neutral term like ‘mindfulness of bodily parts’ or something along those lines) can be used to develop and actualize the four noble truths and realize them via contemplating anicca/dukkha/anattā as per the SN/SA teachings. How? -
One is contemplating the body to understand how it is ultimately not desirable (i.e. dukkha) and relinquish attachment and craving to it (i.e. nirodha). One applies right view (framework of the four noble truths) to establish sīla, and cultivate right effort and right mindfulness via body-part meditation to develop right samādhi (i.e. magga) and therefore extinguish greed hatred and delusion. So using the 8fold path to understand dukkha, the arising and realize cessation via contemplating the body is certainly a part of the path to liberation in the SN/SA scheme.
The only objection here is to say that body-contemplation does not cover understanding the other aggregates of vedanā, saññā, sankhārā and viññāna. But the process of developing right effort, sati, and samādhi involves an interconnected body-mind process which leads to an understanding of how these all relate. Properly cultivating satipatthānā, starting with body-part contemplation will lead through to the other applications of mindfulness as well.
Also, by understanding the nature of primarily one aggregate (here, rūpa) within the framework of the whole 8ofld path and four noble truths, one is able to penetrate into the nature of all the aggregates and understand their equivalent nature, arising, and ceasing. This fulfills right view and the whole path for liberation.
So, in short, if “core teaching” means “definition of right view,” then sure, asubha is not a “definition of right view.” But a definition of right view is far from the core of Buddhist practice. It is one crucial component, out of which other core practices (like body contemplation) stem. To my mind, the value in this conversation is mainly for others to see and contemplate for their own practice. You may not personally be convinced, but I hope the dialogue is of real benefit to some.
All the best.
Good to mention this point. But, asubha practice is not included in the SN/SA suttas regarding the ‘mindfulness’ practice for ‘samatha’:
One of the meditative practices for overcoming sensual pleasures (kāmā) mentioned in SN35.127 = SA 1165 is the practice of “mother-mind (mātu-cittam), sister-mind (bhaginī-cittam), and daughter-mind (dhītu-cittam)”:
Pages 100-1 from The Fundamental Teachings of Early Buddhism Choong Mun-keat 2000.pdf (162.3 KB)
This is what the majority of my post above is about. I recommend re-considering what I said about the iddhipādas (which are a practice leading to samādhi and describe developing sati via asubha) and about the definition and usage of ‘kāye kāyānaupassī viharati’ as a more general category.
I can also ask: do you disagree that observing and contemplating the body parts fits as a proper way of applying ‘kāyānupassanā’? What do you think ‘kāyānupassanā’ entails apart from the body-aspect of mindfulness of breathing?
Reading this passage, the author says:
If, however, his mind is still unsteady and burning with desire-hatred-delusion, then he should turn to the practice of reflecting on the body as impure
If asubha is for ending “desire-hatred-delusion” as above, then it fits in with “true insight of the real world” as per your definition here.
The Buddha in fact teaches ānāpānasati instead of asubha practice. He has made a mistake for some monks (see Ānāpāna Saṃyutta of SN/SA).
It is therefore asubha practice is not included in the SN/SA suttas regarding the ‘mindfulness’ practice for ‘samatha’.
Also, MN118 Anapanasati sutta (also MN10 Satipatthana sutta) is an expanded version of the satipatthana from SN/SA suttas (such as SN 47.2 = SA 622 on satipatthana, SN 54.1 = SA 803 on anapanasati).
Asubha practice cannot end “desire-hatred-delusion”. The practice of ‘right view’ is needed for the ending, according to the core teachings of SN/SA suttas.
Can I ask what you take ‘kāye kāyānupassī viharati’ to mean in actual practice — apart from the breath?
At SN 54.13 the breath is said to be a ‘certain [aspect of the] body’ (‘kāyaññatra’). So as Bhante Sujato has translated, ‘kāye kāyānupassī,’ seems to indicate observing ‘an aspect of the body,’ or a certain bodily component in the larger context of the body and bodily phenomena.
So it seems that being continually mindful of, say, the bodily process of breathing, or a bodily part, or bodily elements, etc. that one is fulfilling ‘kāye kāyānupassī viharati.’ This would mean that what is called ‘asubha’ meditation would be a valid option for cultivating sammāsati if one added in the other components of right mindfulness.
Do you have any examples of mindfulness of the body beyond the breath? And what do you make of the iddhipāda-vibhanga passages I mentioned where body part meditation is said to be an aspect of cultivating samādhi/samatha? I’d like to get a better sense of what you have in mind. 
Its corresponding counterpart SA 810 also does not mention the term asubha. So, the mindfulness practice for samādhi/samatha in the SN/SA suttas should not include asubha meditation.
I consider these nine meditative states of concentration (samādhi) can be regarded as the so-called mystical experiences.
Hi Thomas. I think I may not have been clear.
I’m asking what you would say ‘kāye kāyānupassī viharati’ — part of the definition for right mindfulness — means in actual practice? That is, what is an example of actually fulfilling these instructions other than ānāpānassati?
The parallel Chinese phrase is ‘身身觀念處.’ How does one practice ‘身身觀念處’ without using the breath as the main theme of mindfulness? What other themes could be used?
Yes, it certainly needs breath for the sati practice.
So you would say mindfulness of breathing is the only valid form of satipatthana practice? Any other type of contemplation is inauthentic?
Anapanasati and satipatthana are not the same content in SN/SA suttas. See sati for samatha in SN/SA suttas: