Understanding the Nature of Craving and the Physical Body : หน้า 92/263

desire and carried away by their craving, and who do nothing but please themselves, never remove themselves from craving. Like the spider which spends its whole life in its web. If the spider were wise, it would cut itself free from the web of craving with the sword of the arahant's wisdom once and for ever. The wise see the body as no more than excrement The wise of old, trained themselves to see the filth and impurity of the human body in order to purge themselves from the sensual desire in their minds. They constantly remind themselves that the physical body is impermanent, fashioned from its 300 components with craving as the maker — and packaged in a bag of skin. When the body is ornamented, if viewed only from the outside, it looks attractive enough — but if you consider what the body is like from the inside too, you will soon see that the majority of the body is in fact revolting, smelly, impure, repugnant and filled with excrement, mucus and urine. In reality, the body is no more beautiful than a huge spot filled with pus, plasma and blood, and bleeding from nine wounds (the bodily openings). Nonetheless, the body remains attractive to those who lack mindfulness and wisdom and who are blinded by their defilements. The Physical Body is the Crossroads for Suffering The physical body is said to be constantly sick because it is a crossroads for all kinds of suffering. Anyone who has to maintain their body has to tend the body's sicknesses day and night. The body cannot even stay still in a single position for long without suffering — so the owner has to keep shifting position to cope with the discomfort. Thus the physical body is said to have a constant disease. Those who are