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Here is the sutta reference to the "pig skin"f comments I made in this thread. It's a cow body, not a pig's, which does not alter the meaning. The application of this makes sense to me, but I will not comment further. The source text is given for those who are interested.
A graphic simile of removing a cow's skin from it's body
From the Majjhima Nikaya 146
§ 114. [Ven. Nandaka:] “Just as if a skilled butcher or butcher’s apprentice, having killed a cow, were to carve it up with a sharp carving knife so that—without damaging the substance of the inner flesh, without damaging the substance of the outer hide—he would cut, sever, & detach only the skin muscles, connective tissues, & attachments in between. Having cut, severed, & detached the outer skin, and then covering the cow again with that very skin, if he were to say that the cow was joined to the skin just as it had been: would he be speaking rightly?”
[Some nuns:] “No, venerable sir. Why is that? Because if the skilled butcher or butcher’s apprentice, having killed a cow, were to… cut, sever, & detach only the skin muscles, connective tissues, & attachments in between; and… having covered the cow again with that very skin, then no matter how much he might say that the cow was joined to the skin just as it had been, the cow would still be disjoined from the skin.“
“This simile, sisters, I have given to convey a message. The message is this: The substance of the inner flesh stands for the six internal media; the substance of the outer hide, for the six external media. The skin muscles, connective tissues, & attachments in between stand for passion & delight. And the sharp knife stands for noble discernment—the noble discernment that cuts, severs, & detaches the defilements, fetters, & bonds in between.” — MN 146
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Marcia Beloved ,Can you please advise good Buddhist books from your experience on being the meditation?
I use mostly bhikku boddhi authored books and book on acharya mun.
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Some books that have helped and influenced my practice are:
An Unentangled Knowing (sometimes titled Pure and Simple) by Upasika Kee Nanayon
The Path to Peace by Ajahn Chah (this is small book which is probably an excerpt from a larger book of his collected teachings, such as:
Food for the Heart by Ajahn Chah
Being Nobody, Going Nowhere by Ayya Khema
Who is My Self by Ayya Khema
When Awareness Becomes Natural by Sayadaw U Tejaniya
Present Fresh Wakefulness by Chookya Nyima Rinpoche
Carefree Dignity by Tsoknyi Rinpoche
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