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BUDDHA RECOMMENDS URINE AS ONLY MEDICINE IN THERAVADA TIPITAKAA URINE FAST - " THE BUDDHA MEDICINE " BY BHIKKU U. DHAMMAJIVAEdited, with Commentaries by Swami Tantrasanghahttp://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/urine.htm

http://www.salvationscience.com/v220.htm " The Buddha Medicine " By Bhikkhu U. DhammajivaEdited by: Swedish novice Dhammasami (Samuel Nordius)

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/urine_testimonials.htm#buddhahttp://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/urine.htm

" Glad at heart, I pay homage to the supreme sage - the giver ofblissful peace, the great ocean of virtue, the physician for thesamsaric ills of beings, the sun that dispel the pitchy darkness offalse views! " – Lo-wáda Sangarava, 15th century Sinhalese poem

In Burmese meditation-centers, as in monasteries in most Theravada-Buddhist countries, you often find a peculiar kind of medicine:Yellow Myrobalan nuts (in Pali: Hritaki, in Latin: TerminaliaChebula) pickled in cow's urine. The Burmese people calls it Pheya-

se, 'The Buddha Medicine', since it's based on a recipe found in theoldest Buddhist texts, the Pali Tipitaka. It's considered to be apanacea for many diseases. But does it really follow the original

concept of the Buddha's recommendation to use muttam (urine) asmedicine? That is what I intend to clarify in this article byrefering to four of the oldest Buddhist scriptures: 1.) The Vinaya-Pitaka, the ancient collection of Buddhist monastic rules. 2.) The

Sutta Pitaka, the ancient collection of the Buddha's discourses. 3.)The so-called 'Commentary' and 'Sub-commentary', texts written bybhikkhus (Buddhist monks) in the centuries following the Buddha's

death to clarify the meaning of the texts found in the twocollections first mentioned.In an English translation of the Mahakkhandhaka (a text in Mahavaggafound in the Vinaya-Pitaka) the Buddha says:

" The religious life has decomposing urine (PutiMutta or Putrid Urine, which isnow interpreted only as " undesirable " urine - not aged urine) as medicine forits resource. Thus you must endeavor to live all your life. Ghee, butter, oil,

honey, and molasses are extra allowances. " (These are the dietary supplementsfor people on Urine Fasts or practicing Rasa Tantra. These supplements can befound in many scriptures.)An alternative translation says;

" Going forth [into the Holy Life] has fermented ( " puti " in Pali, putrid, meaningloathesome, not aged. In other words the instructions take into account one'sreluctance to drink urine.) urine (mutta) as its support. For the rest of your

life you are to endeavor at that. The extra allowances are; Ghee, fresh butter,oil, honey, (raw) sugar. " There are four such necessary supports/resources listed in theVinaya Pitaka. In Pali, the language of the oldest Buddhist texts,

they are called " the Four Requisites " , considered to be an absoluteminimum for the bhikkhus to be able to live the Holy Life in linewith the Buddha's teaching. The above mentioned item, fermented ( " puti " or

putrid - not fermented but loathesome to the uninitiated)urine, is the fourth of these resources. All the four must be taughtto the newly ordained bhikkhu in the ordination hall immediatelyafter his higher ordination ceremony. It's the responsibility of the

preceptor to make sure that all young bhikkhus know them accordingto the following prescription of the Buddha. " I prescribe, O bhikkhus, that he who confers the higher ordination(on a bhikkhu), tells him the four resources. "

These are all the four resources listed in the Vinaya-Pitaka:1. Robes: robes made of rags taken from a dust heap as a resource (a vow ofpoverty)2. Alms food: morsels of food given in alms as a resource (Better to stay with

recycling and the recommended dietary supplements.)3. Dwellings: a dwelling at the foot of a tree as a resource (a vow of poverty)4. Medicines: decomposing ( " puti " - not foul or decomposing, but detestable to

the uninitiated) urine as medicine as a resource. Fasting, combined withrecycling one's immune, genetic and nutritional foods and medicines in urine, isdeemed superior to modern medicine, especially in Rasa Tantra Sadhana. The Holy

Bible states: " The Tree of Life: It's fruit I give you for food, and its leaffor medicine. " )These four requisites/resources the Buddha described as beingindispensable or the bare minimum. Accordingly a Buddhist monk must

endeavor to live all his bhikkhu life dependent only on them. He whois contented and satisfied with whatever comes across along withthese bare minimums is always phrased in the community, as well asin the Commentary, as having contentment with whatever four

requisites he has. Whatever extra things he comes across beyondthese four items is just a result of his past good deeds, but theyare usually also allowed for the bhikkhus. As the founder of theOrder, and therefore its first bhikkhu, the Buddha assured all the

bhikkhus that the prescribed bare minimums are quite abundant.Besides, they were, at that time, free to find wherever a bhikkhuwould go. (The Holy Bible states: " There is much food in the tillage of thepoor. " PutiMutta - the urine you don't want(?) - is there wherever you go.)

In the Vinaya Pitaka, the books of monastic discipline, thismedicine (urine) is mentioned in several places. At one occasion,for example, the Buddha recommend the yellow Myrobalan fruitspickled in urine for a monk who was sick with jaundice (probably

anaemia or Hepatitis) to be taken orally: " O, monks! I allow that urine and yellow Myrobalan be drunk. " At another occasion the Buddha included urine as an ingredient in amixture to be used as an antidote for poisonous snake bites. The

other ingredients are excrement, soil and hot ash. This quote isfrom the Vinaya Pitaka: " For snake bite a medicine may be made of the four great filthy (once again, anegative perception of what is being recommended - perhaps to confound or

confuse non-initiates about this doctrine)things: excrement, urine, ash and clay. If there is someone presentto make these things allowable, one should have him/her make themallowable. If not, one may take them for oneself and consume them. "

The Commentary adds that this medicine is not only for snake bitesbut also for any other poisonous animal bite.Now, let's have a look at the second ancient collection of Buddhisttexts, the Sutta Pitaka. According to the Ariyavaüsa Sutta in

Anguttara Nikaya the Buddha phrases four requisites of noble clans(or lineages of traditions) in nine terms:The Commentary to the Ariyavaüsa Sutta says that even though thelist, as it appeares in the Sutta Pitaka, drops the forth item given

in the Vinaya Pitaka (medicines, changed to " meditation " ) that item should beincluded in the second item of the Sutta. (2nd Sutta: Alms food. Urine is bothfood and medicine.)To summarize, in the Sutta Pitaka you find only the first three of

these four requisites, with no urine or medicines mentioned (meditationinstead), but theCommentary says that the forth (urine) should be included inthe list, in the alms food so that all should be in completion to make delight

in development of meditation possible.Hence decomposing (a misinterpretation of " puti " ) urine (mutta, mutra) asmedicine can claim for all the above mentioned attributes, that is: urine was " recognized as a medicine by those gone by, those honored from the past; that it

was recognized by the clan; it was not confusing in the past and it will notconfuse in the future; and it's not blamed (denounced) by recluses, Brahmins andthe wise. " I would like to quote another translation of the same Sutta which

goes as follows: " O monks, these four noble lineages (requisites) pristine [including " detestable " urine as medicine], of long standing, traditional, ancient,unadulterated and never before adulterated, which are not being adulterated and

which will not be adulterated, not despised by wise ascetics and Brahmins. " The authors of this translation added a footnote saying that inancient Sri Lanka this was a very popular Buddhist discourse among

people of all walks of life and that it became the inspiration foran annual festival. In traditional Sinhalese translations, as inBurmese and Thai ones, the medicine mentioned in the text has beentaken to be cow's urine or, more specifically, Myrobalan fruits

pickled in cow's urine. Owing to this translation, some of theattributions of this medicine, mentioned by the Buddha, doesn'tappear to be very convincing or practical since it would sometimesbe hard for a bhikkhu to find both the Myrobalan fruit and cow's

urine. However, in recent English translations we get some newpractical sense to this medicine.Let me add here that it's not only in Buddhism that we find urine asa medicine but also in other denominations such as Christianity (in

The Holy Bible), Hinduism (in Damar Tantra) and, some claims, inIslam too (in The Holy Koran). These traditions, however, have asomewhat different interpretation than the Buddhist texts on how touse the medicine.

I can think of two reasons for why the usage of urine as medicineresurfaced again contemporaneously in many traditions in our time.The first is the increasing number of complications in theprevailing allopathic or chemotherapeutic treatments of diseases

which has made an increasing number of people interested inalternative medicines. The second is the general trend of searchingfor more holistic health systems, even ancient ones based ondifferent religious lines. Whatever the reasons may be, the urine

method has its own intriguing nature and might, I believe, stillfind a growing group of followers.A closer look at this therapy, under the current trend, irrespectiveof creed, one finds a vast number of convincing testimonies and

subjective evidences on the benefits of the medicine (urine). Buddhism cancontribute in its own way with its canonical and historical references on thissubject – provided that its ideas are presented in correct translations! So far

we've traced some quotations from the Vinaya Pitaka with relevant informationprescribed to bhikkhus. However, I think that the commentarial text hasinterfered in a questionable and imperfect manner. In the traditional Buddhist

countries, such as Sri Lanka, Burma or Thailand, no efforts have been made inresent history to get a clear idea of how the medicine was intended to be used,or how it was used at the time of the Buddha.The increasing amount of literature on the subject, with testimonies

and evidences from the other sources, made me think twice and urgedme to renew the way I read the quoted passages in the Buddhistcanonical sources. I went back to the original scriptures, untouchedby the prevalent traditional translations. When investigating the

Sutta Pitaka with this inquisitive pragmatic approach I came acrossthe following quotation in the Majjima Nikaya (the Middle LengthDiscourses of the Buddha), Sutta number 46 called Dhamma SamadanaSutta:

" Bhikkhu, a man would come along suffering from jaundice and he istold: 'Friend, there is a drink made out of putrid (puti) urine, withvarious kinds of medicines put in it. If you desire – drink.' When

drinking, it would not be agreeable to sight, smell or taste butdrinking it you will get over your illness. (Thus, " puti " does not mean putrid,but that " it would not be agreeable " .) He reflects about it and drinks it. It

would not be agreeable to sight, smell or taste, yet he would get over thatillness. I say this observance of the Teaching is comparable to this, as it isnow unpleasant (puti) and brings pleasant results in the future. "

The Commentary to this Sutta says: " [The Pali word] Putimuttan means just 'urine'. So it's said, thateven if a person is golden in color, his body is described asrepulsive in the scriptures. Even so, extracted in that very moment, the young

(or fresh) urine is called just puti (usually translated as 'putrid' or'fermented', but meaning only 'repulsive'). " The Sub-commentary continues to explain: " [The Pali word] Putimuttan means urine which is repulsive in

nature.Just by consulting the relevant Commentary and its Sub-commentaryall doubts regarding the real meaning can be cleared out. They statethat urine – to be specific: one's own urine – would not be

agreeable to sight, smell or taste and accordingly has puti as anadjectival prefix. It is puti not because it is rotten or fermentedbut because its intrinsic nature is repulsive to the senses. If thecommon translations are changed in line with this interpretation the

basic idea of using urine as a medicine becomes more palatable and,not to diminish, quite agreeable with the current research andliterature on the subject.It's also interesting to note that the medicine mentioned in the

Dhamma Samadana Sutta (one's own urine mixed up with other herbalmedicine) is recommended to any individual who's suffering fromjaundice rather than to a just to the bhikkhus as is otherwise thecase in the Vinaya Pitaka. This tells that the medicine was not seen

as just a 'last choice' but as a truly effective remedy.Conclusive remarksIn the light of this information we should look again at the veryfirst quotation in this essay. The main theme so far is that

repulsive urine as medicine, which is the last of the fourrequisites for bhikkhus, is considered to be the absolute minimum ofmedicine that a bhikkhu will need through out his life.The Pali term Putimuttabhesajja is a compounded term made out of at

least three pali roots; puti, mutta and bhesajja. As we've alreadyseen this word has been (literally) translated as:1.) Decomposing urine as medicine. Or as: 2.) Fermented urine assupport.The word puti literally means either decomposing or fermented,

sometimes translated as rancid or putrefied (but figuratively means onlyrepulsive). Muttam means urine, sometimes translated as cows' urine, andoccasionally as ammonia. Bhesajjam means medicine.In the Vinaya Pitaka, whether with the consultation of its

Commentary or not, there is little chance to find out what kind ofurine is meant, because neither the Vinaya nor its Commentary addsany further light on the subject. In the Sutta Pitaka, on the otherhand, especially in MN. Sutta No 46 and its relevant Commentary and

Sub-commentary, there's enough evidence to suggest a more pragmaticmeaning than that commonly accepted today. " It would not beagreeable to sight, smell or taste " suggests that the adjective " puti " does not mean any decomposition, fermentation or putrefaction

but that urine is naturally disagreeable to sight, smell or taste –a statement most people would agree with. The originalrecommendation may not have meant any decomposition, fermentation orputrefaction at all, as the translators have interpreted it so far.

Nor do the scriptures in any way indicate that it was cow's urinethat the Buddha originally referred to.The Sub-commentary says: " As urine pass out from the genital it iswarm due to the body heat " . There is not a word or clue justifying

the assumption that cows' urine is meant.The interpretation I prefer, on the other hand, is quite in linewith the Commentary and the Sub-commentary to the above mentionedSutta and with the contemporary idea of using one's own urine. Hence

the translation to the first quotations could be rectified asfollows: " The religious life has your own (repulsive) urine as medicine forits resource. Thus you must endeavor to live all your life. Ghee,

butter, oil, honey, and molasses are extra allowances. " Or: " Going forth [into the Holy Life] has your own (repulsive) urineas its support. For the rest of your life you are to endeavor atthat. The extra allowances are; Ghee, fresh butter, oil, honey,

sugar. " (The Holy Bible states: " I give you honey, oil and fine flour for food. " " Dainty food, that ye eat not much. " " Butter and honey will they eat - all whoare left in the land. " This, no doubt, refers to surviving a famine or an

epidemic, as well as Salvation from Suffering.)Likewise, all other quotations could be corrected accordingly. Thisshould give a radical new approach to the prescription given by theBuddha. It certainly does give a new hope for a healthier lifestyle –

not only for the bhikkhus but for all who seek to live a moreindependent kind of life.http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/urine_testimonials.htm#buddha

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/urine.htmhttp://www.salvationscience.com/v222.htm

*************************************************************- Ganesh Baba ! Jai Gurudev !Click Below to join our Group:kriyababa_spiritualjourney/join

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