[Buddha-l] The Body in Buddhist Practice

[L.S. Cousins]

At 8.52 pm +0200 15/9/06, Erik Hoogcarspel wrote:
  In Theravada the body is simply considered a nuisance because it 
hinders meditation, and the jhana's and samapatti's are seen as 
mental phenomena.

This doesn't seem to me to be much to do with Theravaadin practice. 
It is true that body (like mind) tends not to be reified as a single 
entity and it isn't usually idealized or glorified in the Greek 
tradition. But, that apart,  the texts frequently refer to the 
interplay between mind and body: when the mind is joyful, the body 
becomes tranquil and so on. Indeed the joy developed in the jhaanas 
and bojjhan'gas is primarily seen as transforming the body. Or, look 
at the emphasis on the importance of food as a preparation for 
attainment, as a meditation or as a condition (paccaya). Or, look at 
meditation on the 32 Parts of the Body as a practice (very important 
in the Thai Forest Tradition, for example). And so on.

Thai kick-boxing ?

Lance Cousins