BUDDHA RECOMMENDS URINE AS ONLY MEDICINE IN THERAVADA TIPITAKA
A URINE FAST - "THE BUDDHA MEDICINE" BY BHIKKU U. DHAMMAJIVA
Edited, with Commentaries by Swami Tantrasangha
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/urine.htm
http://www.salvationscience.com/v220.htm
"The Buddha Medicine" By Bhikkhu U. Dhammajiva
Edited by: Swedish novice Dhammasami (Samuel Nordius)
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/urine_testimonials.htm#buddha
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/urine.htm
"Glad at heart, I pay homage to the supreme sage - the giver of
blissful peace, the great ocean of virtue, the physician for the
samsaric ills of beings, the sun that dispel the pitchy darkness of
false 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: Terminalia
Chebula) pickled in cow's urine. The Burmese people calls it Pheya-
se, 'The Buddha Medicine', since it's based on a recipe found in the
oldest Buddhist texts, the Pali Tipitaka. It's considered to be a
panacea for many diseases. But does it really follow the original
concept of the Buddha's recommendation to use muttam (urine) as
medicine? That is what I intend to clarify in this article by
refering 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 by
bhikkhus (Buddhist monks) in the centuries following the Buddha's
death to clarify the meaning of the texts found in the two
collections first mentioned.
In an English translation of the Mahakkhandhaka (a text in Mahavagga
found in the Vinaya-Pitaka) the Buddha says:
"The religious life has decomposing urine (PutiMutta or Putrid Urine, which is
now interpreted only as "undesirable" urine - not aged urine) as medicine for
its resource. Thus you must endeavor to live all your life. Ghee, butter, oil,
honey, and molasses are extra allowances." (These are the dietary supplements
for people on Urine Fasts or practicing Rasa Tantra. These supplements can be
found in many scriptures.)
An alternative translation says;
"Going forth [into the Holy Life] has fermented ("puti" in Pali, putrid, meaning
loathesome, not aged. In other words the instructions take into account one's
reluctance 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 the
Vinaya Pitaka. In Pali, the language of the oldest Buddhist texts,
they are called "the Four Requisites", considered to be an absolute
minimum for the bhikkhus to be able to live the Holy Life in line
with 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 taught
to the newly ordained bhikkhu in the ordination hall immediately
after his higher ordination ceremony. It's the responsibility of the
preceptor to make sure that all young bhikkhus know them according
to 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 of
poverty)
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 with
recycling one's immune, genetic and nutritional foods and medicines in urine, is
deemed 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 leaf
for medicine.")
These four requisites/resources the Buddha described as being
indispensable or the bare minimum. Accordingly a Buddhist monk must
endeavor to live all his bhikkhu life dependent only on them. He who
is contented and satisfied with whatever comes across along with
these bare minimums is always phrased in the community, as well as
in the Commentary, as having contentment with whatever four
requisites he has. Whatever extra things he comes across beyond
these four items is just a result of his past good deeds, but they
are usually also allowed for the bhikkhus. As the founder of the
Order, 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 bhikkhu
would go. (The Holy Bible states: "There is much food in the tillage of the
poor." PutiMutta - the urine you don't want(?) - is there wherever you go.)
In the Vinaya Pitaka, the books of monastic discipline, this
medicine (urine) is mentioned in several places. At one occasion,
for example, the Buddha recommend the yellow Myrobalan fruits
pickled 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 a
mixture to be used as an antidote for poisonous snake bites. The
other ingredients are excrement, soil and hot ash. This quote is
from the Vinaya Pitaka:
"For snake bite a medicine may be made of the four great filthy (once again, a
negative 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 present
to make these things allowable, one should have him/her make them
allowable. If not, one may take them for oneself and consume them."
The Commentary adds that this medicine is not only for snake bites
but also for any other poisonous animal bite.
Now, let's have a look at the second ancient collection of Buddhist
texts, 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 the
list, as it appeares in the Sutta Pitaka, drops the forth item given
in the Vinaya Pitaka (medicines, changed to "meditation") that item should be
included in the second item of the Sutta. (2nd Sutta: Alms food. Urine is both
food and medicine.)
To summarize, in the Sutta Pitaka you find only the first three of
these four requisites, with no urine or medicines mentioned (meditation
instead), but theCommentary says that the forth (urine) should be included in
the 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) as
medicine 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 not
confuse in the future; and it's not blamed (denounced) by recluses, Brahmins and
the 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 in
ancient Sri Lanka this was a very popular Buddhist discourse among
people of all walks of life and that it became the inspiration for
an annual festival. In traditional Sinhalese translations, as in
Burmese and Thai ones, the medicine mentioned in the text has been
taken to be cow's urine or, more specifically, Myrobalan fruits
pickled in cow's urine. Owing to this translation, some of the
attributions of this medicine, mentioned by the Buddha, doesn't
appear to be very convincing or practical since it would sometimes
be hard for a bhikkhu to find both the Myrobalan fruit and cow's
urine. However, in recent English translations we get some new
practical sense to this medicine.
Let me add here that it's not only in Buddhism that we find urine as
a medicine but also in other denominations such as Christianity (in
The Holy Bible), Hinduism (in Damar Tantra) and, some claims, in
Islam too (in The Holy Koran). These traditions, however, have a
somewhat different interpretation than the Buddhist texts on how to
use the medicine.
I can think of two reasons for why the usage of urine as medicine
resurfaced again contemporaneously in many traditions in our time.
The first is the increasing number of complications in the
prevailing allopathic or chemotherapeutic treatments of diseases
which has made an increasing number of people interested in
alternative medicines. The second is the general trend of searching
for more holistic health systems, even ancient ones based on
different religious lines. Whatever the reasons may be, the urine
method has its own intriguing nature and might, I believe, still
find a growing group of followers.
A closer look at this therapy, under the current trend, irrespective
of creed, one finds a vast number of convincing testimonies and
subjective evidences on the benefits of the medicine (urine). Buddhism can
contribute in its own way with its canonical and historical references on this
subject – provided that its ideas are presented in correct translations! So far
we've traced some quotations from the Vinaya Pitaka with relevant information
prescribed to bhikkhus. However, I think that the commentarial text has
interfered in a questionable and imperfect manner. In the traditional Buddhist
countries, such as Sri Lanka, Burma or Thailand, no efforts have been made in
resent 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 urged
me to renew the way I read the quoted passages in the Buddhist
canonical sources. I went back to the original scriptures, untouched
by the prevalent traditional translations. When investigating the
Sutta Pitaka with this inquisitive pragmatic approach I came across
the following quotation in the Majjima Nikaya (the Middle Length
Discourses of the Buddha), Sutta number 46 called Dhamma Samadana
Sutta:
"Bhikkhu, a man would come along suffering from jaundice and he is
told: 'Friend, there is a drink made out of putrid (puti) urine, with
various kinds of medicines put in it. If you desire – drink.' When
drinking, it would not be agreeable to sight, smell or taste but
drinking 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 that
illness. I say this observance of the Teaching is comparable to this, as it is
now 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, that
even if a person is golden in color, his body is described as
repulsive 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-commentary
all doubts regarding the real meaning can be cleared out. They state
that urine – to be specific: one's own urine – would not be
agreeable to sight, smell or taste and accordingly has puti as an
adjectival prefix. It is puti not because it is rotten or fermented
but because its intrinsic nature is repulsive to the senses. If the
common 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 and
literature 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 herbal
medicine) is recommended to any individual who's suffering from
jaundice rather than to a just to the bhikkhus as is otherwise the
case in the Vinaya Pitaka. This tells that the medicine was not seen
as just a 'last choice' but as a truly effective remedy.
Conclusive remarks
In the light of this information we should look again at the very
first quotation in this essay. The main theme so far is that
repulsive urine as medicine, which is the last of the four
requisites for bhikkhus, is considered to be the absolute minimum of
medicine 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 already
seen this word has been (literally) translated as:
1.) Decomposing urine as medicine. Or as: 2.) Fermented urine as
support.
The word puti literally means either decomposing or fermented,
sometimes translated as rancid or putrefied (but figuratively means only
repulsive). Muttam means urine, sometimes translated as cows' urine, and
occasionally 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 of
urine is meant, because neither the Vinaya nor its Commentary adds
any further light on the subject. In the Sutta Pitaka, on the other
hand, especially in MN. Sutta No 46 and its relevant Commentary and
Sub-commentary, there's enough evidence to suggest a more pragmatic
meaning than that commonly accepted today. "It would not be
agreeable 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 original
recommendation may not have meant any decomposition, fermentation or
putrefaction at all, as the translators have interpreted it so far.
Nor do the scriptures in any way indicate that it was cow's urine
that the Buddha originally referred to.
The Sub-commentary says: "As urine pass out from the genital it is
warm 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 line
with the Commentary and the Sub-commentary to the above mentioned
Sutta and with the contemporary idea of using one's own urine. Hence
the translation to the first quotations could be rectified as
follows:
"The religious life has your own (repulsive) urine as medicine for
its 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) urine
as its support. For the rest of your life you are to endeavor at
that. 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 who
are 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. This
should give a radical new approach to the prescription given by the
Buddha. It certainly does give a new hope for a healthier lifestyle –
not only for the bhikkhus but for all who seek to live a more
independent kind of life.
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/urine_testimonials.htm#buddha
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/urine.htm
http://www.salvationscience.com/v222.htm
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With Love,
Ganesh Baba
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