BUDDHA RECOMMENDS URINE AS ONLY MEDICINE IN THERAVADA TIPITAKA

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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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