The forty subjects for meditation

In the 5th century CE, an Indian Buddhist monk left India to Sri Lanka, where he settled in Anuradhapura. Not much more is known of this monk, Buddhaghosa, except through his monumental commentary on the Suttas, the Visuddhimagga - Path of Purification.

Perhaps the main reason for the Visuddhimagga's appeal stretching to our time is its detailed instructions on meditation, clarifying some obscure points in the original Suttas.

Some learned Ajaans (namely Buddhadasa), in modern times, envisioned a return to the sources, considering that only the Suttas and the Vinaya are the Buddha's words: not the Visuddhimagga, not even the Abhidhamma (the third Pitaka - Basket of Scriptures - of the Pali canon).

Here are the forty subjects for meditation you can find in the Visuddhimagga, together with references (links) to the original Suttas.

Ten devices (kasina) [The Greater Discourse to Sakuludāyin, MN 77]

1. Earth device
2. Water device
3. Fire device
4. Air or wind device
5. Blue device
6. Yellow device
7. Red device
8. White device
9. Limited space device
10. Consciousness (MN77) or Light (VSM) device

Ten kinds of foulness of a corpse [Kayagata-sati Sutta, MN 119]

1. A corpse that is bloated
2. A corpse that is livid (has patchy discoloration)
3. A corpse that is festering (trickling with pus in broken places)
4. A corpse that is cut up
5. A corpse that is gnawed
6. A corpse that is scattered
7. A corpse that is hacked and scattered
8. A corpse that is bleeding
9. A corpse that is worm-infested
10. A corpse that is a skeleton

Ten recollections [Ekadhammapali Sutta, AN 1.296-297]

1. Recollection of the Buddha
2. Recollection of the Dhamma
3. Recollection of the Sangha
4. Recollection of Virtue
5. Recollection of Generosity
6. Recollection of the Devas
7. Mindfulness of Death
8. Mindfulness of the Physical Body
9. Mindfulness of Breathing
10. Recollection of Peace

Four divine abodes [Kalama Sutta, AN 3.65]

1. Loving-kindness
2. Compassion
3. Sympathy
4. Equanimity

Four immaterial states [Ariyapariyesana Sutta, MN 26]

1. Sphere of Infinite Space
2. Sphere of Infinite Consciousness
3. Sphere of No-thingness
4. Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception

One perception [Sañña Sutta, AN 7.46]

1. Perception of the loathsomeness of food

One defining [Dhatu-vibhanga Sutta, MN 140]

1. Analysis of the four physical elements

There are several contemporary expositions on the forty subjects for meditation, but I would like to leave you a very concise one, by the Mahasi Sayadaw, in Buddhist Meditation and its Forty Subjects. It is, as far as I know, the only text where the Sayadaw gives instruction, in parallel, on samatha and vipassana meditation.

As I said before, mindfulness of breathing (the 9th recollection, above) is still the most used meditation subject. It is said to be appropriate for all meditators' temperaments, conducive to the deepest meditative states (not all forty subjects are), and safe (not all forty subjects are). If you want to try other meditation subjects please try and find a suitable meditation master - it will not be easy.