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the air element. 302. “And what, friends, is the earth element? The earth element may be internal, or it may be external. And what, friends, is the internal earth element? element? Whatever is internal, personal, hard, solid, and clung to, such as – hair, body-hair, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone-marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, intestines, intestinal membranes, stomach, feces, or whatever else is internal, personal, hard, solid, and clung to. This, friend, is called the internal earth element. And whatever is the internal earth element, and whatever is the external earth element, that is just the earth element. ‘This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self’ – thus should it be seen as it really is with right wisdom. Having seen this as it really is with right wisdom, one becomes disenchanted with the earth element, one’s mind becomes dispassionate towards the earth element. There comes a time, friend, when the external water element becomes agitated [the earth element becomes agitated]. At that time, the external earth element disappears. For that external earth element, friend, vast as it is, impermanence will be discerned, its nature to decay will be discerned, its nature to vanish will be discerned, its nature to change will be discerned. What then of this small body, clung to by craving, as ‘I’ or ‘mine’ or ‘I am’? Indeed, it is not even here. If, friend, others abuse, revile, anger, and harass that monk, he understands thus: ‘This painful feeling born of contact with sound has arisen in me. And it is dependent, not independent. Dependent on what? Dependent on contact.’ He sees that contact is impermanent, he sees that feeling is impermanent, he sees that perception is impermanent, he sees that mental formations are impermanent, he sees that consciousness is impermanent. His mind inclines, is calmed, settles, and is resolved upon the element as its object. If, friend, others treat that monk with undesirable, unlovely, disagreeable things – with contact of hand, or with a clod of earth, by contact with hands, by contact with sticks, by contact with knives. He understands thus: 'Such indeed is this body, in such a body, contact with hands comes, contact with clods comes, contact with sticks comes, contact with knives comes. And this was said by the Blessed One in the Saw Simile: "Even if, monks, bandits and thugs were to dismember your limbs with a two-handled saw, whoever would defile his mind even then, he is not one who carries out my teaching." My energy will be aroused, unflagging; mindfulness will be established, unconfused; the body will be calm, unagitated; the mind will be concentrated, one-pointed. Let now, if it wishes, in this body, contact with hands come, contact with clods come, contact with sticks come, contact with knives come. For this is the teaching of the Buddhas.' "If, friend, while a monk thus recollects the Buddha, thus recollects the Dhamma, thus recollects the Saṅgha, equanimity based on wholesome states does not become established in him. He is then stirred, he experiences urgency: 'Indeed, it is a loss for me, indeed, it is no gain for me, indeed, it is ill-gotten for me, indeed, it is not well-gotten for me, that while I thus recollect the Buddha, thus recollect the Dhamma, thus recollect the Saṅgha, equanimity based on wholesome states does not become established in me.' Just as, friend, a daughter-in-law, seeing her father-in-law, is stirred, experiences urgency; even so, friend, if while that monk thus recollects the Buddha, thus recollects the Dhamma, thus recollects the Saṅgha, equanimity based on wholesome states does not become established in him, he is then stirred, he experiences urgency: 'Indeed, it is a loss for me, indeed, it is no gain for me, indeed, it is ill-gotten for me, indeed, it is not well-gotten for me, that while I thus recollect the Buddha, thus recollect the Dhamma, thus recollect the Saṅgha, equanimity based on wholesome states does not become established in me.' If, friend, while that monk thus recollects the Buddha, thus recollects the Dhamma... delighted, thus recollecting the Saṅgha, equanimity based on skillfulness is established, he becomes gladdened by that. Even by this much, friend, much has been done by the bhikkhu. 303. "And what, friend, is the water element? The water element may be internal, it may be external. And what, friend, is the internal water element? Whatever is internal, personal, water, watery, clung to, such as – bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, saliva, snot, joint-fluid, urine, or whatever else is internal, personal, water, watery, clung to – this, friend, is called the internal water element. But whatever is the internal water element and whatever is the external water element, that is just the water element. 'This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self' – thus should this be seen as it really is with right wisdom. Having seen this as it really is with right wisdom, one becomes disenchanted with the water element, one's mind becomes dispassionate towards the water element. "There comes a time, friend, when the external water element becomes agitated. It carries away villages, it carries away towns, it carries away cities, it carries away districts, it carries away regions. There comes a time, friend, when in the great ocean, waters recede by a hundred leagues, waters recede by two hundred leagues, waters recede by three hundred leagues, waters recede by four hundred leagues, waters recede by five hundred leagues, waters recede by six hundred leagues, waters recede by seven hundred leagues. There comes a time, friend, when in the great ocean, the water stands at seven palm-trees' depth, the water stands at six palm-trees' depth, the water stands at five palm-trees' depth, the water stands at four palm-trees' depth, the water stands at three palm-trees' depth, the water stands at two palm-trees' depth, the water stands at one palm-tree's depth. There comes a time, friend, when in the great ocean, the water stands at seven men's height, the water stands at six men's height... Water stands, water stands five men deep, water stands four men deep, water stands three men deep, water stands two men deep, water stands one man deep. There comes a time, friend, when in the great ocean water stands half a man deep, water stands waist deep, water stands knee deep, water stands ankle deep. There comes a time, friend, when in the great ocean there is not even water the measure of a finger-joint. Of that external water element, friend, so vast, impermanence will be discerned, liability to decay will be discerned, liability to vanish will be discerned, liability to change will be discerned. What then of this body, limited, grasped by craving, as 'I' or 'mine' or 'I am'? But for him, there is not... If, friend, a monk thus recollects the Buddha, thus recollects the Dhamma, thus recollects the Sangha, equanimity rooted in skillfulness stands firm. He is gladdened by that. Even by this much, friend, much is done by the monk. 304. "And what, friend, is the fire element? The fire element may be internal, it may be external. And what, friend, is the internal fire element? That which is internal, personal, fire, fire-like, grasped, namely – by which one is warmed, by which one ages, by which one is consumed by fever, by which what is eaten, drunk, chewed, and tasted is properly digested, or whatever else is internal, personal, fire, fire-like, grasped – this, friend, is called the internal fire element. And indeed, whatever is the internal fire element and whatever is the external fire element, that is just the fire element. 'This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self' – thus should this be seen as it really is with right wisdom. Having seen this as it really is with right wisdom, one becomes disenchanted with the fire element, one's mind becomes dispassionate towards the fire element. There comes a time, friends, when the external element of fire flares up. It burns villages, it burns towns, it burns cities, it burns districts, it burns regions of districts. It reaches a green border, or a path border, or a rock border, or a water border, or a pleasant land area, and without fuel, it is extinguished. There comes a time, friends, when they search for fire even with a chicken's feather, even with a piece of dried sinew. Indeed, friends, the impermanence of that external element of fire, so mighty, will be discerned, its nature to decay will be discerned, its nature to vanish will be discerned, its nature to change will be discerned. What then of this small body, grasped by craving, 'I am' or 'mine' or 'I exist'? Then it does not exist for him... If, friends, a monk, thus recollecting the Buddha, thus recollecting the Dhamma, thus recollecting the Saṅgha, establishes equanimity rooted in skillfulness, he becomes delighted by that. Even by this much, friends, much is accomplished for the monk. 305. And what, friends, is the element of wind? The element of wind may be internal, it may be external. And what, friends, is the internal element of wind? Whatever internally, personally, is wind, has gone to wind, is grasped, such as – upward-moving winds, downward-moving winds, winds in the belly, winds in the intestines, winds coursing through the limbs, in-breath and out-breath – or whatever else internally, personally, is wind, has gone to wind, is grasped – this, friends, is called the internal element of wind. And indeed, the internal element of wind, and the external element of wind – this is just the element of wind. 'This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self' – thus should this be seen as it really is with right wisdom. Having seen this as it really is with right wisdom, one becomes disenchanted with the element of wind, one's mind becomes dispassionate towards the element of wind. There comes a time, friends,