10 benefits of mindfulness of body

Ten benefits of mindfulness of the body:

1. He conquers displeasure and delight, and displeasure does not conquer him. He remains victorious over any displeasure that has arisen.

2. He conquers fear and dread, and fear and dread do not conquer him. He remains victorious over any fear and dread that have arisen.

3. He is resistant to cold, heat, hunger, thirst, the touch of gadflies and mosquitoes, wind and sun and creeping things; to abusive, hurtful language; he is the sort that can endure bodily feelings that, when they arise, are painful, sharp, stabbing, fierce, distasteful, disagreeable, deadly.

4. He can attain at will, without trouble or difficulty, the jhanas — heightened mental states providing a pleasant abiding in the here and now.

5. He wields manifold supranormal powers. Having been one he becomes many; having been many he becomes one, walking on water, etc.

6. He hears — by means of the divine ear-element, purified and surpassing the human — both kinds of sounds: divine and human, whether near or far.

7. He knows the awareness of other beings, other individuals, having encompassed it with his own awareness.

8. He recollects his manifold past lives.

9. He sees; by means of the divine eye, purified and surpassing the human — beings passing away and re-appearing, and he discerns how they are inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in accordance with their kamma.

10. Through the ending of the mental effluents, he remains in the effluent-free awareness-release and discernment-release, having known and made them manifest for himself right in the here and now.

(from Majjhima Nikaya 119)

References

• The Complete Book of Buddha's Lists -- Explained. David N. Snyder, Ph.D., 2006.
• http://www.thedhamma.com/