57 Mindfulness of breathing and the sixth stage ofthe Shamatha path

Fall 2013 Shamatha and the Bodhisattva Way of Life

The morning session starts with a silent meditation on mindfulness of breathing of our preferred mode (not recorded). After the meditation, stage six of the Shamatha path is commented, which is: pacified attention. What is achieved in this stage is that one no longer experiences any resistance to training attention (as opposed to as it was in the fifth stage and its biggest obstacle). This stage is achieved by the power of introspection. The problems that occur in this stage are: desire, lethargy, depression and multiple possible psycho-somatic side effects. They all are the result of dredging the psyche, which is a desirable effect, and are a sign of progressing on the path, so one should not be discouraged by them, especially since they are transient and eventually will give way to the next, more blissful stage of Shamatha.

Meditation starts at: Not recorded (silent meditation on mindfulness of breathing)