Practicing the dharma is tricky because the mind can be tricky. Sometimes the mind gets carried away and we don’t notice it. Other times the mind just wants to do what it wants to do. We seem to be powerless. After some time, we observe this tricky mind and gradually reel it in. These are common occurrences until we attain mental stability through our shamatha, or concentration, practice. The fact that eventually we observe the tricky mind and work with it is a sign of practicing the dharma.
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Unconditional love and the wisdom realizing emptiness
Meditation is a transformative way of living. Shamatha or concentration meditation trains us to be focused. Contemplative or analytic meditation trains us to become the positive quality we are meditating on, like compassion. Eventually we […]
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Concentration meditation (shamatha)
Concentration meditation (shamatha) has nine stages of mental development starting with the mind mostly off its object. With the second stage the mind is equally on and off the object. By the third stage the […]