Shamatha Practice 7 with Glen

Glen Svensson, 24 Apr 2020

Session 7: Observing the Mind

1. Review
2. The actual practice
3. Review of stages one to four
4. Stages five to nine
5. Q&A

Glen begins with a brief introduction on how to meditate with the mind as the object.

Meditation starts at 8:40

After a quick review of the first four stages of shamatha, we continue learning about the final stages leading to the achievement of shamatha.

Stage 5, Tamed Attention: One takes satisfaction in samadhi through the power of introspection.

Stage 6, Pacified Attention: One no longer has any resistance to training the attention, achieved through the power of introspection.

Stage 7, Fully Pacified Attention: Pacification of melancholy, attachment and lethargy through the power of enthusiasm.

Stage 8, Single-pointed Attention: One can sustain samadhi without any excitation or laxity through the power of enthusiasm.

Stage 9, Attentional Balance: One can sustain flawless samadhi effortlessly through the power of familiarity.

Q & A: Glen speaks about the importance of recognizing subtle excitation and laxity after Stage 4, as without that it could lead to a sense of complacency.

Download (MP3 / 14 MB)

Transcript

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