Shamatha: The 9 Stages Of Training Your Mind

In the first lesson, you will be introduced to the three instructions for the practice of shamatha: posture, breath and working with the thinking mind. Through following the meditation instruction you will be able to calm your busy mind. The first stage of realisation occurs when you become aware of just how wild the untamed mind is. Learn to see how the wild mind is seen as the source of all of our stress, anxiety, worry and suffering. There is a glimpse of peace (shamatha) through bringing ourselves back to the breath.

In stage two you activate the instruction on flowing on like a river without interruption. You learn the role of giving yourself positive advice in meditation. You use the thought process as a source of inspiration. This is called contemplation, and gives you more strength.

In stage three your childlike naiveté comes into play. No matter how many light-years you drift away you just simply come back to now. There’s no need to analyze or figure anything out. Your strength of mindfulness increases. There is the discovery that coming back to presence is automatic without a lot of effort. And most importantly, you are learning kindness and gentleness. There is less self-criticism.

In stage four even the most subtle thoughts, which are like bubbles coming up in a stream, are seen by your awareness. In this way, your meditation experience becomes more peaceful and joyful. The wild elephant of your mind is stopped by the rope of mindfulness. All thoughts are just like ripples stirring the surface of the ocean.

In this stage you learn to tame the feeling of yourself as impossible, a nuisance. It's inevitable that sooner or later you want to give up. This happens to everyone, especially after having achieved some success in meditation practice. You remember the gentleness and decency you previously experienced, become aware of them. Relax back into the soothing and cool state of stable meditation.

The sixth stage relates to how you look at the whole practice of meditation. Sometimes you are completely revolted by the idea of sitting down on the meditation cushion. You think that escape is the only answer to the prospects of nausea inducing meditation. "I simply cannot face myself again!" Then you remember how good meditation is. You remember that meditation is your teacher and friend. Then you just give in and do it. You have good strength of awareness and do not get distracted. This lesson will conclude with a meditation song, "Take a Rest".

At the seventh stage you apply methods to work with the fires of intense emotions. Emotions are very difficult to work with and are a big part of the meditation path. They cause us a lot of difficulties when we feel that we are under their power. Here’s how you can begin to work with them and subdue them into submission.

Stage eight expands meditation to the middle of the city in a crowd, or wherever you are. You know what it takes to relax in any situation and how to do it without too much effort. You know that with just a little mindfulness and awareness you relax into stable meditation anywhere.

The last stage of shamatha is being one with your practice. You can just let your mind be as it is. You are truly kind to yourself because you have trained. You know just how to be. Now you are completely going in the direction of liberation and enlightenment. From this point onward in the journey the path forward is made of rainbow light.

This is helpful review of the path we’ve travelled in this course. In your meditation session you can quickly flash on or review any of the stages of resting, and especially the first four. In this way you first remember the teachings and then immediately put them into practice. Then you have experience, and this leads to liberation. Finally, learn another new song, "Constant Steady Flow".