in the early 1970s. I was immediately intrigued by the possibility o\ue001 using the methods o\ue001 shamatha (the word literally means \u201cquiescence\u201d) to explore the nature o\ue001 the mind \ue000rsthand. Such practices lead to advanced stages o\ue001

\ue001ocus unwavering attention on a single object. This object may be as small as a single point or as vast as space, so it does not necessarily entail a narrowing o\ue001 \ue001ocus, only a coherence o\ue001 \ue001ocused attention. This is what Tibetan Bud- dhists re\ue001er to when speaking o\ue001 \u201cachieving shamatha\u201d and \u201csettling the mind in its natural state.\u201d

A\ue001ter studying and practicing Buddhism \ue001or ten years, I devoted mysel\ue001 \ue001or another \ue001our years to exploring solitary retreats in Asia and the United States, training \ue000rst under the guidance o\ue001 His Holiness the Dalai Lama and later un- der the Sri Lankan monk and scholar Balangoda Ananda

Like a telescope launched into
orbit beyond the distortions of
the earth\u2019s atmosphere,
shamatha meditation provides
a platform for exploring the
deep space of the mind.

Maitreya. Both o\ue001 these great teachers indicated to me that the actual achievement o\ue001 shamatha in today\u2019s world is very rare. A\ue001ter another decade, I made my \ue000rst journey to Tibet to \ue000nd out whether there were still contemplatives there who had achieved shamatha, and discovered that such people did exist, but they were \ue001ew and \ue001ar between.

The purpose o\ue001 shamatha is to achieve states o\ue001 samadhi known asdhyana, or meditative stabilization. There are \ue001our dhyanas corresponding to increasingly subtle states o\ue001 samadhi, and the Buddha strongly emphasized the importance o\ue001 achieving at least the \ue000rst dhyana in order to achieve personal liberation. This idea is well illustrated by a crucial turning point in the Buddha\u2019s pursuit o\ue001 en- lightenment. A\ue001ter six years o\ue001 practicing austerities, and having recognized the ine\ue001\ue001ectiveness o\ue001 his e\ue001\ue001orts, Prince Gautama remembered a time in his youth when he had spontaneously entered the \ue000rst dhyana. Recalling this experience, the question came to him: \u201cMight that be the way to enlightenment?\u201d Gautama struggled to regain this heightened state o\ue001 awareness, and a\ue001ter doing so he swi\ue001tly achieved enlightenment.

In the process o\ue001 achieving the \ue000rst dhyana, one\u2019s or- dinary mind and sense o\ue001 personal identity dissolve into an underlying, subtle continuum o\ue001 mental consciousness that is usually experienced only during dreamless sleep and at death. When this continuum is accessed by way o\ue001 shamatha, it is \ue001ound to have three distinctive qualities: bliss, luminosity, and nonconceptuality. This stable, vivid awareness\u2014like a telescope launched into orbit beyond the distortions o\ue001 the earth\u2019s atmosphere\u2014provides a plat\ue001orm \ue001or exploring the deep space o\ue001 the mind.

According to Buddhaghosa, the most authoritative commentator o\ue001 Theravada Buddhism, with the achieve- ment o\ue001 the \ue000rst dhyana, fawless samadhi, \ue001ree o\ue001 even the subtlest laxity and excitation, can be sustained \ue001or a whole night and a whole day. While one is resting in this state, the \ue000ve physical senses are completely withdrawn into mental awareness, so that one becomes oblivious to the physical world, and the mind enters into a state o\ue001 calm, luminous silence. A great advantage o\ue001 achieving the \ue000rst dhyana is that the \ue000ve hindrances temporarily become dormant. These are (1) sensual craving, (2) malice, (3) drowsiness and lethargy, (4) excitation and remorse, and (5) doubt\u2014all o\ue001 which obscure the essential nature o\ue001 the mind, namely, the subtle, luminous continuum o\ue001 mental consciousness \ue001rom which all ordinary states o\ue001 waking and dream consciousness emerge. The Buddha emphasized the importance o\ue001 overcoming these \ue000ve hindrances, declaring, \u201cSo long as these \ue000ve hindrances are not abandoned, one considers himsel\ue001 as indebted, sick, in bonds, enslaved and lost in a desert track.\u201d

lesser degree o\ue001 samadhi that is just on the threshold o\ue001 the \ue000rst dhyana. This threshold point is called \u201caccess concentration\u201d (Pali,upacarasamadhi), in which the \ue000ve hindrances are as dormant as they are in the actual state o\ue001 the \ue000rst dhyana, but one\u2019s samadhi is a little less robust. Instead o\ue001 being able to rest e\ue001\ue001ortlessly in unwavering samadhi \ue001or twenty-\ue001our hours, one may do so \ue001or only \ue001our hours\u2014\ue001ar beyond anything considered possible ac- cording to modern psychology.

I have been teaching shamatha \ue001or over thirty years, and I can\u2019t count the number o\ue001 people with training in Theravada, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism who have told me that despite years o\ue001 meditation their minds are still subject to agitation and dullness. While they have been trained in more advanced practices within each o\ue001 the above traditions, they never established a solid \ue001ounda- tion in the more elementary practices o\ue001 shamatha. I have also heard o\ue001 many people who say they have achieved shamatha and dhyana, many claiming to have done so within a matter o\ue001 days, weeks, or just a \ue001ew months. But despite such reports, \ue001ew appear to be able to e\ue001\ue001ort- lessly maintain fawless samadhi with their senses \ue001ully withdrawn \ue001or at least \ue001our hours.

Perhaps the most crucial discovery o\ue001 the Buddha as he launched his contemplative revolution in India was the liberating power o\ue001 \ue000rst achieving dhyana through the practice o\ue001 shamatha, and then cultivat- ingv i p a s h y a n a , or contemplative insight into essential

\ue001eatures o\ue001 reality (such as impermanence, the nature o\ue001 su\ue001\ue001ering, and the nonexistence o\ue001 an independent sel\ue001, or ego). The trans\ue001ormative power o\ue001 Buddhist medita- tion occurs when the stability and vividness o\ue001 shamatha is uni\ue000ed with the penetrating insights o\ue001 vipashyana. Shamatha by itsel\ue001 results in a temporary alleviation o\ue001 the \ue001undamental causes o\ue001 su\ue001\ue001ering, and vipashyana by itsel\ue001 provides only feeting glimpses o\ue001 reality. Only with the stabilizing power o\ue001 shamatha can the insights gleaned \ue001rom vipashyana thoroughly saturate the mind, ultimately liberating it \ue001rom deeply ingrained ways o\ue001 misapprehending reality.

training: ethical discipline, samadhi, and wisdom. In this three\ue001old context, the terms a m a d h i re\ue001ers not only to the achievement o\ue001 meditative concentration but also to the cultivation o\ue001 exceptional mental health and balance through the cultivation o\ue001 lovingkindness, compassion, and so on. Practicing ethical discipline is similar to building a clean astronomical observatory, developing samadhi is like creating a high-resolution telescope mounted on a stable plat\ue001orm, and cultivating wisdom is like using that telescope to explore the heavens. The Buddha repeatedly indicated that the \ue000rst dhyana is a necessary basis \ue001or \ue001ully realizing the bene\ue000ts o\ue001 vipa- shyana. Ethical discipline is the basis \ue001or developing