Fall 2011 Shamatha Retreat

As riding a dolphin… Today, as the last session of a 10 day cycle on Shamatha and the 4 Immeasurables, the session was about equanimity conjoined with tonglen. Before jumping into it, Alan touched the topic of how mindfulness of breathing, once the breath is settled in its natural rhythm, can never be boring because the cause itself of boredom is removed with this practice, and it becomes like riding a dolphin. Next, he explained how these three methods to achieve shamatha help or can provide depth for the cultivation of equanimity, going to the substrate and from that perspective carry on with this discursive meditation (36:14). Finally, we had three detailed questions (61:05): one about the measure of releasing during each out-breath when settling the respiration in its natural state; second one was about until which point does the practice of settling the mind in its natural state purify unwholesome deeds, and if it might be needed additional purification practices; the third one was about the Buddhist a