23340361 within you without you

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Kalacakra Cosmos and Body, distemper on cloth, Tibet, ca. sixteenth century, 19 71.5 inches [detail]

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Ihave been drawn to the practice o shamatha rom thetime I was rst introduced to it, in Dharamsala, India,in the early 1970s. I was immediately intrigued by the

possibility o using the methods o shamatha (the wordliterally means quiescence) to explore the nature o themind rsthand. Such practices lead to advanced stages osamadhi, or meditative concentration, where one is able toocus unwavering attention on a single object. This objectmay be as small as a single point or as vast as space, so itdoes not necessarily entail a narrowing o ocus, only acoherence o ocused attention. This is what Tibetan Bud-

dhists reer to when speaking o achieving shamatha andsettling the mind in its natural state.Ater studying and practicing Buddhism or ten years, I

devoted mysel or another our years to exploring solitaryretreats in Asia and the United States, training rst underthe guidance o His Holiness the Dalai Lama and later un-der the Sri Lankan monk and scholar Balangoda Ananda

B. Alan Wallace is the president of the Santa Barbara Institute of

Consciousness Studies. His latest book is Mind in the Balance:

Meditation in Science, Buddhism, and Christianity.

Within You

Without You

Like a telescope launched into

orbit beyond the distortions of

the earths atmosphere,

shamatha meditation provides

a platform for exploring the

deep space of the mind.

byB. Alan Wallace

Maitreya. Both o these great teachers indicated to me thatthe actual achievement o shamatha in todays world isvery rare. Ater another decade, I made my rst journey toTibet to nd out whether there were still contemplativesthere who had achieved shamatha, and discovered thatsuch people did exist, but they were ew and ar between.

The purpose o shamatha is to achieve states o samadhiknown as dhyana, or meditative stabilization. There areour dhyanas corresponding to increasingly subtle stateso samadhi, and the Buddha strongly emphasized theimportance o achieving at least the rst dhyana in orderto achieve personal liberation. This idea is well illustratedby a crucial turning point in the Buddhas pursuit o en-lightenment. Ater six years o practicing austerities, andhaving recognized the ineectiveness o his eorts, PrinceGautama remembered a time in his youth when he hadspontaneously entered the rst dhyana. Recalling thisexperience, the question came to him: Might that be the

way to enlightenment? Gautama struggled to regain thisheightened state o awareness, and ater doing so he switlyachieved enlightenment.

In the process o achieving the rst dhyana, ones or-dinary mind and sense o personal identity dissolve intoan underlying, subtle continuum o mental consciousnessthat is usually experienced only during dreamless sleepand at death. When this continuum is accessed by way oshamatha, it is ound to have three distinctive qualities:bliss, luminosity, and nonconceptuality. This stable, vividawarenesslike a telescope launched into orbit beyond thedistortions o the earths atmosphereprovides a platormor exploring the deep space o the mind.

According to Buddhaghosa, the most authoritativecommentator o Theravada Buddhism, with the achieve-ment o the rst dhyana, fawless samadhi, ree o eventhe subtlest laxity and excitation, can be sustained or a

whole night and a whole day. While one is resting in thisstate, the ve physical senses are completely withdrawninto mental awareness, so that one becomes oblivious tothe physical world, and the mind enters into a state ocalm, luminous silence. A great advantage o achieving therst dhyana is that the ve hindrances temporarily become

dormant. These are (1) sensual craving, (2) malice, (3)drowsiness and lethargy, (4) excitation and remorse, and(5) doubtall o which obscure the essential nature o themind, namely, the subtle, luminous continuum o mentalconsciousness rom which all ordinary states o waking anddream consciousness emerge. The Buddha emphasized theimportance o overcoming these ve hindrances, declaring,

So long as these ve hindrances are not abandoned, oneconsiders himsel as indebted, sick, in bonds, enslaved andlost in a desert track.

Later Buddhist contemplatives have drawn a distinctionbetween the actual state o the rst dhyana and a slightly

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lesser degree o samadhi that is just on the threshold othe rst dhyana. This threshold point is called accessconcentration (Pali, upacarasamadhi), in which the vehindrances are as dormant as they are in the actual stateo the rst dhyana, but ones samadhi is a little less robust.Instead o being able to rest eortlessly in unwaveringsamadhi or twenty-our hours, one may do so or onlyour hoursar beyond anything considered possible ac-cording to modern psychology.

I have been teaching shamatha or over thirty years,and I cant count the number o people with training inTheravada, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism who have toldme that despite years o meditation their minds are stillsubject to agitation and dullness. While they have beentrained in more advanced practices within each o theabove traditions, they never established a solid ounda-

tion in the more elementary practices o shamatha. I havealso heard o many people who say they have achievedshamatha and dhyana, many claiming to have done so

within a matter o days, weeks, or just a ew months.But despite such reports, ew appear to be able to eort-lessly maintain fawless samadhi with their senses ully

withdrawn or at least our hours.Perhaps the most crucial discovery o the Buddha

as he launched his contemplative revolution in Indiawas the liberating power o rst achieving dhyanathrough the practice o shamatha, and then cultivat-ing vipashyana, or contemplative insight into essential

eatures o reality (such as impermanence, the nature osuering, and the nonexistence o an independent sel,or ego). The transormative power o Buddhist medita-tion occurs when the stability and vividness o shamathais unied with the penetrating insights o vipashyana.Shamatha by itsel results in a temporary alleviation othe undamental causes o suering, and vipashyanaby itsel provides only feeting glimpses o reality. Only

with the stabilizing power o shamatha can the insightsgleaned rom vipashyana thoroughly saturate the mind,ultimately liberating it rom deeply ingrained ways omisapprehending reality.

The undamental structure o the Buddhas path toliberation consists o three elements o spiritualtraining: ethical discipline, samadhi, and wisdom.

In this threeold context, the term samadhi reers notonly to the achievement o meditative concentrationbut also to the cultivation o exceptional mental healthand balance through the cultivation o lovingkindness,compassion, and so on. Practicing ethical discipline issimilar to building a clean astronomical observatory,developing samadhi is like creating a high-resolutiontelescope mounted on a stable platorm, and cultivating

wisdom is like using that telescope to explore the heavens.The Buddha repeatedly indicated that the rst dhyana isa necessary basis or ully realizing the benets o vipa-shyana. Ethical discipline is the basis or developing


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samadhi. In this way, ethics can be viewed pragmatically:its all about cultivating modes o conduct o body, speech,and mind that are conducive to rening the mind to thepoint o achieving dhyana, and avoiding those kinds obehavior that undermine mental well-being. The moreadvanced our meditation practice is, the more pristinelypure our conduct must be. This is why Padmasambhava,

who rst introduced Buddhism to Tibet in the eighthcentury, declared, although my view is higher than thesky, my conduct regarding cause and eect is ner thanbarley four.

The Buddha commented that the practice o vipa-shyana without the support o shamatha is likesending a minister out to negotiate with bandits

without having a bodyguard to protect him. But the

achievement o shamatha may require many months osingle-pointed practice, meditating ten hours each day.While at rst glance this may seem impractical (who hastime?), consider that this is ar less time than it takesto earn a graduate degree in astronomy. I the studyo the heavens had been let to naked-eye observers,

we would still think that there were only about threethousand stars revolving around the earth, instead oknowing that our earth revolves around the sun, one oabout a hundred billion stars in the Milky Way, whichis one o ty to a hundred billion galaxies throughoutthe universe. What discoveries lie in wait or us when

we apply the telescope o shamatha to explore the deepspace o the mind!

In his teachings as recorded in the Pali canon, the Bud-dha asserts that without samadhi it is impossible to gainrealization, and he more specically declares that reedomrom the ve hindrances (the primary purpose and beneto achieving dhyana) is a necessary condition or gainingstream-entry, the point at which one rst achieves thenonconceptual union o shamatha and vipashyana in therealization o nirvana. The eighth-century Mahayana Bud-dhist adept Shantideva likewise wrote, Recognizing thatone who is well endowed with vipashyana together withshamatha eradicates mental afictions, one should rstseek shamatha.

In Zen practice, it is clear that even without having ullyachieved shamatha, one may experience kensho, a transi-

tory realization o ones Buddha-nature. But to achievesatori, the irreversible enlightenment o the Buddha, onesinitial realization must be supported by a high degree omental stability. This is why mindulness o breathing iscommonly practiced in the Zen tradition, to stabilize themind so that the experience o sudden awakening doesntvanish as suddenly as it arose. How many o us have ex-perienced extraordinary breakthroughs in our meditativepractice, only to nd them rapidly ade away, leavingbehind only a nostalgic memory? Since the Japanese word

Zen derives rom the Chinese chan, which in turn derivesrom the Sanskrit word dhyana, it would be odd or the



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achievement o dhyana to be overlooked in these Easternschools o Buddhism.

In the practice o Dzogchen, the Great Perectionschool o Tibetan Buddhism, shamatha is no less impor-tant. According to the Natural Liberation, attributedto Padmasambhava, Without genuine shamatha arisingin ones mindstream, even irigpa [pristine awareness] ispointed out, it becomes nothing more than an object ointellectual understanding; one is let simply giving lipservice to the view, and there is the danger that one maysuccumb to dogmatism. Thus, the root o all meditativestates depends upon this, so do not be introduced torigpa too soon, but practice until there occurs a neexperience o stability. Lerab Lingpa, a nineteenth-century Dzogchen master, likewise emphasized theimportance shamatha or the practice o Vajrayana in

general, declaring it to be a sound basis or the arisingo all samadhis o the stages o generation and comple-tion. It is very meaningul to engage in a three-yearVajrayana retreat, but without the basis o shamatha, noVajrayana meditation will come to ull ruition.

As widespread as such advice is in the Theravada, Ma-hayana, and Vajrayana traditions, it has been widely neglectedin recent times. Ddjom Lingpa, a nineteenth-centuryDzogchen master, commented that among unrened peoplein this degenerate era, very ew appear to achieve more thanfeeting stability. I this was true in nomadic Tibet morethan a century ago, how much truer it must be today.

Given the vital importance o shamatha or allschools o Buddhism, we must ace the questiondirectly: why is its accomplishment so rare? The

achievement o shamatha is a result, and i the result israre, this must be due to the rarity o its necessary causesand conditions. To return to the analogy o earning agraduate degree in astronomy, this result would be impos-sible without having qualied instructors, well-equippedobservatories, and nancial support or graduate students.Likewise, or aspiring contemplatives in the modern worldto achieve shamatha, they must be guided by qualiedinstructors, they must have an environment conducive tosustained training, and they must be provided with nan-cial support so that they can commit themselves to suchtraining. While the prerequisites or earning a graduatedegree in astronomy are relatively common in the modern

world, the prerequisites or achieving shamatha are rare.So naturally its achievement must also be rare.Despite the supercial similarities between earning a

graduate degree in a eld such as astronomy and achiev-ing shamatha, the prerequisites or shamatha are actuallyar more demanding. The eighth-century Indian Buddhistcontemplative Kamalashila, who played a key role in theearly dissemination o Buddhism in Tibet, gave a preciseaccount o the outer and inner conditions needed toachieve shamatha. In addition to having the guidance oa qualied teacher, one must be able to practice contin-uouslyuntil shamatha is achievedin a quiet, healthy,

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pleasant environment where ones material needs are easilymet. He adds that it is crucial to have good companions

whose ethical discipline and views are compatible withones own. Those are the outer requirements.

The inner requirements are even more exacting: onemust have ew desires or things one does not have, andone must have a strong sense o contentment with whatone does have, not continually seeking better accommo-dations, ood, accessories, and so on. Until one achievesshamatha, one must devote onesel to a simple liestyle,

with as ew extraneous activitiessuch as socializing, do-ing business, or seeking entertainmentas possible. Onemust maintain an exceptionally high standard o ethicaldiscipline, avoiding all modes o conduct o body, speech,and mind that undermine ones own and others well-being.Finally, both during and between ormal meditation ses-

sions, one must overcome the deeply ingrained habit oletting ones mind get caught up in involuntary thoughtsand ruminations. The meditators baseline must be silent,calm, alert awareness.

The eleventh-century Indian sage Atisha cautions in thisway: I you lack the prerequisites o shamatha, you willnot achieve samadhi even in thousands o years, regardlesso how diligently you practice. The ourteenth-centuryTibetan master Tsongkhapa commented that among theabove prerequisites, the most important ones are dwellingin a suitable environment, having ew desires, and maintain-ing ne ethical discipline. Moreover, within the context o

Mahayana practice, he addsthat the irst our perectionsgenerosity, ethics, patience,and enthusiasmserve asthe preconditions or theth, which is dhyana.

To achieve a greaterdegree o mental balance

and well-being, it can be very helpul to practice shamathaor an hour or two each day in the midst o an active, so-cially engaged way o lie, without the expectation that one

will proceed very ar in reaching the rst dhyana. On theother hand, the optimal way to actually achieve shamathais to go into retreat and practice continuously and single-pointedly or ten to twelve hours every day, not just or amonth or two, but until one achieves this sublime state o

meditative equilibrium. From that time orward, one issaid to be able to enter such samadhi at will, even in themidst o a socially active way o lie, and use this as a basisor all more advanced meditative practices.

Such complete withdrawal into solitude may not benecessary or everyone. I one is truly dedicated to achiev-ing shamatha, one may ormally meditate or as little as sixhours each day, even while engaging with others betweensessions, and still progress in the practice. Here the qual-ity o ones liestyle is crucial. I the progress one makesduring meditation sessions is greater than the decline oones practice between sessions,

The meditators

baseline must

be silent, calm,

alert awareness.

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Within You Without You continued from page 83

there is no reason why one shouldnt be able to come toreach shamatha, even though it may take longer than ione were meditating ten hours each day. Especially insuch circumstances, the quality o ones environment andcompanions is essential: i they are truly supportive, asKamalashila described, one may well succeed. I they arenot, they are bound to impede ones practice, even i one

were to continue or a lietime. Simply knowing how topractice shamatha and having the condence to accom-plish it is not enough. One must make sure that one isullling all the necessary prerequisites; otherwise oneis headed or disappointment.

The current marginalization o shamatha may alsobe due in part to the recognition that the necessaryprerequisites are almost nowhere to be ound in todays

world. Why encourage people to sow a crop in unertilesoil? This highlights the urgent need to create opportuni-ties where authentic training in shamatha is oered, todevelop retreat centers that provide low-cost, suitableaccommodations or those seeking to practice or monthsor years in order to achieve shamatha, and to procurenancial support or those dedicating themselves to suchsingle-pointed practice.

I such opportunities become available to seriousmeditators, we will soon nd ourselves in a world where

numerous practitioners accomplish shamatha and, withthis oundation, go on to authentic, lasting realizationsthat prooundly and irreversibly transorm and liberatethe mind o its afictions and obscurations. In turn, thesepractitioners could, or the rst time, shed light on thegaping blind spot at the center o modernity: our under-standing o consciousness.

Why does this matter? Because a world that trulyunderstands the nature o consciousness could shit awayrom the hedonic treadmill o consumerism and towardthe innitely renewable resource o genuine happinessthat is cultivated by training the mind. A world thattruly understands the nature o consciousness may nditsel sharing ethics that are universal and empiricallyveriable. In a world that truly understands the natureo consciousness, the great religions may rediscover theircontemplative roots and explore their deep commonground. Seven hundred years ago, classical Greek teach-ings rom the East made their way into Western thought,and a dark age gave way to the Renaissance and moder-nity. Might teachings rom the East once again inspireproound societal renewal? Might shamatha provide themissing peace that helps unite our deeply ragmentedand troubled world? A great challenge lies beore us, anda great opportunity is at hand. t

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