Calm-abiding (Shamatha) Meditation

Shamatha meditation (Calm-abiding) is one of the most basic forms of meditation and common to all forms of Buddhism. Stilling the mind, quieting the mind, is essential, particularly for practices like Tonglen and the Heart Sutra, and is the foundation upon which these, as well as other practices, are built. In shamatha, the mind is brought back to mindful awareness from its mental wanderings by focusing on objects. Some may use the flickering of a candle or the song of a singing bowl, to bring them back to mindfulness. But of all the things we can choose to focus on as an object, the simplest, and the one that is always with us...is our breath. When we think about last week, last month, last year, we come back to the breath. Thinking about next week, next month, next year? Come back to the breath. Thinking about something mean someone said or did to you? Come back to the breath. So join us as we leave our mental baggage (and our shoes!) at the door, and connect with the vast spaciousness of timeless awareness!