Mindfulness and Meditation technique: Shamatha

This is a most beautiful excerpt from the oral teachings of Chogyam Trungpa. It is not available in a book but part of his oral transmission. It is precise and very simple. You can keep coming back to this as you develop your discipline. When we keep coming back to the simplicity of Meditation it guarantees that we will stay free form delusions of the mind. We rather develop our discernment and discrimination and come into contact with the Higher Mind. This will eventually leed us to the very tangible realisation of the the Soul. Enjoy!

"Shamatha means development of mindfulness. Meaning of mindfulness is up to you, this particular meditation practise is paying attention to what is happening, namely your breath your ordinary breathing.

When you sit down the first thing you do is try to regain your breath. You walk to your place of relaxation and you sit, wheeew, breathing place is very important part in our common experience. This is the first thing we can catch, developmental peace. Nothing to do with war or politics, not a particular sense of peace, that you should get off psychedelics or peace that has been uplifted.

What we are talking here in terms of peace is non action, precisely the feeling when we sit down after we had a very heavy time with friends or family and we say wheeew. Also I don’t want you to think that you are going to get that instantly. You will have to apply exertion, vriya, and patience which is shanti. We will have to exert such experience and discipline and this discipline I would like you to try in the sitting practise.

If you have leg problems sit in a chair, but sit on the floor. Sit down on the floor, crossed legged, half crossed posture is fine, lotus not necessary. Sit on the cushion, don’t make a big deal of it, just sit down and relax. And straighten your back spine and straighten your neck, not extreme but somewhat extreme, somewhat deliberate, as if you are going to ask your lover for his or her marriage, semi relaxed, friendly seductive but straight forward. And then you can fold your hand in meditation posture or put hands on knees, which is known as mind relaxing posture.

Follow your natural breath. Doesn't matter the state of breath, just use existing, natural breathing. Sit quietly and listen to your breathing. To begin with breathing coming in and out of your nostrils and settle down for a moment. Then begin to discipline your state of awareness and inquisitiveness. You begin to wonder what can I do with myself and that is ok, but try to focus everything in your breathing as much as you can. But don’t hold yourself too tight like an Englishmen trying to speak with upper lip. You are dealing with your breathing very naturally, you are just there, about to ask your lover.

First step is to just go along with your breathing, especially the out breath and go along with it and not particularly to feel the temperature in your nostrils or breathe especially as for a particular situation as such. Breath out with natural breath, not really meditation as such, you are just breathing. At the same time I would recommend your mouth to open a bit not to have tight lips as if you are saying the word “a”. You attitude and attention is going out with your breath. As it meets the space around you don’t follow too far, just let it be. Then there is a gap, uncertainty maybe and your breath comes in automatically with physiological function. Don’t try to come back, just let it be. Then another breath is going out, gap...etc...do that way. Simplicity of the whole thing.

I would like you to work on this.

All kinds of thoughts come in, thoughts of attitude, future places, conversations etc. let them come through, don’t try to say they are bad or good, just let them come through. Don't live with them. By letting them come through you begin to find a sense that there is a sense of openness, that you don't find them particularly threatening or particularly helpful. They just become the general gossip that you begin to hear through the traffic. There goes something… You begin to find them “so what” and not getting involved. Thoughts like traffic. Just basic chatter that goes on in the universe. Just let them go through. That is the basic technique and practise of meditation.

I have some kind of trust in you that you can do it even though I do not know you."

by MASTER CHOGYAM TRUNGPA