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Shamar Rinpoche, May 2005 Meditation workshops On Monday, May 23, 2005, Shamar Rinpoche continued his teaching on Vimalamitra's manual on the stages of meditation practice. Vimalamitra describes four progressive stages of meditation practice: 1.Taming the mind:
We must train until we are able to naturally rest the mind one-pointedly
on whichever object we choose. This is the practice
of stable abiding (Skt: Shamatha, Tib: Shiné). « How should we train in these four stages? » is
the question which naturally arises. Meditators whose level of realization resembled that of our lineage fathers Milarepa or Gampopa brought the practice of Shamatha to an incredible degree of perfection. Indeed, when they concentrated on the element fire, other people would perceive flames instead of their physical body; when they concentrated on the element water, others would see a pond of water. Once the mind is made workable through the above mentioned meditations of Shamatha, the meditator can proceed with the techniques of Vipassana practice. In this phase, the meditator is no longer preoccupied with the outer appearance of a given object, but instead analyses its essence or true nature. Obstacles to meditation are mainly dullness and agitation. Vimalamitra explains the main causes of and remedies for these difficulties. Shamar Rinpoche asked the audience of practitioners to use the afternoons to put his meditation instructions into practice. Numerous groups were formed; under the guidance of Dhagpo lamas they meditated in the temple as well as under the shade of trees or in front of the stupa.
Shamar
Rinpoche web site:
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