Meditation, Stability, Clarity: Experiencing the Liberating Power of Full Attention
D5S1 - Shamatha Without a Sign, and Stages Six and Seven
Lama Alan · 115 minutes · recorded June 5, 2025
The session opens with a guided practice of awareness of awareness in which we rest without any object at all, followed by why this is considered the ultimate retreat. Lama Alan then maps stages six and seven of the nine stages of shamatha, where old material gets dredged up and desire, depression and lethargy can surface, and explains how to tell a meditative experience from something needing a doctor. He warns against treating each stage as a goal to chase.
Depression and low mood The nature of mind Open presence Shamatha (calm abiding)