One Week Retreat - Shamatha and the Four Immeasurables
D2S2 - Mindfulness of Breathing at the Whole Body, and Why Relaxation Comes First
David Oromith · 75 minutes · recorded August 19, 2025
The first of the shamatha methods proper, following Asanga: attention on the sensations of the breath throughout the whole body rather than at one point. David makes the case for taking relaxation before stability and vividness, and for why a Western practitioner told to concentrate hard tends to clamp down, yank the mind back and get nowhere. He names the two failures to watch for, excitation and laxity, and why laxity, which runs from falling asleep to a dimness of attention that is not very sharp, is the harder of the two to describe.
Distraction and attention Relaxation Stress and burnout Mindfulness of breathing Shamatha (calm abiding) The four immeasurables