Thursday Meditation

Calm Abiding Meditation
Taming the Elephant Mind

Calm Abiding Meditation (Shamata) suits people from all walks of life. We all want peace and calmness - qualities that will serve as our best friends throughout our life. Once we learn to achieve calmness, we can transform our environment into a peaceful place. We rediscover our sense of peace and security. This technique emphasises the importance of being gentle towards ourselves. If we are gentle with ourselves, we will be gentle with other people also.

The aim of meditation is to understand the nature of one’s mind, in order to realise the truth. Ultimate truth cannot be seen by this gross mind, always under the control of mental impurities. The mind must be placed in its natural state. Calm-abiding meditation processes the extreme problem of the mind, placing it in a meditative state of equanimity like an ocean without waves. Free of obstacles, the mind can perceive a special phenomenon, known as insight. Without calm-abiding meditation, we cannot gain insight. To tame our raging Elephant-Mind is the goal of this meditation.

SAKYA KECHARI INSTITUTE