[Buddha-l] Book on shamatha

[S.A. Feite]

On May 23, 2007, at 11:36 PM, jkirk wrote:

> Has anyone read _The Attention Revolution: Unlocking the Power of  
> the Focused Mind_ by B. Alan Wallace? He's a copious author and has  
> an institute in Santa Barbara.
>
>
>
> Amazon book description:
>
> Shamatha meditation is a method for achieving previously  
> inconceivable levels of concentration. Author B. Alan Wallace, an  
> active participant in the much-publicized dialogues between  
> Buddhists and scholars, has more than 20 years’ practice in the  
> discipline, some of it under the guidance of the Dalai Lama. This  
> book is a definitive presentation of his knowledge of shamatha. It  
> is aimed at the contemporary seeker who is distracted and defocused  
> by the dizzying pace of modern life, as well as those suffering  
> from depression and other mental maladies. Beginning by addressing  
> the inherent problems that follow from an inability to focus,  
> Wallace moves on to explore varying levels of meditation. The  
> result is an interior travelogue that recounts an exciting,  
> rewarding "expedition of the mind," tracing everything from the  
> confusions at the bottom of the trail to the extraordinary clarity  
> and power that come with making it to the top.
>
>
>
> Sounds promising…….Comments anyone?

It's an excellent experiential guide to shamatha and very readable.  
Alan delineates a ninefold path of sequential shamatha practice,  
interspersed with anectodes and quotes from the Hinayana and Dzogchen  
approaches to the practices.

BTW, it will be interesting to see the scientific results of such  
meditation as the first group of two sets of meditators, trained in  
shamatha, is finishing their first three month longitudinal study of  
the effects of sustained attentional practice on the neurophysiology  
of practitioners: The Shamatha Project. This book is excellent guide  
to the experiential stages one would go through.

Also, if you like this work, you might also enjoy Alan's very  
detailed _The Bridge of Quiescence_, a more detailed and more  
scholarly approach to shamatha practice.

For a synopsis of the nine stages of shamatha, see this PDF of the  
one chart from The Attention Revolution:

http://snipurl.com/1lubk-LRWDFP

Sincerely,

Steve Feite

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