Buddhist Meditation and the Practice of Shamatha
Achieving Insight through the Art of Stopping, Calming, and Resting
Feb 28, 2009
In his book The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy and Liberation, Thich Nhat Hanh states that mediation has two essential aspects. The first is vipashyana, which means to look deeply.
The practice of vipashyana is important to meditation because it brings insight and liberates the individual from suffering. For this reason, there is a tendency to stress the importance of vipashyana over the second aspect of meditation - shamatha.
Although Thich Nhat Hanh translates shamatha as "stopping," shamatha actually has three functions: stopping, calming, and resting. Meditation without these three functions - without shamatha - cannot lead to insight, and without insight, there can be no liberation.
Stopping
When describing the importance of shamatha, Thich Nhat Hanh refers to the Zen story about a man riding on a galloping horse. As the rider rushes by, another man, standing alongside the road, shouts to the rider, asking him where he is going. To this, the rider replies, "I don't know! Ask the horse!"
Thich Nhat Hanh believes that this is the same story that describes the lives of people - that they are rushing about but do not know where they're going. Their rushing becomes habitual, he says, to the point that they cannot rein it in and, as a result, feel quite powerless. The habit of rushing is so strong in some that they say and do things they do not mean, making themselves and others suffer in the process.
Thich Nhat Hanh believes that these individuals need to stop their horses and reclaim their liberty, to become mindful of everything they do. When they drink a cup of tea, know that they are drinking the tea, not thinking about the past or the future, not always being someplace else. For this reason, the first function of meditation should be to practice shamatha, should be to stop.
Calming
The second function of shamatha is calming. The Buddha taught many techniques to help calm the body and the mind. Thich Nhat Hanh summarizes these techniques into five guidelines that individuals can follow:
1. Recognizing when they are feeling a strong emotion such as anger.
2. Accepting that they are feeling the strong emotion and not trying to deny it.
3. Embracing their strong emotions "like a mother holding her crying baby."
4. Looking deeply to understand the causes of their strong emotions.
5. Reflecting on the many primary and secondary factors that resulted in the strong emotions.
Individuals must learn how to calm their emotions, understand the art of breathing in and out. According to Thich Nhat Hanh, "We have to learn to become more solid and stable like an oak tree, and not be blown, from side to side by the storm.
Resting
The third function of shamatha, according to Thich Nhat Hanh, is resting. He recommends that individuals be like a pebble that is tossed into the air and falls into a river. The pebble allows itself to sink slowly, without struggle, until it reaches the riverbed, where it continues to rest as the water passes by.
"When we practice sitting meditation," states Thich Nhat Hanh, "we can allow ourselves to rest just like that pebble. We can allow ourselves to sink naturally into the position of sitting - resting, without effort." Indeed, resting is essential for healing - like wounded animals that seek out places to hide, not concerned about food or anything else, allowing their bodies to rest until they receive the healing they need.
The practice of resting, along with the functions of stopping and calming, are the essential components of shamatha and, consequently, fundamental to Buddhist meditation. They are, in fact, the preconditions for healing. Thich Nhat Hanh warns that if humans cannot learn to practice shamatha - learn to stop, calm down, and rest - their destructive course will continue, and healing will not be found.
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