shows a meditation lodge we were able to rent for over six months.
What was Alan teaching during these retreats (
? Two contemplative practices that are
complementary. The first concerns focusing the mind. The second concerns cultivating beneficial
aspirations so that trainees have a deep ethical embedding for undertaking focusing the mind. In
terms of focused attention, the main technique was
mindfulness of breathing.
This involved, in
brief, focusing on the sensations of the breath at the tip of the nostrils. When the mind wandered,
the instruction was to gently release the distraction and bring the attention back to the breath. A
second technique, called Settling the Mind in its Natural State, broadens that awareness to the field
of all mental events, thoughts and images. The core instruction here is “whatever arises in the
mind, do not be carried away by it and do not grasp onto or identify with it. Just let it be. Watch it
arise, with discerning intelligence be aware of its nature, and let it slip back into the space of
awareness without any judgment or intervention on your part
. A third and more subtle technique
is to find, within that field, your awareness itself and focus on that. You can learn more about these
techniques from Alan’s book
The Attention Revolution
Beneficial aspirations included: loving-
kindness, the wish for yourself and others to be happy; compassion, the wish for self and others to
be free of the conditions of suffering; empathic joy, taking pleasure in other people’s success; and
equanimity, not distinguishing those near to you from those far from you. These are the Four
Immeasurables (see Alan’s book
Boundless Heart
, as they are called in the Tibetan tradition,
because it is thought they can be cultivated to an immeasurable extent.
What did we expect to find?
(1) Improved ability to focus
(2) Increased access to experience
(3) Faster recovery from provocation
(4) Diminution of destructive tendencies
Picture 12.
Rigden Lodge at Shambhala Mountain Center in Red Feather Lakes CO was the location for training and
data collection for the Shamatha Project. Each participant had a separate room and practiced as a group twice a day
in the meditation hall (single story part of building). Control participants stayed at an adjacent building when on site for
testing. Photo by Adeline Van Waning.
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