Tag Archives: Seclusion

Cultivating Śamatha and Vipaśyanā

Posted on November 24, 2019 by Vajragoni

The main emphasis in this chapter of the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra is the cultivation of Śamatha and Vipaśyanā. Śamatha is contemplative tranquility, or in Keenan’s translation, quietude (which we prefer since it establishes the very essence of quietude). Vipaśyanā is insight-meditation or in Cleary’s translation, observation; hence, it’s a form of meditation that mindfully and insightfully assesses different forms of dharmata and can articulate as such verbally or in writing—this present sutra is a form of Vipaśyanā. As John Powers has stated, “This chapter is one of the great scriptural locus classici for śamatha and vipaśyanā in the Mahāyāna tradition.” read more

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The Demons of Thought

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Vajragoni

“Ananda, when the good person who is cultivating samadhi has put an end to the feeling skandha, although he has not achieved freedom from outflows, his mind can leave his body the way a bird escapes from a cage. From within his ordinary body, he already has the potential for ascending through the Bodhisattvas’ sixty levels of sagehood. He is now able to use his mind to create a spiritual-body and can roam freely without obstruction. read more

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