RG ST 21 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Samatha, Loving-Kindness, Upekkha
Document Summary
Buddhist meditation: calming the mind and discerning the real. There is no one word for meditation in buddhism. Many words referring to different aspects of meditation: Meditation closes gap between how things appear and how they really are. It does this by calming the mind and using it to investigate reality. Miapprehension (avidya, ignorance) of reality causese immersion in samsara. Calming (samatha) prepares mind to see (vipasyana) When these 2 are brought together, one experiences unconditioned nirvana - transformative experience of how things truly are. According to buddhist psychology, the mind is fundamentally clear and bright - just covered by temporary defilement. Meditation is to restore mind to its basic condition of clarity and stillness. Calming meditation stills the mind - presupposes a person is engaged in spiritual pursuits. In order to calm the mind, the meditator focuses intently on specific objects. Certain objects used by people dominated by certain emotions.
