Samatha and Vipassana

If we had to break down meditation into parts, it would break into two: Samatha and Vipassana. I’ve wrote and talked about a method of Vipassana meditation before and gave a brief overview of it, so I won’t talk too much about Vipassana here to avoid too much repeating, so it’ll mostly me about Samatha and general meditation.

Samatha is the development of concentration, putting your concentration and directing your mind to a single object and resting on it. The object that we mostly use to concentrate on is the breath; we count it or note of the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of the breath. Every once in a while our minds will wonder, so when it does, it’s important to be aware and come back to your concentration. It’s also important to not control your breath. You’re not controlling it, you’re not grasping, attaching, or holding on to your breath. You concentrate to get rid of that attachment. Attachment to breath here means to not be “content” with the feeling or perfection of being able to concentrate on your breath, otherwise you won’t or wouldn’t want to advance.

Sometimes concentration has this negative connotation to it, because it can sometimes come off as meaning “controlling” something to do as you will. However, concentration in Buddhism means to pay attention. So Samatha ultimately means developing peace of mind. The Anapanasati Sutra is the means of breath awareness.

Vipassana is the development of mindful awareness in which you use the tranquility that arises from Samatha to see the impermanent and change in nature of our experiences. The change in life and the direct experiences you have in the present moment, in the now.

Vipassana is about watching the thoughts – seeing it and letting it go without attaching or engaging with them. You use the tranquility, the peacefulness you developed in Samatha and you use it to watch the thoughts that arise, so you would be changing your concentration into contemplation, into insight. Vipassna is also called insight meditation. With awareness you gain insight into how your body and mind works and you can better understand your Self by taking interest in the sensations of the body and tranquility of the mind. Vipassana is the method of detachment from thoughts and feelings and being mindful of them. It’s watching all the thoughts and feelings that arise – a thought arises, you become aware that the thought has risen, you see it and you let it go; you don’t jump into the thought and engage it. Like a cloud you just sit back and watch it go by.

Vipassana is an all day, everyday practice by watching your mind.

In meditation, you relax and work (practice) simultaneously. Samatha is being there and watching your breath. Watching your breath all the time might get tiresome and boring. You might be getting tired of all the repetition of being aware of your ‘in’ and ‘out’ breath, but repetition is a very important aspect in all kinds of training – you repeat and repeat until you really know it and learn it. It’s like drilling for oil. You start drilling in an area where you know there’s oil, so you start drilling 20 feet deep and hit nothing. You drill 20 feet deeper and still nothing, so you give up. But if you would of just kept on drilling for another 20 more feet, you would of struck oil. So it’s the patient person, the persistent person that always tries and tries until they accomplish their goal and become successful. So you must keep on drilling deeper and deeper, always being aware of your breath and thoughts, because it can be a successful way to Enlightenment.

You gradually go from Samatha to Vipassana. One can’t work without the other. They’re like the wings of a bird; you can’t fly with just one wing. The goal of meditation is concentration and awareness.

Smile and be well!