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Stages of Meditation
In Stages of Meditation, His Holiness offers his highly practical views on the subject of meditation: how to meditate, the various different procedures and approaches we can take, what we and others may gain from it. He explains how we can develop a spiritual path in a proper sequence rather than in a scattered, piecemeal fashion. He also shows the importance of building up both method and wisdom, as well as cultivating compassion and 'special insight' as we train our minds.
This impressive and stimulating book will not only bring the Dalai Lama - one of the world's most popular and pragmatic spiritual leaders - to a huge new audience but, because so many people round the globe are now practising meditation, from a basis of religious faith or none, this is a work which will doubtless be in print for many years to come.
This impressive and stimulating book will not only bring the Dalai Lama - one of the world's most popular and pragmatic spiritual leaders - to a huge new audience but, because so many people round the globe are now practising meditation, from a basis of religious faith or none, this is a work which will doubtless be in print for many years to come.
216 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
221 people are currently reading
1933 people want to read
About the author
Dalai Lama XIV
1,554 books6,205 followersJetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (born Lhamo Döndrub), the 14th Dalai Lama, is a practicing member of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism and is influential as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the world's most famous Buddhist monk, and the leader of the exiled Tibetan government in India.
Tenzin Gyatso was the fifth of sixteen children born to a farming family. He was proclaimed the tulku (an Enlightened lama who has consciously decided to take rebirth) of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two.
On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, he was enthroned as Tibet's ruler. Thus he became Tibet's most important political ruler just one month after the People's Republic of China's invasion of Tibet on 7 October 1950. In 1954, he went to Beijing to attempt peace talks with Mao Zedong and other leaders of the PRC. These talks ultimately failed.
After a failed uprising and the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, the Dalai Lama left for India, where he was active in establishing the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile) and in seeking to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.
Tenzin Gyatso is a charismatic figure and noted public speaker. This Dalai Lama is the first to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, honorary Canadian citizenship in 2006, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal on 17 October 2007.
Tenzin Gyatso was the fifth of sixteen children born to a farming family. He was proclaimed the tulku (an Enlightened lama who has consciously decided to take rebirth) of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two.
On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, he was enthroned as Tibet's ruler. Thus he became Tibet's most important political ruler just one month after the People's Republic of China's invasion of Tibet on 7 October 1950. In 1954, he went to Beijing to attempt peace talks with Mao Zedong and other leaders of the PRC. These talks ultimately failed.
After a failed uprising and the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, the Dalai Lama left for India, where he was active in establishing the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile) and in seeking to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.
Tenzin Gyatso is a charismatic figure and noted public speaker. This Dalai Lama is the first to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, honorary Canadian citizenship in 2006, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal on 17 October 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
July 29, 2021
The wise distance themselves from jealousy and other stains;
Their thirst for knowledge is unquenchable
Like an ocean.
They retain only what is proper through discrimination,
Just like swans extracting milk from water.
Thus, scholars should distance themselves
From divisive attitudes and bigotry.
Even from a child
Good words are received.
Whatever merit I derive
From the exposition of this Middle Path,
I dedicate for all beings
To actualize the Middle Path.
Their thirst for knowledge is unquenchable
Like an ocean.
They retain only what is proper through discrimination,
Just like swans extracting milk from water.
Thus, scholars should distance themselves
From divisive attitudes and bigotry.
Even from a child
Good words are received.
Whatever merit I derive
From the exposition of this Middle Path,
I dedicate for all beings
To actualize the Middle Path.
May 7, 2009
I need to reread this--I read it quickly during His Holiness the Dalai Lama's week-long teachings from it--and perhaps I appreciate this text more for the explanations His Holiness offered during those teachings, but this book is, so far, one of the two most profound and instructive guides to formal meditation I've read yet. It's not for beginners, because I feel some background in Buddhist philosophy and/or meditation practices will be useful, but it's not for experts, either--I'm certainly no expert!--so it's worth picking up and keeping around until you're ready to read it. For me, I was fortunate to have received this text at exactly the right point in my declining practice, and it clarified a lot for me and kick-started my regular practice. An excellent, beautiful book.
April 18, 2012
Definitely needs a re-read. Heavy material.
December 20, 2020
This book captures the Dalai Lama in his classical role, explaining an ancient Buddhist text to monks in Northern India. The exposition is simply translated from Tibetan, and it shows us the subtlety of an advanced class for committed practitioners. Where our sound-bite world commonly simplifies religion to some "main point", the Dalai Lama's careful reflections always maintain a balancing act. The terse root text by Kamalashila is expanded on, the way a seasoned mountain guide explains a map through highly variable terrain. The path to unwavering attention and compassion looks hard, but possible. The teacher evokes a desire to make it.
April 18, 2019
I would not begin to critique any book written by the Dalai Lama and can only claim a rudimentary knowledge of Buddhism. Very rudimentary. While I have been reading Buddhism for many years as well as meditating several decades, Stages of Meditation is difficult, for me, to grasp. Clearly my stage, and not the writers! Quotes I liked:
"Generally, in the Buddhist tradition, philosophical view do not have to be proves by scriptures alone. Individuals must rely primarily on logic and reasoning to gain faith and conviction for the philosophy."
"Compassion is a mind that focuses on the sentient beings that are miserable and wishes them to be free from suffering."
Skillful means, ie. walking a decent path with ourselves and others, compassion, and wisdom will serve to decrease our suffering and increase our happiness, combined with a daily mediation practice.
The non-duality concepts I somewhat understand. It seems a lot like Jung's concept of the union of the opposites for the transcendence of self. The concept of emptiness, I understand and feel its truth, although I could not explain it. I continue to scrabble with the concept of "suchness". The Stages of Meditation struck me as less about meditation and more about Buddhist philosophy. During the reading, I noted I was more often in my head, than in other experiences of being in my heart while reading Buddhism.
"Generally, in the Buddhist tradition, philosophical view do not have to be proves by scriptures alone. Individuals must rely primarily on logic and reasoning to gain faith and conviction for the philosophy."
"Compassion is a mind that focuses on the sentient beings that are miserable and wishes them to be free from suffering."
Skillful means, ie. walking a decent path with ourselves and others, compassion, and wisdom will serve to decrease our suffering and increase our happiness, combined with a daily mediation practice.
The non-duality concepts I somewhat understand. It seems a lot like Jung's concept of the union of the opposites for the transcendence of self. The concept of emptiness, I understand and feel its truth, although I could not explain it. I continue to scrabble with the concept of "suchness". The Stages of Meditation struck me as less about meditation and more about Buddhist philosophy. During the reading, I noted I was more often in my head, than in other experiences of being in my heart while reading Buddhism.
June 5, 2019
Ok, so this one is definitely not for beginners. Or even intermediates, I'm note even sure I was ready to read this. STAGE OF MEDITATION is a dense and thorough examination of a Buddhist scripture that focuses on the proper meditation in the Middle School way of teaching.
This scripture and its analysis goes through the steps of achieving enlightenment and a state of Buddhahood, why these processes work, and how to realize them for yourself. As with all Buddhist teachings, the concepts they discuss can be very hard to grasp and require deep thought and analysis on each topic. Even with His Holiness easing us through the scripture, it can be quite tasking wrap your head around.
That being said, because it's more advanced it does help fill in the gaps once you are able to comprehend what you are reading. You start to get a clearer picture of your goals and what exactly you are trying to realize in terms of "ultimate reality." Definitely worth reading, but only if you're ready for the undertaking.
This scripture and its analysis goes through the steps of achieving enlightenment and a state of Buddhahood, why these processes work, and how to realize them for yourself. As with all Buddhist teachings, the concepts they discuss can be very hard to grasp and require deep thought and analysis on each topic. Even with His Holiness easing us through the scripture, it can be quite tasking wrap your head around.
That being said, because it's more advanced it does help fill in the gaps once you are able to comprehend what you are reading. You start to get a clearer picture of your goals and what exactly you are trying to realize in terms of "ultimate reality." Definitely worth reading, but only if you're ready for the undertaking.
October 4, 2021
This book provides the rendition of the commentary by Dalai Lama in Manali 1989 of Kamalashila’s text on meditation. Acharya Kamalashila was a great scholar-saint of the ninth century and a disciple of the great abbot Shantarakshita. Kamalashila composed this text in three parts , initial, intermediate and last stages of meditation. In this book His Holiness Dalai Lama covers the intermediate stages of meditation.
The introduction to the book covers the reasons why everybody should pursue meditation. Compassion, altruistic thought, and the perfect view are the fundamentals and lifeblood of the path to highest enlightenment. In words of the Superior Nagarjuna
"If you wish to attain the unsurpassed enlightenment
For yourself and the world,
The root is generation of an altruistic thought
That is stable and firm like mountain,
As all-embracing compassion.
And a transcendent wisdom free of duality."
One thing everybody should be very clear is that Dharma teachings have only one purpose: to discipline the mind. In the process of our spiritual practice, we must examine ourselves thoroughly and use Dharma as a mirror in which to see reflected the defects of our body, speech, and mind. When we are able to reduce the defects of the mind, its good qualities increase. We should pay attention to the fundamentals like the practice of the three trainings – renunciation, the awakening mind of bodhicitta, and the wisdom realizing emptiness. The first step is to cultivate within our minds those positive qualities taught by the Buddha. After properly discipling our own minds, then we may hope to help discipline other’s minds. Acharya Dharmakirti has taught this principle in very lucid terms:
"When the technique is obscure [to you]
Explanation is naturally difficult"
For a Dharma practitioner, one of the main challenges is to counter our disturbing emotions and finally free ourselves from them. The difficulty of this is due to the simple truth that disturbing emotions have from beginingless time caused us to suffer all kind of miseries. The whole purpose of meditation is to lessen the deluded afflictions of our mind and eventually eradicate them from their very roots. This constitutes the elimination of the three defects and cultivation of six favourable intentions.
The first of the three defects is listening in a way that is like an upside down container. So when someone is teaching, we’re in fact not listening at all. In such a case we have no interest in the teachings and do not hear anything that is taught. The second of the defects is to listen in a way that is like a container with holes, This mean though we’re listening to the teachings, we do not retain their contents due to lack of mindfulness. The third defect concerns the motivation, and is likened to a vessel containing poison. All Dharma practices must be done with a wholesome motivation and all deluded motives should be erased. These defects are obviously a great obstacle to learning, and we must eliminate these problem and attend to the teachings with keen interest.
Chapter One looks at Mind and Consciousness. There are two types of existent phenomenon: those that exist permanently and those that exist at some times but not at others. What is the implication of this second kind – existing at times but not existing at others? The implication is that temporary things depend on causes. The fact that certain things are produced at certain times proves the existence of causes. Causes are of different types, such as substantial cause, direct cause, indirect cause, cause of equal state, concomitant cause and so forth. Similarly, there are various types of conditions like objective condition, causal condition, immediate condition, and so forth. So those phenomenon that depend on causes and conditions change by nature; they do not abide in one place and they are not permanent. Conditioned phenomena in turn can be classed under three categories – form, consciousness, and neither of the two. Form consists of such aspects as shape, colour, and so forth, which can be sensed. Consciousness has neither shape nor colour and cannot be measured in any physical terms, but it exists in its nature in ability to feel and sense. Time, on the other hand, has neither form nor consciousness and belongs to the third category. The state of omniscience is the ultimate goal encompassing every perfection, and of the three categories of conditioned phenomenon, it belongs to the category of consciousness. Knowing or understanding is the function of consciousness. Consciousness vary in the scope of their knowledge and in their intensity or sharpness e.g. human consciousness is much bigger then animal’s. The consciousness of human beings also vary with education and experience – the more educated you are and the more experience you have, broader your consciousness. Knowledge and understanding develop on the basis of a consciousness that has the ability to perceive its objects. When necessary conditions are met, its ability to perceive increases, the scope of its objects of knowledge expands, and understanding deepens. In this way the mind can develop its full potential of Omniscience, which is the full consummation, or perfection, of the mind’s ability to perceive objects.
Chapter Two is about training the mind which entails a process of familiarization with worldly reality. In the Buddhist context, familiarization, or meditation, refers to the positive transformation of the mind, that is, to the elimination of its defective qualities and the improvement of its positive qualities. Through meditation we can train our minds in such a way that negative qualities are abandoned and positive qualities are generated and enhanced. In general we talk about two types of meditation: analytical and single-pointed. First, the object of meditation is put through a process of analysis in which one repeatedly attempts to gain familiarity with the subject matter. Second, when the practitioner has gained a good deal of certainty about the object of meditation, the mind is made to concentrate on it without further analysis. We must recognize the importance of training the mind, It arises from the fundamental fact that each and every one of us innately desires happiness and does not want misery. The basic purpose of education, for instance, is to gain happiness and avoid misery. Individuals struggle through the process of education so that they can enjoy a successful and meaningful life. We’ve looked at mind or consciousness and also at the importance of training the mind. The human mind does not have any existence independent of the human body. The consciousness that has particular relation to the human body is referred to as human consciousness. The human mind, or consciousness, actually consists of a vast number of minds, some subtle and some coarse. Many of the coarser types are connected to a sense organ like the eye, and many of them are definitely connected to the brain. It is obvious that these external bases, or factors, are essential for a consciousness to arise. But the main cause of any mind is the preceding moment of consciousness, whose nature is clarity and awareness. This is referred to as the immediate condition. The Four Hundred Verses of Aryadev mentions the logical requirement that a root cause of consciousness must have the potential to transform and have a nature of clarity and awareness. Otherwise, consciousness would either never be produced or it would be produced all the time.
Chapter Three, covers compassion which in Buddhist philosophy is the only root, or foundation of consciousness. The word “only” stresses that compassion is an essential cause of omniscience, but does not negate other causes and conditions. It is on basis of compassion that the awakening mind of bodhicitta is generated. In fact, individuals must rely primarily on logic and reasoning to gain faith and conviction in the philosophy. Objects of knowledge can be broadly classified as obvious phenomenon, partially concealed phenomenon, and completed concealed phenomenon. There is no reason to use logic to prove the existence of obvious phenomena. We can experience and understand then directly and thus ascertain their existence. Since partially concealed phenomena cannot be ascertained through direct experience, they need to be established by applying logic. The object of analysis is then understood by inferential cognition based on experience. Several lines of reasoning may be necessary to achieve the purpose.
Chapter Four, covers developing equanimity or how to meditate on compassion. Compassion is a mind that focusses on the sentient beings that are miserable and wishes them to be free from suffering. Compassion can be of three types, depending on the aspect of wisdom that accompanies it. These three are: compassion focussed on sentient beings, compassion focussed on phenomena, and compassion focussed on the unapprehendable. They are distinguished not in terms of their aspect, but in terms of their object of focus, because all three have the same aspect of wishing sentient beings to be separated from suffering. If we examine the state of our minds, we may see how they segregate sentient beings into three groups – those to whom we feel close, those for whom we feel aversion, and those to whom we are indifferent. Our compassion towards others is one sided and superficial, therefore, in order to generate true compassion for all beings, we must first develop an attitude of equanimity, an impartial thought that views all sentient beings equally. Broadly there are two major techniques for developing equanimity. According to the first, we think about the certainty of relationships, and about impermanence, and suffering, and come to see the futility of clinging to some people and hating others. According to second technique , seeing that all beings are the same in terms of wishing to gain happiness and to be free of suffering, we try to develop an impartial attitude toward all beings. Kamalashila puts this succinctly in his text
"After the mind has developed equanimity toward all sentient beings, meditate on loving-kindness. Moisten the mental continuum with the water of loving-kindness and prepare it as you would a piece of fertile ground. When the seed of compassion is planted in such a mind, germination will be swift, proper, and complete. Once you have irrigated the mind stream with loving-kindness, meditate on compassion."
Chapter Five deals with identifying the nature of suffering, so that we can generate compassion and have equanimity towards all sentient beings. Kamalashila deals with the various types of miseries that torture all sentient beings. The three types of miseries are the misery of suffering, the misery of change , and pervasive misery. The misery of suffering refers to what we usually recognize as suffering, physical pain, sickness, and mental anxiety. What we usually recognise as happiness is characterized as the misery of change. Contaminated happiness is not perfect happiness, but rather the mere absence of the grosser kinds of suffering. Since contaminated happiness does not last , but is brought to an end by unpleasantness, it is characterised as misery of change. Pervasive misery refers to sentient being’s collection of mental and physical constituents , known as the contaminated aggregates, which result from past karma and disturbing emotions, and act as agent to generate further karma and more misery. Now how can we get the mental training to be free from such misery. In order to train the mind to be compassionate, you must maintain a practice that includes both formal meditation sessions and awareness during the period that follow. It is important to cultivate a practice that unites a calm abiding mind with special insight. Calm abiding is single-pointed meditation, whereas special insight refers to discriminative awareness. Through the union of these two, you will be able to engage in a fruitful practice of both method and wisdom. Buddha Shakyamuni taught these two practices, calm abiding and special insight, and they are the only methods which you can achieve all the levels of concentration. Kamalashila says in his text
"Yogis cannot eliminate mental obstructions merely by familiarizing themselves with calm abiding meditation alone. It will only suppress the disturbing emotions and delusions temporarily. Without the light of wisdom, the latent potential of the disturbing emotions cannot be thoroughly destroyed, and therefore their complete destruction is not possible."
Chapter Six explains Wisdom. According to Buddhist tradition, the validity of a philosophical doctrine is determined by logical reasoning. Kamalashila says in his text that “wisdom helps you attain a pure pristine awareness”. Wisdom derived from meditation alone can enable us to eradicate the obscuration to liberation and to knowledge.
Chapter Seven deals with common prerequisites for meditating on calm abiding and special insight. According to the text by Kamalashila, “the prerequisites for the development of calm abiding meditation are: to live in a conducive environment, to limit your desires and practice contentment, not being involved in too many activities, maintaining pure moral ethics, and fully eliminating attachment and all other kinds of conceptual thoughts”. He further states that “a conducive environment should be known by these five characteristics: providing easy access to food and clothes, being free of evil beings and enemies, being free from disease, containing good friends who maintain moral ethics and who share similar views, and being visited by few people in the daytime and with little noise at night. Limiting you desires refer to not being excessively attached to many worldly goods. The practice of contentment means always being satisfied with any little things. Not being involved in many activities refers to giving up ordinary activities like business, avoiding too close association with householders and monks, and totally abandoning the practice of medicine and astrology.”
Chapter Eight refers to the practice of calm abiding, which is “that mind which has overcome distraction to external objects, and which spontaneously and continuously turns toward the object of meditation with bliss and pliancy.” First develop the ability to engage in calm abiding meditation by developing mental pliancy and then physical pliancy, so that mind is conjoined with bliss. Calm abiding meditation is a single pointed mind. The object of meditation here is primarily ultimate truth, but conventional phenomena are not excluded. The concentration that generates physical and mental bliss by the force of analysing the object is special insight. Thereafter, a union of calm abiding and special insight is attained. In this context, the mode of meditation is to deliberately stop all kinds of thoughts and perceptions, followed by stopping the mind to reflect on sensory experiences like feelings of joy or misery. Focus the mind on its present and natural state without allowing it to become preoccupied with memories of the past or plans for the future. When mind is free from all kinds of thoughts and concepts, suddenly a form of vacuity will appear. If the mediator tries to gain familiarity with that vacuity, the clarity of the consciousness will naturally become more obvious. Throughout the process of practicing calm abiding meditation, we should be fully aware of the five defects and the eight antidotes. The five defects are laziness, forgetting the object of meditation, mental dullness and excitement, not applying the antidote when afflicted by mental dullness and finally unnecessary application of the antidotes. The eight antidotes are faith, interest, perseverance, pliancy, mindfulness, conscientiousness, application of the antidotes and discarding unnecessary antidotes.
Chapter 9 describes how to actualize special insight. Kamalashila says “after realizing calm abiding, meditate on special insight, thinking as follows: All the teaching of the Buddha are perfect teachings, and they directly or indirectly reveal and lead to suchness with utmost clarity. If you understand suchness, you will be free of all the nets of wrong views, just as darkness is dispelled when light appears”. In order to meditate on the special insight that realizes ultimate reality, we need to develop the wisdom that understands selflessness. Before we can do that, we must search for and identify the self that does not exist. We cannot be satisfied with merely believing in its absence. We must ascertain from the depths of our heart that there is no basis for such a self to exist. Selflessness is of two types: the selflessness of persons and the selflessness of phenomena and both need to be negated. To ordinary perception, a person appears in relation to the mental and physical aggregates as the ruler over the body and mind. This notion of a self-sufficient person, which we ordinarily cling to very strongly, it is the self to be negated. The selflessness of phenomenon refers to the perceived object’s lacking true existence and the perceiving mind’s lacking true existence. The perceived object’s lacking external existence, and the perceiver and the perceived object’s lacking separate identity or substance, constitute the grosser level of the selflessness of phenomena. The analysing wisdom must discern the self to be refuted, after refuting that self, its opposite selflessness will be actualised.
Last chapter looks at unifying method and wisdom. It explains the practice of the union of special insight and calm abiding meditation where practitioner is engaged in the practice of both single pointed meditation and analytical meditation. The practitioner should place equal emphasis on generosity and other practices during the post-meditation period. During the time, dependent origination and emptiness must be understood as interchangeable. Emptiness in this context means that things lack their own intrinsic self-identity; it does nor mean non-existence. Therefore it does not fall into the extreme of nihilism. The implication is that when you understand the philosophy of emptiness, there is no contradiction in presenting the law of cause and effect on the conventional level. Emptiness does not mean nothingness; it means that things are empty of intrinsic existence. The meditation should be continued, with the awareness that full coordination between the method and wisdom aspects is crucial. Through these practices, the meditator becomes fully absorbed in suchness, like water being poured into water, free from the stain of duality.
The introduction to the book covers the reasons why everybody should pursue meditation. Compassion, altruistic thought, and the perfect view are the fundamentals and lifeblood of the path to highest enlightenment. In words of the Superior Nagarjuna
"If you wish to attain the unsurpassed enlightenment
For yourself and the world,
The root is generation of an altruistic thought
That is stable and firm like mountain,
As all-embracing compassion.
And a transcendent wisdom free of duality."
One thing everybody should be very clear is that Dharma teachings have only one purpose: to discipline the mind. In the process of our spiritual practice, we must examine ourselves thoroughly and use Dharma as a mirror in which to see reflected the defects of our body, speech, and mind. When we are able to reduce the defects of the mind, its good qualities increase. We should pay attention to the fundamentals like the practice of the three trainings – renunciation, the awakening mind of bodhicitta, and the wisdom realizing emptiness. The first step is to cultivate within our minds those positive qualities taught by the Buddha. After properly discipling our own minds, then we may hope to help discipline other’s minds. Acharya Dharmakirti has taught this principle in very lucid terms:
"When the technique is obscure [to you]
Explanation is naturally difficult"
For a Dharma practitioner, one of the main challenges is to counter our disturbing emotions and finally free ourselves from them. The difficulty of this is due to the simple truth that disturbing emotions have from beginingless time caused us to suffer all kind of miseries. The whole purpose of meditation is to lessen the deluded afflictions of our mind and eventually eradicate them from their very roots. This constitutes the elimination of the three defects and cultivation of six favourable intentions.
The first of the three defects is listening in a way that is like an upside down container. So when someone is teaching, we’re in fact not listening at all. In such a case we have no interest in the teachings and do not hear anything that is taught. The second of the defects is to listen in a way that is like a container with holes, This mean though we’re listening to the teachings, we do not retain their contents due to lack of mindfulness. The third defect concerns the motivation, and is likened to a vessel containing poison. All Dharma practices must be done with a wholesome motivation and all deluded motives should be erased. These defects are obviously a great obstacle to learning, and we must eliminate these problem and attend to the teachings with keen interest.
Chapter One looks at Mind and Consciousness. There are two types of existent phenomenon: those that exist permanently and those that exist at some times but not at others. What is the implication of this second kind – existing at times but not existing at others? The implication is that temporary things depend on causes. The fact that certain things are produced at certain times proves the existence of causes. Causes are of different types, such as substantial cause, direct cause, indirect cause, cause of equal state, concomitant cause and so forth. Similarly, there are various types of conditions like objective condition, causal condition, immediate condition, and so forth. So those phenomenon that depend on causes and conditions change by nature; they do not abide in one place and they are not permanent. Conditioned phenomena in turn can be classed under three categories – form, consciousness, and neither of the two. Form consists of such aspects as shape, colour, and so forth, which can be sensed. Consciousness has neither shape nor colour and cannot be measured in any physical terms, but it exists in its nature in ability to feel and sense. Time, on the other hand, has neither form nor consciousness and belongs to the third category. The state of omniscience is the ultimate goal encompassing every perfection, and of the three categories of conditioned phenomenon, it belongs to the category of consciousness. Knowing or understanding is the function of consciousness. Consciousness vary in the scope of their knowledge and in their intensity or sharpness e.g. human consciousness is much bigger then animal’s. The consciousness of human beings also vary with education and experience – the more educated you are and the more experience you have, broader your consciousness. Knowledge and understanding develop on the basis of a consciousness that has the ability to perceive its objects. When necessary conditions are met, its ability to perceive increases, the scope of its objects of knowledge expands, and understanding deepens. In this way the mind can develop its full potential of Omniscience, which is the full consummation, or perfection, of the mind’s ability to perceive objects.
Chapter Two is about training the mind which entails a process of familiarization with worldly reality. In the Buddhist context, familiarization, or meditation, refers to the positive transformation of the mind, that is, to the elimination of its defective qualities and the improvement of its positive qualities. Through meditation we can train our minds in such a way that negative qualities are abandoned and positive qualities are generated and enhanced. In general we talk about two types of meditation: analytical and single-pointed. First, the object of meditation is put through a process of analysis in which one repeatedly attempts to gain familiarity with the subject matter. Second, when the practitioner has gained a good deal of certainty about the object of meditation, the mind is made to concentrate on it without further analysis. We must recognize the importance of training the mind, It arises from the fundamental fact that each and every one of us innately desires happiness and does not want misery. The basic purpose of education, for instance, is to gain happiness and avoid misery. Individuals struggle through the process of education so that they can enjoy a successful and meaningful life. We’ve looked at mind or consciousness and also at the importance of training the mind. The human mind does not have any existence independent of the human body. The consciousness that has particular relation to the human body is referred to as human consciousness. The human mind, or consciousness, actually consists of a vast number of minds, some subtle and some coarse. Many of the coarser types are connected to a sense organ like the eye, and many of them are definitely connected to the brain. It is obvious that these external bases, or factors, are essential for a consciousness to arise. But the main cause of any mind is the preceding moment of consciousness, whose nature is clarity and awareness. This is referred to as the immediate condition. The Four Hundred Verses of Aryadev mentions the logical requirement that a root cause of consciousness must have the potential to transform and have a nature of clarity and awareness. Otherwise, consciousness would either never be produced or it would be produced all the time.
Chapter Three, covers compassion which in Buddhist philosophy is the only root, or foundation of consciousness. The word “only” stresses that compassion is an essential cause of omniscience, but does not negate other causes and conditions. It is on basis of compassion that the awakening mind of bodhicitta is generated. In fact, individuals must rely primarily on logic and reasoning to gain faith and conviction in the philosophy. Objects of knowledge can be broadly classified as obvious phenomenon, partially concealed phenomenon, and completed concealed phenomenon. There is no reason to use logic to prove the existence of obvious phenomena. We can experience and understand then directly and thus ascertain their existence. Since partially concealed phenomena cannot be ascertained through direct experience, they need to be established by applying logic. The object of analysis is then understood by inferential cognition based on experience. Several lines of reasoning may be necessary to achieve the purpose.
Chapter Four, covers developing equanimity or how to meditate on compassion. Compassion is a mind that focusses on the sentient beings that are miserable and wishes them to be free from suffering. Compassion can be of three types, depending on the aspect of wisdom that accompanies it. These three are: compassion focussed on sentient beings, compassion focussed on phenomena, and compassion focussed on the unapprehendable. They are distinguished not in terms of their aspect, but in terms of their object of focus, because all three have the same aspect of wishing sentient beings to be separated from suffering. If we examine the state of our minds, we may see how they segregate sentient beings into three groups – those to whom we feel close, those for whom we feel aversion, and those to whom we are indifferent. Our compassion towards others is one sided and superficial, therefore, in order to generate true compassion for all beings, we must first develop an attitude of equanimity, an impartial thought that views all sentient beings equally. Broadly there are two major techniques for developing equanimity. According to the first, we think about the certainty of relationships, and about impermanence, and suffering, and come to see the futility of clinging to some people and hating others. According to second technique , seeing that all beings are the same in terms of wishing to gain happiness and to be free of suffering, we try to develop an impartial attitude toward all beings. Kamalashila puts this succinctly in his text
"After the mind has developed equanimity toward all sentient beings, meditate on loving-kindness. Moisten the mental continuum with the water of loving-kindness and prepare it as you would a piece of fertile ground. When the seed of compassion is planted in such a mind, germination will be swift, proper, and complete. Once you have irrigated the mind stream with loving-kindness, meditate on compassion."
Chapter Five deals with identifying the nature of suffering, so that we can generate compassion and have equanimity towards all sentient beings. Kamalashila deals with the various types of miseries that torture all sentient beings. The three types of miseries are the misery of suffering, the misery of change , and pervasive misery. The misery of suffering refers to what we usually recognize as suffering, physical pain, sickness, and mental anxiety. What we usually recognise as happiness is characterized as the misery of change. Contaminated happiness is not perfect happiness, but rather the mere absence of the grosser kinds of suffering. Since contaminated happiness does not last , but is brought to an end by unpleasantness, it is characterised as misery of change. Pervasive misery refers to sentient being’s collection of mental and physical constituents , known as the contaminated aggregates, which result from past karma and disturbing emotions, and act as agent to generate further karma and more misery. Now how can we get the mental training to be free from such misery. In order to train the mind to be compassionate, you must maintain a practice that includes both formal meditation sessions and awareness during the period that follow. It is important to cultivate a practice that unites a calm abiding mind with special insight. Calm abiding is single-pointed meditation, whereas special insight refers to discriminative awareness. Through the union of these two, you will be able to engage in a fruitful practice of both method and wisdom. Buddha Shakyamuni taught these two practices, calm abiding and special insight, and they are the only methods which you can achieve all the levels of concentration. Kamalashila says in his text
"Yogis cannot eliminate mental obstructions merely by familiarizing themselves with calm abiding meditation alone. It will only suppress the disturbing emotions and delusions temporarily. Without the light of wisdom, the latent potential of the disturbing emotions cannot be thoroughly destroyed, and therefore their complete destruction is not possible."
Chapter Six explains Wisdom. According to Buddhist tradition, the validity of a philosophical doctrine is determined by logical reasoning. Kamalashila says in his text that “wisdom helps you attain a pure pristine awareness”. Wisdom derived from meditation alone can enable us to eradicate the obscuration to liberation and to knowledge.
Chapter Seven deals with common prerequisites for meditating on calm abiding and special insight. According to the text by Kamalashila, “the prerequisites for the development of calm abiding meditation are: to live in a conducive environment, to limit your desires and practice contentment, not being involved in too many activities, maintaining pure moral ethics, and fully eliminating attachment and all other kinds of conceptual thoughts”. He further states that “a conducive environment should be known by these five characteristics: providing easy access to food and clothes, being free of evil beings and enemies, being free from disease, containing good friends who maintain moral ethics and who share similar views, and being visited by few people in the daytime and with little noise at night. Limiting you desires refer to not being excessively attached to many worldly goods. The practice of contentment means always being satisfied with any little things. Not being involved in many activities refers to giving up ordinary activities like business, avoiding too close association with householders and monks, and totally abandoning the practice of medicine and astrology.”
Chapter Eight refers to the practice of calm abiding, which is “that mind which has overcome distraction to external objects, and which spontaneously and continuously turns toward the object of meditation with bliss and pliancy.” First develop the ability to engage in calm abiding meditation by developing mental pliancy and then physical pliancy, so that mind is conjoined with bliss. Calm abiding meditation is a single pointed mind. The object of meditation here is primarily ultimate truth, but conventional phenomena are not excluded. The concentration that generates physical and mental bliss by the force of analysing the object is special insight. Thereafter, a union of calm abiding and special insight is attained. In this context, the mode of meditation is to deliberately stop all kinds of thoughts and perceptions, followed by stopping the mind to reflect on sensory experiences like feelings of joy or misery. Focus the mind on its present and natural state without allowing it to become preoccupied with memories of the past or plans for the future. When mind is free from all kinds of thoughts and concepts, suddenly a form of vacuity will appear. If the mediator tries to gain familiarity with that vacuity, the clarity of the consciousness will naturally become more obvious. Throughout the process of practicing calm abiding meditation, we should be fully aware of the five defects and the eight antidotes. The five defects are laziness, forgetting the object of meditation, mental dullness and excitement, not applying the antidote when afflicted by mental dullness and finally unnecessary application of the antidotes. The eight antidotes are faith, interest, perseverance, pliancy, mindfulness, conscientiousness, application of the antidotes and discarding unnecessary antidotes.
Chapter 9 describes how to actualize special insight. Kamalashila says “after realizing calm abiding, meditate on special insight, thinking as follows: All the teaching of the Buddha are perfect teachings, and they directly or indirectly reveal and lead to suchness with utmost clarity. If you understand suchness, you will be free of all the nets of wrong views, just as darkness is dispelled when light appears”. In order to meditate on the special insight that realizes ultimate reality, we need to develop the wisdom that understands selflessness. Before we can do that, we must search for and identify the self that does not exist. We cannot be satisfied with merely believing in its absence. We must ascertain from the depths of our heart that there is no basis for such a self to exist. Selflessness is of two types: the selflessness of persons and the selflessness of phenomena and both need to be negated. To ordinary perception, a person appears in relation to the mental and physical aggregates as the ruler over the body and mind. This notion of a self-sufficient person, which we ordinarily cling to very strongly, it is the self to be negated. The selflessness of phenomenon refers to the perceived object’s lacking true existence and the perceiving mind’s lacking true existence. The perceived object’s lacking external existence, and the perceiver and the perceived object’s lacking separate identity or substance, constitute the grosser level of the selflessness of phenomena. The analysing wisdom must discern the self to be refuted, after refuting that self, its opposite selflessness will be actualised.
Last chapter looks at unifying method and wisdom. It explains the practice of the union of special insight and calm abiding meditation where practitioner is engaged in the practice of both single pointed meditation and analytical meditation. The practitioner should place equal emphasis on generosity and other practices during the post-meditation period. During the time, dependent origination and emptiness must be understood as interchangeable. Emptiness in this context means that things lack their own intrinsic self-identity; it does nor mean non-existence. Therefore it does not fall into the extreme of nihilism. The implication is that when you understand the philosophy of emptiness, there is no contradiction in presenting the law of cause and effect on the conventional level. Emptiness does not mean nothingness; it means that things are empty of intrinsic existence. The meditation should be continued, with the awareness that full coordination between the method and wisdom aspects is crucial. Through these practices, the meditator becomes fully absorbed in suchness, like water being poured into water, free from the stain of duality.
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January 31, 2024Dalai Lama and effective altruists are drinkn the same juice
November 10, 2014
I'm certain that this text has a huge amount of wisdom in it, but I wasn't able to understand most of it at this time. I wouldn't consider this the Dalai Lama's most accessible work. Though it is a very complete interpretation and analysis of Kamalashila's Stages of Meditation, I feel that this requires an extensive background in Buddhist texts to comprehend. If you are looking for a book by the Dalai Lama that is more approachable for Westerners or beginning Buddhist scholars, I'd recommend the Essence of Happiness.
August 2, 2011
This is a great book for those who have already become comfortable with the process of meditation. For many years, I did not know how to take my meditation to the next level and this book has valuable lessons to get the most out of meditation practice. According to this text, this book is the middle teaching of a three-part teaching. I am not sure if there are english translations of the other two teachings. If anyone knows how to find it, please contact me!
April 2, 2012
This book was too analytical. I wasn't ready to read it but someone gave it to me.
April 24, 2025
Let me start by saying that religion and I have always stared at each other from opposite sides of the room at the party but my arrogance has always kept me from fully making the commitment to crossing over and introducing myself. A significant barrier of entry to my understanding of faith is my refusal to prostrate myself before anything or fully commit to some paternalistic figure taking the captain’s seat in my life over myself- which I think you can probably attribute to my massive, overgrown, and suffocating intellectual ego and also my secular upbringing? Anyways, I think that people are drawn to me and comforted by my aggressive secularism and hyper-individualistic attitude, especially in this postmodern and postfaith era we live in, and I didn’t really have any desire to change that, but this book and the circumstance of my growing interest in religion fell in my path at a lucky moment, I guess. For context, my interest in meditation started after I went on a hinge date with this German dude whose total lack of cynicism, conviction in spirituality, and ease through which he navigated the world really shook up my mental schema and made me realize how truly selfish, boring, and limiting all of the feelings of cynicism, depression, and hopelessness I had accumulated over the past year were. Like, I guess for me being jaded served as a way to protect myself from the world and feel in control by always making me feel a step ahead of everyone else and their convictions, but it took talking to this person to make me realize that I was essentially trapping myself in a tiny room of self pity and there are much cooler and more interesting things to see if you just open the door and step outside. Anyways, I decided to buy this book in a used bookstore in London to see what this guy was on about. It’s a really great read. Kind of like braces for your brain. And like, so weirdly specifically responsive to the particular struggles I am going through in this specific moment in my life. Anyways, I guess this book served in a lot of ways as a mirror to myself and made me realize a lot of emotions and struggles within me that I didn’t even clock I was going through until I was presented with the answers. Like, the solution to my disillusionment with people being boring, selfish, uncaring, unkind, and emotionally shallow being to do away with your unnecessary judgments of people’s character and be filled with an infinite compassion for sentient life and beings instead. Anyways, this book and that dude I went on a date with really triggered like a second spiritual awakening within me and I was feeling really excited about all of these new ideas and emotions I was having, which made it all the more ironic when I went on a second date and realized that that man was egotistical, narcissistic, deeply unkind, self obsessed yet completely lacking self awareness, and so completely filled with conviction in his own self importance that he couldn’t even recognize the irony in the way he talked about and completely misunderstood Buddhism. The Dalai Lama would probably really disapprove of the way I’m talking about him, but I’ve only been on this little journey for three weeks so I hope he’ll forgive me. Anyways, really good and I would recommend it. LOL! 5/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 8, 2018
** Spoilers***
stages of meditation is an excellent book by His Highness Dalai Lama. It is old buddhist commentary on meditation passed on to Dalai Lama. I found this book in one of bookstore in Dharmashala & I was eager to read it. I must confess this book has a very detailed analysis of meditation which is sometimes hard to understand. May be my level is very beginner.
I was looking for steps for meditation for beginner. Author mentioned 2 ways which are complementary to each other. One is single pointed & other is calm abiding, one should do both to expect required result. When we are not doing meditation we should be compassionate with others & with all.
Single pointed meditation can be done with focussing concentration on some object like breath or even god
Calm abiding meditation is to analyse our thinking & problems & applying antedotes to it , which makes our mind calm & we get some wisdom.
Thats the way to achieve Nirvana
stages of meditation is an excellent book by His Highness Dalai Lama. It is old buddhist commentary on meditation passed on to Dalai Lama. I found this book in one of bookstore in Dharmashala & I was eager to read it. I must confess this book has a very detailed analysis of meditation which is sometimes hard to understand. May be my level is very beginner.
I was looking for steps for meditation for beginner. Author mentioned 2 ways which are complementary to each other. One is single pointed & other is calm abiding, one should do both to expect required result. When we are not doing meditation we should be compassionate with others & with all.
Single pointed meditation can be done with focussing concentration on some object like breath or even god
Calm abiding meditation is to analyse our thinking & problems & applying antedotes to it , which makes our mind calm & we get some wisdom.
Thats the way to achieve Nirvana
May 21, 2019
Interesting read but a little too difficult for me and my current knowledge of Meditation / Tibetan Buddhism. Rating is based on what I got out of the book rather than the book itself, as I'm sure the more experience and background knowledge I have, the more I would've absorbed from this book.
As for a casual reader, this is a quite an intense book with various references to Tibetan Buddhism. The book describes various Stages of Meditation, or Buddhahood rather. It explains how to achieve it and what will happen.
What I got out of mostly is to commit to meditation, meditating wholeheartedly with a loving kindness to all beings. Letting the mind open and achieving omniscience, while letting go of all other negative emotions.
Perhaps I'll read this book later in my life and understand it lot better than.
As for a casual reader, this is a quite an intense book with various references to Tibetan Buddhism. The book describes various Stages of Meditation, or Buddhahood rather. It explains how to achieve it and what will happen.
What I got out of mostly is to commit to meditation, meditating wholeheartedly with a loving kindness to all beings. Letting the mind open and achieving omniscience, while letting go of all other negative emotions.
Perhaps I'll read this book later in my life and understand it lot better than.
June 23, 2018
What would you think if I recommended you to read a book called "Step by step meditation" from the Dalai Lama?
I recommended it to my friend Maggie Sotelo and she told me that it was very complicated ... so I read it and ... I understood almost nothing.
In short, it is an advanced book for those Buddhists who have much theoretical and practical knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism.
The main teaching is that meditation should help us in two things: to really calm the mind and take us to the true wisdom of things, to the true knowledge of them.
If we calm the mind alone (as I do in my meditation) we do not reach the transcendental knowledge that liberation gives us, and if we try to focus on knowing reality but our mind is not calm, we do not arrive at anything.
Good book, but for advanced.
I recommended it to my friend Maggie Sotelo and she told me that it was very complicated ... so I read it and ... I understood almost nothing.
In short, it is an advanced book for those Buddhists who have much theoretical and practical knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism.
The main teaching is that meditation should help us in two things: to really calm the mind and take us to the true wisdom of things, to the true knowledge of them.
If we calm the mind alone (as I do in my meditation) we do not reach the transcendental knowledge that liberation gives us, and if we try to focus on knowing reality but our mind is not calm, we do not arrive at anything.
Good book, but for advanced.
December 31, 2020
Contains translation of the original Tibetan text by Kamalashila with commentary by the Dalai Lama. This is not for people just starting to practice Buddhism. It is very dense, written in a very formal style, and at times mystical. I appreciated the emphasis on compassion, it did help me understand lack of self and non-attachment better, and the antidotes to dullness/excitement during meditation were somewhat helpful. However, the aspects I did like and find instructive were too buried in repetative and non-relevant metaphors and a sort of dogmatic litany of concepts. Perhaps if I was more familiar with the concepts he references, I would have gotten more out of it, but overall I will probably not come back to this book.
October 11, 2018
This is a very good explanation of Kamalashila's Stages of Meditation by the Dalai Lama. However, this is not a book to just read and put on a shelf. This is not an easy manual. Every paragraph has to be reflected upon and internalized. It may be 158 pages long, but reading this takes a lot of thinking, so make sure you are patient with yourself and give yourself plenty of time to read and learn it. Properly read, this text should be a lifetime go-to and not a book that you start and finish. There are some beautiful ideas in it. Absorb them, practice them, and teach them to others.
February 3, 2019
Just what I was looking for, a more in-depth explanation of meditation; it's benefits and methods. This is from a Buddhist perspective but it can be read by anyone.
The book also gives insight into Buddhism and it's teachings, which I found very valuable.
It's both a heavy and an easy read. The subject is heavy in the sense that it's a lot to take in and grasp, but it's easy to read and follow as The Dalai Lama's writing style is very eloquent and comprehensible.
The book also gives insight into Buddhism and it's teachings, which I found very valuable.
It's both a heavy and an easy read. The subject is heavy in the sense that it's a lot to take in and grasp, but it's easy to read and follow as The Dalai Lama's writing style is very eloquent and comprehensible.
November 30, 2020
I couldn’t believe how profound and thought provoking this book could be. The calm abiding meditation concept and actuating special insight took me a while to understand and synthesize in my own mind. Also, the concept of selflessness blew me off to pieces. Well, if you are interested in knowing more about the Buddhism philosophy, I think this book does a great job. It’s well written and it’s extremely informative. I’m glad that I read this book.
August 7, 2023
90/100
A great introduction to the principles and mental preparation for meditation. I didn't realize that Buddhism was so altruistic, the book basically recommends flooding your mind with thoughts of compassion and equality and loving-kindness for all sentient beings. In addition to the pragmatic tips that are given, I found this refreshing and a good introduction to Buddhist philosophy in general. I plan to return to it many times in the future when I try to meditate.
A great introduction to the principles and mental preparation for meditation. I didn't realize that Buddhism was so altruistic, the book basically recommends flooding your mind with thoughts of compassion and equality and loving-kindness for all sentient beings. In addition to the pragmatic tips that are given, I found this refreshing and a good introduction to Buddhist philosophy in general. I plan to return to it many times in the future when I try to meditate.
August 18, 2019
Extremely simple and deep at the same time, like the very teachings of the Buddha. A light in the intricate path of discovering and disciplining our minds. Kalamashila's root text is full of Truth and virtue, but it is the hand and insight of H. H. Dalai Lama XIV that gives contemporaries a fighting chance of actually attaining its wisdom.
February 13, 2020
This book assumes that you know a lot about Buddhism, that you are very interested in it and that you want to know even more about it. It also assumes that you meditate to reach a state of Nirvana. I thought it would have a more general approach to meditation and its different stages, how to improve etc. This book is not for the general person who wants to get better at meditation.
November 26, 2020
Creo que hubiera sido un gran libro si mi nivel de budismo tibetano fuera más alto. No lo recomiendo para principiantes y creo que es mejor leerlo con un maestro que pueda explicar las diferentes escuelas, los sutras y los conceptos de sabiduría y vacío. Espero volver a leerlo más adelante cuando mi nivel de conocimiento esté más avanzado.
June 10, 2025
This is an incredibly informative book dense with advanced Buddhist meditation techniques and how to go about practicing them. I wouldn’t recommend this book for beginners, but if you are someone familiar with Buddhist techniques and practices, this book will be very helpful for learning more about meditative techniques. Will be rereading it.
May 24, 2022
Excelente libro para iniciar en el.budismo
Comprender la Calma total y la Visión superior es en esencia el logro vital para empezar el camino de la espiritualidad que nos puede dar la practica del Budismo
Comprender la Calma total y la Visión superior es en esencia el logro vital para empezar el camino de la espiritualidad que nos puede dar la practica del Budismo
January 4, 2025
This is a classic, core text. This brings wisdom as well as understanding to the philosophy and practice of Buddhism. How to achieve Buddha mind and even better: Buddha hit a. Great book/teaching. I will read this again, and even again.
January 13, 2018
The content of the book is heavy; it takes time to absorb, comprehend and analyze. But the essence of the content is so simple and applicable to day-to-day life.
May 20, 2018
es una lectura realmente lijera. Todo se basa en la compasión. pero al final no explica bien como meditar.
March 7, 2019
Se necesita tener un contexto del budismo para poder entender todo el contenido del libro. Explica la meditación sobre una base más profunda.
June 9, 2020
I read it for school. Unfortunately, not a fan.
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