Fall 2013 Shamatha And The Bodhisattva Way Of Life

The essence of the practice of settling the mind in its natural state is as a translation of the Tibetan, not distracted – no grasping. The Tibetan term for awareness is rigpa – loss of awareness or not knowing is marigpa. The shift from awareness to the loss of awareness indicates that the mind is wandering. The first link of dependent origination is marigpa – not knowing. Discussion of quantum mechanics and the statement “don’t attribute existence to something that is unknowable in principle”. When does a wandering thought begin – the answer is unknowable in principle because it wouldn’t be a wandering thought if you knew when it began – then it would be a deliberate thought. Likewise for a non lucid dream and also for the beginning of samsara. Question: If you achieve shamatha in this life do the mental qualities flow into the next life? When you achieve shamatha, the gross mind dissolves into the substrate consciousness. This is also what happens at the time of death. Having attained shamatha,