Calm-abiding Meditation Course | 10 Weeks Spring Session

It is well known that the primary purpose of the Buddha's teaching is to attain happiness of enlightenment by practicing two forms of meditation : concentration meditation and analytical meditation. The first aims at achieving calm-abiding (shamatha), while the second aims to gaining special insight (vipashyana) .

Our calm-abiding meditation course is meant for beginners as well as for more advanced meditators. Although our groups are mostly made up of first-time meditators, there are also those who have already practiced meditation and are seeking another technique. There are as well those who wish to take the course for the second or third time in order to improve their meditative skills. In this course are given all the fundamental elements necessary to attain calm-abiding according to Buddha's teachings : the preparations, the posture, the necessary conditions, the hindrances and how to overcome them, etc.

Each course includes first an explanation on how to develop the mind's calm abiding according to Buddhist philosophy, followed by a period of meditation in silence. This group practice can give more power to our meditation. The attainment of the mind's calmness and all the elements that make it possible to cultivate it are presented in a traditional image (see below).

This course will be ONLINE with Zoom.

Calm-abiding Meditation Course | 10 Weeks 2022 Spring Session  19:00 (Paris Time)

Teacher Lobsang Dekun (Ya-Lin Li) Buddhist Nun

​Dates : Tuesday night, 10 weeks, From April 12th to June 14th

Time : 7pm France or 1pm Canada

Cost :  95€ + transaction fees

Teacher Email : yalin@paramitamontreal.org or +1-437-888-8864

Petit Nalanda Email France : contact@centreparamita.fr or +33 6 43 78 44 09

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Meditation 

When the mind is calm, being happy is easier and we can then more calmly refresh the happiness that is naturally found in us. It is therefore at the beginning, to become familiar with the luminous qualities of our spirit in order to cultivate and develop them.     We recognize more and more the benefits of meditation on several levels. Whether it is for its emotional, psychological benefits or even for the reduction of health problems, more and more people are going to meditation to improve their lives. But what about meditation really? Is it just a method to create a vacuum in itself or a technique to relieve tension, or is it more than that?

The meaning of meditation

" Meditation " (gom in Tibetan language) derives etymologically from the word khom in the same language, which means "to become familiar". All the Buddha's teachings are for meditation, which is itself of two categories: concentration and analysis. Concentration meditation aims at focusing the mind, which itself allows the stable and clear dwelling on a chosen meditation object. His practice allows the attainment of mental calm, which is the peaceful dwelling of the mind combined with total maneuverability of the mind and a state of great physical and mental well-being. Analytical meditation, meanwhile, involves a movement of the mind, through the use of different logical reasoning to eliminate the false perceptions and understandings that are the roots of delusions and suffering. It increases understanding or a higher vision.

Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy

Our present world was born Buddhism about 2550 years ago. Indeed, it was at this moment that Shakyamuni Buddha, who had come to teach in the sacred land of India, appeared. In his immense goodness, he shared with the beings, in all impartiality, the teachings of the three baskets (vinaya, sutra and abhidharma). These instructions respectively allow the practice of the three higher practices of ethics, concentration and wisdom. By his many teachings, the Buddha was able to adapt to the needs, motivations and capacities of each of his disciples.

These teachings were passed on to Maitreya and Manjoushri, respectively to Asanga and Nagarjuna, who passed them on to the two learned lamas, Serlingpa (Suvarnadvipi-Dharmakirti of the Golden Islands) and Rikpékouyouk (Vidyakokila the Elder). These two lineages of teaching, named respectively of the vast practice and the deep sight, were afterwards united in the person of the Indian master Atisha Dipamkara. The latter transmitted them to Tibet splendidly during the last 17 years of his life, knowing how to adapt them to the Tibetan people in order to facilitate their understanding. He transmitted them to his main spiritual son Dromtonpa. These teachings were then kept intact by an unbroken lineage of masters such as the Dalai Lama to the pioneer Lama Tsongkhapa, founder of an excellent tradition presenting the instructions on mental calmness and penetrating vision still very much alive in our time.

It is usually said that all the Buddha's teachings are aimed at attaining enlightenment through the practice of two kinds of meditations: concentration meditation and analytical meditation. The first is aimed at achieving mental calm (samatha), while providing

Calm abiding is the state of mind which pacifies itself by remaining concentrated in a point internally. After having obtained it, it is possible to give birth to penetrating vision : a wisdom discerning each of the phenomena, combined with the bliss of the meditative flexibility induced by the power of analysis.

Calm abiding is therefore the temporary cessation of the delusions of the mind. By calming the mind, it becomes clear. This allows a deep analysis, by penetrating vision, which can definitively eliminate the very root of these disturbances.