Spring 2012 Shamatha Retreat

Alan reviews the nature of mental suffering and the strategies for dealing with it in each of the three methods of Shamatha. Silent meditation 23:17 — 48:30. Also, a talk about the ease of retrieving Shamatha-related skills, though they may seem to deteriorate; the "best friends" of the four immeasurables; and our capacities for discursive meditations, including the "hired guns" of intelligence, imagination, creativity, and concentration.