Faq's | The Shamatha Group

You've talked about two kinds of attention: one like a wide, diffuse observation, and the other more focused. Can you say more about this?
Regarding your instruction to be aware of sensations and feeling tactile sensations, is there some particular kind of sensation I should be looking for?
How many different kinds of things should we be doing during meditation?
You mentioned at the beginning not to create expectations or put out any goals, how do I do that?
What do I do when my breath gets quiet I have a lot of difficulty having any sensation strong enough to keep my attention focused?
How do I find a sweet spot for my eyelids? I like to start with the eyes fully closed, and then after about five minutes it becomes uncomfortable.
Sometimes I go above my body rather than being in my body, so I find it hard to stay in my body. What is that called, and is that the right thing to do?
What do you call that when I have the experience of being out of my body looking down at my body?
How do I know which element (earth, water, fire, air, space) is the most dominant in my physical constitution?
I find if I get more and more relaxed, I almost catch myself not breathing. Should I make an effort to keep a rhythm to my breathing?
Is samadhi scientific?
Could you talk a little bit about the boundary between being asleep and being awake? If we’re very relaxed and breathing as if in a deep sleep how do we know our body is not in a deep sleep and our mind is awake? In meditation I’ve been very relaxed and clearly wide-awake and had hypnogogic visions and a dream will arise and pass away and I’ve snored while I was awake. But if dreams and hypnogogic visions are all happening in the mind, then why do some things happen when we’re asleep and some things happen when we’re awake? Is there not really that much difference between them?
What is happening when my body seems to go to sleep but I am still aware (it is a bit like molasses) and all the sensing and everything else is gone?
When you’re in the substrate consciousness do you have hypnogogic imagery, or is it just blank?
You’re using that word "volition" quite a bit, could you say more about that word, and also how it differentiates from "intention"?
What is mind?
How does the classic Judeo-Christian perspective of soul fit in with the various types of Buddhist philosophy?
What’s the relationship between shamatha meditation and the Patanjali Yoga system?
What goes on from one life to another?
Are the words "Jiva" and "Atman" interchangeable?
Can you teach the shamatha technique to epileptics, people with ADHD, or children?
Can we just skip shamatha and go right to more advanced practices like dzogchen?
What do you mean by “reification of the mind”?
What is a “hybrid” or “contemplative scientist”?
How much time should a beginning meditator devote to shamatha before starting vipassana?
When the object of attention gets dull should I try and increase vividness?
Can you achieve shamatha and have deep realizations in the supine position?
Is it ok to “up-shift” or “downshift” during a session?
How do I deal with the excessive accumulation of saliva in my mouth during meditation?
Could you say more about the “acquired sign” or "uggaha nimitta"?
In the iconographic representation of the stages of shamatha, what do the flames represent in the picture of the track of the monk following the elephant?
Is the left nostril connected to the right lobe of the brain?
Do things “pop-out” at you during meditation?
How much control should we have during meditation?
What is it that appears to be in control?
Did you say Rich is not there?
What exactly are we supposed to do in Settling the Mind in its Natural State? What is the task?
When I meditate with eyes open, what do I do about the burning sensation that sometimes happens in my eyes? And what do you mean by “make your gaze vacant”?
What should I do if the meditation instructions in my head are distracting me during sessions?
Can I use techniques from one kind of shamatha practice and use it in another?
Do I attend to images that appear in my mind during mindfulness of breathing?
How do I deal with "kleshas," or mental afflictions during meditation sessions?
What is really real?
Are all humans born with mental afflictions?
Don’t kids usually have to wait until their teens to start practicing meditation?
When I’m Settling the Mind in its Natural State, should I also be aware of my breathing, body, etc.?
What happens if you get an acquired sign when you’re Settling the Mind in its Natural State?
What’s the difference between “Settling the Body in its Natural State,” and “Settling the Mind in its Natural State.”
What do I do if nothing arises to my mind while Settling the Mind in its Natural State?
Can one meditate on something like anger in shamatha meditation?
Is it ok to take an extra-deep breath once in a while during meditation? Is it more important to let go of the in-breath or the out-breath?
When can you make peace between personal solitude and public service?
Could you say more about the word "protection"? What are we being protected from?
What do I do about getting distracted by objects in my visual field while keeping my eyes open during meditation?
Could you clarify what you mean by "releasing" during Settling the Mind in its Natural State?
What do I do about the ongoing commentary in my mind during Settling the Mind in its Natural State?
Is my sense of my surroundings during meditation a thought or memory, and how would I know the difference?
Where exactly is the "substrate"?
Could you say more about the "substrate"?
What do you mean by the “non-conceptual apprehension of the transparency of conceptual form”?
Is Settling the Mind in its Natural State formally speaking a shamatha practice?
Buddhist’s have been doing this for 2500 years, why has nothing changed if this is a valid practice?
When I’m distracted by something like an itch during Settling the Mind in its Natural State, is the itch itself or the intention to scratch it something to be observed or just a distraction to let go of?
Do you think that Buddhism will assimilate here in America in the way that Chan Buddhism did in China?
Do you think we need a popular periodical for scientific studies of meditation?
What is the difference between the referent of a thought and the thought itself?
Doesn’t engaging in introspection break the flow of mindfulness?
Is my personal identification with thoughts a form of grasping?
How do I deal with physical intensity that arises while Settling the Mind in its Natural State?

These 85 Questions & Answers are taken from The Way of Shamatha retreat in Santa Barbara, 2008 led by B. Alan Wallace. The answers are audio recordings of his voice responding to a question during the retreat.

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