I am always keen to find new metaphors for meditation, and Alan Wallace in his description of Shamatha meditation has a really good one, describing meditation phases as being like a tree.
Shamatha is a Buddhist breath meditation, that is intended to cultivate attention, which is essentially the same as we would offer in mindfulness teaching. (Different schools will emphasise different aspects of breath meditation). Alan Wallace introduces Shamatha as three stages or practices:
- Relaxation
- Stability
- Vividness
So, a breath meditation is begun by finding a comfortable posture that can be maintained for the whole practice. Then inviting the body to relax. Then inviting the mind to relax too. (Of course, the body and mind may well decline the invitation – read on).
The second phase is inviting the attention onto the breath. Again, the invitation may not be accepted for very long. So the aspiration is to create some stability in attention. Naturally the attention will wander, but the invitation should be made whenever you notice the attention is not on the breath. The stability of the meditation is how long you are able to keep focus on the breath. One breath is fine, two is fine, a minute of continuous attention is for most of us quite remarkable – sometimes the connection with the breath is so fleeting it is less than a single breath, but that is fine too.
The third stage is to find some vividness in the experience. Really feel the breath. Notice it in the nose, the throat, the lungs, feel the body moving. Rather than noticing the breath in passing, really move the attention onto it. Again, this may only be fleeting.
Alan Wallace likened these three phases to a tree. The roots of a tree support the tree, and this can be thought of as the “relaxation” invited in the practice. The trunk supports the branches, and so represents “stability”. The canopy of the tree is the leaves and branches, and represents “vividness”.
We don’t emphasise relaxation a great deal in mindfulness practice, but we do emphasise attitudes such as patience, letting go, non-striving. So, when you notice your body tightening or your mind getting agitated, in mindfulness practice you are invited to meet these with an open and accepting attitude. If you struggle with tightness and agitation, it is rather like struggling against a noose that you have been caught in – the best thing is to pause, relax and then untangle yourself.
In mindfulness practice we do not set goals, so we don’t measure the quality of our meditation on how many breaths we are able to follow if we are doing a breath meditation. One breath can be more than enough, even if you have years of practice. Sometimes you may manage a whole minute of focus. Maybe you manage longer. As you practice, stability can grow much stronger (which is why daily practice is encouraged), but even after years of practice you are unlikely to be able to achieve large parts of a meditation session fully focussed on the breath, and stability will vary within a meditation session and from one session to another.
Vividness is when you are able to really connect with the sensations of breathing. In mindfulness we can think of this as being really present, really aware of what is happening now. Like stability, the vividness can be fleeting.
I like to introduce mindfulness as a process, where we keep reconnecting with our intended focus, not getting upset or frustrated when we lose focus, bringing an open and accepting attitude to ourselves and our practice. So, using the above metaphor, when you notice you have lost focus, pause then return to the root of your practice – relax into the body and mind as best you can. Then return to the breath, and follow the breath until your attention wanders. While you are attending to the breath, really feel it in the body.
A meditation session is iterative. Each time you lose focus, begin again. So rather than thinking of a meditation session as a single tree, perhaps thinking of it as one tree after another.
Trees do not grow very fast, and you can’t force them to grow. Roots spread over time. The trunk thickens over time. The canopy reaches out slowly. Each part of the tree is important. Without deep and wide roots, the tree falls over. Without a firm trunk, the wind will snap the tree. Without the canopy, the tree withers and dies.
So, cultivate your mindfulness meditation with care. Don’t expect too much too soon. The best trees take a long time to grow.
