After Full Shamata:
There is still a difference between meditation periods and post-meditation periods and although the bliss and calmness does infect the post-meditation periods, the post-meditation periods also infect the calm & bliss. Meditation is still required to re-centre or re-connect our mind to this calmness & and sense of well-being.
At this point, we can stay at this level of practice if we wish. We can use our ability to focus and stay calm and to use our energy well in order to increase our ability to work with the world around us. In this process we can gain many benefits for our current life situation.
However, we could also use this new found ability to investigate the nature of our mind, and the nature of the world around us. We can use these abilities to delve into the nature of suffering and happiness and the nature of birth and death.
We may also develop the desire to eliminate the gap between meditative mind-states and our day-to-day minds. We may develop the wish to continually stay in the balanced state of focus, calmness, and awareness.
Vipashyana or Insight meditation is needed to eliminate the barrier between meditation periods & post-meditation periods. True Vipashyana meditation involves:
1) Examination of the nature of pure-mind
2) Examination of the nature of true-reality (reality as a meditative experience)
3) Examination of the connection between pure-mind & true-reality.
During this process we begin to learn the intricacies of the relationship between our Body & Forms, our Feelings, our Perceptions, our Will, and our Consciousness.
We purify the internal body/mind elements of Earth (solidity), Water (cohesion), Fire (Heat/Growth), Wind (Motion), and Space. We begin to work on purifying our expression of these energies so that Pride and Self-Satisfaction are transformed into Generosity and Balance; Anger and Fear become Intelligence and Alertness; Obsession and Longing are changed into Appreciation and Compassion; Envy and Incompleteness become Creativity and Enthusiasm; and Self-Absorption and Confusion become Awareness and Understanding. This is our work on the nature of Pure Mind.
In a similar way, we work on our relationship with the external manifestations of these energies as Earth and Support, Water and Resolution, Fire and Unification, Wind and Activity, and Space and Inclusiveness. We practice perfecting our thought, speech, and action in relation to the outside world, trying to work more skillfully with these energies. In doing so, we begin to recognize the difference between how the world appears to us and how it really works. This is discovering the workings of True Reality.
In working back and forth between unfolding our pure mind, and working with true reality, we discover that they are really extensions of each other and the interconnection between the two becomes clear and the bounderies between meditation and non-meditation then dissolve completely.
We begin to understand that we are a portion of the sentient life of the universe. We begin to recognize the interconnection with everything that is called Indra's Net or the Net of Brahma.
In Brahma's net each sentient being is like a diamond and each diamond is reflected in the multiple facets of the other diamonds. These diamonds are connected by silver strings so that any action done in one portion of the net is felt in the other parts of the net too. We begin to recognize that our form is connected to all other form. Our feelings are a part of all other feeling in the universe. Our perceptions and the perceptions of others influence each other. Our goals and values have to deal with the goals and values of all those around us. Our level of awareness is matched by the levels of awareness of the sentient beings that we associate with.
We begin to perceive these interconnections and operate in our world while making use of that perception. Through this we can achieve mind-states and abilities which seem impossible right now. The level of Joy and the ability to see clearly (clairvoyance) that come from Shamata are far beyond the experience of most people in this world.
With the Mental & Physical flexibility and control that come from these practices, the ability to sculpt our own reality and have a profound and positive effect for ourselves and others become stronger and stronger.
The key is regular, consistent, and persistent practice. The key to attaining the complete fruit of shamata meditation is to always check on our progress in relation to these instructions.
There is an old Buddhist saying: "Hasten slowly and you will soon arrive". This statement applies very much to Shamata Meditation practice.
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