Stillness, Insight, and Emptiness: Buddhist Meditation from the Ground Up

Meditation is the key to meaningful Buddhist practice, but establishing a solid foundation requires skill and sustained effort. In simple and inviting language, this book shows how to develop a successful meditation practice.

In Tibetan Buddhism, developing a consistent and sustained meditation practice is the first step toward discerning the true nature of reality as taught by the Buddha. Lama Dudjom Dorjee encapsulates the Buddha's teaching in terms that are accessible and encouraging for beginning meditators, covering topics from establishing a proper meditation posture to realizing the luminous and spacious qualities of the mind.

Chapters discuss
•The life of the Buddha
•The first turning of the wheel of dharma
•The four noble truths and the eightfold path
•Proper meditation posture
•The nine stages of shamatha, or resting the mind
•Common obstacles to shamatha and their antidotes
•Benefits of developing shamatha
•The subsequent stages of practice, including insight/vipashyana meditation and mahamudra

Born to a nomadic family in eastern Tibet, LAMA DUDJOM DORJEE grew up in India and received a distinguished Acharya degree from Sanskrit University in Varanasi. In 1981, at the request of the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa, he came to the United States as a representative of the Karma Kagyu lineage. He is presently Resident Lama of Karma Thegsum Choling in Dallas, Texas.