Compassionate Integrity Training CIT-Faciltator-Guide-2.1-Final | Page 39

C OMPASSIONATE I NTEGRITY T RAINING
A S ECULAR E THICS A PPROACH TO C ULTIVATING P ERSONAL , S OCIAL AND E NVIRONMENTAL F LOURISHING
growth. We hope these tips and preliminary guidance will help you better utilize the CIT meditation
practice recordings.
Focused Attention Practice
Focused attention practice, or shamatha , is one style of contemplative practice. In CIT, we use Focused
Attention practice for Skill 2: Ethical Mindfulness. The Sanskrit word shamatha literally means “calm
abiding,” and it refers to the type of mental skill that is being cultivated in this particular practice. One is
learning to develop a mind that can abide on its object of focus calmly. The two characteristics of such a
mind are stability and clarity. Stability means that the mind does not wander off its object of focus to other
things due to distraction or excitement; rather, it retains its object of focus in awareness. Clarity means that
the mind is clear and bright, not dull and lethargic.
The mental faculty that holds the mind on its object of focus and retains it without wandering is called
“mindfulness” (Sanskrit: sm ṛ ti . Pali: sati ). The mental faculty that becomes aware of distraction or dullness
is “introspective vigilance” (Sanskrit: samprajanya ), and this appears to be related to what psychologists call
“meta-awareness” or “meta-cognition.” These are the two mental “muscles” that one is building through
this particular meditation practice. Eventually one becomes able to hold attention on a chosen object of
focus for longer periods of time (through the faculty of mindfulness), while also being faster at noticing
when the mind has become distracted or has lost clarity (introspective vigilance).
In cultivating shamatha , one should be aware of these objectives and the corresponding obstacles. If one
notices distraction, one should bring the mind gently back to the object of focus, such as the breath. If one
notices a lack of clarity (due to lethargy, for example, or slight dullness), one should revivify the mind by
straightening the back, opening the eyes, or imaging a very bright light, like the sun, shining directly at you.
A common image for shamatha training is that of taming a wild elephant. Traditionally, elephants were
tamed by tying a rope around their necks and attaching that rope to a wooden stake in the ground. An
attentive trainer would then stand by with a long hook. If the elephant wandered away from the stake, the
trainer would tap the hook on the elephant’s sensitive ears, which would bring the elephant back to the
stake. In this analogy, the elephant is our untamed mind, the stake is our object of meditation (such as the
C ENTER FOR C OMPASSION , I NTEGRITY AND S ECULAR E THICS | L IFE U NIVERSITY | M ARIETTA , G EORGIA
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