Hi Blaz
Before I answer, I just want you to know that I’m currently in a teacher training program with Culadasa. So my answers are grounded in his teachings, but they are, of course, also being filtered through this particular mind. Other students in the program will probably have some great responses as well.
Anyway, an important distinction to make is between samatha and vipassana. Samatha practice entails training the mind – developing stable attention and powerful mindfulness. A full state of Samatha has three other qualities as well – joy, tranquility, and equanimity. This is basically what you’re doing by working through the Stages. As wonderful as Samatha is, however, it’s not an end in itself but a way to make the mind ripe for Vipassana, or Insight. In other words, a mind in Samatha is in the perfect state for investigating reality and thus having Insight.
Insight is a cognitive transformation which really restructures fundamental assumptions we hold about the nature of self and reality. These insights include: dissatisfaction, impermanence, interconnectedness, emptiness and no-self. Insight can happen at anytime and in any Stage. However, as you progress through the Stages, the possibility of Insight increases. That said, the final Insight into no-self, the one that leads to full awakening can only in a state of Samatha
So, like two wings of a bird, you really you need Samatha and Vipassana together for your practice to soar.
Matthew
Blaz Simcic 10 years, 8 months ago.
