In the rush of daily life, our minds often feel like restless seas—waves of thoughts crashing, emotions rising and falling. But beneath the surface, there is a deep, still place. Tranquility meditation, or shamatha, is the practice of sinking into that stillness, calming the waters of the mind so that clarity and peace can naturally arise. In this episode, JoAnn Fox guides a tranquility meditation and explores the power of this practice.

 

At its heart, tranquility meditation is about resting in focused awareness. We choose an object like the breath—and gently anchor our attention there. Each time the mind wanders, we kindly guide it back. No struggle, no judgment. Just the steady return to presence.

As the practice deepens, the mind settles. Thoughts no longer pull us in a hundred directions. A sense of spaciousness grows, and with it, a gentle peace. This tranquility isn’t just a fleeting calm; it’s the foundation for wisdom.

 

Buddha taught that cultivating tranquility prepares us for insight—the ability to see into the true nature of things, to understand the causes of suffering, and, ultimately, to find liberation. Only when the mind is still can we begin to see reality as it is.

 

But even if enlightenment feels far away, tranquility meditation offers something invaluable in this moment: the ability to pause, to breathe, relax, and touch a little peace—right now.

 

Him I call a brahmana, who, having traversed this dangerous swamp (of passion), this difficult road (of moral defilements), the ocean of life (samsara) and the darkness of ignorance (moha), and having crossed the fourfold Flood, has reached the other shore (Nibbana); who practices Tranquility and Insight Meditation, who is free from craving and from doubt, who clings to nothing and remains in perfect peace.

--Buddha, The Dhammapada, Verse 414

References and Links

Buddha (1986).The Dhammapada: Verses and Stories. Translated by Daw Mya Tin, M.A. (Website). Edited by Editorial Committee, Burma Tipitaka Association Rangoon. Courtesy .of Nibbana.com. For free distribution only, as a gift of dhamma. Retrieved from https://www.tipitaka.net/tipitaka/dhp/verseload.php?verse=414

Je Tsongkhapa (2014). Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, by Je Tsongkhapa, Volume 2 (Kindle). Translated by the Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee. Joshua Cutler, Editor-in-Chief, and Guy Newlan, Editor.

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