Samten

Samten (bSam gTan – dhyana – concentration) is defined as Tsé gÇig Nyon-mong ’méd (rTse gCig nyon mongs med) meditative stability or stable attention bereft of conflictive emotions – the absence of referentiality.

Where referentiality is abandoned, conflictive emotions—such as territorialism, aggression, addiction, paranoia, and depression—spontaneously manifest as generosity, clarity, compassionate activity, self-accomplished activity, and pervasive intelligence.

The disconcerting human situations which arise for us all, fail to disquiet a person who has experience of samten. This is due to the fact that a person with experience of samten is not unavoidably impelled to act in a self-referencing manner. Experience of samten provides the stability to act appropriately and to be steadfast, rather than suffering the government of habitual patterns and their concomitant manipulative self-serving strategies.

In the everyday world, a practitioner with experience of samten prioritises practice over their compulsive patterning. This does not mean that the person is not afflicted by conflictive emotions – but simply is not ridden by them. This allows such a person to make emotionally fraught decisions without the pain to self and others which is caused by vacillation and tortuous indecision. Lacking experience of samten, one lacks the ability to live the view with integrity – particularly under duress. One becomes a fair weather practitioner – one who lacks consonance with Dharma, when Dharma would be most valuable. Lacking the ability to be consonant with Dharma under duress forces the bit firmly into one’s mouth and places the reins in the hands of the dementedly despotic monkey of the conflictive emotions. The monkey has the whip and spurs which we have provided through our lack of experience of samten – and we are ridden with a brutality commensurate with the intensity of our neurotic neediness.

A practitioner with experience of samten has the capacity to be courageously honourable and forthright. This is evidenced by their ability to keep their word, to live a reliable existence, and to evolve a cheerful disposition in the face of difficulty. A practitioner lacking experience of samten thus exhibits moodiness, temperamental disposition, addictive tendencies, and interpersonally inexplicable behaviour.

A practitioner with experience of samten is a rider rather than one who is ridden. A reflection of samten is to be found in the rider’s ability to maintain their seat through difficult circumstances. Whatever the circumstantial movement: bucking, shying, bolting, jumping, rearing, working trot, or collected canter – the rider of samten has a body of experience which absorbs the movement without disturbance to the security of his or her seat. The rider displays a co-operative movement in relation to the movement of circumstances – and the nature of that cooperation is Dharma.

To develop meditative stability requires an actual reliance both on the view and on the advice of the Lama. Meditative stability is only achieved through effort. It requires many hours in the saddle of the view. It requires many hours in the arena of meditative practice. It requires riding the trail of real vajra relationship with the Lama – rather than malingering in the slough of slovenly armchair equestrianism.

Life as a practitioner who rides rather than being ridden, can be excruciatingly uncomfortable. Some practitioners fall off and decide it is preferable to be ridden – in order to be closer to the warmth of the sand and the dung of the riding arena floor. To be a rider is to undermine reference points, and to ride cannot fail to elicit the fact of the level of our competence: insubstantiality, fear, isolation, vulnerability, and self-protective ignorance.

It is in our worst moments that we need to rely on our hours in the saddle of samten, in order to manifest the reality of the view and our relationship with the Lama.

At moments of difficulty, those without experience of samten adopt a fœtal position in the saddle – abdicating responsibility and expecting the Lama to rescue them. They cherish hopes that the Lama will co-operate with their neuroses, rather than overriding their dualistic rationale. Others will try to hide at the back of the riding arena, rather than face the challenge of abandoning their cherished yet useless methods of indulgence in repeated failure. The authentic practitioner, however, will ensure that their experience of samten is sufficient to proceed with courage and stability in devotion.

The Ten Paramitas

(Parol-tu Chinpa Çu – pha rol tu phyin pa drug phar bCu)

1.    Generosity (jinpa – sByin pa – dana paramita)
2.    Discipline [energy / morality] (tsultrim – tshul khrims – shila paramita)
3.    Patience (zopa – bZod pa – kshanti paramita)
4.    Diligence (tsöndrü – brTson ’grus – virya paramita)
5.    Openness [transcendental knowledge or insight] (samten – bSam gTan – dhyana paramita)
6.    Knowledge (shérab – shes rab – prajna paramita)
7.    Method – skilful means (thab – thabs – upaya paramita)
8.    Aspiration power (mönlam – sMon lam – pranidhana paramita)
9.    Strength (tob – sTobs – bala paramita)
10.  Primordial wisdom (yeshé – ye she – jnana paramita)