Also, brief episodes of śamatha can occur long before you become an adept practitioner. Insight can happen at any time as well. This means a temporary convergence of śamatha and vipassanā is possible, and can lead to Awakening at any Stage. In this sense, Awakening is somewhat unpredictable, almost like an accident. Although the possibility of Awak

Just as with Pavlov’s dogs, the mind becomes conditioned over time to counting as a sign to start meditating, and it will automatically calm down.

Awakening is an accident, but continued practice will make you accident-prone.

Consistently neglecting peripheral awareness in favor of attention eventually stunts the faculty of awareness.

Another factor that affects your progress is the problem of compartmentalization. We have a common tendency to separate meditation practice from the rest of our life. If the skills and insights we learn on the cushion don’t infuse our daily life, progress will be quite slow. It’s like filling a leaky bucket. This may be one reason why some people c

intentions lead to mental actions, and repeated mental actions become mental habits.

Being fully present means being aware of it, but not engaging in its content.

We can trace almost every problem in meditation to one or more of five innate and universal psychological predispositions, known as the Five Hindrances: Worldly Desire, Aversion, Laziness and Lethargy, Agitation Due to Worry and Remorse, and Doubt.

Mindfulness is the optimal interaction between attention and peripheral awareness.