Samatha

Samatha (Pāli), (Sanskrit: शमथ, śamatha is the Buddhist practice (bhavana) of the calming of the mind (citta) and its 'formations' (sankhara). This is done by practicing single-pointed meditation most commonly through mindfulness of breathing. Samatha is common to all Buddhist traditions.

Etymology

The semantic field of shi and shama is "pacification", "the slowing or cooling down", "rest". The semantic field of né is "to abide or remain" and this is cognate or equivalent with the final syllable of the Sanskrit, thā.

The Tibetan term for samatha is shyiné (Wylie: zhi-gnas ). According to Jamgon Kongtrul, the terms refer to "peace" and "pacification" of the mind and the thoughts.

Theravāda

Function

In the Pali canon, the Noble Eightfold Path can be summarized into three divisions, namely morality (śīla), concentration (samadhi) and wisdom (pañña). Mindfulness of breathing leads the practitioner into concentration (samadhi), the domain of experience wherein the senses are subdued and the mind abides in uninterrupted concentration upon the object (i.e., the breath), if not in meditative absorption (Dhyāna). It is the condition for insight (vipassana) and subsequently the development of liberating wisdom (pañña). In Theravada-Buddhism morality (śīla) is understood to be a stable foundation upon which to attain samatha. Samatha and vipassana form an integral part of the Noble Eightfold Path as described by the Buddha in his core teaching, the Four Noble Truths. The Fourth Noble Truth, "The Way to the End of Suffering", encompassing sila, samadhi and pañña, is very much a path inviting practitioners to live by sila, samadhi and pañña.