Stilling the Mind

STILLING THE MIND: Shamatha Teachings From Dudjom Linpa’s Vajra Essence In his previous book, The Attention Revolution, bestselling author Alan Wallace guided readers through the stages of shamatha, a meditation for focusing the mind. In Stilling the Mind, he uses the wisdom of Dzogchen—the highest of all the meditation traditions—to open up the shamatha practice into a space of vast freedom. Here, Wallace introduces us to Dudjom Lingpa’s Vajra Essence, one of the most cherished works of the Nyingma school from which Dzogchen stems. With his trademark enthusiasm and keen intelligence, Wallace makes obscure concepts intelligible to contemporary readers and allows us to glimpse the profound realizations of a great nineteenth-century spiritual adept. “Wallace’s translation of the shamatha section from Düdjom Lingpa’s Dzogchen tantra known in Tibetan as the Nelug Rangjung is an invaluable contribution to the teachings available to serious Western Buddhist practitioners. Through many spo