Steps on the Path to Enlightenment ─ A Commentary on Tsongkhapa's Lamrim Chenmo: Samatha

An exploration of the practice of samatha, the style of meditation devoted to focus and attention.

Geshe Sopa continues his elucidation of Lama Tsongkhapa's masterwork on the Buddhist path with an explanation of the core meditative practice ofsamatha, or calm abiding.

Showing how it is absolutely essential for--and goes hand in hand with--the achievement of insight into reality, he gives practical tips for countering sleepiness, agitation, and their more subtle counterparts. Leading us step by step toward deeper levels of concentration, volume 4 of the Steps on the Path to Enlightenment series brings readers closer to the ultimate goal of samatha: unlimited and effortless focus.

Born in the Tsang region of Tibet in 1923, Geshe Lhundub Sopa was both a spiritual master and a respected academic. He rose from a humble background to complete his geshe studies at Sera Je Monastic University in Lhasa with highest honors and was privileged to serve as a debate opponent for the Dalai Lama’s own geshe examination in 1959. He moved to New Jersey in the United States in 1963 and in 1967 began teaching in the Buddhist Studies Program at University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he professor emeritus. In 1975, he founded the Deer Park Buddhist Center in Oregon, Wisconsin, site of the Dalai Lama’s first Kalachakra initiation granted in the West. He is the author of several books in English, including the five-volume comprehensive teaching,Steps on the Path to Enlightenment. He passed away in 2014.