Preparatory practices, posture & stages of śamatha
91 Middle-Length Lamrim
Venerable Sangye Khadro 
Stages of the Path 
Dec 4, 2025 Part of a series of weekly teachings on Lama Tsongkhapa's Middle-Length Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment.
Refer to the slides for the teaching.
- Brief review of Chapter 19
- The six prerequisites for practicing śamatha
- The six preparatory practices
- The physical posture for meditation
- Explanation of the stages of meditation
- The five faults and the five hindrances to developing concentration
- What to do before focusing your mind on the meditation object
- Overcoming the three types of laziness using the antidotes
- The excellent qualities of concentration to be cultivated
- Questions and answers
Venerable Sangye Khadro
California-born, Venerable Sangye Khadro ordained as a Buddhist nun at Kopan Monastery in 1974 and is a longtime friend and colleague of Abbey founder Venerable Thubten Chodron. She took bhikshuni (full) ordination in 1988. While studying at Nalanda Monastery in France in the 1980s, she helped to start the Dorje Pamo Nunnery, along with Venerable Chodron. Venerable Sangye Khadro has studied with many Buddhist masters including Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lama Yeshe, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, and Khensur Jampa Tegchok. At her teachers’ request, she began teaching in 1980 and has since taught in countries around the world, occasionally taking time off for personal retreats. She served as resident teacher in Buddha House, Australia, Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore, and the FPMT centre in Denmark. From 2008-2015, she followed the Masters Program at the Lama Tsong Khapa Institute in Italy. Venerable has authored a number books found here, including the best-selling How to Meditate. She has taught at Sravasti Abbey since 2017 and is now a full-time resident.
