How to Meditate: Remedies for distractions

The second of three talks given at a weekend retreat on "How to Meditate" held at Sravasti Abbey from August 20–21, 2022.

  • Different types of meditation
    • Stabilizing versus analytical meditation
    • Meditating on an object to understand it or to transform the mind into the object
  • Working with obstacles that arise in meditation
    • Internal and external distractions
    • Mindfulness as an antidote
    • Antidotes in The Discourse on the Removal of Distracting Thoughts
    • Dealing with sleepiness and lethargy
  • Questions and answers
    • Dealing with a song stuck in our head
    • Dealing with physical and mental sensations during meditation
    • Analytical meditations can have different lengths
    • Antidotes to fear
    • Antidotes to the urgency to move during meditation

Watch the first talk here:

Watch the third talk here:

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.