The Value of Stepping Back

July 15, 2019

No matter what you are doing, sometimes it is easy to get mired in the details. TMI, with all of its stages and instructions, is a place where one can get lost or bogged down in the details and lose an awareness of the whole.

I have been showing my students the above simplified version of the overall map of TMI in an effort to help people navigate what seems to be a very scripted experience. But as you have probably already noticed, the experience of this map is not scripted at all and is different for everyone.

Take a look at the above map through the following lens:

PINK: From stages 1-6 you are developing skills (good form). Stage 7 is a refining period. Then in Stages 8-10, you are effortlessly applying the cultivated skills.

GREEN: Stage 1 is establishing your practice (according to Culadasa and others, this is THE most difficult stage). In stages 2-6, you are practicing mental exercises. Stage 7 is a refinement period. In Stages 8-10, you are using the conscious power cultivated in stages 2-6 to explore vipassana practices.

BLUE: This is where it gets really interesting because the stages of samatha are a result of the practices in PINK and GREEN. You can’t get them, they emerge naturally as a result of your efforts in cultivating skills and doing mental exercises. So, as a result of work in stages 1-6, powerful mindfulness and stability of attention emerge. As a result of refinement in stage 7 and vipassana in stages 8-10, joy, tranquility and equanimity emerge naturally.

All the while, as you are moving up the stages, the mind is unifying….what a relief :) The result of all of your efforts will be an abiding state of equanimity…it has become a trait.

The magic of TMI is that it is an infrastructure like the street grid of a city. There are many ways to get from point A to point B. And, if you get lost along the way, you can re-navigate yourself easily to get back onto the path.