The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science for Greater Mindfulness

by Culadasa (John Yates)

Stage Seven is about the transition from being a skilled meditator to an adept meditator, one who can consistently achieve and effortlessly maintain exclusive attention and powerful mindfulness. Achieving effortlessness is your goal for this Stage. Effortlessness requires complete pacification of the discriminating mind, which is also the essential first step in unification of mind1 (see Sixth Interlude). Until there is unification, unconscious sub-minds continue to be at odds with each other, creating instability. With complete pacification, however, there is enough unification that the mind is compliant and rarely needs correction. Thus an adept meditator can drop all vigilance and effort, allowing the mind to settle into an unprecedented state of inner calm and clarity.