- higher scores in attention, perception, mindfulness, self-compassion, and stages of Shamatha comparing before and after the event 
- improvements in this traditional classification were reflected in the improvements in modern psychological tests 
- A participants' Shamatha stage is unable to predict any results in the other variables

Haverford College in Pennsylvania

Kinds of Buddhist meditation practices for the development of a relaxed, stable, and clear mind. Shamatha involves the stages of meditation proposed by Kamalashila in the eighth century. The stages start with a mind, which cannot focus for more than a few seconds (stage 1), culminating in a state of stability and vividness which can be sustained for hours (stage 9). Excitation and laxity are seen as imbalances and their effects are reduced during the progress in these stages. 

Shamatha Practices

Kozasa, E.H., Lacerda, S.S., Menezes, C. et al. Effects of a 9-Day Shamatha Buddhist Meditation Retreat on Attention, Mindfulness and Self-Compassion in Participants with a Broad Range of Meditation Experience. Mindfulness 6, 1235–1241 (2015). https://doi-org.ezproxy.haverford.edu/10.1007/s12671-015-0385-8

Effects of a 9-Day Shamatha Buddhist Meditation Retreat on Attention, Mindfulness and Self-Compassion in Participants with a Broad Range of Meditation Experience

- significant improvement in both groups in levels of stress, tension , anxiety, attention, perception, as well as in the self-compassion, digit-symbol, mindfulness scores, and in the stages of Shamath. 

- Differences between experienced and less experienced in attention, but no difference in motor speed. Skills that have been steadily developed under less ideal but regular conditions make it much easier to settle attention on the object of meditation when in more ideal settings, such as during a closed retreat.

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