Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

instructions) some criticism of his method seems
required. We notice that he advocates mixing samatha
and samapatti, and does not ask the meditator first to
develop a firm samatha. But if one sometimes practices
the one and sometimes the other, then one cannot win
accomplishment in either.
Zhi Yi does not seem to distinguish very well between
the samapatti of samatha and the samapatti of samapatti;
thus he advocates us to practice samapatti to cure the
sleepy mind, and while I do not deny that this may have
some effect, it is not based upon a previous
accomplishment in samatha, so no real insight can
result.
Also, he says that if while we practice samapatti the
mind is disturbed, then we should apply "stopping" (that
is, revert to samatha). If one does this, the samapatti
practice will be broken up, and no insight will result.
Instead of this, one should practice samapatti
continuously so that the force of its accumulation leads
to the fruit of insight.
The same applies to samatha: continuous practice is
necessary for effective results.
In addition, it should be pointed out that the Buddha
never spoke as Zhi Yi advises, nor does any recognized
sastra recommend this mixed practice. Samapatti is not
a medicine for lapsed samatha and one should not use it
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