Samatha-bhavana

By training in alertness and joyful contentment, and disciplining the activities of mind and body (in particular, overcoming anger, sloth, excitement/guilt, doubt and the desire for sense objects), the individual achieves inner tranquillity. Dhyana (meditation) achieves higher states of consciousness with related psychic and clairvoyant sensitivity. The technique aims at enstasy and is designed to reduce the contents of consciousness, focusing awareness on a single point and eventually halting mental activity. Samatha, with its emphasis on attitude, usually precedes the practice of [vipassana]

, which emphasizes cognition, when the transitory effects of samatha are rendered more permanent.