> > "Shamatha" is just another variant on TM practice, > > similar to Tibetan Dzogchen... > > > TM bears no similarity to any Dzogchen practice that > I am aware of. > The key words here are 'samatha' and samadhi; samatha (calm abiding) is a subset of the broader family of samadhi or meditation practices, according to Alan Wallace, (page 6).
Buddhist meditation is called object oriented meditation - mental objects such as as bija mantras, breathing, a certain scriptural passage such as the Hridaya Sutra, etc. Buddhist shamatha meditation is cognate with Patanjali's sixth limb: dharana. In Tibetan Buddhism, the samatha instructions are presented in the Kagyu tradition by sGampopa. You should recognize the TM practice if you had studied under a Tibetan master. So, I can only conclude that you have neither training in TM or in Tibetan Buddhism. Go figure. "From the Mahamudra point of view, we should not desire meditative equipoise nor have an aversion to discursive thoughts and conflicting emotions but view both of these states with equanimity. Again, the significant point is not whether meditative equipoise is present but whether we are able to maintain awareness of our mental states. If disturbing thoughts do arise, as they certainly will, we should simply recognize these thoughts and emotions as transient phenomena..." - Traleg Kyabgon (pages 149-152). Work cited: 'The Attention Revolution' By Alan Wallace Wisdom Publications, 2006, p.6 'Mind at Ease' by Traleg Kyabgon Shambhala, 2004
