Stillness · “Stillness Reveals”
Touch and Go
Develop peaceful abiding (shamatha) by placing light attention on the out-breath and ‘touching’ each experience then letting it go — cultivating relaxed presence rather than rigid concentration.
Touch and go: Sit upright and relaxed, eyes open and soft. Breathe naturally. Put a light (~25%) touch of attention on the out-breath, and as it dissolves into space, let go. Next out-breath, touch again — feel that you’re really here — and go. When you notice thinking, gently note “thinking” and come back. Presence, then release, over and over.
What it is
Shamatha (“calm abiding” / peaceful abiding) is the foundational sitting practice, and Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1939–1987) — who carried Tibetan Buddhism into the modern West and founded Shambhala/Vajradhatu — taught a distinctively light, precise, and unforced version of it.
Its signature is the phrase “touch and go.” Rather than gripping the breath as a fixed object, the practitioner places a light touch of attention on the breathing (especially the out-breath), touches the experience of being present — and then lets go, dissolving outward with the breath into open space.
The point is not iron concentration but relaxed, accurate presence: being exactly where you are, then releasing, again and again.
The Method
A faithful outline of Trungpa’s instruction:
- Posture. Sit upright and settled — dignified but relaxed; eyes open with a soft, downward gaze; hands resting on the thighs. The body itself expresses being present.
- Take the breath as it is. Don’t manipulate the breathing. “The main thing happening in meditation is your breath” — just ordinary, natural breathing.
- Light touch on the out-breath. Place about 25% of your attention on the breath — particularly the out-breath as it goes out and dissolves into space. The attention is light, not a clamp.
- Go — dissolve outward. As the out-breath ends, let it go: attention disperses into the space around you. There is no need to track the in-breath closely; it happens on its own.
- Touch — come back and feel you exist. With the next out-breath, touch again: a felt sense that “you are who you are,” actually sitting here. Touch (you exist, present) and go (release into space).
- Label thinking “thinking.” When you notice you’ve drifted into thought, gently note “thinking” and return — without judgement, harshness, or commentary — to the breath. The labelling is soft and matter-of-fact.
- Repeat, lightly, for the session. The whole practice is this rhythm of touch and go, returning whenever you stray. (Sourcing note: a faithful summary of Trungpa’s publicly published shamatha instruction.)
Source & Lineage
Trained in the Kagyü and Nyingma traditions, Trungpa transmitted shamatha as the gateway practice for thousands of Western students; his Dathün Letter (written for month-long group retreats) and the posthumous Mindfulness in Action are the canonical statements of this “touch and go” approach. → author node.
Common refinements
Gripping the breath. Too much attention turns it into strain; lighten to roughly a quarter.
- Chasing the in-breath. Emphasis is on the out-breath and the gap/space after; let the in-breath be automatic.
- Harsh self-correction. “Thinking” is noted gently, not as a reprimand — aggression toward thoughts defeats the practice.
- Making “go” into spacing out. Going is dissolving with awareness, not dozing or dissociating.
- Expecting a blank mind. Thoughts will come; the practice is the friendly return, not their absence.