Thank u. Starting the Fives with shamatha is often recommended to "stabilize" the mind and cultivate focus before delving into deeper practices. It sets a solid foundation, making it easier to engage with "object no 1" or any other practice with greater clarity and presence. Trust your intuition and observe what works best for you, as personal experience and comfort with the practice are key.

Thanks for that @Harri Frost

I think the rationale with always beginning with shamata is that our minds tend to be very turbulent and it's hard to "see" what is going on with a mind that is all scatty and obscuring. So we begin most meditation with something to focus the energy of the mind into something more perspicacious.

The central Fives section is to train the mind to move from awareness of awareness (shamata) to awareness of phenomena (beingfulness) in a seamless and flexible way.

Then the closing section is a more outward orientated section of beingfulness.

Hope that makes sense.

Hi Harri, I feel you have answered your own question there. I absolutely love the practice of fives. I often use it in my practice, also. I am a particular fan of the breath ,as my anchor, so have been incorporating the two, especially recently, where my imagination has been going into overdrive and I have felt the need for some calm abiding. I'm sure it matters ,not a jot, how we practice as long as we practice. I tend to mix and match whatever I feel my body needs.at any given time. How lucky are we to have so many of Alistair's lovely videos to choose from. Looking forward to seeing you when we Zoom again. XX 🙏