SBI Media

A presentation of lecture recordings from courses and retreats with B. Alan Wallace. Select the course titles below to view course content and listen online or subscribe to each as a podcast.

Lake-Born Vajra Empowerment Offered March 18-25, 2024

18 Mar 2024 – 25 Mar 2024, OnlinePrivate Currently on!

To honor the time that many of us would be preparing for an 8-week retreat, as well as Guru Rinpoche Day, the Spring Equinox and a full moon, we will share the video of the Lake-Born Vajra empowerment originally offered by Lama Alan during the 2022 8-week retreat. You are welcome to take the empowerment again and if you would like to receive this empowerment for the first time please join us.

The empowerment will be available from Monday, March 18th, 2024 at 6:00 am (PST) until Monday, March 25th, 2024 at 10:00 pm (PST). You will be able to receive the empowerment during this week, at any time that is convenient for you.

This is only offered to those who have made a commitment to receive the teachings from at least one of the Düdjom Lingpa 8-week retreats since 2017. If you have not received the Lake-Born Vajra Empowerment from Lama Alan please read all of the requirements to receive the empowerment here.

You will need to register for the empowerment and can do so here.

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Lama Alan Wallace - Public Teachings While in Retreat, November 2023 - 2024

22 Nov 2023 – 31 Dec 2024, OnlinePrivate Currently on!

On Guru Rinpoche Day, November 22, 2023, Lama Alan emerged from retreat silence for a few hours to offer a very meaningful public talk. This was held in the stillness of Manjushri Chapel at Miyo Samten Ling with the yogis in long-term retreat present.

This talk was inspired by the excerpt, Value of Observing the Mind, from The Royal Seal of Mahamudra, Volume One, by The Third Khamtrul Rinpoche Ngawang Kunga Tenzin.

El día de Guru Rimpoché, 22 de noviembre, 2023, Lama Alan salió de su retiro de silencio, por unas horas, para ofrecer una enseñanza muy significativa. Se realizó en la quietud de la capilla en Miyo Samten Ling, con la presencia de los yoguis que están haciendo largos retiros. Esta enseñanza se inspiró en el extracto, El Valor de Observar la Mente, del Sello Real del Mahamudra, Volumen Uno, por el Tercer Khamtrul Rinpoche Ngawang Kunga Tenzin. Esta fue la primera de una serie de enseñanzas que va a dar Lama Alan.

While you are all welcome to register for this Dharma talk, you will best understand its context if you have already participated in a shamatha retreat with Lama Alan. If you have not, we recommend this retreat given in 2019:

The Way of Shamatha: Soothing the Body, Calming the Mind, Illuminating Awareness” sponsored by the Vajrayana Institute in Sydney, Australia.

You will find the recordings here:

Video-recording

Audio-recording

Sois todos bienvenidos a escuchar estas enseñanzas del dharma, pero consideramos que podréis entender mejor el contexto si habéis participado previamente en algún retiro de shamata de Lama Alan. Si no es así, os recomendamos este retiro que dio Lama Alan en 2017, con traducción en español El camino de Shamata - The Meridian Trust - De acceso gratuito

Lama Alan continued this series of teachings on Dakini Day, January 6, 2024. Register for this ongoing series of talks from this precious time while in retreat. Each of the teachings will be available with audio and video recordings.

Al empezar un nuevo año en la práctica del Dharma, Lama Alan ofreció una enseñanza titulada, “Etapas de la Práctica en el Camino a la Gran Perfección”. Ante la petición de uno de sus estudiantes, empezó la enseñanza dando los Votos del Bodhisattva, que son la base para la prácticas Mahayana, incluyendo el Vajrayana y Dzogchen.

Register for this ongoing series of talks This is offered free of charge for all who are interested. -Esto lo ofrecemos de forma gratuita para todos los interesados.

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Mahamudra Shamatha Teachings with Drupön Lama Karma - Five-Month Meditation Program

22 Mar 2024 – 23 Aug 2024, OnlinePrivate0% transcribed

Mahamudra Shamatha Teachings with Drupön Lama Karma - Five-Month Meditation Program

This series of teachings is the continuation of the three-month shamatha program with Drupön Rinpoche that had been offered from November 2023 - February 2024, you can read more about this series here. You do not need to have followed the prior teachings, but it is recommended.

There will be weekly online sessions on Fridays at 7:00 PM (Pacific Daylight Time) starting on March 22nd until August 23rd, 2024, which will be recorded to view at your convenience.

For three weeks we will focus on the instructions drawn from The Royal Seal of Mahāmudrā: A Guidebook for the Realization of Coemergence and from the Ganges Mahāmudrā texts. Lama’s approach will combine the oral guidance he received from his root guru, the Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen yogi Lama Neljorpa, along with his own experiential insights based on years of solitary meditation retreats. During the fourth week, our precious Lama will supplement our formal meditation practice with teachings on the six bardos and dream yoga. This four-week cycle will continue for the duration of the program.

The program will go on for five months, however we will take one or two Fridays off to give Lama a break. The breaks will be announced gradually. The teachings will be given in Tibetan language with English translation.

For those who cannot attend live, we will be providing access to recordings that will be commercial free. In those recordings, we will also provide closed captioning (CC) in Spanish and Portuguese.

Read more about Lama Karma here. This link will take you away from the SBI website to Lama Karma’s website.

The cost for the program is on a sliding scale of 200 to 400 USD based on each participant’s financial situation. Should anyone be unable to afford the fee please email us at: karmajnana108@gmail.com explaining your situation.

If you wish to sign up for the teachings, please do so by clicking below. After making the payment, please look for the REGISTRATION LINK IN THE CONFIRMATION PAGE. In case you miss it, please email us so we can send you the link via email.

SBI is delighted that Drupön Lama Karma is continuing to offer these invaluable and precious teachings.

Register HERE

This link will take you away from the SBI website.

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Mahamudra Shamatha Teachings with Drupön Lama Karma - Three-Month Meditation Program

03 Nov 2023 – 02 Feb 2024, OnlinePrivate0% transcribed

Mahamudra Shamatha Teachings with Drupön Lama Karma

Drupön Lama Karma will provide detailed instructions on the practice of Shamatha from the Mahamudra perspective, based on his own experience from years of meditation retreats.

These teachings began on November 3, 2023 and will continue on a weekly basis for three months. The teachings are available in both audio and video recordings.

Drupön offered introductory Shamatha teachings for the first two weeks and these are available on a donation basis. For access information please email: karmajnana108@gmail.com

To read more about Lama Karma and these teachings please click here

If you would like to continue for three months of additional teachings and receive detailed instructions you can register here

Both of these links will take you away from the SBI website to Lama Karma’s website.

For any questions email: karmajnana108@gmail.com

SBI is delighted that Drupön Lama Karma is making these teachings available.

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Lake-Born Vajra Empowerment Offered June 26th - 30th, 2023

26 Jun 2023 – 30 Jun 2023, Online only - VideoPrivate100% transcribed

To celebrate Guru Rinpoche Day on June 28th, we will share the video of the Lake-Born Vajra empowerment originally offered by Lama Alan during the 2022 8-week retreat.

The empowerment will be available from Monday, June 26th, 2023 at 6:00 am (PST) until Friday, June 30th, 2023 at 10:00 pm (PST). You will be able to receive the empowerment during this week, at any time that is convenient for you.

This is only offered to those who have made a commitment to receive the teachings from at least one of the Düdjom Lingpa 8-week retreats since 2017.

Santa Barbara Institute will offer this empowerment again, more than likely in early 2024. Please be sure you are on our mailing list to receive the dates when the empowerment will be available. You can sign up on the bottom of any page of our website.

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The Vajra Essence – Part 4: “Teachings on the Essential Points of Practice and Their Key Distinctions,” the achievements of the rainbow body, and concluding teachings on the six transitional phases (bardo), including dream yoga.

31 Mar 2023 – 27 May 2023, Crestone, Colorado and OnlinePrivate51% transcribed

In the final 8-week retreat of this series on Düdjom Lingpa’s revelations of the Great Perfection, we come to the culmination of the Lake-Born Vajra’s teachings in The Vajra Essence on cutting through to the original purity of pristine awareness (tekchö).

In this retreat Lama Alan will offer his transmission and commentary on the remaining phases of The Vajra Essence, highlighting “Teachings on the Essential Points of Practice and Their Key Distinctions,” the achievements of the rainbow body, and concluding teachings on the six transitional phases (bardo), including dream yoga.

This series of pointing-out instructions draws critical distinctions between the mind and pristine awareness, between conditioned consciousness and primordial consciousness, and other fundamental distinctions within the Dzogchen view. These instructions are followed by detailed teachings on the final stage of Dzogchen practice known as the direct crossing-over to spontaneously actualization (tögal), which comes to its fruition in the achievement of various manifestations of the rainbow body. As with the earlier teachings on Düdjom Lingpa’s revelations of the Great Perfection, commentary on this practice will not be offered during this retreat as a public teaching, but only later on to those who have achieved shamatha and vipashyana and on that basis are able to authentically rest in pristine awareness.

Following this section of The Vajra Essence, oral commentary will be offered on the Lake-Born Vajra’s concluding teachings on the six transitional phases (bardo), including dream yoga.

Participants should be familiar with the foundational teachings and practices of shamatha, the four applications of mindfulness, the four immeasurables, and relative and ultimate bodhicitta.

The most important prerequisite for participating in this retreat is that applicants must have already listened to the oral transmission and commentary on Part I of The Vajra Essence presented by Lama Alan during April and May, 2020 via the SBI audio-stream or the Wisdom online retreat. You can register for the 2020 retreat here.

In-person registration is now open for The Vajra Essence – Part 4. The retreat will be held in Crestone. Colorado.

You can read about the retreat, and apply to attend in person here

Registration for the virtual retreat is now open. You can register here

As in the past, audio recordings will be offered from SBI and video recordings via Wisdom Publications. The retreat audio will be available with an audio stream from the media site or via your favorite podcast app. Retreat participants will be able to access and download the recordings at any time both during and after the retreat. Your access to this retreat will not expire.

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Lake-Born Vajra Empowerment Offered Feb 28 - March 3, 2023

28 Feb 2023 – 03 Mar 2023, onlinePrivate0% transcribed

This is for those who have registered to receive the Lake-Born Vajra empowerment that was originally offered by Lama Alan during the 2022 8-week retreat. This will be available from Feb 28 - March 3, 2023, and is only offered to those who have received the teachings from at least one of the Düdjom Lingpa 8-week retreats since 2017.

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“Fathom the Mind. Heal the World.” Teachings on the Śrāvakabhūmi on Mindfulness of Breathing

03 Oct 2022 – 04 Oct 2022, Online from Blazing Mountain Retreat Center, Crestone, ColoradoPrivate0% transcribed

This is a collection of Lama Alan’s teachings on the Śrāvakabhūmi on Mindfulness of Breathing for yogis in full-time retreat.

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Fathom the Mind. Heal the World. An In-person and Virtual Retreat – October 1-7, 2022

01 Oct 2022 – 07 Oct 2022, Online and in person from Blazing Mountain Retreat Center, Crestone, ColoradoPrivate0% transcribed

Fathom the Mind. Heal the World. with Lama Alan Wallace, Dr. Eva Natanya & Dr. Anuradha Choudry October 1-7, 2022

Co-sponsored by Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies and the Center for Contemplative Research. This retreat is an opportunity to explore the interdenominational, inter-contemplative themes outlined by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his vision for the Center for Contemplative Research:

      
  • The Buddhist meditative practices of śamatha and vipaśyanā
  • Teachings on nonviolence and compassion from other revered Indian traditions
  • Instruction in the contemplative traditions of Christianity

The virtual retreat will be available with both audio and video recordings of each day’s teachings.

All Q&A sessions, the teachings from Dr. Choudry and the final day panel discussion will be live. All other sessions will be recorded and made available within 24-36 hours.

Read more about the retreat here.

We are delighted to announce that the retreat will be held in Crestone, CO at Blazing Mountain Retreat Center. Click here to read more about joining us in person and for information on how to apply to attend the in-person retreat.

Scholarships are available for those who need assistance to cover the full amount of the virtual retreat. Click here to apply.

Please contact retreats@sbinstitute.com if you have any questions.

We hope that you can join us for the retreat.

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Estrarre l’Essenza Vitale della Realizzazione: Una Guida Chiara e Diretta per la Pratica in un Ritiro in Montagna

04 Jul 2022 – 05 Sep 2022, OnlinePrivate0% transcribed

Lama Alan Wallace presenta e commenta le istruzioni dello Dzogchen, la Grande Perfezione. Questo corso si basa sul testo Estrarre l’Essenza Vitale della Realizzazione: Una guida chiara e diretta per la pratica in un ritiro di montagna del maestro Nyingma del XX secolo, Düdjom Rinpoché, Jigdral Yeshé Dorjé.

Lama Alan traduce ed esplora il breve e potente testo sul ritiro in termini di preliminari, pratiche principali e pratiche post meditative del sentiero della Grande Perfezione.

Per dare tempo alla contemplazione e alla pratica, a partire dal 4 luglio riceverai un nuovo insegnamento settimanale per dieci settimane. Ogni sessione includerà una lezione di un’ora e una meditazione guidata di 30 minuti.

Questo sarà un ritiro virtuale con streaming/download audio.

Puoi leggere di più sul ritiro e registrarti qui.

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Extracting the Vital Essence of Accomplishment: Concise and Clear Advice for Practice in a Mountain Retreat

03 Jun 2022 – 12 Aug 2022, OnlinePrivate0% transcribed

Lama Alan Wallace presents and comments on pith instructions of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection. Providing guidance on retreat, this course is based on the text Extracting the Vital Essence of Accomplishment: Concise and Clear Advice for Practice in a Mountain Retreat by twentieth-century Nyingma master, Düdjom Rinpoché, Jigdral Yeshé Dorjé.

Lama Alan translates and explores the short, powerful text on retreat in terms of the preliminaries, main practices, and post-meditative practices of the Great Perfection path.

To allow time for contemplation and practice, starting on June 3 you will receive a new teaching weekly for ten weeks. Each session will include a one-hour lecture and a 30-minute guided meditation.

This will be a Virtual Retreat with Audio stream/download.

You can read more about the retreat and register here.

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Lake-Born Vajra Sadhana Class with Yangchen Osel (Eva Natanya)

12 May 2022 – 30 May 2022, Online, Recorded at Miyo Samten Ling, Crestone, COPrivate0% transcribed

Coming Soon! Sadhana classes from the 2022 8-week retreat with Yangchen Ösel (Eva Natanya), which followed the Lake-Born Vajra Empowerment offered by Lama Alan Wallace.

Yangchen offers 15 sessions to guide you in your sadhana practice. Her clear elucidation of these profound practices will enhance your understanding and practice. There are nine meditations and four videos, including a short teaching from Lama Alan on the 6-Session Guru Yoga and Yangchen’s explanation of this teaching, the Lake-Born Vajra Sadhana with Gaṇacakra, as well as the complete Lake-Born Vajra Sadhana with Tibetan Recitation.

This is available only if you have received the Lake-Born Vajra Empowerment in the Düdjom Tersar Lineage, whether from Lama Alan or another qualified guru.

If you received the Lake-Born Vajra empowerment but did not follow the 2022 8-week retreat it is highly recommended that you receive these teachings from Yangchen Ösel.

If you wish to receive teachings on the Lake-Born Vajra sadhana in this lineage of teachings from Lama Alan and Yangchen Ösel, we strongly encourage you to register for the whole of the 2019 8-week retreat, or else follow the entire sequence of the 2020-2022 Vajra Essence retreats.

For your convenience, you can stream, download or listen to the teachings on your podcast app.

Check back soon…

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Lake-Born Vajra Empowerment

11 May 2022, Live streamPrivate0% transcribed

This is for those who have registered to receive the Lake-Born Vajra empowerment offered by Lama Alan during the 2022 8-week retreat.

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The Shamatha Trilogy

29 Apr 2022 – 02 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA 0% transcribed

During the 2022, The Vajra Essence - Part 3, 8-week retreat, Lama Alan offered three teachings, and meditations, on these essential, integrated shamatha meditations:

  • Mindfulness of breathing,
  • Taking the mind as the path and
  • Shamatha without a sign.

We are delighted to offer these three core teachings and meditations for free. You can register here for these teachings.

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The Vajra Essence – Part 3: Phases 4–6

31 Mar 2022 – 30 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USAPrivate51% transcribed

Registration is now open for The Vajra Essence – Part 3: “Determining the Characteristics and Qualities of the Ground” (Phase 4), "Determining Secret Dualistic Grasping and Revealing the Way of Natural Liberation” (Phase 5), and "Teaching on the Essential Points of Practice and Their Key Distinctions” (Phase 6)

Participants should be familiar with the foundational teachings and practices of shamatha, the four applications of mindfulness, the four immeasurables, and relative and ultimate bodhicitta.

The most important prerequisite for participating in this retreat is that applicants must have already listened to the oral transmission and commentary on the earlier phases of The Vajra Essence presented by Lama Alan during the first two retreats in this series, April–May, 2020 and 2021 either via the SBI audio-stream or the Wisdom online retreat. You can register for the 2020 retreat here and the 2021 retreat here.

Registration here.

The retreat audio will be available, as in the past, with an audio stream from the media site or via your favorite podcast app. Retreat participants will be able to access and download the recordings at any time both during and after the retreat. Your access to this retreat will not expire.

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The Science of Mind: A Practical Inquiry Into the Nature of Mind Through Traditional Buddhist Meditation

13 Nov 2021 – 19 Oct 2021, Online RetreatPrivate52% transcribed

THE SCIENCE OF MIND: A Practical Inquiry Into the Nature of Mind Through Traditional Buddhist Meditation November 13-19, 2021, A Virtual Retreat with Video stream & Audio stream/download

Like all other branches of science, the science of mind must be primarily based on the rigorous observation of natural phenomena. Much as astronomers rely on the telescope, so do contemplatives rely on the power of samadhi to explore the nature and potentials of the mind.

During this retreat, we will develop shamatha (“serene presence of mind”) drawn from multiple traditions of Buddhism to develop an inner sense of ease, stillness, and clarity of attention. These are the indispensable foundation for vipashyana (“insight meditation”) and all other meditative practices. While satisfaction can never be found outside in such things as wealth, status, and power, this inner meditative discipline is a direct route to genuine well-being.

Each day will consist of about four hours of Teaching & Meditation, in two, approximately 2 hour sessions. These will not be live sessions. You will receive audio and video files daily to view at your convenience.

Lama Alan will be with us LIVE for three Q & A Sessions during the retreat. Registration information coming soon.

This event is co-sponsored with our friends at CCN, The Contemplary and Shambhala Mountain Center.

You can register here for this retreat.

Please contact retreats@sbinstitute.com if you have any questions. We hope that you can join us for the retreat.

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The Wisdom of Atisha and Knowing Our Own Minds

13 Sep 2021 – 20 Sep 2021, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, COPrivate0% transcribed

This retreat will begin with oral commentaries on Alan Wallace’s two freshly translated dialogues between Atisha and his principal disciple Drom Tönpa, entitled, “Cutting the Root of Suffering and Equalizing Excitation and Laxity” and “Blaming Everything on a Single Culprit.” These two exchanges go right to the heart of meditation, while at the same time representing a lively guru-disciple exchange that is both reverent and critical at the same time. Then we shall turn to a close examination of the fifty-one mental factors according to classic Indian Buddhist psychology. These provide a meaningful framework in which to understand the workings of the mind, with a special emphasis on identifying those mental processes that afflict the mind and those that nurture mental health and well-being.

This theoretical presentation will be complemented with the experiential exploration of the mind by means of the Buddha’s own pith instructions of applying discerning mindfulness to feelings, the mind, and the mental factors that obscure the natural luminosity and purity of the mind and those that advance one along the path to enlightenment.

The retreat will consist of three sessions each day of lectures and guided meditations followed by a live 1-hour Zoom discussion/Q&A session. We hope to have recordings of all sessions made available within 24 hours of the teaching during the retreat, including the Zoom sessions.

Register for the retreat here

Scholarships are available for those who need assistance to cover the full amount of the retreat. Click here to apply. Please contact retreats@sbinstitute.com if you have any questions. We hope that you can join us for the retreat.

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The Vajra Essence – Part 2: “Revealing the Ground Dharmakāya” (Phase 3) and “Determining the Characteristics and Qualities of the Ground” (Phase 4)

01 Apr 2021 – 26 May 2021, Online-onlyPrivate94% transcribed

The Vajra Essence – Part 2

Phase 3: “Revealing the Ground Dharmakāya” and Phase 4: “Determining the Characteristics and Qualities of the Ground” in The Vajra Essence: From the Matrix of Pure Appearances and Primordial Consciousness, a Tantra Self-Emergent from the Nature of Existence with B. Alan Wallace.

You can register here

The retreat audio will be available for streaming and download.

Participants should be familiar with the foundational teachings and practices of shamatha, the four applications of mindfulness, the four immeasurables, and relative and ultimate bodhicitta.

The most important prerequisite for participating in this retreat is that all applicants must have already listened to the oral transmission and commentary on the opening phases of The Vajra Essence by Lama Alan given during the first retreat in this series, offered April–May, 2020 via either the SBI audio-stream or the Wisdom online retreat. You can register for the 2020 retreat here.

There is also a requirement that you have received an empowerment to participate in this retreat. The links below are for an online empowerment, in case you have not received one.

Listening options will be as in the past: an audio stream from the media site, via your favorite podcast app, and retreat participants will be able to access and download the recording after logging in.

Please do not share the recording with anyone who is not registered for the retreat. If anyone wants to access the recordings, please forward them to retreats@sbinstitute.com and we will give them instructions on how to register.

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Dharma Talk

09 Apr 2020, United States 50% transcribed

This talk was given during the 2020 8-week retreat audio-stream.

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Outer Preliminaries for Dzogchen - Four Revolutions in Outlook

09 Apr 2020 – 13 Apr 2020, Online - Originally part of 2020 8-week retreat100% transcribed

Lama Alan offers concise, pith instructions on the four revolutions in outlook, the common, outer preliminaries that are the basis for the uncommon inner preliminaries. These teachings are from the 2020 8-week retreat, The Vajra Essence Part I. There are no prerequisites for these teachings.

Register here

If you would like to register for the entire 8-week retreat you can here

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The Vajra Essence – Part 1: “Taking the Impure Mind as the Path” (Phase 1) and “Revealing Your Own Face as the Sharp Vajra of Vipaśyanā” (Phase 2)

01 Apr 2020 – 26 May 2020, Online-onlyPrivate64% transcribed

Phase 1: “Taking the Impure Mind as the Path” and Phase 2: “Revealing Your Own Face as the Sharp Vajra of Vipaśyanā” in The Vajra Essence: From the Matrix of Pure Appearances and Primordial Consciousness, a Tantra on the Self Emergent Nature of Existence with B. Alan Wallace.

You can register for the retreat here.

The retreat in Tuscany, Italy was cancelled but the teachings are still available for streaming and download here.

Participants should be familiar with the foundational teachings and practices of shamatha, the four applications of mindfulness, the four immeasurables, and relative and ultimate bodhicitta.

For the audio stream, as in the past, retreat participants are able to stream and download the recordings. Please do not share the recording with those who are not registered for the retreat.

This retreat is a prerequisite for The Vajra Essence – Part II, 2021 8-week retreat and for all future Vajra Essence retreats.

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The Seven Preliminaries according to the Revelations of Düdjom Lingpa. Presented by Eva Natanya (Yangchen Osel)

01 Apr 2020 – 26 May 2020, Online - Originally part of 2020 8-week retreat0% transcribed

The Seven Preliminaries according to the Revelations of Düdjom Lingpa. Teaching, translations, and oral transmission by Eva Natanya (Yangchen Osel) from the 2020 8-week Retreat.

Eva Natanya presents previously untranslated material on the Seven Uncommon Preliminaries (or Ngöndro) as they appear in the revelations of Düdjom Lingpa and in key commentaries from the Düdjom Lineage.

All materials and translations are not to be shared on the web, but must remain in the context of the oral explanation and transmission.

Register for the retreat here

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Shamatha Teachings Presented by Glen Svensson

01 Apr 2020 – 26 May 2020, Originally part of 2020 8-week retreat0% transcribed

Over 15 sessions Glen Svensson will introduce the practice of shamatha, the practice of cultivating a calm, clear and focused mind.

In this program we will focus on a number of techniques such as

  • mindfulness of breathing,
  • observing the mind,
  • resting in awareness and
  • merging mind with space.

We will also discuss the qualities to cultivate, the tools we use, the faults that can arise in the practice and how to overcome them. Additionally, we will be describing the stages of progress in this practice using the classic nine stage shamatha model.

Each session includes discussion, guided meditation and Q&A. This program is suitable for those new to this practice and also those who are already well established in shamatha practice.

Register for the retreat here

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Teachings access for CCR Retreatants

18 Nov 2019, CrestonePrivate0% transcribed

Set of teachings available to CCR Retreatants

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Commentary from Lama Alan on Drubpön Lama Karma’s Shamatha Teachings - Nov 18, 2020

18 Oct 2019, Online - Originally recorded at CCR at Miyo Samten Ling33% transcribed

On November 18th, 2020 Lama Alan offered five hours of oral commentary to Drubpön Lama Karma’s experiential account of his own practice of shamatha and subsequent contemplative training. This was Lama Alan’s first teaching at The Center for Contemplative Research at Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, CO.

The basis for this talk was a carefully translated transcript (a copy will be provided) of the teachings on shamatha given by Drubpön Lama Karma in Santa Barbara October 18, 2019. For anyone interested in shamatha this will be a very meaningful teaching. There is also an interesting story behind the translation, which Lama Alan shares during his oral commentary.

The original teaching from Drubpön Lama Karma can be found here

We are delighted to share these inspired teachings, in both audio and video form, and also a Spanish translation. Traducción al español disponible. You can register here

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The 4 Yogas of Mahamudra 2019 Retreat

14 Jun 2019 – 21 Jun 2019, Shambhala Mountain Center0% transcribed

This retreat will focus on the four yogas of Mahāmudrā as explained in Karma Chagme Rinpoche’s Practical Instructions on the Union of Mahāmudrā and Atiyoga, for which the main body of his text has been translated under the titles A Spacious Path to Freedom and Naked Awareness. These four yogas constitute a complete path to achieving the perfect enlightenment of a buddha in one lifetime by providing practical methods for fully realizing the luminous and empty nature of consciousness itself, which is our own buddha-nature. Oral commentaries on these four yogas will be complemented with guided meditations on Śamatha, Vipaśyanā, and Mahāmudrā, also based of Karma Chagme Rinpoche’s classic text.

These teachings are made available to support your practice, please consider making a DONATION towards the Center for Contemplative Research

Click here to make a Donation to SBI.

Click here to Give a Gift (Dana) to Dr. Wallace for the teachings.

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Public lecture on “Lucid Dreaming and Dream Yoga”

25 May 2019, Lama Tsong Khapa Institute, Pomaia, Italy.50% transcribed

Public lecture on “Lucid Dreaming and Dream Yoga” given on May 25th, 2019 at Lama Tsong Khapa Institute, Pomaia, Italy. Both in English and Italian

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The Enlightened View of Samantabhadra

04 Apr 2019 – 30 May 2019, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Tuscany, ItalyPrivate2% transcribed

Participants in this year’s retreat by way of audio stream should also have learned and practiced the preliminary practices as taught by Sera Khandro in A Fine Path to Liberation (read short text) and decide for themselves whether they are prepared to engage in these practices as they relate to the teacher of this retreat, to their fellow retreatants, and to sentient beings at large. This is an indispensible prerequisite for participating in this retreat and should be taken very seriously. In addition, you should be familiar with the foundational teachings and practices of shamatha, the four applications of mindfulness, and the four immeasurables, and relative and ultimate bodhicitta.

It is essential to learn the ethical training corresponding to each level of Buddhist practice: shravakayana, bodhisattvayana, and vajrayana. An excellent explanation of these different dimensions of Buddhist ethics can be found in: Perfect Conduct: Ascertaining the Three Vows, by Pema Wangyi Gyalpo (Author), Gyurme Samdrub (Translator), Sangye Khandro (Translator).

For the audio stream, it will be similar to the podcasts as in the past and the retreat participants will be able to access and download the recording.

Register for the retreat here

Please do not share the recording with those who are not registered for the retreat.

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The Sharp Vajra of Conscious Awareness and Düdjom Lingpa’s commentary (edited by Pema Tashi), entitled The Essence of Clear Meaning with Alan Wallace

04 Apr 2018 – 30 May 2018, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute in Pomaia (Pisa), Italy Private0% transcribed

During this eight-week retreat, Alan Wallace will begin by commenting on Sera Khandro’s explanation of the preliminary practices for Dzogchen in The Fine Path to Liberation and by granting the empowerment of the Lake-Born Vajra manifestation of Padmasambhava (this was only available live at the time of the retreat, although SBI does offer this empowerment periodically). He will then give detailed oral commentaries on one of the five classic Dzogchen treatises by Düdjom Lingpa, The Sharp Vajra of Conscious Awareness Tantra, in addition to Düdjom Lingpa’s commentary (edited by Pema Tashi), entitled The Essence of Clear Meaning. Alan will comment on all aspects of these texts except the pith instructions on the direct crossing over (tögal), which is to be taught only to individuals who are able to abide continuously in pristine awareness.

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Buddhahood Without Meditation Retreat: Opening Talk and Guided Meditation- January 7th, 2018

07 Jan 2018, Santa Barbara, California0% transcribed

Recorded on Jan. 7th, 2018 in Santa Barbara.

Download the notes.

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“The Foolish Dharma of an Idiot Clothed in Mud and Feathers,” “Buddhahood Without Meditation” and “The Fine Path to Liberation” with B. Alan Wallace

03 Apr 2017 – 30 May 2017, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Tuscany, ItalyPrivate0% transcribed

During this eight-week retreat Alan Wallace will give detailed oral commentaries on two of the five classic Dzogchen treatises by Düdjom Lingpa, The Foolish Dharma of an Idiot Clothed in Mud and Feathers and Buddhahood Without Meditation, in addition to the brief text on the preliminary practices for Dzogchen by Sera Khandro, entitled The Fine Path to Liberation. These three texts cover the preliminary practices, shamatha, vipashyana, and the practice of cutting through to the original purity of pristine awareness. It is said that for very gifted practitioners, these meditations are sufficient for achieving the Rainbow Body. This will be the first in a series of 8-week retreats in which commentaries and oral transmissions will be offered for all five of these treatises: The Sharp Vajra of Conscious Awareness Tantra (2018), The Enlightened View of Samantabhadra (2019), and The Vajra Essence (2020-2023).

Anyone interested in registering for this online retreat should carefully study this short text: The Fine Path to Liberation (PDF; 169 KB) and decide for themselves whether they are prepared to engage in these practices as they relate to the teacher of this retreat, to their fellow retreatants, and to sentient beings at large. This is an indispensable prerequisite for participating in this retreat and should be taken very seriously. Anyone who is willing to devote themselves to these preliminary practices and to apply themselves to the teachings in this text with faith and devotion is welcome to apply.

Please note that the prerequisites to those listening via audio stream: One must have genuine interest in practicing the dharma and must have read the text, “The Fine Path to Liberation.” Please email info@sbinstitute.com if you have any questions.

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Education and Pursuit of Happiness

01 Jan 2017, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA0% transcribed

B. Alan Wallace lecture at the Religious Studies Class at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

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Tonglen Meditations

17 Oct 2016 – 20 Nov 2016, Sakya Foundation, Spain100% transcribed

This morning Alan gave a talk about the result of the US election during the 5-week Cultivating Emotional Balance Teacher Training Course in Alicante, Spain.

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A Meditation Retreat on Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen

29 Mar 2016 – 24 May 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy 96% transcribed

Spring 8-Week retreat on Shamatha, Vipashyana, and Mahamudra, based upon two texts: Panchen Lozang Chökyi Gyaltsen’s Highway of the Jinas: A Root Text on the Precious Geluk-Kagyü Mahamudra Tradition, and Karma Chagmé’s Naked Awareness: Practical Teachings on the Union.

During this year’s 8-week retreat Alan will grant the oral transmission and commentary to the teachings on the root text The Highway of the Jinas: A Root Text on the Precious Geluk-Kagyü Mahamudra Tradition and its auto-commentary by Panchen Lozang Chökyi Gyaltsen, tutor to the Fifth Dalai Lama. In addition, Alan shall grant the oral transmission and commentary to selected chapters from Naked Awareness: Practical Teachings on the Union of Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen by the great 17th-century master Karma Chagmé. Participants in this retreat should have a sound understanding of the Sutrayana teachings of Mahayana Buddhism, and have experience in the practices of shamatha, the four applications of mindfulness, and the four immeasurables.

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Fall 2015 Stage of Generation, Shamatha, Vipashyana and Mahamudra

30 Jul 2015 – 24 Sep 2015, Araluen Retreat Center, Queensland, Australia4% transcribed

This eight-week retreat will focus on stage of generation, shamatha, vipashyana and mahamudra.

Participants in this retreat should have a sound understanding of the Sutrayana teachings of Mahayana Buddhism, and have experience in the practices of shamatha, the four applications of mindfulness, and the four immeasurables.

Please read the text, A Spacious Path to Freedom: Practical Instructions on the Union of Mahamudra and Atiyoga, by the great 17th-century master Karma Chagmé (from the chapter “The Stage of Generation” up through “Mahamudra”). The book can be purchased from SBI here.

Please contribute to help us afford the audio equipment we rent to make these, and future podcasts.

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Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, and the Experience of Pristine Awareness in the Great Perfection Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism

21 Aug 2014 – 16 Oct 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand34% transcribed

This eight-week retreat will focus on three of the six transitional processes, namely:

  • the Transitional Process of Living, with teachings on śamatha and vipaśyanā,
  • the Transitional Process of Dreaming, with teachings on dream yoga, and
  • the Transitional Process of Meditation with teachings on Dzogchen meditation.

All these teachings will be based on the text The Profound Dharma of The Natural Emergence of the Peaceful and Wrathful from Enlightened Awareness Stage of Completion Instructions on the Six Transitional Processes, an “earth terma” of teachings by Padmasambhava, revealed by Karma Lingpa in the fourteen century.

The English translation of this text has been published under the title Natural Liberation: Padmasambhava’s Teachings on the Six Bardos, with commentary by Gyatrul Rinpoche and translated by B. Alan Wallace.

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Fall 2013 Shamatha and the Bodhisattva Way of Life

03 Sep 2013 – 25 Oct 2013, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand5% transcribed

Alan Wallace Fall 2013 8-Week retreat on Shamatha and the Bodhisattva Way of Life, including teachings on the Seven-Point Mind-Training and A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, by B. Alan Wallace at the Thanyapura Mind Centre in Phuket, Thailand, from September 2nd- October 28th, 2013

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Fall 2012 Shamatha, Vipashyana and the Four Applications of Mindfulness

25 Aug 2012 – 17 Oct 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand100% transcribed

Teachings from the eight-week retreat at Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand

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Spring 2012 Shamatha Retreat

08 Apr 2012 – 30 May 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand0% transcribed

Spring 2012 shamatha retreat audio teachings with Alan Wallace. Live from the Thanyapura Mind Centre in Phuket, Thailand.

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Fall 2011 Shamatha Retreat

02 Sep 2011 – 21 Oct 2011, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand0% transcribed

Dharma talks and guided meditations given six days per week during the Fall, 2011 eight-week Shamatha retreat at the Thanyapura Mind Centre in Phuket, Thailand, with B. Alan Wallace. Podcasts will be posted daily during the retreat.

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Spring 2011 Shamatha Retreat

10 Apr 2011 – 04 Jun 2011, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand0% transcribed

Dharma talks and guided meditations given six days per week during the Spring, 2011 eight-week Shamatha retreat at the Thanyapura Mind Centre in Phuket, Thailand, with B. Alan Wallace. Podcasts will be posted daily during the retreat.

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Fall 2010 Shamatha Retreat

15 Nov 2010 – 30 Dec 2010, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand0% transcribed

Welcome! On this site you’ll find downloadable podcasts from the Fall 2010 Shamatha Retreat led by B. Alan Wallace in Phuket, Thailand.  Follow along with the retreat as Wallace gives daily meditation instructions to help one cultivate attention and awareness as well as the qualities of love, compassion, joy and equanimity. 

We hope you will enjoy and benefit from these beautiful teachings!

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Spring 2010 Shamatha Retreat

20 Apr 2010 – 11 Jun 2010, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand0% transcribed

This is Dr. Alan Wallace’s teachings from the Spring 2010 Shamatha Retreat in the wonderful Phuket International Academy Mind Centre.

This podcast feed was 100% created and updated by us (his students here in Phuket) so we can share Alan’s diamond-sharp teachings.

This podcast was created live every day during the retreat in 2010.

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