B. Alan Wallace, 20 Apr 2010
In this afternoon session, Alan Wallace gives a brief introduction to the wisdom aspect of compassion, followed by the practice, some reflexions, and a Q&A session mostly focused on attachment.This great photo was provided by Malcolm!Please enjoy as we did!
B. Alan Wallace, 20 Apr 2010
In this Morning Session, we practice Settling the Mind in its Natural State with an emphasis on observing the spaces in between thoughts and the “background” of the mind rather than the foreground and the thoughts. Alan starts with a brief introduction, followed by the practice, and an outro regarding sensory distractions such as noises.Another artistic shot by Malcolm.Enjoy!
B. Alan Wallace, 21 Apr 2010
This afternoon lecture was about one very important but often overlooked aspect of the four immeasurables: Empathetic Joy. It starts with a very precise, relevant, and bright introduction about the guilt, self-loathing, and low self esteem that plagues modernity and the west. Afterwards there is a 24 minute meditation on equanimity, focused mainly on the Phuket retreatants but relevant anywhere in the world. To finish, there is a long Q&A session with many practical questions that have come up…
B. Alan Wallace, 21 Apr 2010
A brief preface to the practice of Shamatha Without a Sign as taught by Padmasambhava, followed by a 24 minute practice and some commentary on the practice as well as some tips as to how to maintain mindfulness throughout the day. As a bonus, we get the first taste of Alan’s fluent Tibetan with the addition of our newest Sangha member: Mugi from Mongolia!Please enjoy this sublime practice as we did!This sky photo was also provided by Malcolm, and I think it fits this practice very well!
B. Alan Wallace, 22 Apr 2010
This afternoon we went straight into a practice of empathetic joy, followed by a reflection on guilt, remorse, and how empathetic joy (mudita) can affect our deeds. Afterwards there is just a short Q&A section because a large part of it was extracted for the next episode of the podcast. The picture is of yesterday’s beautiful sunset right outside the teaching hall!
B. Alan Wallace, 22 Apr 2010
One of the things we love about Alan is his ability to answer a single question with a 30 minute reply in which he not only answers the question completely but he explores all of the branches and leaves you deeply inspired. I felt the need to separate this into a separate episode for those who do not have time to listen to everything. I feel the start of the bonus episodes!Alan talks about awareness of awareness (specifically the ability to realize rigpa through this practice), the several budd…
B. Alan Wallace, 22 Apr 2010
This morning we practiced a slightly different method Awareness of Awareness, or Shamatha without a sign. After the meditation, there is a short section on insomnia and anxiety that can arise when in retreat. It is mostly focused on our situation here in Phuket but I included it because it can be relevant to many around the world, especially if you are doing retreat with us! May it serve you well!By the way, the podcast picture for this episode is part of a Thangka called “The Nine Progressive…
B. Alan Wallace, 23 Apr 2010
This afternoon we meditated on the fourth of the 4 Immeasurables: Equanimity. There is a preamble on Equanimity, followed by the meditation and by some reflections of the importance of this practice. Afterwards there is a Q&A with a question about the breath followed by a question which again turned into a goldmine: it started out with “what exactly is the difference between nirvana and rigpa” and evolved into a very deep overview of the path and the final stages just prior to com…
B. Alan Wallace, 23 Apr 2010
In this morning session, we went straight into an Awareness of Awareness meditation with some extra techniques. Short and sweet! This is the third method in our Awareness of Awareness cycle.(You may have to turn up the volume on this one! Sorry!)This photo is also part of the great series from Malcolm!
B. Alan Wallace, 23 Apr 2010
This afternoon we meditated on the fourth of the 4 Immeasurables: Equanimity. There is a preamble on Equanimity, followed by the meditation and by some reflections of the importance of this practice. Afterwards there is a Q&A with a question about the breath followed by a question which again turned into a goldmine: it started out with “what exactly is the difference between nirvana and rigpa” and evolved into a very deep overview of the path and the final stages just prior to com…
B. Alan Wallace, 23 Apr 2010
In this morning session, we went straight into an Awareness of Awareness meditation with some extra techniques. Short and sweet! This is the third method in our Awareness of Awareness cycle.(You may have to turn up the volume on this one! Sorry!)This photo is also part of the great series from Malcolm!
B. Alan Wallace, 24 Apr 2010
This afternoon we started with more cultivation of equanimity, specifically dispelling the “I-It” relationship with ourselves. First we had a great introduction to the concept, a couple of questions arose, and then the meditation (an extremely valuable practice). Afterwards, Alan reflects on some of the incorrect “selling points” of buddhism that are sometimes portrayed in the media and as an effect of this modern (last 50 years) boom in Buddhism and other misconceptions. Th…
B. Alan Wallace, 24 Apr 2010
It’s Sunday (for us!) and here is the bonus I promised! After yesterday’s practice on Equanimity, Alan said he had to add a couple of “footnotes” to the question about Nirvana and Rigpa from two days ago. You can expect what follows: 30 minutes that capture you and just keep escalating and escalating into a pure jewel of a lecture. And I say escalating because as we approach the end of the podcast, well… just listen for yourself! I will (humbly) say from my opinion that listening to…
B. Alan Wallace, 25 Apr 2010
Today we practiced the last method in the “cycle” of Shamatha methods for this course. It is the final variation of Awareness of Awareness. In this podcast we go straight into the meditation followed by a brief recap of the four Awareness of Awareness practices and a short reminder on the importance of Shamatha.This is today’s sky here at the Mind Centre, perfect for Awareness of Awareness practice!
B. Alan Wallace, 26 Apr 2010
Today we also finished the basic cycle of the Four Inmeasurables with another practice of equanimity.We first get an introduction to the sheer importance of the practices of Four Inmeasurables (and how they not only are tremendously beneficial practices in themselves but also how they are the “golden ground” for cultivating Bodihchitta) and brief instructions for Tonglen. We then proceed to a practice of equanimity with Tonglen mixed in, and end with some good assorted Questions and A…
B. Alan Wallace, 26 Apr 2010
This morning we started the cycle all over again with a delicious soothing practice of Full-Body awareness (or as Alan calls it, "The Infirmary!") He also gives a very brief introduction on why it is worthwhile to go into the infirmary and about “balancing earth and wind” and “balancing earth and sky”.The picture (once again by Sara) is of the reclining Buddha at Prathong temple here in Phuket. He went into parinirvana in this position, which shows that sitting isn…
B. Alan Wallace, 27 Apr 2010
We start with a great introduction on the Four Inmeasurables and how they interrelate based on Buddhaghosa and the Tibetan Buddhism perspective, including the “faux facsimiles” or close but very distorted versions of the 4I (yes! I finally found an abbreviation that I will be using from now on) and some commentary on how to remedy the delusion about thinking that we will be the lucky ones in samsara. After finding that Loving Kindness is the cure for that, we go into a great, deep pra…
B. Alan Wallace, 27 Apr 2010
This morning we went back to the valuable practice of settling the attention on the rise and fall of the abdomen, a “transitional” practice. The podcast starts with an introduction about struggles, the “casino of samsara,” discipline, and counting in breath awareness practice.After the practice, there is a reflection on the reality of suffering.The picture is of our gompa, or teaching hall! It’s part of a bunch of pictures that have been uploaded to Alan’s facebook today. He…
B. Alan Wallace, 28 Apr 2010
This podcast is centered around a Loving Kindness practice designed to help develop joy and vision for our Shamatha practice, but it will work for many things. As almost always we start with a very good introduction followed by the 24 minute practice. Afterwards there is a short footnote about the difference between achieving Shamatha (access to the first Dhyāna) and actually achieving the first Dhyāna and what each entails.The podcast ends there because was a question asked, "Alan, how wo…
B. Alan Wallace, 28 Apr 2010
This morning we had a 4 minuteintroduction on achieving Shamatha with breath awareness (and the acquired sign), followed by a classic, old school practice as taught by Buddhaghosa and practiced for millenia. This practice should be at the bottom of the food pyramid!Afterwards Alan explains some tips to slip back into meditation sessions with less transition from our “ordinary” state. Enjoy!This beautiful picture of Kathmandu courtesy of our cheerful phuket Sangha friend Ale!
B. Alan Wallace, 29 Apr 2010
We start with a few comments about the term “Loving Kindness” and definitions of love (neodarwinism, scientific materialism, freud, all the goodies) and the shortcomings of looking at human beings as simple animals from the metaphysical point of view. Then we start to observe the attitude of self-centeredness which we frequently have and how it it has different “concentric rings” (which we can extend to include all beings and therefore cure this self-centeredness). After thi…
B. Alan Wallace, 29 Apr 2010
Today got quite long for a morning practice, but it was very interesting! Alan immediately got going with a very sharp discussion of the current status of acceptance that cognitive sciences or even just attentional training such as Shamatha have in the scientific materialist view. He draws on several events from his experience with his subtle humor but also with striking clarity and in my opinion, sad truth.I will not try to describe or paraphrase what he said because it would not be very preci…
B. Alan Wallace, 30 Apr 2010
Tonight we had a 5 minute introduction to the practice of Compassion and how to do it properly, as well as a reflection on the effect of Tonglen. Afterwards we go straight to the practice.After the meditation there is a question that a group of people had. The question was about not losing touch with Dharma even though we might get swamped with mundane tasks. I think this applies to many of us.Alan first gives a striking “bad-cop” approach to a part of the question talking about prior…
B. Alan Wallace, 30 Apr 2010
In this podcast, B. Alan Wallace, Ph. D., answers a question involving having a friendly discussion about the relationship between mind and brain (don’t we all have those with our friends all the time?) and explains his point of view as well as refutes several typical arguments about the mind being either part of, the same thing, or an emergent property of the brain.I won’t say more, listen for yourselves! This will probably clear up any doubts you have about the topic, and his points are rock-…
B. Alan Wallace, 30 Apr 2010
This morning we had a short but sweet introduction on the mind’s capacity to heal itself and how the traditional sciences can cooperate with the contemplative science, come together, and share their insights. Alan also talks about how sometimes support from the psychopharmaceutical, clinical psychology, and psychiatry branches can be a huge support for contemplative practice. So this morning was about cooperation and synergy!Afterwards we have a 24 minute session of settling the mind and then w…
B. Alan Wallace, 01 May 2010
We start with a very precise introduction of how mental afflictions are afflictions because they are rooted in delusion. Some feelings can be either very positive or afflictive depending on the above. I won’t give examples in order to not distort Alan’s words but it’s a great explanation!We also get an explanation about four displays of compassion or Bodhisattva actions that are not immediately apparent, contrasting the sugar-coated, peaceful saints of other traditions with the Buddhist deities…
B. Alan Wallace, 02 May 2010
In this bonus podcast, B. Alan Wallace is asked about his ideal vision of Buddhism and Contemplative Science in “The West” (or modernity) for the next 10-15 years. Alan first describes his own term, “Contemplative Science,” and then gets going on a very inspiring and precise view of how this can be absolutely groundbreaking for science and humanity in general. Can we penetrate and break through to knowing reality? Taking it out of the realm of metaphysics, religion, or theor…
B. Alan Wallace, 02 May 2010
No, it’s not a side effect of your intense daily meditation – in this podcast the picture actually moves! That is to say, it’s a video!With the help of David Cherniack, we were able to record Alan’s quick message. As you can see, we have created a mailing list for information, news, and retreat information all regarding the Mind Centre here in Phuket. Please note that this is different from the podcast daily updates that you might have subscribed to. In other words, if you subscribe to the mai…
B. Alan Wallace, 02 May 2010
Interesting title eh?This morning we practiced Settling the Mind in its Natural State. Alan gave a brief introduction on some cases of Out of Body Experiences and showed how they are related to this practice and to Shamatha in general. We have had internet problems so I don’t know when I will be able to upload this! Hopefully it will be working this afternoon…Another great photo from Ale!
B. Alan Wallace, 03 May 2010
Alan starts with an introduction on “episodic compassion” and how easy it can be to feel contempt and superiority towards the people committing injustices according to us without looking at all of the perspectives. This practice of compassion focuses both on the victims of other people’s behavior and on the “victimizers,” who themselves are victims of their own strong mental afflictions.After the meditation we had some assorted Q&A about practice and I think I already ha…
B. Alan Wallace, 03 May 2010
This morning we had an inspiring introduction regarding the space of the mind and its observation, as well as a sequence of steps to become lucid with respect to reality. We went into a 24 minute session focusing on the nature of the space of the mind, evident in the spaces between thoughts but also very present even when there are thoughts.After the practice Alan briefly discusses some interesting hypotheses that could be put to the test in the contemplative observatory. A very uplifting morni…
B. Alan Wallace, 04 May 2010
We start with an introduction on the three different dimensions of suffering and pick up briefly on this morning’s topic of becoming lucid in the waking state.The deep practice that follows is indeed a Compassion practice but its focus is on this lucidity.After the meditation we have some open questions focused on the practice, such as “how does vividness manifest in the practice of settling the mind in its natural state,” and other general questions that might be good for all! We pa…
B. Alan Wallace, 04 May 2010
This morning we started with a brief recap on some details about the breath in Settling the Mind in its Natural State, and some notes about the substrate conciousness and Awareness of Awareness.Afterwards we had a very clearly explained practice, including some tips for people who are new to this type of meditation. We are having some microphone adjustments so you might have to turn up the volume on this one! Sorry!This photo was taken by Sara here at the mind centre… Very suitable photo for…
B. Alan Wallace, 05 May 2010
This afternoon was great. We started with an overview of four immeasurables as an extrordinarly wise system of emotional regulation, and although that sounds utilitarian (since the qualities of loving kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity are some of the most noble virtues to develop), they can be excellent for emotional balance.Alan then talks about how to develop motivation, inspiration, enthusiasm, lightness, and hopefulness towards the practice, which is directly linked to th…
B. Alan Wallace, 05 May 2010
This morning we followed a second method of Shamatha without a Sign (Awareness of Awareness) as taught by Padmasambhava. This method included probing into the very nature of that which inverts and releases the attention and in so doing one may realize rigpa! Alan first explains in detail the confusion around this practice and its true potential, using a dream analogy. A greatly inspiring overview. Afterwards we have the actual practice and a short outro about the parallels of this practice and…
B. Alan Wallace, 06 May 2010
Today’s practice was focused on taking delight both towards being of benefit in the world outwards but also of going into meditation and being apparently useless for a while, because it’s a cultivation with which you can become immensely useful afterwards. There is a great introduction on this point, and after the practice we had some great, fluid assorted Q&A with answers from the crowd. The questions vary from how to balance quality and quantity in meditation and some sprinkles of dream y…
B. Alan Wallace, 06 May 2010
This morning we had a practice of the third method of Awareness of Awareness. Alan starts with an introduction and explains some points on the practice, and after the practice he gives some tips on keeping a constant meditation even when having to do other things. The meditation session in this podcast is a very clearly explained and great practice of Awareness of Awareness.As you can probably tell by now I like interesting skies, and especially so when talking about Awareness of Awareness! Thi…
B. Alan Wallace, 07 May 2010
This podcast starts with a microphone test; you may notice that this podcast has none of the annoying popping noises that went out in the previous episodes. And the sound quality will keep getting better as we tweak the system.Ok, enough of that! Today’s afternoon practice was on Equanimity, and it was a very valuable meditation. We start as always with an excellent introduction with illustrative examples before going into the practice.After the practice we had some assorted Q&A, but before…
B. Alan Wallace, 07 May 2010
This morning we practiced the final phase of Awareness of Awareness, and quoting from Alan’s great analogy in the introduction to this practice: “Putting it in the Oven.” The title comes from the succinct explanation of the practice as described by Tsongkhapa.This time it was just a brief 5 minute introduction and then we went into the meditation (as taught by Padmasambhava), the most profound of all Shamatha practices.With this method, the path and the fruit are similar in aspect.Enj…
B. Alan Wallace, 07 May 2010
Hello everyone!Last week we had some internet trouble over here which caused the podcast XML to get corrupted. As a result, I have received many comments saying that you were having trouble downloading the podcast episodes from:April 28 - May 1The problem has now been fixed, so you may try downloading the episodes again. If the episodes do not show up in your iTunes, then follow the instructions in the video and they should work properly! Sorry for the trouble and enjoy your meditations!May the…
B. Alan Wallace, 08 May 2010
Wow, I have to say that we ended this cycle of meditations perfectly. We had a very valuable practice (although, what practice has not been very valuable?) on Equanimity paired with wisdom. We started with a short and sweet introduction, and then went straight into the meditation.After the meditation we had two delicious juicy questions. The first question by Nick I took out because it’s perfect for a stand-alone bonus that I’ll send out tomorrow. It entails an explanation of the Four Immeasura…
B. Alan Wallace, 09 May 2010
In this juicy sunday Bonus, Alan answers a question from our friend Noah about why wait to kickstart the revolution in the mind sciences? Why not get an accomplished Yogi to demonstrate his paranormal abilities under scientific scrutiny? Maybe just a little bit of levitation, walking through walls, multiplying themselves, disappearing… The usual.You can be sure that what follows is a a very thorough analysis of this subject, from several perspectives and with some possible outcomes. Very inte…
B. Alan Wallace, 09 May 2010
This session was the first of the meditations with less spoken guidance. However, Alan made up for it with the great introduction and outro!The talks are based on the importance of looking for genuine happiness, focusing on the more and more common condition of “General Anxiety,” (or reality-based anxiety) its causes, and how society is depending on more and more brain drugs to band-aid the symptoms. The outro is particularly enriching; it details how a cooperation between the Pharmac…
B. Alan Wallace, 10 May 2010
Today we re-started the 4I cycle with Loving Kindness. Specifically, we focused on motivation and how it has the power to make things possible or impossible, achievable or not achievable.The introduction was around this motivation and its power, while the outro contains a great several-part question by Malcom on the different methods of Shamatha, their pit falls, changing between methods, etc. It is a very concise explanation of the three methods we cover in this retreat, how they interrelate,…
B. Alan Wallace, 10 May 2010
Today we had a quite silent and relaxing session on the sensations of the breath at the level of the abdomen.The introduction talks about the several ways in which we can recognize progress in our practice, and the outro is a recap on the terms “mindfulness,” “instrospection,” and "conscientiousness."This local photo is courtesy of Daniela.
B. Alan Wallace, 11 May 2010
In the introduction, Alan talks about Loving Kindness and how it is an aspiration and not a feeling (although it certainly comes with a feeling). He also talks about achieving Shamatha by method of non-discursive meditation on the apspiration of Loving Kindness (developing stability and vividness).After the practice we had an explanation of moving loving kindness into “enemy territory,” talked briefly about the concept of “enemy,” and saw how Loving Kindness can (and needs t…
B. Alan Wallace, 11 May 2010
This podcast was spurred by a question from our philosopher Ilse asking about the difference of “Identitylessness” [or non self] and “Personhood” (as she put it).There are many misconceptions about Buddhism and the theme of the “Non-Self,” and here B. Alan Wallace breaks it down skillfully and with his characteristic [irony alarm went off], funny and good-humored but extremely wise and accurate examples. This is really recommended if you have any doubts (as many of…
B. Alan Wallace, 11 May 2010
Ah, the Ngöndro (preliminary) practices. If you ask how many you have to do (without the proper context and preparation), you will probably be sorry to hear the answer: 100,000. Of ALL OF THEM. With these good-humored words and other examples, Alan reproaches the “how much do I gotta do” approach to the preliminaries and sets off on a very enlightening explanation of the very valid reasons for the preliminaries and the context in which they are immensely beneficial and meaningful. He…
B. Alan Wallace, 11 May 2010
This morning we had a brief followup on the concept of the loss of the sense of self. Afterwards we went directly into the practice, which you may notice was quite silent apart from the initial sets of instructions. This time it’s about going deeper and using our own faculties of mindfulness and introspection without Alan reminding us to do so.This also means fewer words from me (compared to my essays from yesterday)! So back to the cushion I go! Enjoy!
B. Alan Wallace, 12 May 2010
In this episode, we keep working more deeply with the Four Immeasurables. As always we have our introduction which includes an answer by HH. Dalai Lama from a Mind and Life conference saying that what moves us or motivates us to do anything at all is caring. Alan then breaks this down and shows how all of the 4I stem from this basic caring, and also shows how they are deeply entangled together. For example, empathetic joy is “built-into” compassion, as it arises when the suffering is…
B. Alan Wallace, 12 May 2010
This morning we practiced Settling the Mind by coming in through the senses with the phrase “In the perceived, let there be only the perceived” as a preparation for observing the mind. After a short introduction on the practice in which we touched briefly on the very interesting fact that the appearances that we see are not of a material nature in themselves. Anyway, enjoy the practice!On a side note, Alan is happy to announce that the videos are now available from the “Science and Bu…
B. Alan Wallace, 12 May 2010
Alan is happy to announce that the videos are now available from the “Science and Buddhism” colloquium at the University of Oxford, sponsored by the Physiology Department and the Oriental Institute of the University of Oxford, the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies, and the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, March, 2010. The videos are accessible from the main website of voices from oxford: http://www.VoicesfromOxford.org/To go to the section on Buddhism and Science directly, cl…
B. Alan Wallace, 13 May 2010
Today we had a very deep practice on Compassion. The introduction contains great examples as always in order to turn our minds towards the cultivation of compassion, to make real the suffering of others and to unveil our innate compassion, with the boldness, courage, and vision to realize what is happening, attend to the world of possibility, and aspire “may there be freedom.” This will leave us poised for action and ready to come out of meditation and do some good in the world.The ou…
B. Alan Wallace, 13 May 2010
This morning’s introduction was about our sense of control and possession of our bodies, our minds, and “our” thoughts. We often believe that our thoughts are actually ours, when we can’t even control them.In the following meditation, we go into the headquarters (or heartquarters!) of our own mind and release control of everything except our awareness of it.Another great local photo from Daniela!
B. Alan Wallace, 14 May 2010
Alan gives an introduction on what we actually meditate on when “meditating on the 4I.” That is to say, the object of the meditations is always sentient beings. In today’s powerful practice, we work on separating the person from the mental affliction, which goes hand in hand with eliminating our sense of contempt towards the person (even if the acts themselves are truly deplorable). Alan mentioned it was one of the more turbulent practices, because the above can be challenging! This p…
B. Alan Wallace, 14 May 2010
Today we practiced settling the mind in its natural state with an emphasis on observing the background, the “stage” of the mind. As Alan mentions, this acts as a whetstone (knife-sharpening stone) for our vividness, increasing the resolution and sharpness of our mind. The mind can also be viewed in HD!The outro was unexpected and mind-blowing. It will be part of Sunday’s bonus but I won’t cut it out, it came out very spontaneously and it will leave you longing for it to be Sunday.Some…
B. Alan Wallace, 15 May 2010
Today we came back to the meditative cultivation of Compassion (to use the correct phrase) and had an introduction directly related to the practice in order to have less words interjected afterwards. The introduction also talks about the three levels of suffering: blatant suffering, suffering of change, and suffering of conditioned existence. After the succinct practice Alan gave yet another add-on to the bonus that will go out on Sunday. I will add it to the Sunday podcast but I left it here a…
B. Alan Wallace, 16 May 2010
In this request by Nick W, Alan breaks down the Four Immeasurables in an extremely clear synopsis of how they interrelate, their faux facsimiles (which may look very similar but they work in the opposite direction), and how to clearly distinguish them. Alan ends with a beautiful and remarkably accurate metaphor of a charriot pulled by four great steeds, in which he illustrates how the Four Immeasurables work together and help balance each other.Alan’s talent in compiling so much knowledge and e…
B. Alan Wallace, 16 May 2010
Ok, this is what a lot of you have been waiting for, and with very good reason! Get your thinking hats on, turn off your phones, get a nice cup of tea, clear your schedule, and bring forth your scientific aspect. In this podcast episode, B. Alan Wallace, Ph.D., will be delving into topics such as the nature of information, mind and matter as a derivative of information, the placebo effect, its connection to the flow of experience/information in relation to human existence, and oh, why not: quan…
B. Alan Wallace, 16 May 2010
This is a short followup (I promise! It’s actually less than 15 minutes) clearing up some points from the previous episode. I took two fragments from the next day and mashed them together for this podcast. It is absolutely necessary to listen to Part 1 before listening to this. In this first fragment B. Alan Wallace briefly returns to the topic of information flow, meaning-to-meaning communication (instead of achieving means through chemicals and brain correlates), and relates this to the place…
B. Alan Wallace, 16 May 2010
In this morning’s introduction, Alan talks about how the mind is very capable of healing itself, and how the purpose of settling the mind in its natural state is to observe it vividly while not doing things that will prevent the mind from healing. He also talks about talk therapy and medicine, highlighting how they are can be crucial in some cases as a preamble to meditating.Afterwards we have the practice, consisting of a short introduction and then silence. Enjoy!This picture of our Mind Cent…
B. Alan Wallace, 17 May 2010
Today as the title suggests we combined Compassion and Loving kindness into a practice of Tonglen. Furthermore, we incorporated the four modes of enlightened acvitity, using each one where needed, and in the visualization we let the light or energy sent out with the breath take the form of whatever is actually needed in the situation (not just necessary a generic light of compassion/loving kindness) and tinted it with the respective enlightened acvitity color. Whew!After the mostly silent prac…
B. Alan Wallace, 17 May 2010
This morning Alan promptly warned us that he was feeling a little bit feisty, which resulted in a great historical introduction with examples of how subjective experience has been mistreated and eventually completely disregarded by scientists and philosophers. It includes some fun quotes like this one from John B. Watson in 1913, “The time has come when psychology must discard all references to consciousness,” and moreover "belief in consciousness is attributed to superstition an…
B. Alan Wallace, 18 May 2010
Alan starts this afternoon by detailing some of the possible “side effects” that could happen during intense practice of Shamatha, in the sense that when we are trying to make our mind so focused an unified, it can sometimes become quite small. He also talks about how sometimes we keep hurting ourselves with our own memories of unpleasant events (making them real again) even dozens or hundreds of times after the original event. The Empathetic Joy practice we do afterwards is a remedy…
B. Alan Wallace, 18 May 2010
Today’s practice, the second out of the four Awareness of Awareness methods that we cover in our cycle, is a very deep penetrating practice, encroaching upon VIpassyana territory. Alan starts with an introduction on the practice and its implications, relating it to the short discourse by the Buddha to the wandering ascetic Bahiya.After this sublime practice, the outro deals with the Buddhist middle way (warning about drawing false conclusions from this practice) and then with "I think, the…
B. Alan Wallace, 19 May 2010
This afternoon the meditation was 100% silent. Even the introduction lasts around 20 seconds!I cut out the 24 minutes of silence in order to make this a smaller download. You can click pause and do your own Empathetic Joy meditation! For reference, go to the previous podcasts. After the meditation we had a power outage which cut out a chunk of a very interesting question. The power came on and off a few times, and I cut the long parts when the power was out (and thus we had no recording). Among…
B. Alan Wallace, 19 May 2010
This morning we return to the third phase in the classic Awareness of Awareness teachings of Padmasambhava. In the introduction, Alan explains how this phase helps create a very 3D and spacious quality to our awareness, which is a very good warmup before settling in in tomorrow’s practice. Alan clearly explains the practice with his characteristic eloquence and then we dive right in.Following the practice, Alan spices it up with a little bit of cosmology for good measure, relating the practice…
B. Alan Wallace, 20 May 2010
This afternoon Alan starts by quite briefly explaining this balance between fluidity and structure in the equanimity practice, and after the instructions we set off in a pretty much rich but silent session.After the session Alan had two juicy pieces of paper with multi-questions written on them. They cover a lot of practical content, such as the characteristics of the Shamatha stages and how to use them correctly, the characteristics of the different types of exitation and laxity. how to mainta…
B. Alan Wallace, 20 May 2010
Alan “kickstarted” this morning [because he likes that word so much ;) ] with a healthy dose of Physics. He started talking about the following article from NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/science/space/18cosmos.html , which claims to uncover a new clue as to why we exist. Appreciating the enormous scientific value of this article, we realize the truth of the statement “ask a physical question and you’ll receive a physical answer.” We go back into the analysis of the…
B. Alan Wallace, 21 May 2010
As you can probably tell by the title, today’s practice was not you regular 4I practice. Sure, it did start out with a regular equanimity/Tonglen practice but this time we had the option of going deeper, down to pristine awareness. Rather than “Boundless” Compassion or Loving Kindness, today we had the option to cultivate “Great” (Maha) Compassion/Loving Kindness. Although “boundless” sounds quite more grandiloquent, cultivating Mahakarunā or Mahamettā is something…
B. Alan Wallace, 22 May 2010
This lovely afternoon we went back to the practice of Loving Kindness, using the phrase from T.S. Elliot in the title. We went straight into meditation.After the practice, we had assorted Q&A from several people, on many topics. Alan talked about “practicing well” regardless of how well the practice is going, and there are other pieces of golden information scattered throughout. I would also like to let you know that after receiving several emails offering donations, I added some…
B. Alan Wallace, 23 May 2010
In this short and sweet sunday bonus, we synthesized the three main methods of Shamatha into one practice. There is an extremely short introduction and then the practice.A great way to combine these different meditative variations!Enjoy as we did!I would also like to let you know that after receiving several emails offering donations, I added some links to donate to the Santa Barbara Institute for Conciousness Studies to help fund future podcasts. For those viewing this on the web click on the…
B. Alan Wallace, 23 May 2010
This morning Alan started by saying that he would like to let us choose our own Shamatha method, for these next few days and perhaps for the rest of the retreat. If so, then I will only be podcasting the long afternoon sessions.But for now I left this one in anyway.Alan also talks about the “gears” of our practice, upshifting and downshifting, and gives a brief outro on the importance of remaining engaged with reality.Enjoy this silent practice with us!This great photo is by Sara.
B. Alan Wallace, 24 May 2010
This afternoon we started with a very practical introduction on how to draw from the 4I throughout the course of a normal day in our life after the retreat if we are not going into full time practice. To use an incorrect (but illustrative) phrase, going back to the “real world.” It includes a review on how to identify when and which of the Four Immeasurables are needed and on how to correctly apply them in day-to-day mundane life. The practice itself was silent, but I left it in for c…
B. Alan Wallace, 24 May 2010
In this episode, Alan talks about something that probably bothers many of us, and he calls it “A Sacred Tension.” It is about our decision to either dedicate our time fully to contemplation, to mundane life, or somewhere in between both. This is very valuable for those of us having these types of doubts.I stripped out the silent meditation (so you know the drill: pause, set your own 24 [or more!] minute timer, and then press play again), and left in a brief outro. I would like to say…
B. Alan Wallace, 25 May 2010
In today’s lecture, Alan gave a very brief reflection for when we finish this retreat. As we know, the still, sustained focus / samadhi of our attention will naturally diminish within a socially engaged lifestyle. However, the Four Immeasurables have no reason to do so and in fact can even be amplified and practiced all day within the context of our life. We then go into a free Four Immeasurable meditation, and I have a question for you valued listeners:Do you prefer for me to trim the silent m…
B. Alan Wallace, 25 May 2010
This morning Alan suggested to adopt the attitute of starting a 2-week retreat. He humorously gave some very important points and tips about the practice in order to make the most out of the time we have left. Very recommended!After the practice, Alan throws in 3 minutes about William James’ pure experience theory, John Wheeler 's (theoretical physicist) theories, and how they are extremely similar to the core Buddhist teachings of experience. He also relates them to the practice of Shamatha, s…
B. Alan Wallace, 26 May 2010
This afternoon we went directly into meditation with no preamble, and had no outro directly pertaining to the meditation. So you can meditate for 24 minutes on your own and then press play!We briefly come back to Malcom’s question on the Theravada/Mahayana views of Equanimity, clearning up some generalizations that are sometimes made about Buddhism (specifically about karma and equanimity) in the process. We then go to a question from Mervin about “The Attention Revolution” and the ex…
B. Alan Wallace, 26 May 2010
This morning we had a silent meditation followed by a few brief tips. The tips cover a bit of posture, and then Alan talks about how the benefits of the practices can be retained in a non-contemplative lifestyle, linking this to losing as little ground in between sessions by using one of several strategies.Enjoy!(Local photo from Daniela)
B. Alan Wallace, 27 May 2010
Today we went directly into practice, which I removed from the recording to make it easier to listen to. As you know by now, just do your own practice and then press play! Alan suggests that if we are just feeling “ordinary” or with no specific need to balance emotions, then Loving Kindness or Tonglen are always magnificent go-to practices.After the meditation (and where this recording starts), we had an extremely juicy lecture. I usually say “juicy” when Alan gives marvelou…
B. Alan Wallace, 27 May 2010
I extracted this practical gem from this afternoon’s lecture. It is a clear example of how the instructions to a practice can be profoundly meaningful, stunning, transformative, and just utterly inspiring when given correctly by a sharply prepared, more than qualified, and immensely skilled teacher.In this short episode, Alan sublimely describes the practice of Awareness of Awareness in response to a question from Malcolm, specifically focusing on resting in the pure luminosity and cognizance o…
B. Alan Wallace, 27 May 2010
Happy Vesak Day! This morning we conmemorated the celebration of Buddha Śākyamuni’s birth, enlightment, and parinirvana with a guided Shamatha meditation.After the session, Alan talks a little bit about Vesak and concludes by saying that the best way to celebrate the Buddha’s day is to practice all day, so I hope you can all join us around the world!
B. Alan Wallace, 28 May 2010
This afternoon we started with a special guided meditation to commemorate the Buddha’s Enlightenment, not specifically centered on Shamatha or the Four Immeasurables.After the meditation, Alan gave us a short recap on the night/morning of the Buddha Gautama’s enlightemnent, up to the moment when he went back to his five companions and they also achieved Enlightenment. He ends the story on a heartwarming reflection about the day we are commemorating, which set this whole sequence of events flowi…
B. Alan Wallace, 29 May 2010
In this afternoon’s marvelous introduction, Alan talks about The Great Path of the Bodhisattvas, comparing it to a Freeway (using the American term). Using this very accurate analogy he talks about getting on the fast lane, and never getting off (until we reach the common destination). A very inspiring introduction!After a thirty minute silent session, we go into some very interesting Q&A. Among the topics covered we have a quick question about the breath as the body settles during the prac…
B. Alan Wallace, 30 May 2010
In this bonus episode we cover some very interesting cognitive science/brain science questions from Noah.The first question asks if meditation researchers have been able to isolate the EEG correlates of meditative experiences such as staying on the object, excitation, laxity, etc.The second question asks whether it is possible to “augment” Shamatha practice, perhaps speed up the earlier stages, for example, with the use of neurofeedback training.Alan starts by talking about the short/…
B. Alan Wallace, 30 May 2010
A number of the past bonus podcasts had been geared towards the physicists, but this weekend we have some juice for psychologists! In this bonus podcast, we have some extremely interesting points about attention training and the cognitive sciences from a more professional psychology standpoint. However, this is also very relevant for all meditators wishing to gain a better understanding of attention.Adeline asked several questions, mostly pertaining to the “pulse-like” quality of our…
B. Alan Wallace, 31 May 2010
I’ll try not to title all of the Shamatha episodes from today onwards with the phrase “for the last time,” although we have come to the final cycle of the teachings!My descriptions for these morning practices will really not be very verbose since it’s the fourth time (or so) I podcast the full-body awareness practice.So if you are new to the podcast, I really suggest listening to the first practices back from April. The descriptions and the practices themselves are much more throughly…
B. Alan Wallace, 01 Jun 2010
The beginning of this afternoon’s lecture is a stunning, wisdom-packed reflection on the analysis of our own world view. Alan starts by giving an overview of some of the predominant world views, from the individual vantage points of physics, biology, Abrahamic religions (Christianism, Judaism, Islam), and contemplative practices, ultimately culminating in an explanation of the Buddhist view. He gives a brief but very precise reflection on Karma, Theravada, and Mahayana views, and then proposes…
B. Alan Wallace, 01 Jun 2010
This morning, Alan started by reading two short verses from the Dhammapada, (freshly translated by him last night) which are a very strong metaphor with the mind training we are doing here. He then talks about the importance of having a base in relaxation and training the mind from the ground up rather than tensing up and forcing it to quiet down. However, pure relaxaton will not simply cause stability to arise on its own, so Alan explains how a delicate balance is needed between effort and rel…
B. Alan Wallace, 02 Jun 2010
This afternoon we started with a reflection on how many times we see people as just “flat images” or appearances arising to our minds. In the supermarket, subway, etc, we see them as obstacles or merely objects in our way. Today’s intro deals with seeing through those images and realizing that a real person is there, looking back, with their own hopes and fears, joys and sorrows. Alan also emphasizes the importance of starting with ourselves, and describes these Four Immeasurable prac…
B. Alan Wallace, 02 Jun 2010
In today’s mindfulness of breathing practice, Alan started by talking about the causes and solutions for the all too popular phenomenon of the “energy going up to the head,” and proceeded by applying the glass half empty / glass half full example in our practice. He emphasizes taking delight in the periods (as brief as they may be) when we recognize we are no longer distracted and have a little glimpse of being clear in the present. Before jumping into the practice, Alan shares a stor…
B. Alan Wallace, 03 Jun 2010
The introduction to today’s practice was tailored to us here in Phuket in the sense that we are coming out of retreat soon, but it can be applied by everyone. Alan talks about including the people we are going to see soon into our Loving Kindness meditation, and talks about the quite palpable effects that this can have on our relationships with such people in the (near) future. He includes his experience of this when dealing with Indian customs officers in Delhi, and if you feel skeptic about t…
B. Alan Wallace, 03 Jun 2010
If you have been subscribing to the podcast, you are probably very familiar with today’s meditation. We practiced Settling the Mind in its Natural State by first coming in through different domains of experience, following to the instructions that the Buddha gave to the wandering ascetic Bahiya. I have linked to them directly in the past so I won’t do so here, however Alan paraphrases them very clearly in the introduction. Alan also gives a brief recap on a point about non-conceptual experience…
B. Alan Wallace, 04 Jun 2010
This afternoon we went into a very practical and powerful practice on Compassion, focusing on the blatant, glaring, obvious pain that can arise in both the physical and mental domains of experience. Alan starts by giving a brief overview of this blatant suffering, and what can be done to cure it mentally, including praise for the pharmaceutical industry in relieving the symptoms. He then highlights how this blatant suffering is something we have all experienced, and how it really can take poses…
B. Alan Wallace, 04 Jun 2010
This morning we returned to Settling the Mind in its Natural state, this time observing the foreground of events arising within the domain of the mind. Alan quotes two plays from Shakespeare ("The Tempest" and "As You Like It") which relate with uncanny precision to what we have been covering in this retreat. Enjoy the mostly silent practice!Some of you may recognize today’s image as the painting “Miranda,” (by John William Waterhouse in 1916), depicting a scene fr…
B. Alan Wallace, 05 Jun 2010
In this afternoon practice, we focused not so much on the blatant form of suffering as we did yesterday, but on the underlying causes. In the introduction, Alan reflects on how little we really know about suffering in modernity, and how we build our hapiness on very weak foundations of delusion, attachment, and craving. Even if we have good luck and we are hedonically happy, the foundation of that happiness is just a time bomb, and sooner or later it will go off and we will suffer.In this medit…
B. Alan Wallace, 06 Jun 2010
For this short bonus episode, I extracted a question that Elizabeth said was maybe unanswerable, about the very beginning of ignorance and delusion (and samsara for that matter). But we all know by now that Alan always has something up his sleeve.He starts by talking about the problems that can arise when we misniterpret the Buddhist view that “samsara is beginningless”. Infinite past lifes would mean infinite chances to achieve Bodhicitta, to go into meditation retreat for 60 years,…
B. Alan Wallace, 06 Jun 2010
Yes, this is an ambitious title but as always the podcast episode does not fail to deliver the goods. However, I really won’t even try to summarize all of Buddhist Philosophy in two paragraphs. I know I always say that but really, this time there is just no point and not enough space for me to do that. However, I will give you a few things :) The lecture started with what to do when we encounter strong negative emotions, attitudes, and mental states after the retreat, and this was weaved with a…
B. Alan Wallace, 07 Jun 2010
In this morning session, Alan really woke us up (interpret that as you will) by making an addendum to this Sunday’s bonus episode where we had a “speed drive” through different ways of viewing reality from the Buddhist point of view. Alan only had two minutes left for Dzogchen, so this morning he went deeper into an explanation of this culminating Great Perfection. This episode is crucial to understanding the Dzogchen view.Alan first briefly recapitulates on the path to Arhathood from…
B. Alan Wallace, 07 Jun 2010
This practice got separated from the previous episode for continuity purposes. As you might expect, we return for the final time to the practice of Settling the Mind in its Natural State. Spefically, we start by attending to the spaces in between mental events, and after a while we go deeper and without breaking the continuity we observe the space from which mental events arise, in which they are present, and into which they dissolve. Alan briefly reflects on achieving Shamatha by observing the…
B. Alan Wallace, 07 Jun 2010
This afternoon Alan started by pointing out the modern tendency of being very harsh and strict with ourselves, and the need for Compassion. He then proceeds by diving down to the very root of suffering, considering the hypothesis that all mental afflictions stem from the grasping and reification of “self” as separate, autonomous, and self-existant. He aludes to the Vajra essence, showing how the symmetry of the substrate is broken and the sense of “self” coagulates and diffe…
B. Alan Wallace, 07 Jun 2010
This morning, Alan said he would squeeze out every drop of knowledge he had left about this first method of Awareness of Awareness, so if you listen to the previous episodes on this stage of practice you will be extremely well rounded! Alan starts by detailing an all to common problem: thinking that we are doing the practice incorrectly when we are actually doing it correctly, and reacting by tightening up our attention and trying harder, resulting in fatigue. This is followed by explaining how…
B. Alan Wallace, 08 Jun 2010
The story Alan narrates at the very start of this episode comes because there was a dog outside the teaching hall, and as we were coming in for the lecture he would try to get in between our legs, or at least just stick his head in. He clearly looked very determined and excited to learn about Mudita, and it was hard to get Alan inside the teaching hall sans-dog. Moving to the actual lecture, Alan explains today’s practice, in which we cultivate empathetic joy towards others both in terms of hed…
B. Alan Wallace, 08 Jun 2010
As we approach the end of the retreat, the lectures are getting more and more information packed and so are these summaries. I will say as I always do; if you are new to the podcast go back to the first episodes!This morning we started by covering the importance and the difficulty, even for Tibetans now and in the past, of calming the mind through Shamatha practice. Alan speaks about the sad state of the modern view that reduces human beings into biological machines, where the brain does everyt…
B. Alan Wallace, 09 Jun 2010
This morning Alan starts by giving instructions on how to watch the opening game of the World Cup (Mexico-South Africa) on Friday, after being asked for permission to do so. He has a very interesting football-watching technique!On a slightly more profound tone, Alan is asked what to do with the whole topic of devotion when teaching Shamatha in a scientific context. He gives a very good explanation of how Shamatha can be practiced with no religious devition at all, with some devotion, and with i…
B. Alan Wallace, 10 Jun 2010
This afternoon Alan started by sharing a story about his first meditation counsel with Geshe Rabten, and the two topics that he suggested for meditation: Precious Human Rebirth and Equanimity. He emphasizes the importance of Equanimity and seeing through the “I-It” relationship with others (for more on this topic refer to previous episodes), and also highlights the importance of balancing the urgency that can arise from meditating on the precious human rebirth. He suggests not being s…
B. Alan Wallace, 10 Jun 2010
I know, I am quite the dramatic with my titles :)With a bittersweet feeling we have come to the last group practice of Shamatha for this retreat. To end majestically, we practiced the fourth method of Shamatha without a sign as taught by Padmasambhava. Preceding the practice, Alan shared some tips of what we can do to practice and ground ourselves in the midst of a flurry of activity around us. He first returned to his analogy of Schooner (Boat)/ Submarine/Jet Plane in relationship with the Sha…
B. Alan Wallace, 11 Jun 2010
This afternoon may be the last podcast episode of Alan’s lectures for this retreat. He started by returning to the hypothesis of saying that if we align ourselves with reality, reality will rise up to meet us. That is, if we devote ourselves with our heart and might to the path of Dharma (the word Dharma means reality, by the way), with a clear and strong motivation, all that we truly need rises up to meet us in a friendly way. He also talks about really understanding Dharma, and about transmut…
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