Courses / Fall 2015 Stage of Generation, Shamatha, Vipashyana and Mahamudra /

09 The Awareness of Stillness and Movement

×

Fall 2015 Stage of Generation

B. Alan Wallace
30 Jul 2015 – 24 Sep 2015
Araluen Retreat Center, Queensland, Australia

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.

Subscribe to this course

Subscribe with your favorite podcast app or RSS reader:

RSS

Please support our work

If you appreciate this website please give generously to provide us with the funds to keep it online, to support aspiring yogis, and for the other services provided by the Santa Barbara Institute.

Donate to Santa Barbara Institute Give a gift to Alan Wallace

B. Alan Wallace, 05 Aug 2015

Alan begins with the concept of intuition, a type of knowing which is difficult to define. It is unlike empirical knowledge with is based on observations and inferences from these observations. Alan discusses intuition as it relates to rigpa. Shamatha can train intuition by quietening and clearing the mind allowing intuition to come through.

The meditation is silent on the Mindfulness of Breathing.

Following the meditation Alan elaborates on the cultivation of compassion. An important step is the development of an I-It relationship to thoughts,emotions and images that arise. As Shantideva taught us, we should taunt the emotions and thoughts, dehumanise them and stand tall against them. Compassion arises from the awareness of suffering and sorrow. Is compassion the same as sorrow? Sorrow as an empathetic response is an emotion. However, compassion as an aspiration is not sorrowful. The compassionate aspiration “I shall liberate all sentient beings” has the effect of lifting us out of the veil and gloom of sorrow to the posibility of freedom. This gives great courage and conviction. Getting to the substrate consciousness is the half-way mark, the base camp. The real goal is rigpa from which great compassion arises.

Silent Meditation begins at 22:46 and is not recorded.

Course notes, other episodes and resources for this retreat are available here

The text for this retreat can be purchased via the SBI Store.

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

Download (MP3 / 31 MB)

Transcript

This lecture does not have a text transcript. Please contact us if you’d like to volunteer to assist our transcription team.

Discussion

Ask questions about this lecture on the Buddhism Stack Exchange or the Students of Alan Wallace Facebook Group. Please include this lecture’s URL when you post.