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

25 Qualities of the Space of the Mind

×

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, 14 Aug 2015

We have been focusing on the mental events that arise in the mind, now is the time to focus on the space of the mind. Take a special interest in the space between mental events. Alan discusses the difference between an affirming negation and a non-affirming negation. He asks us to look at the space of the mind and determine which it is. During the meditation, Alan asks a number of questions about the space of the mind, color, shape, size etc. He asks us not to think about it intellectually but to look directly at our experience of the mind.

Meditation is on Settling the Mind in its Natural State with and emphasis on the space.

After the meditation, Alan says that Dudjom Rinpoche was said to always be resting his awareness in space, even while in the shopping mall. Because appearances seem to be coming from their own side, we reify them. It is easier to see the space in between appearances as coming from the space of the mind, so rest there.

The meditation starts at 21:25

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 / 47 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.