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

37 Cultivation of Great Loving Kindness

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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.

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B. Alan Wallace, 21 Aug 2015

Skillful means divorced from wisdom is bondage and wisdom divorced from skillful means is bondage. Skillful means is the cultivation of relative Bodhicitta. For Bodhicitta to be meaningful it must be rooted in the four greats - loving kindness, compassion, empathetic joy and equanimity. The four greats are rooted in the four immeasurables but surpass them as they contain an intention which is more than an aspiration.

To cultivate loving kindness, contemplate: Why couldn’t all sentient beings be endowed with happiness and the causes of happiness? Since all sentient beings have Buddha nature, they have the potential to be enlightened. Since it is possible, may it be so. I shall do it. May I be blessed by the Guru and the Yidam (the one that most speaks to your heart) to enable me to do so. The meditation starts with this contemplation and then moves on to receiving the five colored lights of all the Buddhas and sending out white light from the white pearl of pristine awareness at your heart.

Aspiring bodhicitta develops into engaged bodhicitta. How would we know if the practice is working? Are we poised to act benevolently? Are we aware of the sentient beings around us in need of help and with no resistance, we offer, what can I do to help?

The meditation starts at 31:29.

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.

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