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

71 Cultivation of Compassion and the Forthcoming Empowerment

×

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, 10 Sep 2015

This morning Alan provides the context of the empowerment due to be given on Sunday. He emphasises the importance of unveiling compassion, which is the root of all dharma and refers to the current situation in the Middle East. He points out that blatant suffering is reported in the news but the deeper suffering of change is not addressed. He discusses the delusion, and ensuing suffering, that occurs when holding on to a view that one considers supreme. However, by way of an explanation as to why this occurs, he refers to the historic imperialism of Europe as an example. This gave rise to materialistic greed (the basis for the suffering of change) which is in turn now being contested with other supreme views, perpetuating the misery. Alan differentiates between the sutrayana and vajrayana. The vajrayana path has a sense of urgency and, Alan feels, could not be more important right now. The gateway to the vajrayana path is through empowerment by a qualified teacher and lineage holder. Alan then explains the basis for the empowerment to be given on Sunday with the aim of bringing clarity to those who are thinking of, or intending to, take this. He emphasises it should not be taken lightly. It is recommended you listen to this podcast if you wish to take the empowerment. Alan also recommends you read the text by Sera Khandro entitled “Cultivation of Admiration and Reverence for the Guru” which is available on the SBI website (click here to download). Alan’s teaching was this morning’s meditation but he also encouraged us to continue with our own meditation on compassion.

Silent meditation was front-loaded at the end of the session and 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 / 67 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.