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

84 Balancing Sky and Space and Doing Nothing

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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, 17 Sep 2015

Alan returns to the topic of rangjung, or self-emerging realisation. This seems to be a universal phenomenon, with no ownership of a particular religion. Alan points out that Wolff had no context within which to understand his experiences until he came across Dzogchen. He cites also the experiences of Jakob Böhme who was a Lutheran living in 16th and 17th centuries. Böhme continued to maintain his religion following his experiences and framed his understanding of them in the context of this. Alan points out that Khandro-la had no training in her realisations, they spontaneously emerged. These self-emerging experiences occur due to priming from previous lifetimes and karma. Alan explains that the current teachings are a preparation in the same way. That is, they prime those who receive them for such spontaneous experiences. Discovering what the conditions were which gave rise to these self-emerging realisations is very difficult. However, the rich, instructive text we are working through takes us gently through the training. Starting with ethics, it moves to gaining emotional balance through shamatha and cultivating wisdom, or seeing things more clearly, through vipashyana. By following this path we build momentum until we are sufficiently gifted to realise primordial consciousness, which is only the tip of the iceberg. This momentum is carried through to subsequent lifetimes.

The meditation, balancing sky and space, follows.

Then Alan addresses the text (p. 137 - 143). The emphasis in this chapter and these verses is doing nothing and to continue this without distraction in a loose, relaxed manner. Alan particularly draws our attention to the verses by Siddha Orgyen, which are rich in instruction.

Meditation starts at 34:40.

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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