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

91 Back to the Beginning!

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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, 22 Sep 2015

Alan starts with a metaphor from the Pali Canon describing how, in the last month of the hot season when the dust is swirling, a great rain cloud comes and settles the dust just as the peaceful and sublime state of Samadhi disperses and quells unwholesome states of mind.

He reminds us that it’s easy to think that when we venture into Vajrayana that we’re at a higher elevation than the teachings in the Pali canon, like the most common teaching on mindfulness of the breath. Dudjom Lingpa in the Sharp Vajra of Conscious Awareness Tantra also reminds us at the very end of the text that whether or not people have identified their primordial nature, whose who become muddled due to excitation and lethargy should mount their discursive mind on their breath … and eventually all coarse and subtle thoughts will be purified. So it’s back to the beginning!

Meditation is silent mindfulness of breath.

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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