Fall 2012 Shamatha, Vipashyana and the Four Applications of Mindfulness

Alan welcomes the participants and explains some of the groundrules for the 8-week retreat.
Teaching: Alan begins by presenting the framework for his cycle of teachings on shamatha, vipasyana, mind-training, dream yoga, and dzogchen.
During this retreat, the instructions in the morning will focus shamatha and those in the afternoon on the 4 applications of mindfulness. Even if one has not yet realized shamatha, vipasyana practice will support shamatha and vice versa.
Practice by being sweet and gentle to yourself. Most problems in meditation come from pushing too hard or too much ego.
Note: Several sections concerning logistical issues have been removed from the recording.

It’s important to settle the motivation for the day. In Mahayana teachings the motivation is the base of bodhicitta. It’s important to have cognitive balance, which brings intelligence to our desires and aspirations.
Relaxation, stability and clarity are crucial for meditation. First melt away the body and then allow the breath to flow naturally. Trust in the healing capacity of our own body. If you get tired when meditating, focus on relaxation without loosing stability.
Meditation starts at 14:55

Meditation: Settling body, speech, and mind in the natural state; Bare attention; Application of mindfulness on the body
Teaching: Alan begins by distinguishing between mindfulness, bare attention, vipassana, choiceless awareness, open presence, and dzogchen.
As an entry point to vipasyana, it necessary to undo the conflation between that which is being presented and our superimposition of labels, memories, like/dislike, etc… Vipasyana is an expedition which attends to and engages with all appearances of reality without falling into old ruts. Someone suitable for the expedition possesses 3 qualities: 1) being perceptive, 2) being open-minded, and 3) putting teachings into practice.
In the Sattipathana sutta, the Buddha calls the 4 applications of mindfulness the „direct path“ to the „realization of nirvana“.
Samadhi is prerequisite for the wisdom teachings to penetrate, purify, transform, and liberate the mind. The foundation of samadhi is sila (ethics).

Meditation starts at 00:00

Meditation: focus attention on the in and out breath at the belly. With the in breath, arouse your attention. With the out breath, release any thoughts and relax.
In order to maintain attention, it is important to develop relaxation first. Otherwise, we get tired easily.
Normally, our default mode is rumination, where we become susceptible to mental afflictions. We need to develop a new default mode: continuity of attention, continuity of non-conceptual knowing. When your breath is long, notice you are breathing long, when your breath is short, notice that you are breathing short. Sustain the clarity of awareness. With this exercise, we open the doors to intuition.

Meditation starts at 6:40

Meditation: mindfulness of the body. For each of the following senses—1) visual, 2) auditory, 3) tactile—engage in the following steps 1) direct mindfulness to the sense objects, 2) observe to see if they are unchanging, 3) direct mindfulness to space of sense field, 4) observe to see if it is unchanging.
Teaching: Mindfulness of the body includes your own body, others’ bodies, all objects of the 5 senses. Alan recounts the story of the Buddha’s teaching to Bahiya, „In the seen, let there be just the seen…“ as a teaching on vipasyana where there is no atman here (in the self), there (in phenomena), nor in between. Bahiya realized arhatship as someone with sharp faculties.
Sentient beings suffer due to the misapprehension of reality as characterized by the 3 marks of existence—1) impermanence, 2) suffering, and 3) non-self—and the 4 ends of impermanence—1) whatever is born, perishes, 2) whenever there is meeting, separation, 3) whatever is acquired, lost, and 4) whatever goes up, comes down. Mindfulness means more than just bare attention, as we need to bear in mind the insight of how phenomena really exist when engaging with reality. Only this will lead to (irreversible) transformation.
Q1. What’s the difference between emptiness and dzogchen? Why go further when one has already realized emptiness?

Q2. In mindfulness of breathing, to exhale until there is nothing left, do we exhale naturally (there appears some air still there) or do we expel the air?

Meditation starts at 5:30 (meditation was cut short because of some technical problems. Sorry!)

Meditation: mindfulness of breathing at the abdomen using counting of breaths as a support. Counting does break the flow of mindfulness, so use it only if it helps stem rumination. Keep the counting staccato and as before, use introspection to detect any laxity or excitation.

Meditation starts at 2:36

Teaching: Alan begins by framing the quest as the pursuit of inner knowledge, contrasting the centrality of subjective experience and mind in buddhism with the emphasis on understanding reality from the outside and materialism in science.
In science, conceptual understanding and reason are considered the highest goal. In buddhism, concepts are used as a means to arrive at non-conceptual experience/realization. Both the body and the environmental are composed of the 4 elements.
Meditation: mindfulness of the body with immediate experience of the 5 elements: 1) earth, 2) water, 3) fire, 4) air, and 5) space. For each of the elements, 1) observe nakedly, 2) can you observe anything stable or static?, and 3) can you directly perceive the space of the body?
Q1-2. Can we guide ourselves using internal dialog or verbal prompts during our meditation, or is this distracting?

Q3. Can we adjust for any physical discomfort during meditation? 

Q4. I’ve experienced the greatest stability in my meditations when the breath is short and shallow. Is this OK?

Meditation starts at 25:25

Meditation: mindfulness of breathing at the nostril. Focus mental awareness on breath coming in and out at the nostril or upper lip, wherever you feel the sensation most clearly. Engage with the full course of in and out breath, arousing attention at in breath and releasing thoughts and relaxing at out breath. Experiment with staccato counting to counter rumination.

This practice enhances vividness, but does so without sacrificing stability and relaxation. 

Be relentless about breaking up rumination by resting engaged!
Meditation starts at 1:40

Meditation: body scan. Single-pointedly focus on sensations (both outer and inner) at one target area, scanning the body from top to bottom as instructed in the guided meditation.
Teaching: Alan introduces some Sautrāntika philosophy—view of reality—to help us observe closely. There are 1) things that exist and 2) things that don’t exist. Among things that exist, there are 1a) real and 1b) unreal. Real phenomena constitute anything that can be perceived directly or with the help of instruments. Unreal phenomena exist only because we say so—i.e., conceptual designations. 

This framework helps us in the practice of the 4 applications of mindfulness to distinguish through careful observation between 1) what’s being presented and 2) what’s being superimposed.
Q1. In the practice of the 5 elements, each element appears to be in flux, so does each element contain air element?

Q2. Is the experience of prana (lelung) upon achieving shamatha the same as kundalini?

Q3. Can walking meditation be integrated into shamatha practice? 

Q4. How to refresh and renew interest in the breath without tension? 

Q5. Do the 3 shamatha practices present a gradual progression from gross to subtle? And if so, does this mean that we have to master all 3 practices to achieve shamatha?
Meditation starts at 10:50

Meditation: mindfulness of breathing at the nostril. Same instructions as before. Use introspection to attend to the flow of mindfulness. If there’s excitation, relax, release, and return. If there’s laxity or dullness, refresh, refocus, and retain.
In between sessions, let your default mode be perception of real phenomena as defined in the Sautantrika and release rumination. Also, check to see that your respiration is flowing naturally.

Meditation starts at 9:30

Teaching pt1: Alan begins the session by introducing the buddhist theory of causality. Here, one distinguishes between substantial causes and cooperative conditions in how effects are created. We can contemplate the factors of origination and dissolution in reference to the 18 dhatus—i.e., 6 sensory fields, 6 modes of consciousnesses, and 6 faculties.
Meditation: mindfulness of the body focusing on the 2nd mark of existence dukkha. Closely apply mindfulness to see if sensations of pleasure/pain or comfort/discomfort are coming from the object. Have awareness illuminate all 5 sense domains and ask: 1) is there anything unchanging/static?, 2) is anything a true source of pleasure/displeasure?, and 3) is there any overlap between the sense domains?
Teaching pt2: Alan returns to the 1st and 2nd marks of existence with the idea that when they saturate our mind, there’s a profound shift in our world view. The 1st mark of existence: unconditioned phenomena are impermanent. The 2nd mark of existence: any experience contaminated by disturbing emotions is unsatisfying.
Q1. What is the difference between conceptual and non-conceptual (experience)?

Meditation starts at 35:07

Teaching: Alan gives a brief teaching on Dromtönpa’s quote „Give up all attachment to this life, and let your mind become dharma.“ In shamatha practice, releasing excitation corresponds to giving up attachment, and resting in awareness, 5 antidotes naturally arise to counter the 5 obscurations to the substrate and rigpa: 1) sukkha vs. malice/ill-will, 2) single-pointed attention vs. desire/attachment/fixation, 3) coarse investigation vs. laxity/dullness, 4) bliss vs. excitation/anxiety, and 5) precise analysis vs. afflictive uncertainty.
Meditation: mindfulness of breathing method of your choice. If there is tension, you may want to practice full-body awareness. If there is rumination, you may want to practice mindfulness of breathing at the abdomen. If the mind is loose and calm, you may want to practice mindfulness of breathing at the nostrils. For any of the practices, use staccato counting if helpful. As always, monitor the flow of mindfulness with introspection and apply antidotes to laxity and excitation.

Meditation starts at 12:53

Teaching: Alan begins the session by presenting the 2nd and 3rd marks of existence. In the 2nd mark of existence, dukkha can be understood to mean the unsatisfactory nature of looking at any experience and thinking, „This will make me happy.“ The 3rd mark of existence: all phenomena are empty and non-self. This means that „me“ and „mine“ are conceptual designations empty of intrinsic entity (=self).
Meditation: mindfulness of the body focusing on the 3rd mark of existence emptiness and non-self. Use discerning mindfulness on each of the following sense domains in turn: 1) visual, 2) auditory, 3) tactile, and 4) all 5 senses. Ask: 1) is any appearance „yours“ or „you“?, and 2) do you have any control over appearances arising?
Q1. When I focus on the breath, it gets tight and uneasy. Why and what can I do about it? 

Q2. Within the course of a single session, is it possible to shift from mindfulness of breathing at the abdomen to the nostrils, or vice versa?

Q3. It’s difficult for me to feel sensations of the breath at the upper lip, so I force a stronger breath to make it perceptible. Once I lay off, it becomes imperceptible again. What should I do?

Q4. Is there a gradient of conceptualization? (cont. from 120830)

Q5. How many people have attained shamatha in this century? 

Q6. How long does it take for people of varying faculties to attain shamatha?

Q7. What makes thoughts and images in the mind appear seemingly out of nowhere?

Q8. During meditation, random and sometimes disturbing thoughts arise. Where do they come from?

Meditation starts at 21:00

Alan gives a brief introduction to the 4 immeasurables. Whereas shamatha and vipassana attend to reality that is already manifest, the 4 immeasurables concern the realm of possibility and aspiration.
Meditation: loving-kindness. Begin with the aspiration for yourself by asking, “What would make you truly happy?” Visualize your own awareness as a white orb at your heart chakra, and with every out breath, light fills your entire with the aspiration “May I find happiness and the causes of happiness.” Light flows outwards and repeat visualization, attending to 1) a loved one, 2) another person, and 3) all sentient beings.

Meditation starts at 4:02

Teaching pt1: Alan reviews the view of reality according to the 3 turnings of the wheel of the dharma. In the 1st turning, in response to the question as posed by the Sautantrika of “What is real?”, we see things as simply or mere phenomena. Seeing means knowing what we’re seeing is mere or simply phenomena which means in accordance with the 3 marks of existence, free from our conceptual projections con-fused with reality. In the 2nd turning, we use our intelligence to uncover the ultimate nature of phenomena which still appear deceptively. In the 3rd turning, rigpa recognizes rigpa. For each of the 4 applications of mindfulness, the Buddha mentions in the Sattipathana sutta to attend 1) internally, 2) externally, and 3) both internally and externally. This allows us to shine the light of awareness and mindfulness on domains of our own experience.
Meditation: mindfulness of the body. Letting awareness be still, attend to 1) perceptions of all 5 senses and 2) your body. Ask: 1) is any appearance „you“ or „yours“?, 2) do appearances have a core or do they manifest simply from the alaya?, and 3) is form emptiness, and emptiness form?
Teaching pt2: Alan explains that it is possible for people of sharp faculties to realize rigpa by receiving dzogchen teachings without any prior realizations. However, for others, realization of emptiness is a necessary prerequisite to practice dzogchen and stage of generation. Otherwise, we’re not doing the practice properly and not getting the benefit. Likewise, it’s possible for people of sharp faculties to realize emptiness without achieving shamatha. For most of us, a step-wise approach is most beneficial and allows us to assess whether the practice is striking the target and yielding benefit.
Q1. We are practicing shamatha, but is it possible to directly go into the practice of the 4 applications of mindfulness? 

Q2. In the practice of mindfulness of the body, I notice that visual forms do not appear to be in flux. Is this correct?

Meditation starts at 34:30

Teaching: A new cycle begins this week on mindfulness of feelings. When feelings arise, there is a strong tendency for us to grasp onto them as I or mine. Therefore, we need to learn how to release grasping and identification with feelings and remain simply present with them.
As for release, Alan emphasizes the importance of learning how to breathe properly. Without proper breathing, it’s difficult for our meditation to progress, since the prana system is central to body/mind. Proper breathing is a skill we need to learn and master. Alan suggests that we first master breathing in the supine position before moving to the sitting position.
Meditation: mindfulness of breathing method of your choice. Balance vigilance with relaxation. Let the body breathe naturally. Don’t manipulate the breath by expelling out or pulling in. Get out of the way by releasing all control of and any preferences with regard to the breath. With every out breath, release (bodily tension and rumination) more deeply. The out breath provides the best opportunity to relax and relinquish all effort.

Meditation starts at 7:02

Teaching pt1: Alan introduces the new cycle with the 2nd application of mindfulness on feelings. Feelings (Skt. vedana) refer to 1) like/pleasant, 2) dislike/unpleasant, or 3) neutral. Although feelings could be considered part of the mind, feelings get their own application and their own skandha due to their primacy. Feelings arise in reaction to 1) too much, 2) too little, or 3) wrong kind of the 4 elements. 

The hedonic response to feelings is to want pleasant feelings to stay and unpleasant feelings to go away. In this practice, we are learning to look at pleasure and pain with interest and recognition—i.e., without moving towards or backing away. Feeling arise in space, and awareness is like space.
Meditation: mindfulness of feelings. Let awareness permeate the field of the body and maintain an ongoing flow of mindfulness of sensations associated with the breath. Take special interest in feelings associated with those tactile sensations of the 4 elements. Examine whether pleasant/unpleasant is intrinsic to the experience or whether it is our mode of experiencing. Is feeling static or arising moment-by-moment? Does observing feelings change them in any way?
Q1. What is the difference between non-grasping and ignoring? 

Q2. Is thinking, “This might be cancer,” grasping? 

Q3. Does vipasyana require grasping at an object? 

Q4. In loving-kindness practice, is it better to attend to one person at a time? 

Q5. When doing the body scan, I experience the body as being hollow like space, and yet, we know the body is solid. 

Q6. When practicing mindfulness of breathing in the supine position, I’ve had the following experience which has been replicated. In the beginning, with full-body awareness, there is a lot of rumination, and as it dies down, I progress to mindfulness of breathing at the abdomen, and as it dies down further, mindfulness of breathing at the nostrils. At the 20-30 minute mark, there is an abrupt shift in the breath whereby the body has fallen asleep but awareness is on. There is clear awareness of prana (although not bliss). Is this practice on track?

Meditation Starts at 24:30

Alan uses rats as an analogy for thoughts. When a cat (mindfulness) is present, rats (thoughts) stay away. During the bubonic plague, rats (thoughts) carried fleas (disturbing emotions) which carried the bacterial infection (e.g., depression or anxiety). Therefore, we need to treat rumination as public enemy #1. According to Tsongkhapa, we must complete eliminate rumination in order to achieve shamatha.
Meditation: mindfulness of breathing method of your choice. For each breath cycle, arouse attention at in breath to counter laxity, and relax at out breath to counter excitation. In this way, refine your attention and dispel rumination. Breathe effortlesly as in deep sleep.

Meditation starts: 9:27

Teaching: This practice of mindfulness on feelings using the space of the body is a nice prelude the settling the mind where we attend to the space of the mind. As in the latter, we need to distinguish between stillness and movement—i.e., the stillness of awareness and the movement of sensations or thoughts. Loose, present, and luminous, awareness can remain still if there is no grasping or preference. If we can release desire and aversion, appearances are just appearances.
Meditation: mindfulness of feelings. Let awareness clearly illuminate the space of the body, in particular the tactile sensations associated with the 4 elements. Closely apply mindfulness to the affective ways you experience those tactile sensations—i.e., 1) pleasant, 2) unpleasant, or 3) neutral. Examine whether pleasant/unpleasant is intrinsic to the experience or whether it is our mode of experiencing. Is feeling static and unchanging? Is the magnitude of feeling instrinsic to the feeling itself? Exercise: Visualize the part of the body associated with pain and lay on the rumination about the pain.
Q1. In this practice, most feelings appear to be neutral. Is this correct, or do we need to dig deeper? 

Q2. In my meditation, I apply antidotes to sleepiness, but they don’t work, and I struggle. How should I deal with such situations? 

Q3. I’ve always found working with pain difficult, but in this practice, I could not actually pinpoint the pain (though still present), so I concluded it must be in the mind. 

Q4. In this practice, I try to locate the pain by going in closer and closer, but I can’t really find it, and it appears to pulsate and travel. Why can’t pain be an object of meditation?

Meditation starts 14:16

Meditation: transition from mindfulness of breathing with full body awareness to settling the mind. 

1) mindfulness of breathing with full body awareness: Feel the beginning of the in breath at the lower abdomen and let it flow from the bottom up. Let awareness illuminate the space of the whole body. Maintain non-conceptual flow of mindfulness of non-conceptual sensations associated with the in and out breaths, monitoring that mindfulness with introspection.

2) settling the mind: Eyes at least partially open, with absent gaze. As an anchor, maintain a general awareness of the breath. As the main practice, direct interest and awareness to the space of the mind and the thoughts and images arising therein. Simply observe the nature of thoughts and not their content. Don’t modify or grasp. Your awareness should be still while thoughts are in motion. 

There should be a deep sense of relaxation in both the body and awareness. Breathe through either the nostrils or the mouth as desired.

Meditation starts: 00:00

Note: This recording is of minor quality since we had to recover it from another device. Thank you for understanding.

Teaching: This practice shines a bright light on feelings by attending to feelings internally (our own), externally (someone else’s), and both internally and externally (in ourself and others in interaction). Alan introduces an alternative translation for a key line in the Sattipathana sutta. Instead of the common translation “One views the body in the body,” Alan proposes the following based on the Tibetan “One views the body as the body. One views feelings as feelings. One views the mind as the mind.” 

Mental consciousness is unique because in addition to its own domain, it can also piggyback on each of the 5 sense consciousnesses. We must learn that mental feelings are not enslaved by physical sensations. During the practice, we should know that we know feelings as feelings until the insight shifts our view of reality.
Meditation: mindfulness of feelings. Let the light of awareness permeate the body. Keeping in touch with the breath as baseline, closely apply mindfulness to the feelings associated with tactile sensations. Introspection monitors the flow of mindfulness, posture, and flow of the breath. 1) Observe feelings as feelings. 2) Focus on the origination and dissolution. 3) Observe the 3 marks of existence. Settle back into mindfulness of breathing as needed.
Q1-2. Are there two kinds of direct realization of emptiness: 1) the direct realization of emptiness through the 4 applications of mindfulness and 2) the wisdom teachings on the Middle Way by Nagarjuna? 

Q3. According to the Sautantrika view, we can see glasses directly, so they are real. Their ownership is a social convention, so it is unreal. According to social science, items have their own history (e.g., people made the glasses), and things also have a relational aspect. What does the Sautantrika view say about this? 

Q4. Is it possible to have non-conceptual loving-kindness without the verse, “May you find happiness and its causes”? I don’t have words for that feeling, and I find that words can get in the way. Do we need the words or even the term itself?

Q5. When meditating on the domain of the mind, how can we be certain that we focusing on the right place, especially when there is no mental object? 

Q6. A lucid dream is happening in the substrate just as settling the mind leads us to the substrate. If we change something consciously during the practice, are we lost? How can we maintain clarity?

Meditation starts: 19:05

Settling the mind in its natural state is the shamatha practice corresponding the applications of mindfulness on feelings and the mind. This practice itself lies on the cusp between shamatha and vipasyana, but it’s presented within the mahamudra and dzogchen traditions as a shamatha practice for dissolving the coarse mind into the substrate. Awareness of thoughts and emotions frees us from being trapped by our minds and facilitates wiser choices in our behavior. A Tibetan saying goes like this, “When you’re with others, watch your mouth. When you’re alone, watch your mind.”
Meditation: settling the mind. Eyes at least partially open, with gaze resting vacantly. Turn the full force of your interest and mindfulness to the mental domain and the thoughts, images, and emotions arising therein. If you’re new to this practice or when you’re feeling spaced out or disoriented, give yourself a distinct mental target such as the sentence, “This is the mind,” focus single-pointedly on that thought, allow the thought to fade, keep your attention right there, and see if you can observe the next thought or image arising in that space. Simply observe mental events as mental events, without distraction and without grasping. Now, also observe the nature of feelings triggered by those mental events. As before, sustain flow of mindfulness with the support introspection and remedies as needed.

Meditation starts at: 5:00

Alan elaborates on settling the mind in its natural state. While developing the 3 qualities of shamatha, we are observing external appearances and the (relative) dharmadhatu dissolve into the substrate and our mind (subjective mental events) dissolve into substrate consciousness from the perspective of the substrate or our best approximation thereof. The substrate is the repository of our karma and travels from lifetime to lifetime. Shamatha is sufficient to give us access to the substrate.
Meditation: mindfulness of feelings. Let your eyes be open, and rest your gaze vacantly in the space before you. Single-pointedly direct your mindfulness to the space of the mind, resting awareness without distraction and without grasping. If necessary, identify the space of the mind by giving yourself a target—e.g., a discursive thought or a mental image. Introspection checks for rumination, but rather than banishing thoughts, release grasping at the referent. Also, be aware of feelings, including neutral (e.g., feeling calm). Experiment by generating a pleasant feeling with a thought or an image. Is it static or changing?
Q1. You’ve discussed the relationship between quantum physics and the number zero. Is there a relationship between the number zero and emptiness? 

Q2. Are buddhist philosophers like Nagarjuna akin to quantum physicists of the mind? How does the Dalai Lama debate with quantum physicists? Are there any areas of agreement?

Q3. Is observing sensations at the chest/heart a supplementary shamatha practice? It appears to calm the system just like watching the breath.

Q4. While I can understand teachings cognitively, I don’t appear to be able to translate this understanding into realization because the ego is too strong.

Q5. Is music running through my mind rumination? 

Q6. In settling the mind, nothing happens there, so what should I do?

Meditation starts at: 21:09

Just as in physics where matter in the universe may be considered crystallization of the energy in space, tactile sensations may be the congealing of energies in the space of the body and mental events may be crystallizations of energies in the space of the mind. It’s important to know stillness and movement in field of perception as well as stillness and movement of your own awareness. Examine whether feelings of pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral are absolutely or relatively so.
Meditation: transition from full body awareness to settling the mind. 

1) full body awareness. Focus on the tactile sensations arising in the body. Identify your affective baseline (neutral) and note any fluctuations of pleasant or unpleasant. Simply observe both tactile sensations and feelings moment by moment without distraction or grasping. 

2) settling the mind. Let your eyes be open, with gaze resting vacantly. Turn the full force of your mindfulness to the space of the mind (thoughts and images) and the subjective experiences. As before, identify your affective baseline (neutral) and note any fluctuations of pleasant or unpleasant. With introspection, ensure that breathing continues to be effortless. Recognize when awareness is still and when awareness is carried away.

Meditation starts at: 11:40

Shamatha should serve as a baseline or a base camp. However, people have different affinities for the various shamatha practices. Focus on the space of the mind as backdrop and note the thoughts, images, and feelings which flare up. What are the feelings triggered by? Paul Ekman speaks of emotions, moods, and temperaments. Alan asks us to explore grasping as a possible cause for moods.
Meditation: choice of mindfulness of breathing or settling the mind. If your mind wanders, stabilize by counting breaths. Apply mindfulness to feelings that arise.
Q1. Introspective silence has led to social anxiety and awkwardness when dealing with others.

Q2. Settling the mind is easy to practice during sessions, but how to embody the practice—e.g., in social interactions with others?

Q3. The Prasangika Madhyamaka rejects the alaya vijnana as posited in the Cittamatra. Is this the alaya vijnana you’ve been talking about?

Q4. In settling the mind, I notice many thoughts driven by grasping. Why can I do about them?

Q5. You’ve quoted a stanza on habituation from the 6th chapter of Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. For our practices, how can we keep a fresh beginner’s mind rather than having them become routine?

Meditation starts at: 11:10

Alan presents tips on dealing with subtlety in the shamatha practices.

1) mindfulness of breathing. The breath becomes increasingly subtle, and treat this an invitation to increase calm and clarity. Do not change the place you are attending to the breath. Rather, choose a baseline such as the nerve endings at the nostrils, and continue attending to the baseline and any fluctuations throughout the whole body of the breath.

2) settling the mind. When the space of the mind appears quiet, something is still there. It is just more subtle than your awareness. Again, choose a baseline such as the space of the mind, and attend to both the baseline and any fluctuations from there.
The second of the 4 immeasurables, compassion is also an aspiration, not an emotion.
Meditation: compassion. Visualize a white incandescent orb of light at your heart chakra filling the body with light. With each in breath, arouse the aspiration, “May I be free of all hedonic suffering—i.e., unpleasant.” Visualize all suffering as darkness which converges at and dissolves into the orb. “May I be free of all (internally generated) suffering and their causes—i.e., disturbing emotions.” Visualize all suffering as darkness which converges at and dissolves into the orb. Imagine that you are free from all that obscures pristine awareness. Repeat the sequence with another individual (or group) of your choice or who comes to mind.

Meditation starts at 4:10

As the 4 applications of mindfulness bring us knowledge of our experience, the 4 immeasurables bring balance in our emotions. If feeling down, practice loving-kindness and not its near enemy attachment. If feeling disengaged, practice compassion which is an antidote to the near enemy cold indifference. Worldly life is characterized by restlessness and anxiety, and for genuine happiness and the achievement of shamatha, we need to gradually wean ourselves from the props of hedonic pleasures.
Meditation: silent meditation of your choice.
Q1. Could you please explain the terms substrate and substrate consciousness? Is the substrate consciousness something we can tap into now? Are their equivalent terms in the Gelug and Kagyu traditions?

Q2. Do we also experience the substrate if we fall asleep lucidly?

Q3. Does the tactile consciousness illuminate the body or does the mental consciousness? How does consciousness illuminate?

Q4. What is the object of substrate consciousness? Most of the descriptions I’ve read have focused on what the substrate is not.

Meditation starts at 12:17

Some take to settling the mind easily, and others have a harder time. For the latter, start by focusing on mental images (without the soundtrack) which everyone can do, then the soundtrack alone, and mental images with the soundtrack. Among the 4 types of mindfulness, the first is called single-pointed mindfulness which means being simultaneously aware of the stillness of your own awareness and the movement of thoughts. Such mindfulness is accessed through deep relaxation.

In post-meditation, maintain a peripheral awareness of the breath or the space of the mind in order to cast a shield against rumination.
Meditation: The Buddha’s instructions to Bahiya, including the mentally perceived. 

1) “In the seen, let there be just the seen.” Let your eyes be open. Direct mindfulness to the visual field without any add-ons.

2) “In the heard, let there be just the heard.” Close your eyes. Direct mindfulness to the auditory field.

3) “In the felt, let there be just the felt.” Keeping your eyes closed, direct mindfulness to the space of the body and the tactile events arising therein, including sensations of the 4 elemensts and somatic feelings.

4) “In the mentally perceived, let there be just the mentally perceived.” Let your eyes be open. Through the process of elimination, what do you perceive not by way of the 5 senses? Let your body be like a mountain, and let you mind be like space. Deliberately generate a thought or an image, if needed.

Meditation starts at 5:50

This week, Alan embarks on the 3rd application of mindfulness to the mind. As a prerequisite for this practice, you must be able to distinguish between stillness and motion and maintain single-pointed mindfulness as cultivated in the shamatha practice of settling the mind. As a vipasyana practice, we observe from luminosity and cognizance origination and dissolution of a whole range of emotions and states of consciousness. An emotion like anger exists at the conscious, unconscious, and seed state.
Meditation: mindfulness of the mind. Let you eyes be at least partially open, gaze vacant. Direct your attention to the domain not covered by the 5 senses. Ensure core sense of relaxation in both body and awareness. Distinguish stillness in awareness. Ask and observe closely 1) is there anything static or unchanging?, 2) how do mental events arise, how are they present, and how do they vanish? Apply introspection to the quality of mindfulness and apply remedies as needed.
Q1. In my practice, I’ve experienced sense of oneness of everything, greatest joy not dependent on stimuli, etc… This carries over into post-meditation. Is there a name for this space?

Q2. In settling the mind, I get stuck in a spiral of thoughts and wind up with a headache. I’m also confused about which is the mind. Is it the mental event, that which recognized the mental event, or that which recognized the recognition, etc…?

Q3. Does the mind always need an object, or can it be completely blank?

Q4. You mentioned that upon achieving shamatha, the pranas converge at the heart chakra. In Hindu yoga, the 3rd eye chakra is correlated with states of absorption. What does Buddhism have to say about the 3rd eye chakra? 

Q5. In settling the mind, is the awareness you’re using also part of the mind? If substrate consciousness dissolves into the substrate, does the substrate also have nature of consciousness?

Q6. In settling the mind, I’m observing events but not knowing them. The knowing comes eventually. Is it possible to be aware of implicit knowing?

Meditation starts at 24:30

For those having difficulties settling the mind, Alan proposes mindfulness of breathing as a useful prelude. Use each breath—and in particular, the out breath, especially the end of the out breath—to release any residual tension and relax the body totally. Make use of every out breath to relax more deeply and release any rumination. Core relaxation is a prerequisite to settling the mind. When practicing settling the mind, maintain peripheral awareness of the breath.
Meditation: settling the mind with mindfulness of breathing as a prelude. 

1) mindfulness of breathing. Practice the mindfulness of breathing technique of your choice. If you detect any rumination, relax, release, and return.

2) settling the mind. Let eyes be open, gaze vacant. Direct attention to the space of the mind and its contents. Maintain peripheral awareness of the breath. Apply introspection to the quality of mindfulness and apply remedies as needed.

Meditation starts at 3:03

Teaching: Alan discusses causality and the relationship between cause and effect within the context of mindfulness of the mind. According to the Sautantrika, both cause and effect are considered real. According to William James, the relationship (relata) is also considered real. In order to perceive any causal relationship, you need to observe phenomena with a wide angle over time and connect the dots. 

When experiencing pleasure, enquire whether it is stimulus driven or not. Genuine happiness (sukkha) arises from the substrate when unimpeded. There are five obscurations which obscure the natural qualities of the substrate: 1) sensual craving, 2) ill will, 3) laxity/dullness, excitation/anxiety, 5) debilitating doubt. 

Unlike the 5 senses, there is no physical faculty corresponding to mental consciousness. In other words, mental consciousness arises from mental consciousness. All appearances arise from and manifest within the space of the mind (alaya).
Meditation: mindfulness of the mind. Direct mindfulness to the space of the mind and the objective appearances and subjective responses therein. Identify whether pleasure or displeasure is stimulus driven. Observe closely and recognize coherent patterns. Distinguish between thoughts and emotions you generated versus those that arose spontaneously. Identify cooperative conditions and substantial cause for the discursive thought or mental image. If caught up in rumination, return to the shamatha practice of settling the mind.
Q1. Please comment on the substrate, substrate consciousness, lucid dreaming, and the death process.

Meditation starts at 46:07

Alan reminds us that closely holding the mind causes suffering. There are two methods which free us from this suffering 1) relative bodhicitta where we identify with all sentient beings and 2) absolute bodhicitta where we completely retract all the tentacles by withdrawing into the substrate and then rigpa. In this practice, we train in viewing mental events from the non-grasping, non-reactive perspective of substrate consciousness.
Meditation: settling the mind with full body awareness as a prelude. Enter this and all meditation sessions in the spirit of loving-kindness for yourself and others.

1) full body awareness. With your eyes closed, contain awareness within the space of the body, observing sensations without distraction or grasping.

2) settling the mind. Let eyes be open, gaze vacant. Direct attention to the space of the mind and its contents. Rest awareness in stillness while observing movements of the mind.

In between sessions, allow thoughts to arise but maintain lucidity throughout the day.

Meditation starts at 6:00

In these practices focusing on the mind, it is useful to stabilise them with a reference point: 1) awareness resting in its own place as a subjective reference point or 2) space of the mind as an objective reference point. These practices counter the common belief that we think thoughts rather than thoughts just happen.
Meditation: mindfulness of the mind. Release into the body, and release the body. Release into the breath, and release the breath. Release into the mind, and release the mind. As Shantideva said, “Release everything in an instant. That is nirvana.” 1) Release appearances, and let your awareness fold back onto itself, hold its own ground, rest in its own space. 2) With your eyes open, let the light of awareness illuminate the space of the mind. 3) Illuminate the entire system of your awareness and the space of the mind. Know when and where javana emerge, remain, and dissolve.
Q1. In settling the mind, when I realise that I’m viewing the referent rather than the thought, I intervene with statements which redirect me to the thought. I find it helpful, but is this appropriate? 

Q2. In settling the mind, why do we practice with out eyes open?

Q3. Is the space of the mind a vacuity in our heads or in our head/body?

Q4. Within the 5 obscurations, you mentioned excitation/anxiety. I feel anxiety when lucid in a dream, so are the remedies the same? 

Q5. I’m not sure about the experiential difference between awareness of awareness viewing the space of the mind and just space of the mind. I find it much easier to engage with the space of the mind coming from awareness of awareness than mindfulness of breathing.

Q6. You mentioned the 5 elements and assigned elements to each of the shamatha practices. Should we take these into account when balancing the 5 elements in our daily lives and our practice? 

Q7. In nature of mind practice, how do we remedy laxity and excitation?

Meditation starts at 17:05

Alan comments that mindfulness of breathing and settling the mind are highly complementary. Mindfulness of breathing allows the prana system to settle and converge at the heart chakra which in turn allows the mind to settle. Settling the mind allows breath and prana to settle. In mindfulness of breathing, the breath can serve as the baseline. In settling the mind, the space of the mind can serve as the baseline.

In order for a shamatha retreat to bear fruit, it is also important to have as few activities as possible—i.e., dealing with people who are engaged with samsara. They will pull us out of shamatha, and we will be subject to the same samsaric oscillations. We need to be protected like a little baby in an incubator.
Meditation: settling the mind. Let eyes be open, gaze vacant. Direct mindfulness to the space of the mind and whatever arises therein. If needed, maintain peripheral awareness of the breath. Relax deeply and fully, breathing effortlessly. Take special interest in the intervals between thoughts when the space of the mind is most evident, and observe closely. 

Throughout the day, allow the breath to flow naturally and mind to settle in its natural state.

Meditation starts at 7:20

Alan recounts the story of how Shariputra and Maudgalyayana first encountered the teachings of the Buddha. “Those phenomena that are causally created, the Tathagatha has shown their causes and he has also shown their cessation. Thus, the teaching of the Great Sage.”
Normally, we identify strongly with subjective impulses and objective appearances, but when we observe them, we see that they are just phenomena arising from and dissolving into the mind. This first-hand experience into the conventional nature of mind preps us for the dissolution of the coarse mind into substrate consciousness and for the ascertainment of the ultimate nature of mind.
Meditation: mindfulness of the mind via awareness of awareness. Let your eyes be open and rest gaze in the space before you without focusing on anything. Just be present, and sustain the flow of mindfulness in the present. Absent of grasping, there is a quality of knowing. Rest in that awareness. Note mental events emerging from the flow of awareness and watch where they dissolve into. Let the light of awareness illuminate single-pointedly the space of the mind and whatever arises therein. Observe the emergence of thoughts and images and their cessation.
Q1. In the explanation of the illusionist, whose alaya does the illusion appear in?
Q2. I have a question about the location of the mind. Javana occur in the dharmadhatu as does awareness. Do we need conceptual and/or non-conceptual guidance to pinpoint that location?
Q3. How can we make implicit knowing more explicit in our daily lives?
Q4. If the substantial cause of the illusion is the alaya, what is the illusionist doing?
Q5. My understanding of taking refuge and bodhicitta is limited. Can you explain their significance? Can they be taken at various levels? Is it possible to take refuge for a limited time? Is there danger in taking refuge too early? What happens when refuge is taken out of the motivations of fear and self-centeredness?

Meditation starts at 13:50

Teaching: Awareness of awareness is the most subtle and profound of all the shamatha practices. From the dzogchen perspective, we suffer because 1) we grasp onto that which is not I and mine as being I and mine and 2) we fail to recognize who we are. Normally, we grasp at gross manifestations of body and mind as being I and mine. Shamatha takes us past all that down to the substrate. From there, there are two paths: 1) break through the substrate to rigpa or 2) realize the empty nature of the substrate. 

In short, we probe the nature of everything we thought we were and were ours in order to totally release grasping. Just as we must first know the conventional nature of mind in order to realize the ultimate nature of mind, we must first find the substrate in order to break through to rigpa. This is the direct path.
Meditation: awareness of awareness. Let eyes be open, and rest gaze evenly. For a while, just be present, without doing anything or focusing on any object. Be aware of what’s left over, resting in the luminosity and cognizance of awareness knowing itself. When thoughts arise, either sever them immediately or let them dissolve naturally into the space of the mind. For the oscillation, 1) inversion – arouse attention and withdraw from all appearances into the sheer luminosity and cognizance of awareness and 2) release – utterly release awareness into objectless, empty space. Gently sustain the flow of awareness of awareness throughout the oscillation. As an aid, you can couple the oscillation with the in and out breaths. Let the oscillation come to rest in the center, with awareness being still, luminous, cognizant, knowing itself.

Meditation starts at 18:58

Teaching: Who do you think you are? Are you identified with your body, your mind, or yourself? How does the I fit with the body and mind? We need to find out by probing experientially, not by thinking really hard. The image of a conglomeration of merchants with a CEO in charge. That CEO is the I. While that sense of there being a CEO or I is real, the referent, upon probing, is nowhere to be found and thus unreal. This sense of CEO or I is that which feels it is the agent or the observer in meditation or reacts to praise or criticism in everyday life.
Meditation: mindfulness of the mind via awareness of awareness. Let your eyes be open, and rest gaze evenly. For a while, just be present, without doing focusing on any object. Let your interest converge on what’s left over, that most intimate knowing. Simply rest in the flow of awareness of awareness. For the oscillation, 1) inversion –withdraw from all appearances into the luminosity of awareness itself and 2) release –release into space of non-objectivity. Ensure that the breath flows effortlessly—i.e., not arousing and releasing the breath. Now, invert deeply on 1) your sense of being the agent of this meditation, 2) who is this meditator, and 3) who is the observer. If an appearance comes to mind, is it really I or is it empty like a mirage? Release the oscillation, and let awareness come to the center, resting in its own place, knowing itself.
Q1. In settling the mind, there is a fuzzy TV channel running 3m before me. Rumination has reduced to 4 topics and seem to be arising from the I rather than the TV. Are there different levels?

Q2. In awareness of awareness, I’m not clear about what releasing means? And oscillation? 

Q3. In awareness of awareness, I get it when I’m practicing with you in the group sessions, but back in my room, there’s no traction.

Q4. In awareness of awareness, is the oscillation experientially similar to tonglen? 

Q5. Javana are mental events that arise from and dissolve back into substrate consciousness whereas mental appearances like thoughts and images dissolve into the substrate. Are mental appearances different from javana? Aren’t javana also appearances to the mind? 

Q6. In awareness of awareness, I get the same experience during the oscillation, but when we release the oscillation, it feels different, like coming home. Why do exercises like the oscillation or sending awareness in different directions?

Meditation starts at 16:38

* Note part of the recording was taken from video camera due to system issues …

Teaching pt1: Empathetic joy is taking delight in others’ virtues. As the only one of the 4 immeasurables which involves cultivating an emotion, empathetic joy also serves as the antidote to the near enemy of compassion, grief and despair. Given the prevalence of low self-esteem and guilt, it is also useful for many of us to take delight in our own virtues which is considered virtuous in buddhist teachings.
Meditation: empathetic joy. Moving along the timeline from childhood to the present day, recall the kindness others have shown you. With each out breath, light emanates gratitude and rejoicing. Moving along the timeline from childhood to the present day, recall the kindness you have shown others and your cultivation of heart and mind. With each breath, light emanates gratitude and rejoicing, filling body and mind. Direct your attention to someone in particular or whoever comes up, and take delight in his/her virtues. With each out breath, light emanates gratitude and rejoicing.
Teaching pt2: Discouragement and depression may come in two forms: 1) those which arise from a cause, spike, and fade out or 2) those which you are just bringing to the world. The same goes for gratitude. Over the years, Alan has seen that for people living in the spirit of gratitude, their practice always goes well whereas for people who complain a lot or are just plain grumpy, their practice seldom goes well, regardless of their intelligence or renunciation. As the Dalai Lama said, “It is better to find one fault in yourself than a thousand faults in another.” Why is this so? It is possible for us to fix that one fault in ourselves and that is cause for rejoicing.

Meditation starts at 6:56

Teaching: Alan reminds us that all the shamatha practices have been attending to the mind in that there is mindfulness placed on an object and introspection to the mind. In settling the mind, the object of mindfulness is the javana of the psyche. In awareness of awareness, the object of mindfulness is the bhavanga. In mindfulness of the mind, we attend to both the javana and the bhavanga with probing and inquiry vis-à-vis the 3 marks of existence. We see first-hand how mental afflictions are unpleasant, how they come and go, and how they have no substantial nature.
Meditation: silent session with practice of your choice.
Q1a. In mindfulness of the mind, are feelings of desire and curiosity mental afflictions? Desire leads to craving and attachment, so would desire to achieve shamatha also be wrong? Curiosity can lead to anxiety. In my practice, both mental states can trigger unpleasant feelings, but can’t they also be positive states leading us to liberation?

Q2. Why aren’t you teaching settling body, speech, and mind with 3 breaths as explained in your book? 

Q1b. Following up on the question on desire and curiosity, do they fall on a continuum with other mental afflictions, or are they in a category of their own? How about attachment as something positive as what a baby develops towards his/her mother?

Q3. In awareness of awareness, does the oscillation serve a purpose other than being an antidote to laxity and excitation? 

Q4. In awareness of awareness, is it referring to one awareness that is different from all the other awarenesses? In my practice, my awareness jumps to different objects rather than staying on awareness itself. I let go, and it becomes like open awareness.

Meditation starts at 23:00

Teaching: Alan draws parallels between settling the mind and mindfulness of breathing. 

In settling the mind, in principle, being present with all mental arisings sufficient for the mind to undo its knots and heal itself. Don’t be the agent of thoughts! Sustain flow of mindfulness without distraction, without grasping. In reality, we grasp, and there are knots we cannot seem to undo on our own. In such instances, we may benefit from the counsel of spiritual friends and putting them into practice. The mind’s ability to heal itself remains the substantial cause. 

In mindfulness of breathing, being present with the space of the body, truly letting the breath settle in its natural rhythm without preference, should be sufficient for the prana system to sort itself out. Don’t be the agent of the breath! We must release rumination at every out breath. In reality, we may encounter blockages which are not releasing themselves. Similarly, we may benefit from the help of spiritual friends. In the end, the body and mind have capacities to heal themselves if we get out of the way.
Meditation: mindfulness of breathing. Let the healing agent awareness illuminate the space of the body. Settle the respiration in its natural rhythm. Relax deeply with every out breath, neither retaining nor expelling the breath. Utterly release rumination with each out breath. Release all concerns about the past and future, and let the present suffice. Let awareness come to stillness. When the breath is long, know that it is long. When the breath is short, know that it is short.

In post-meditation, maintain an ongoing flow of mindfulness of breathing to keep rumination from throwing the whole system out of balance.

Meditation starts at 28:26

Teaching: Alan introduces the 4th application of mindfulness to phenomena (dharmas). Whereas the first 3 applications of mindfulness are microscopic, the mindfulness of phenomena takes a step back to understand how it all fits together and their inter-relationships—i.e., dependent origination. While dependent origination applies to all phenomena, the focus here is understanding causes and conditions leading to suffering and happiness. All the different lists of phenomena in this section are presented so that we can become free. Within the 5 obscurations, the first one is sensual craving which means fixating on an appearance and believing therein lies my happiness. Its antidote is single-pointed attention, and we can see how this can be in settling the mind. Lama Zöpa Rinpoche has said that renunciation is a prerequisite for shamatha. Renunciation itself can be cultivated by 1) discursive meditations of the lamrim, 2) devotion, or 3) shamatha.
Meditation: silent session on either mindfulness of the breath as this morning or open presence (without dzogchen). In this proto-shamatha practice, let your awareness settle in the present moment, lighting all the sense fields. Maintain flow of knowing. Keep either mindfulness of the breath or open presence as the baseline, and make forays into other practices from there.
Q1. In settling the mind, is the space of the mind for this practice the same as the substrate which is also referred to as the space of the mind? If so, how can we attend to the substrate as beginners?

Q2. I want to report a strange meditative experience. When I’m very relaxed in the supine position, there is prana pounding at the solarplexes like a heartbeat reverberating through the whole body. It’s not in sync with the heartbeat, and it doesn’t occur when I meditate in a seated posture. 

Q3. In settling the mind, how can we recognize subtle excitation and apply the corresponding antidote?

Meditation starts at 41:25

Teaching: Alan introduces some points from his translation of Asanga’s comprehensive explanations for mindfulness of breathing. While Asanga does not mentions following the breath at the tip of the nostril, he does mention following the flow of vital energies from nostril to navel, noting 4 stages: 1) inhalation, 2) pause at the end of inhalation, 3) exhalation, 4) pause at the end of exhalation. Asanga also presents several counting methods as support when needed: 1) counting each inhalation/exhalation, 2) counting each complete breath cycle, 3) counting forwards, and 4) counting backwards.
Meditation: mindfulness of breathing per Asanga. Set the mind at ease, without concerns of the 3 times. Let your awareness be still, illuminating the space of the body and in particular, the flow of the breath from nostril to navel. Note the energies at 1) inhalation, 2) the pause at the end of inhalation, 3) exhalation, 4) the pause at the end of exhalation. With each out breath, relax and release any rumination. Experiment with counting if you wish, but keep it very staccato.

Meditation starts at: 6:04

Teaching: Alan elaborates on some points from his translation of Asanga’s explanations for mindfulness of breathing, as advice for people with heavy rumination. Asanga mentions 4 stages in mindfulness of breathing: 1) inhalation, 2) pause at the end of inhalation, 3) exhalation, 4) pause at the end of exhalation. He notes 1) overly lax or 2) overly forceful engagement. Asanga also presents training in counting as support: 1) counting individually (at end of inhalation/exhalation), 2) counting pairs (at end of exhalation of 1 breath cycle), 3) counting forwards (either practice in ascending order), and 4) counting backwards (either practice in descending order). The point of this training is to cultivate an ongoing flow of knowing, covering all 4 stages of one breath cycle.
Meditation: mindfulness of breathing per Asanga. Settle respiration, by releasing deeply without preference nor control. Set the mind at ease, without concerns of the 3 times. Let your awareness be still, illuminating the space of the body. Be aware of the space of vital energy (prana), in particular as it flows between the nostril and navel. Mind should be especially still at the end of each out breath. Experiment with counting if you wish. Monitor posture and mindfulness with introspection.
Q1. You mentioned that we should view the space of the body from the perspective of the substrate. Since we do not have direct access yet to the substrate, do you mean from the coarse mind?

Q2. This mindfulness of breathing practice per Asanga is required more attention than usual, in particular catching the pauses. What the difference between awareness and attention? Is it true to say that only attention moves and that awareness does not? My idea of oscillation in awareness of awareness means that something is moving. 

Q3. In observing the space of the mind with eyes open, forms are present. Is this clarity of mind? 

Q4. In settling the mind, you gave the analogies of a scientist and a movie critic. 

Q5. I find it hard to be focused on the space of the mind between sessions. Either I am disengaged from the environment or I’m not focused on the mind at all.

Q6. In this mindfulness of breathing practice per Asanga, please explain the interim breath. Are vital energies equivalent to the tactile sensation of the breath moving throughout the body? If Asanga does not mention the acquired sign nor the counterpart sign, how is shamatha achieved? 

Q7. In awareness of awareness, we should be focused entirely on awareness, yet appearances of the other senses still arise.

Meditation starts at: 29:06

Teaching: Alan talks about the second of the five obscurations ill-will. As shamatha dredges the psyche, it is normal for ill-will to arise in response to memories, etc… The antidote is sukkha or well-being. You are experiencing sukkha when you enjoy and get into the flow of the practice. Sukkha comes through shamatha. Further support for the antidote comes from mudita or empathetic joy. On the spiritual path, we need to make a gentle transition from 100% dependence on hedonic well-being to genuine happiness. Find interest in the breath. Find interest in the quality of awareness. The latter will come in handy through the various bardos.
Meditation: mindfulness of breathing per Asanga. Release the mind into the present. Utterly release yourself into the breath. Let your awareness observe the space of the body and in particular, the flow of the breath between nostril and navel. Relax deeply all the way through. Let the mind be especially calm at the end of the in and out breaths. With every out breath, release long-standing habit of rumination. Be right there for the beginning of each in breath.

Meditation starts at 16:45

Teaching: Continuing from Asanga’s Shravakabhumi, Alan introduces the second thorough training by way of the aggregates. Asanga begins by explaining the characteristics of achieving shamatha—i.e., 1) pliancy in the mind, 2) pliancy in the body, and 3) single-pointedness taking delight in the object. Having achieved shamatha, we return to the desire realm in an expedition to gain insight into the five aggregates: 1) form in terms of mindfulness of breathing, 2) feelings (positive/negative/neutral) arising with the mindfulness of breathing, 3) recognition associated with the mindfulness of breathing, 4) volition associated with the intention to sustain mindfulness of breathing, and 5) mind as composite.
Meditation: mindfulness of breathing followed by mindfulness of phenomena (aggregates). In the first half of the session, practice the mindfulness of breathing practice of your choice. In the second half… 1) know the domain of the body as aggregate of form, 2) recognize feeling associated with mindfulness of breathing, 3) recognize your recognition of the qualities of the breath, 4) recognize that volition which impels the practice, 5) direct attention to awareness itself amidst mindfulness of breathing. Open your eyes, and let awareness flood the 6 domains of experience, illuminating all 5 skandhas.
Q1. If my main practice is awareness of awareness, what should I do in between sessions?

Q2. In mindfulness of aggregates that we just did, do we practice mindfulness of breathing and mindfulness of the feelings associated with mindfulness of breathing? In the final instruction to expand awareness to the 5 sense domains, what exactly is the object?

Q3. Are aggregates and skandhas the same thing? 

Q4. Some contents in the mind appear to be more obvious than others. Is this due to grasping?

Meditation starts at 30:05

Teaching: Alan talks about the third of the five obscurations laxity and dullness. Dullness occurs when attention is no longer fully engaged with the object. It is experienced from stages 1-4, whereas laxity is experienced between stages 4-5. Its antidote is coarse investigation (aka applied thought) whereby you just check it out.
Meditation: mindfulness of breathing per Asanga. Allow your body to breathe itself as your respiration settles into its natural rhythm. Let the mind come to stillness in the present moment. Shine the spotlight of your attention on sensations of the respiration as prana flows down to the navel, and keep your attention there single-pointedly. Note the end of the in and out breaths. Note the beginning of the in and out breaths. Arouse attention at every in breath as the navel cavity fills with prana. Maintain the flow of mindfulness throughout the entire breath cycle.

Meditation starts at 6:12

Teaching: Continuing from Asanga’s Shravakabhumi, Alan introduces the 3rd thorough training by way of dependent origination. Asanga begins by attending to the breath which is dependent upon the body and mind which are in turn conditioned by the life faculty (subtle continuum of mental consciousness and prana) which is in turn dependent on previous compositional factors (samskara) which are in turn dependent on ignorance. The antidote to ignorance is wisdom which leads to the cessation of ignorance and so forth. Alan briefly sketches the 3rd thorough training by way of the 4 Noble Truths which involves contemplating them repeatedly.
Meditation: mindfulness of breathing per Asanga followed by mindfulness of phenomena (aggregates).

I) Mindfulness of breathing per Asanga. Let awareness rest at the space of the navel, and observe sensations of prana coming to fill that space and flowing out again like at a train station. Observe the body breathing without inhibiting the exhalation or pulling in the inhalation.

II) Mindfulness of phenomena (aggregates). For each of the aggregates, view them as being impermanent, devoid of self, and having no owner: 1) see form as form, 2) feelings arising in the body and mind, 3) observe recognition of the space of the mind, 4) observe the compositional factors in the space of the mind, 5) direct awareness to the experience of being conscious. Open awareness to the realm of all phenomena.
Q1. What stage of shamatha can we reasonably expect to achieve while living in the modern world?

Q2. At times, part of the mind is wandering while part of the mind is still on the object. What should I do? Should I multi-task?

Meditation starts at 26:55

Teaching: Alan talks about the fourth of the five obscurations excitation and anxiety. Excitation is associated with restlessness and agitation. Anxiety is also known as guilt, remorse, shame, or regret. Bliss and joy are the natural antidotes. But since these qualities cannot be called up at will, discursive meditation on the pros and cons of the practice (in this case, shamatha) can be helpful. As long as we have not achieved shamatha, we are subject to the 5 obscurations characterized as being: 1) sensual craving = indebted, 2) ill-will = sick, 3) laxity/dullness = bondage, 4) excitation/anxiety = enslaved, 5) uncertainty = lost in a desert tracked. Achieving shamatha is the ultimate retreat, makes both body and mind supple, places the 5 dhyana factors at our disposal, and allows us to truly help others. It also greatly facilitates the realization of bodhicitta, vipasyana, and for buddhahood in one lifetime according to Dudjom Lingpa, threkchö and thogyal.
Meditation: mindfulness of breathing per Asanga. If needed use oscillation as in awareness of awareness until your mind comes to rest in the center. As you breathe in, focus your attention from the nostril down to the navel, and without visualization, as you breathe out. Note the 4 stages: 1) inhalation, 2) pause at the end of inhalation, 3) exhalation, 4) pause at the end of exhalation. Note the end of the in and out breaths. With each out breath, total, complete release. With each in breath, just take in whatever presents itself.

Meditation starts at 30:14

Teaching: Continuing from Asanga’s Shravakabhumi, Alan introduces the 4th thorough training by way of the 16 phases: 1) breathing in, 2) breathing out, 3) the whole body, 4) tranquilising the bodily activities, 5) joy, 6) happiness, 7) formations of the mind, 8) tranquilising formations of the mind, 9) experiencing the mind, 10) gladdening the mind, 11) concentrating the mind, 12) liberating the mind, 13) impermanence, 14) eradication of obscurations, 15) freedom from attachment, 16) cessation of the aggregates. 

Alan elaborates more on sukkha and joy which may arise from engaging in the practice.

Alan addresses the sudden enlightenment of the Buddha’s disciples.
Meditation: mindfulness of breathing per Asanga followed by mindfulness of phenomena (aggregates).

I) Mindfulness of breathing per Asanga. Know exactly when the out breath ends, how long the interim out breath is, when the in breath starts, when the in breath ends, how long the interim in breath is, and when the out breath starts.

II) Mindfulness of phenomena (aggregates). 1) recognize form as form (pure perception), 2) observe feelings as feelings arising in the body and mind, 3) with recognition, not that you are discerning, 4) direct attention to the mental formations in the space of the mind, 5) draw awareness to consciousness itself. Release awareness into all 6 sense fields and the events arising therein.
Q1. Does prana have the same quality in the in and out breaths?

Q2. Because body and brain decline with age, is age a factor to consider in achieving shamatha? 

Q3. In Asanga’s mindfulness of breathing, I’m not sure what to do with the awareness of all 6 sense fields? It seems so busy.

Q4. In Asanga’s text, why is there so much emphasis on breathing? 

Q5. In awareness of the body, there’s a sense of bliss. What insight is there to be derived from bliss pervading the body? 

Q6. In Asanga’s text, these 16 phases which include shamatha and vipasyana may offer a bridge to Tibetan lamas who don’t seem to place much importance on practicing shamatha. 

Q7. Asanga explains the causes of breathing as being propelling karma and space. Is this the cause for our involuntary breathing or is that caused by something biological? 

Q8. Why are men more prominent in buddhism? Women multi-task better, so perhaps that’s a disadvantage to achieving shamatha?

Meditation starts at 20:53

Teaching: Alan talks about the fifth of the five obscurations afflictive uncertainty. While it is appropriate to be uncertain about that which is uncertain, when we wonder about whether or not it is possible to make progress in our practice or attain enlightenment we need to apply its antidote close investigation. As the Dalai Lama says, something becomes hopeless, the moment we’ve given up hope. 

Alan introduces the fourth of the 4 immeasurables equanimity. People appear to us differently, so how can we attend evenly to a reality that’s uneven? We need to look more deeply until we find common ground: just like me, every sentient being wants to be free from suffering. How can we attend to all sentient beings? Every sentient being you encounter, either physically or those who come to you, represents all sentient beings.
Meditation: equanimity. Direct attention to the space of the mind, settling the mind in its natural state. When someone comes to mind, attend to that person carefully until you find common ground. Then practice loving-kindness and compassion. With every in breath, “May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering,” and imagine suffering and its true causes as darkness in that person converging at a white orb of light at your heart chakra and dissolving completely. With every out breath, “May you be find happiness and the causes of happiness,” and imagine light suffusing this person and fulfilling his innermost desires. Allow this appearance to dissolve and see who else comes to mind, repeating the practice with the in and out breaths. Now with every in breath, imagine the light from all the buddhas filling you completely, purifying body and mind. With every out breath, give this light out evenly, excluding no one.

Meditation starts at 36:52

Teaching: Continuing from Asanga’s Shravakabhumi, Alan gives the detailed explanation of the 4th thorough training by way of the 16 phases: 1) long breath, 2) short breath, 3) the whole body, 4) refining the bodily formation, 5) joy, 6) well-being, 7) formations of the mind, 8) wonderfully refining formations of the mind, 9) experiencing the mind, 10) bringing exception joy to the mind, 11) concentrating the mind, 12) liberating the mind, 13) impermanence, 14) eradication of obscurations, 15) freedom from attachment, 16) cessation of the aggregates. Each practice is appropriate at certain stages, and involves vipasyana knowing coupled with the in and out breaths. 

Alan outlines the 3 shamatha practices in healing the body and mind using different entry points: 1) mindfulness of breathing whereby we can watching healing via the body, 2) settling the mind whereby we can watch healing via the mind, and 3) awareness of awareness whereby we go straight to the center, without watching the body and mind sort themselves out.
Meditation: shamatha practice of choice with vipasyana.

1) Shamatha. Based on the shamatha practice of your choice, 

2) Vipasyana. When you’ve settled into the flow, use vipasyana to discern its nature. Know that the body, mind, or awareness is not self nor owned by the self. Experience body, mind, or awareness as it is.
Q1. Is it possible for technology to aid in the development of shamatha—e.g., neurological signatures of various states and using neural feedback especially in the beginning? Do you see any major issues?

Q2. In Asanga’s mindfulness of breathing, I have a question about the interim inhalation and exhalation. Does it feel like a pause? 

Q3. You mentioned discursive lamrim meditations as antidote for laxity/dullness. For those of us who aren’t familiar with the lamrim, what is the essence of Atisha’s advice? How does lamrim fit into a healthy diet of spiritual practices? Is the lamrim necessary?

Alan notes that we’re starting the second half of the retreat. Afterwards, when we return to an active way of life, while our shamatha practice may be maintained at best, other practices may indeed flourish. In an active life, the practices of the 4 applications of mindfulness can shift how we view reality in accordance with the 3 marks of existence, gradually becoming unstuck. Similarly, as our best friends, bodyguards even, the 4 immeasurables can be practiced in everyday life as we engage with others. Together, both sets of practices represent wisdom and skillfull means. So that we may train in the 4 immeasurables as in previous retreats, Alan will now dedicate the morning sessions to guided meditations of the 4 immeasurables.
Meditation: loving-kindness. Ask yourself the following 4 questions in sequence, envision your response clearly, practice the corresponding exercise, and imagine your vision becoming reality in the here and now. 1) What will make you truly happy? With every out breath, light from your heart flows into this vision. 2) What would you like to receive from those around you to help make your vision possible? With every in breath, receive light from sentient beings flowing in from all directions, giving you all that you need. 3) What qualities of body, speech, and mind would you like to be freed of and imbued with so that you can transform into the person you would like to become? With every out breath, light of purification transforms you breath by breath into that person. 4) What would you love to offer to the world? With every out breath, light from your heart emanates, taking the forms of all you wish to offer. Finally, may we all find happiness and the causes of happiness! With every out breath, imagine it to be so.

Meditation starts at 5:30

Teaching pt1: As we revisit this section, Alan will present teachings from the shravakayana and dzogchen. 

According to the shravakayana, nama rupa should not be understood as two entities but as a single activity of experience. Nama (naming) is the subjective experience of identifying an object. Rupa (all appearances) is the objective experience of an object perceived or conceived through the process of identification. Mano/manas (mind/mentation) is the mental process of conceptualization which makes meaning out of the 6 sensory inputs. 

According to dzogchen, dharmadhatu and primordial consciousness (yeshe) are of the same nature and extensive. Appearances are considered their creative expression or effulgence. Ignorance of this play when rigified becomes the substrate which is immaterial, blank, unthinking, and void. Substrate consciousness radiant and clear is the basis for appearances. It reflects but does not identify them. From the substrate consciousness, arises sense of I over here and substrate over there. As the sense of I cements, mano/manas becomes acitvated, and from that, appearances illuminated by the substrate consciousness. Reification leads to appearances becoming owners of those very conceptualizations. Thus arises samsara. By returning to the substrate in shamatha, we are reversing this very process.
Meditation: mindfulness of the body. Withdraw your attention from all 6 domains of experience, and just rest without knowing anything at all, as if in deep sleep. Arouse your attention just enough to become aware of awareness. Do you have a sense of being aware, present, or yourself as the subject? Attend to the space of the mind. Do you have a sense that you’re here and that the space of the mind is over there? Allow consciousness to illuminate all 6 domains. Apply mindfulness now to the appearances of the body. Observe the process of conceptualization of the body—e.g., my head with its attritbutes, moving on to other body parts. Attend to the subject experiencing the body. Is the body already there in appearances? Is the I already there in appearances?
Teaching pt2: Alan introduces the first 4 links of the 12 links of dependent origination. 1) ignorance – which is nature of the substrate. 2) mental formations (samskara) – karma or kinetic energy of the mind stirs or activates. 3) consciousness – substrate consciousnes becomes explicit, yet it is luminous without illuminating anything. 4) nama rupa which refers to appearances and identifying appearances. Mere labelling is not the problem, their reification is.
Q1. How does your diet affect shamatha practice?

Q2. What do you mean by appearance? Is it possible to have pure appearance without ignorance? 

Q3. Is it possible to observe with introspection the entire evolution of manas and nama rupa at once?

Meditation starts at 31:30

As opposed to meditations on suffering and impermanence, loving-kindness offers a gentle remedy for attachment, the near enemy of empathetic joy. The basis is seeing loveable qualities in oneself and others. Where low self-esteem is prevalent, we must start with loving-kindness for ourselves as this practice cannot be done meaningfully by skipping ourselves.
Meditation: loving-kindness. There are two methods for cultivating loving-kindness: 1) meditation and 2) kind and loving actions. Start each meditation with settling body, speech, and mind in the natural state as an act of loving-kindness for yourself. Direct your attention inwards to yourself as someone worthy of finding genuine happiness. If you can, attend to the lumunious nature of awareness. Seeing yourself from this perspective, what is your vision of truly fluorishing, your heart’s desire, your greatest happiness? With each out breath, 1) arouse the aspiration, may I be truly well and happy, 2) light from an orb at your heart chakra fills your body and mind, dispelling all obscurations, and 3) experience that very well-being here and now. Now bring someone close clearly to mind, and repeat the practice with the out breath. Now move on to another person, gradually moving outwards to those who are more distant. Finally, release all appearances and rest in that awareness.
Q1. These practices have been bringing out a lot of memories and emotions I wasn’t even aware of.

Meditation starts at: 5:31

Teaching: Alan draws the teachings into the 21st century by dedicating this session to a brief history of science culminating in the view according to quantum mechanics. Early scientists like Galileo were devout Christians who attempted to understand reality from God’s perspective. The real world must be out there because 1) stuff happens when we’re not looking and 2) there is a commonality of perceptions. Modern physicists debunk this view. Anton Zeilinger said that reality is based only on information we receive. John Wheeler spoke of the participatory universe where its (physical world) come from bits (information). Based on bits, the conceptual mind makes the its. Andre Lindt asserts that perception is primary and that consciousness is needed to explain the physics observed in the real world. Stephen Hawking speaks of the quantum world which is in a superposition state (in probabilistic mode or realm of possibility). He notes being inside (causality and linearity) or outside the system (quantum world where observer creates both past and future). Without an observer, the universe is frozen. The observer breaks the symmetry of the quantum world, giving rise to the classical world. In sum, both the observer and information constitute essential links in understanding the world.

In buddhist epistemology, a cause which can never be seen cannot be inferred based on the effect. Appearances of the 5 sense domains arise in the substrate, not in physical space. We can only see the qualia of the 5 senses, not the things is physical space which are unknowable. Samsara arises from not knowing (avidya), reifying the its and not recognizing that come from the bits. In terms of Vajrayana, the ordinary self lies inside the system whereas rigpa lies outside the system. We can go outside the system by realizing the emptiness of self and phenomena and dissolving mind into rigpa. Just as in quantum mechanics where there is no absolute time, from the perspective of rigpa, Ground, Path, and Fruition are simultaneous. Given the indivisibility of primordial consciousness (yeshe) and dharmadhatu, we can know simultaneously who we are and how reality is.

Apologies, there has been a cut in the recording at: 29:13 and 1:10:38
There is no meditation today, rather a really interesting talk.

Teaching: When you understand the causality of how others contribute to your well-being, a sense of happy indebtedness can arise. “How can I do more to repay their kindness?” We can contribute to others’ well-being hedonically and/or eudaimonically. Most altruism in the world is focused on hedonic happiness/suffering, yet eudaimonia is real and can be cultivated. Following Atisha’s advice, we need to achieve shamatha in order to help others find genuine happiness. Genuine happiness is a symptom of a meaningful way of life, a balanced mind, and knowing reality as it is. Someone who acts in accord with genuine happiness—as the center of his/her own mandala—is living in a utopia.
Meditation: loving-kindness. Motivated by loving-kindness, settling body, speech, and mind in the natural state. Envision your own well-being, both hedonic and eudaimonic, and attend to its causes. In eudaimonia, your potential is limitless, its very source being primordial consciousness. Imagine it as an orb of white light at your heart chakra. With every out breath, “May I be happy and find the causes of happiness.” Light fills your body, dispelling all obstacles. Light entirely consumes the materiality of your body as it settles in its natural state, becoming the pure energy of primordial consciousness. Only a body of light, luminous but empty, remains. Now, with every out breath, extend the light in all directions until it embraces all sentient beings on the planet. “May we find happiness and the causes of happiness.” Expand exponentially in all directions, stretching the mind to 100 billion galaxies and all the beings who dwell there, each one realizing full awakening.

Meditation starts at 21:55

Teaching: As an appendix to last night’s talk, Alan introduces the placebo effect which is clearly a mental that happens and is well-known. However, there is no explanation in modern science for how it works. Applying John Wheeler’s assertion that information is primary and that the universe is an information processing system to the microcosm of one’s mind/body, we can consider mind/body as being derivative from information and as an information processing system. Information can catalyze the specific sequelae seen in the placebo effect. According to Wheeler, we are co-creating our universe by how we measure it and how we make sense of it.

Alan introduces mindfulness of the body according to the Madhyamaka (Middle Way). It is useful to hone in on the Middle Way by identifying the two extremes of 1) nihilism/solicism – the universe comes into existence based on our perception and 2) metaphysical realism – the universe is already out there, waiting to be discovered. Alan introduces close application of mindfulness to the body from the Madhyamaka perspective following verses 78-105 in Ch. 9 of the Bodhicaryavatara. 

Meditation: mindfulness of the body per Shantideva. What do you think is there when you’re not looking? What do you think of as “my body”? Closely apply mindfulness to individual parts from the feet upwards. Do you think the feet are the body, etc…? If you think the body as the whole, then what of amputees? If you think the body has parts, then where is the body that has those parts? How many parts can we remove before we stop having a body? When does a fertilized egg become a human body? When does the human body stop becoming a human body? Neither origination nor cessation exists from ist own side. Rest in the emptiness of your own body.
Q1. If the psyche is individually configured, yet the substrate’s qualities are universal, does everyone have the same experience of the substrate?
Q2. If rigpa is outside the system, can rigpa be considered God eye’s view? Within rigpa, are my choice already made leading to a deterministic universe?

Meditation starts at 48:00

In solitary retreat, it is easy to get caught up with all your own stuff coming from your own mind. This is attenuated being in a group retreat with others around. The 4 immeasurables help cultivate emotional balance, so when we encounter others, it’s like throwing a pebble into a swimming pool rather than a teacup. Alan recommences the meditation on compassion where we attend to others and their suffering.
Meditation: compassion. Rumination is both tiresome and stressful, so an act of compassion for yourself, settle your mind in the space of the body and the respiration in its natural state. Compassion is not feeling sorry, but an aspiration rooted in empathy, a sense of common ground. Bring to mind a person or a community facing blatant hedonic suffering. With every in breath, “May you like me be free from suffering.” For the visualization, practice either 1) traditional tonglen method of drawing in the suffering in the form of darkness which dissipates entirely in a white orb at the heart chakra or 2) have the suffering in the form of darkness just evaporate into thin air. Attend to another person or community, and repeat the practice. Attend to a person and or community with genuine suffering arising from their own mind. With every in breath, “May you like me be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.” Repeat visualization as before.

Meditation starts at 4:20

Teaching: Alan continues with verses 85-87 in Ch. 9 of the Bodhicaryavatara covering components of the body. Just as we examined the body, we now examine parts of the body, going all the way down to the atomic level. As long as something has attributes, it can be divided further. The Vaibashika view contends that while we view the world with our senses and that configurations depend on our way of perceiving, atoms are truly existent. The Madhyamika view understands dependent origination as follows: 1) conditioned phenomena arise in dependence on prior causes and conditions, 2) parts and attributes, and 3) conceptual designations. The Dalai Lama says that which you’re pointing your finger at and holding to be already out there from its own side does not exist in that way. In the dzogchen view, dharmadhatu, primordial consciousness, and energy of primordial consciousness are all co-extensive. Perhaps it is possible to arrive at this one reality via different doors—e.g., probing matter, probing space, or probing the mind.
Meditation: mindfulness of the body. Attend to the 5 elements in the space of your body. Open your eyes, and see the form of your body. Note the difference between the tactile and visual perceptions. Apart from these tactile and visual perceptions, is there anything else of the body you can perceive? These perceptions are arising and dissolving either in the space of the body (tactile) or the space of the mind (visual). What do you think of as “my body” among all these perceptions? As in the Heart Sutra, form is emptiness, and emptiness is form. Appearances are mere appearances that arise from and dissolve into space. Appearances consist of space. Appearances are none other than space which is empty. Release the conceptual designation “my body” and rest in the realm of appearances, which are the basis for designation yet empty.
Q1. For me, lucid dreaming starts with me being aware that I’m asleep (body is paralyzed). As the dreamscape begins to unfold, I’m not sure how best to make use of this opportunity.

Q2. This is a question about emptiness and atoms. While people may question the reality that arises to meet them, interdependence makes classical reality true for all of us within the same quantum system. 

Q3. In Ven. Analayo’s book on the satipatthana sutta, he covers the dry insight approach which dispenses with shamatha and describes sati as attacking an object like a stone hitting the wall which sounds like it requires a lot of effort. 

Q4. There are claims of people achieving multiple dhyanas or offering 1-2 week retreats to move through all the dhyanas. From your perspective, you seem sceptical of these claims. Do such people have experiences which somehow match the dhyanas, or are there references to dhyanas with lower levels of realization?

Meditation starts at 40:19

Teaching pt1. Yesterday, we addressed the first of three forms of suffering: suffering of suffering or blatant suffering. Its primary cause is hatred/anger due to getting what we don’t want or not getting what we do want. While renunciation for oneself and compassion for others are antidotes, ethics constitute the basic remedy and can be summarized as not harming others and being helpful to others when possible. Today, we look at the suffering of change which isn’t obvious to most. Its primary cause is attachment, especially to the impermanent as permanent. The basic remedy for attachment is samadhi. Sadly, samadhi has become somewhat neglected in buddhism with many teachers and students alike believing that just a dab will do, yet not achieving samadhi breaks one of the bodhisattva vows.
Meditation: compassion. Begin by attending inward. Is it true that craving leads to suffering? With every in breath, “May I be free from suffering and its causes of attachment/craving.” Visualize them as darkness dissolving into the white orb at your heart chakra without a trace. Turn attention outwards to a person or group who is suffering due to craving/attachment. “May you like me be free from suffering and its causes of attachment. May we cultivate samadhi. May we be free.” With each breath, imagine each one becoming free.
Teaching pt2. The 20th century has been the worst era for buddhism. Communism dealt a nearly lethal blow to buddhism in several Asian countries. Some teachers say that the times are so degenerate that one should not even try to gain any realizations. Such an attitude would finish off buddhadharma. The Dalai Lama supports the creation of a contemplative observatory in Bangalore open to contemplatives of various traditions and scientists alike with the aspiration to revitalize the contemplative traditions of the world, so that each one can rediscover its own treasures.

Meditation starts at 16:50

Teaching pt1: Alan shares his translation of Ch. 13 of Shantideva’s Compendium of Practices on the 4 applications of mindfulness. The body is simply a configuration of various parts and compilation of various substances assembled by the agent which arises from karma. What is called the body? What is the referent for “my body”? Where is the body which has all these parts? The body didn’t come from the past, nor does it go into the future. In the present, the body is like space. The body is devoid of an agent or one who experiences it. It has no essence and is designated by transient labels. This is medicine which is designed to overcome attachment and reification. When doing the practice, it is important to look carefully in order to come to conclusive certainty. Not only did I not find it, but had it been there, I would’ve found it, and recognize that it is not there.
Meditation: mindfulness of the body. Your basecamp is settling body, speech, and mind in their natural state, and make the mind serviceable. At your own pace, scan the different parts of the body to try to pinpoint the referent for that which is called the body. What comes to mind when you think “my body” and try to locate it experientially. If nothing can be found which corresponds to “this is my body,” rest in that not finding and knowing that absence without distraction. Look at the space of the body and the experience of the 5 elements. Is there anything here that is “my body”? View your body like space, and rest without distraction.
Teaching pt2: Alan comments that for Vajrayana practice, it is necessary to realize the emptiness of both self and phenomena. Realization of the emptiness of phenomena is needed in order to transmute our body, the environment, and beings into pure appearances. Our ordinary appearances arise from karma. In Vajrayana, all appearances are dissolved into emptiness, and through the power of samadhi, one is able to overwhelm ordinary appearances with pure appearances. In this way, one takes the result as the path. In dzogchen, when one breaks through to pristine awareness, pure perception arises spontaneously.
Q1. Does a program of study support shamatha practice and vice versa? Is study necessary in order to progress beyond stage 8 of shamatha?

Meditation starts at 43:35

Teaching pt1. Alan introduces the 3rd and deepest level of suffering called all-pervasive suffering which is the fundamental vulnerability to suffering of body and mind caused by closely holding the aggregates. Compassion requires more than just sympathy. Just as we must have a sense that there’s another source of happiness than hedonic pleasure, here we must have a sense that liberation is possible. These direct tastes provide us with a platform for attending to that very suffering in others. The cause of all-pervasive suffering is delusion, and the antidote for delusion is wisdom—i.e., the wisdom of viewing reality from the Middle Way.
Meditation: compassion preceded by vipasyana. Release awareness from the network of rumination into the space of the body.

1) vipasyana. As the cognitive basis for attending to the deepest dimension of suffering and wisdom, practice mindfulness of the body to attend to the experiences of the 5 elements for what they are. Now examine closely, can you find a referent for “my body” in any of its parts or in any of its appearances? Not just not finding the referent, but the referent is nowhere to be found. Rest in that awareness of emptiness, and view the body as space. 

2) compassion. With this awareness, arouse the aspiration “May I be free from all dimensions of suffering, including its deepest dimension caused by delusion.” With every in breath, visualize them as darkness dissolving into the white orb at your heart chakra. Imagine becoming free here and now. Turn attention outwards to those around you. “May we be free from all dimensions of suffering and their underlying causes.” With each in breath, repeat the visualization. Finally, attend to someone especially burdened by delusion and its resultant suffering, and repeat the practice.
Teaching pt2. NASA is working on a warp drive that would allow spaceships to travel to distant galaxies. In buddhism, several practices can give us warp drive on our way to enlightenment: shamatha, bodhicitta, and vipasyana. In stages of generation and completion, we collapse the space-time between us and enlightenment. In trekchö, we break through directly to rigpa which is beyond space-time and all conceptualizations.

Meditation starts at 20:30

Teaching: Alan continues with his commentary on Ch. 13 of Shantideva’s Compendium of Practices on the 4 applications of mindfulness. The body is filled with impurities, fragile by nature, and subject to destruction. One who sees this body as impermanent takes the essence of life, serving all sentient beings, avoiding faulty behavior, no craving or clinging to enjoyments, etc… One views the body as a the body, nothing that is mine. One designates the body of all sentient beings as my body, wishing to bring this body to buddhahood. The ultimate nature of this body is undefiled. In sum, Shantideva uses impurity of the body to dispel craving as in the Shravakayana, but then on that basis, builds the Mahayana practices of compassion, emptiness, and pure vision which provide the framework for Vajrayana.
Meditation: practice of your choice.
Q1. What is the connection between Mahasi Sayadaw and Pa Auk Sayadaw?

Q2. You mentioned that phenomena come into existence with conceptual designation, but a person doesn’t become a fool merely through being designated as such, etc… It appears that phenomena come into existence with conceptual designation but not really. 

Q3. I’ve had lucid sleep without dreams whereby the only awareness I have is akin to awareness of awareness. Am I doing this practice correctly? 

Q4. We’ve established that a baby needs secure attachment for survival. Secure attachment appears to be biologically inbuilt for humans, being defined as a lasting psychological bond between beings. Is it possible to have healthy human relationships without attachment? 

Q5. From the time of the agricultural revolution (human population of 5 million) through the present day (human population of 7 billion), there has been a population explosion. Where are the reincarnated human consciousnesses coming from? Are lesser consciousnesses being promoted before their time, leading to chaos and degeneration? 

Q6. I’m finally starting to enjoy meditation, see changes in the quality of awareness, and detect a certain calmness in mind. I find that I’m worrying about leaving in a few weeks and losing all these gains made. How can we best make use of the time in the final weeks?

Meditation starts at 33:10

Teaching pt1. Alan revisits the 3rd of the 4 immeasurables, empathetic joy. One of the early lamrim meditations is recognizing precious human rebirth (or literally, body) imbued with leisure and opportunity. This body—especially the subtle body of prana, chakra, and bindu—is likened to a wish-fulfilling gem.
Meditation: empathetic joy preceded by settling body, speech, and mind. 

1) settling body, speech, and mind. Let awareness descend into the space of the body and rest in the empty appearances of the 5 elements. Release grasping onto the body, sensations, and feelings. Release the breath, also empty appearances without owner or inherent nature. Release the mind. Release fully with each out breath, and relax more and more deeply without losing clarity.

2) empathetic joy. Consider what value you place on this lifetime/opportunity with leisure to progress along the path to liberation and awakening. Rejoice in this immense opportunity, and resolve to take its essence for your own and others’ benefit. Turn your attention outwards to others who have found such an opportunity and are taking full advantage. With every out breath, shine light of appreciation, and rejoice in their virtue.
Teaching pt2. Times were already degenerate at the time of the Buddha who taught mindfulness of breathing more than any other shamatha practice for those prone to rumination. Breathing out long may be associated with the peaceful. Breathing out short may be associated with the sublime as the pranic system settles. The whole body (of the breath) may be the flow characteristic of the ambrosial dwelling. Once shamatha is achieved, any unwholesome thought is dispelled. In the 19th century, Dudjom Lingpa taught taking appearances and awareness as the path for those whose mind is coarse and nervous system shot. Don’t look for clarity in the mind. Discover clarity by releasing everything that isn’t. Awareness is by nature clear. Just stay at home, and relax in the present moment where it’s real, without losing the flow of knowing. Don’t strive or hope for anything. The present moment and luminosity will rise up to meet you, until awareness is all that remains. There is nothing to achieve, nothing to meditate on. For the substrate consciousness and rigpa, simply release all that obscures that which is already there.

Meditation starts at 13:15

Teaching: Alan begins by exploring why it is said that dzogchen is particularly effective in degenerate times. He suggests that when the teachings are degenerate, society is degenerate, the mind is shot, the body is shot, they become difficult vehicles to transmit the dharma. By going directly to awareness, dzogchen bypasses culture, body, and coarse mind. 

Alan presents the misnomered placebo effect as a miracle for modern science and medicine because they do not understand consciousness. Both modern medicine and faith healing are disempowering the mind, by attributing its effects to another.

Alan revisits the 2nd close application of mindfulness to feelings by commenting on verses 88-92 of Ch. 9 of the Bodhicaryavatara. Does suffering truly exist? If so, one could not experience joy. Can suffering and joy exist at the same time? No, as there is no such thing as an unexperienced feeling. This type of investigation benefits contemplatives who have achieved dhyana. Because of OCDD in our ordinary mind, we cannot merely choose to stop conceptually designating, nor is it a serviceable basis for investigating the nature of phenomena. When probing into the nature of feeling, it dissolves. Feeling is a way of experiencing/apprehending, and is not in the object itself. Suffering is designated as suffering, and once the conceptual designation is released, it is liberated.
Meditation: mindfulness of feelings preceded by mindfulness of the body.

1) mindfulness of the body. Let awareness remain motionless, holding its own ground. Let awareness illuminate the space of the body without entering into it nor becoming immersed by it. Observe the space of the body from awareness’ own place. Illuminate the tactile sensations of the body. Is there anything substantially there from its own side? 

2) mindfulness of feelings. Feelings do arise, but how do they exist? Attend closely, and penetrate feeling with samadhi to find its core. Penetrate through the feeling to the tactile sensation, and see if the feeling lies therein. Probe right into the origin of pain. Does investigation have any impact on pain—i.e., are you participating, or is pain simply being presented to you?

Meditation starts at 1:08:25

Teaching pt1. Alan recounts 2 parables from Karma Chagme’s Naked Awareness. 1) foolish prince who likes horses but develops renunciation and 2) foolish prince who becomes a beggar due to amnesia but rediscovers his true identity. Remain in the castle of your own awareness while beholding the kingdom of your own body. Take satisfaction in awareness resting in its own place. After rumination, take satisfaction in recovering awareness and coming home.
Meditation: empathetic joy preceded by shamatha method of choice. 

1) shamatha method of choice. Let awareness come to rest, releasing all grasping and effort. 

2) empathetic joy. Take satisfaction in awareness holding it s own ground—still, relaxed, luminous, content. As you gain experiential insight into your own consciousness, take delight those sowing the seeds for the renaissance of contemplative traditions and a revolution in the mind sciences. Take delight in those identifying the true causes of suffering and pursuing the true causes of happiness. With each out breath, shine light of gratitude and appreciation.
Teaching pt2. Who’s there according to the 3 turnings of the wheel of dharma? In the 1st turning, the autonomous agent is not there. In the 2nd turning, there is no sentient being to be found. In the 3rd turning, 1) where you are, there’s buddha mind, rigpa, or dharmakaya, 2) the ultimate nature of your mind and buddha mind is no different, and 3) all sentient beings belong to the same buddha family. We can either adopt and identify with mind and body arisen through karma and mental afflications or buddha mind. We need insight into emptiness of self and the guru in order to practice guru yoga which leads us to buddha mind. Guru yoga isn’t blind faith idolatry. Even in the 1st turning, we are advised to check the guru carefully before viewing him/her as an emissary of the Buddha.

Apologies, there has been a cut in the recording at: 57:28
Meditation starts at: 18:45

Teaching pt1: Alan outlines the situation in the modern health system regarding mental disorders. There has been an explosion in brain research since the 1990s, and while knowledge of neuronal correlations has increased, drugs targeting psychiatric disorders haven’t become more effective. Although a multitude of anti-depressants have been produced for decades, a recent meta-analysis has shown that except for severe depression, most drugs work no better than placebo, albeit with worrisome side-effects, many of which are psychological. Neuroscientists work strictly within a materialistic paradigm of mind equals brain, yet have no actual proof that this is so, but are, nevertheless, determining the discourse around fundamental questions of mind, free choice, and human nature. The media just pass scientific findings to the general public without taking a critical stance. Pharmaceutical companies appear to function as drug cartels. Doctors deal the poisonous drugs to their patients. There is support from both government and insurance companies, who prefer to pay for drugs rather than psychotherapies. The consequences of this scenario are dire, and a new Protestant Revolution is needed.

Alan would like to elaborate on verses 88-92 of Ch. 9 of the Bodhicaryavatara. He covers verses 88-90. If suffering were inherently existent like a billiard ball, then you would only experience suffering and nothing else like joy. Like suffering, happiness is not inherent in places, people, or things.
Meditation: mindfulness of feelings. Rest in the luminous, clear nature of awareness, holding its own ground. Let awareness illuminate sensations and feelings in the space of the body. Examine feelings closely. Does pleasure/pain exist like an atom? Is feeling embedded in sensations? Is there a nucleus of feeling? Is it influenced by your observation? Is the feeling already there as pleasure/pain?
Teaching pt2: Meditation on emptiness leads to the Middle Way. For someone who is well prepared, realization of emptiness leads to compassion and bliss. For someone who is still self-centered, direct insight into emptiness can lead to grief and fear.

Meditation starts at: 01:06:08

Teaching pt1. Alan revisits the 4th immeasurable equanimity. The Pali canon emphasizes a sense of imperturbability or emotional balance. In this spirit, Alan reads a section from Dudjom Lingpa’s Sharp Vajra of Conscious Awareness Tantra. Hoping for and clinging to things regarded as good and fearing things regarded as bad will lead to misery and suffering. Whatever joys and sorrows arise, these are mere appearances which are not to be blocked. Just stop reifying—i.e., the feeling of joy or sorrow and its causes. The mind that reifies appearances is the root that needs to be blocked.
Meditation. Equanimity with suffering in the past, present, and future. 1) Direct your attention to a situation in your own past which you found very difficult and led to suffering. Can you distinguish between the event that arose to meet you and your response to that event? If there is suffering, you identified an event as bad. Can you observe phenomena as phenomena and distinguish that from your designation? The basis is empty of your conceptual designation. The feeling of suffering is also an empty appearance. In all adversity, as an active participant, you designated something as bad and experienced suffering as a result. 2) Is there anything here and now that troubles you? What is the basis for your designation? See the emptiness of both the basis and your designation. Once you withdraw reification, form is emptiness, emptiness is form, and there is neither benefit nor harm. 3) Is there anything in the future you dread? What is the object that you fear or find unpleasant? Is your unhappiness lodged out there in the object? The object doesn’t exist at all, nor does the unhappiness. No more substantial than a mirage, they are all empty appearances arising and dissolving in space.
Teaching pt2. Once hopes and fears are released, the mind settles in the center. In the center, there is neither pleasure nor pain, but a sense of equanimity. Beware of falling into dullness and indifference. Maintain lucidity while resting in the center, and it dissolves into a well-spring of bliss.

Meditation starts at 15:00

Teaching pt1: With respect to the Madhyamaka, 1) hearing means that you understand the View as presented, 2) reflection means that you relate the teachings to your own experience, and 3) meditation means investigation based on shamatha to penetrate to direct realization. Alan elaborates on verses 90-92 of Ch. 9 of the Bodhicaryavatara. Suffering arises in dependence on causes and conditions; however, neither suffering nor joy is inherently existent. They are conventionally there without investigation, without analysis. However, upon analysis, neither is there from its own side. Just as causes and conditions can shift to produce either suffering or joy, conceptual designation can also be shifted by the observer participant. Reification is the problem, and this is the antidote to reification.
Meditation: mindfulness of feelings preceded by mindfulness of the body. 

1) mindfulness of the body. Let awareness illuminate the space of the body and tactile sensations therein. With discerning mindfulness note each of the 5 elements. When the mind is quiet, perceive tactile sensations as tactile sensations. Do sensations bear an intrinsic identity? 

2) mindfulness of feelings. Closely apply mindfulness to feelings that arise with tactile sensations. Are they static or in flux? Are they pleasurable or unpleasurable? Do they have an owner? Choose a spot on the body where you experience a feeling, and observe with samadhi the appearance, and see what you see. Now experiment on that same spot by deliberately labelling the sensation as pleasant or unpleasant. Reify it as being absolutely there. Now withdraw the designation and reification, and observe the impact with a quiet mind. Once some clarity arises, stop investigating, and simply maintain that knowing.
Teaching pt2: By withdrawing conceptual designation, reification is also withdrawn, yet it is possible to conceptually designate without reification. No reification means no klesas, and no klesas mean no suffering.
Q1. Please explain how to generate a proper vacant gaze.

Q2. What criteria can I use to determine whether I should receive a Vajrayana empowerment and do the practice?

Meditation starts at 43:44

In the Mahayana, equanimity is a sense of evenness or equality between self and other. In order to practice guru yoga where there is non-duality between your own mind and the guru’s mind, pure vision for both self and guru is needed.
Meditation. Equanimity from verses 90-119 in Ch. 8 of the Bodhicaryavatara. Since everyone experiences suffering and happiness, I must protect others from suffering just as I protect myself. My suffering does not affect another, and another’s suffering does not affect me. Just as my suffering is difficult for me due to clinging, so is another’s suffering for him/her. Suffering has no owner. All suffering is equally ahorrent. Therefore, I must eliminate suffering in myself and others just because it’s suffering. But how about the suffering associated with compassion? Compared to the suffering in the world, this suffering is small and must be endured for one’s own and others’ sake through habituation.

Meditation starts at 5:13

Teaching pt1: In buddhist epistemology, valid perception depends on an object, sense faculty, and continuum of consciousness. While the Shravakayana takes all three as real, Madhyamaka asserts their emptiness. Alan continues with verses 93-103 of Ch. 9 of the Bodhicaryavatara which addresses the origination of feelings. In buddhist epistemology, feelings arise from contact, so Shantideva deconstructs contact. If there’s an interval, there can be no actual contact between an object and sense faculty. If there’s no interval, the object and sense faculty would be one. Consciousness is immaterial, so how can it have any contact with a material object? Without contact, how can feelings arise? If the experiencer doesn’t truly exist nor feelings truly exist, why does craving arise when looking at an object? Feelings don’t arise to the mind like objects of perception. Feelings arise together with the mind as a mode of apprehending the object. Mind itself has illusion-like nature, so feelings too lack inherent existence.
Meditation: mindfulness of feelings preceded by mindfulness of the body. 

1) mindfulness of the body. Settle the mind in the stillness of the present moment. Rest in the stillness of awareness by releasing all grasping. From that stillness, let awareness illuminate the space of the body. With naked awareness (no concepts!), observe sensations in the field of the body, and perceive each of the 5 elements via those sensations. 

2) mindfulness of feelings. Can you distinguish between sensations and feelings? Closely apply mindfulness to feeling, and examine its nature. Probe the feelings. Probe the sensations. Now turn awareness on the experiencer. When some insight into empty nature arises, stop investigating, and just rest in that knowing.
Teaching pt2: Geshe Rabten’s advice on dealing with klesas: 1) the best way is to observe them directly, sharply, without entering into cognitive fusion, 2) if that fails, apply other antidotes, and 3) if that fails, move attention away from the object. Fighting klesas is like guerilla warfare.
Q1. How can I increase the resolution of images in the mind? At times, I find it helpful to hold onto blurry images, but this may not be good practice.

Q2. Please elaborate on the 4 types of mindfulness in settling the mind. Are there signposts in awareness of awareness?

Meditation starts at 50:04

Teaching pt1. Alan begins a new cycle on the 4 greats. While the 4 immeasurables don’t require a particular world view, the 4 greats are firmly rooted in the buddhist world view. “With meditative equipoise, one sees reality as it is. When on sees reality as it is, the bodhisattva develops great compassion.” The liturgy contains four lines. 1) Why couldn’t we all be free from suffering and its causes? It is helpful to consider all sentient beings as referring to all those we encounter. 2) May we be free from suffering and its causes. There is no time limit on this aspiration. 3) May I free us from suffering and its causes. This intention is realistic only from the perspective of rigpa. 4) May the gurus and buddhas bless me, so that I may be enabled.
Meditation. Great compassion. Establish meditative equipoise by settling body, speech, and mind and mindfulness of breathing. Dissolve your ordinary identity by reflecting on the emptiness of your own body. In its place, your primordial consciousness crystalizes into an energy body. 1) Why couldn’t we all be free from suffering and its causes? Reflect on the whole world and specific people who come to mind. Draw the conclusion that freedom is possible because all sentient beings have buddhanature. 2) May we be free from suffering and its causes. 3) May I free us from suffering and its causes. Imagine your own buddhanature as a small white orb of light at your heart chakra. With every in breath, make resolve to free self and others and imagine others’ suffering in the form of darkness converging at and extinguished within the white orb. 4) May the gurus and buddhas bless me, so that I may be enabled. With every in breath, light from all enlightened beings come in from all directions and fills your body and mind. With every out breath, light flows out to all sentient beings, relieving their suffering and its causes.
Teaching pt2. Nothing can be said to be inherently virtuous. Motivation is key, and coupled with great compassion, the shamatha practices we’re doing here can also be quite virtuous.

Meditation starts at: 24:33

Teaching pt1: Alan continues with his commentary on the section on mindfulness of feelings in Ch. 13 of Shantideva’s Compendium of Practices. Regard feelings as feelings which stills cognitive fusion with them. Have great compassion for those who grasp onto joy. Those who do not grasp onto feelings experience true well-being. Whenever you experience pleasant feelings, generate great compassion for all sentient beings who suffer from attachment, and abandon attachment. Whenever you experience painful feelings, generate great compassion for all sentient beings who suffer from hatred, and abandon hatred. Whenever you experience neutral feelings, generate great compassion for all sentient beings who suffer from delusion, and abandon delusion. Experience no attachment to pleasant feelings, no aversion to painful feelings, and no ignorance with regards to neutral feelings. Recognize pleasant feelings as impermanent, painful feelings as unsatisfying, and neutral feelings as peaceful and identityless.
Meditation: mindfulness of feelings as above combined with great compassion. Apply mindfulness to the field of the body and the mind. Observe how sensations in the body and thoughts/images in the mind act as cooperative conditions for feelings. Let awareness be still as you recognize feelings as feelings. When encountering a pleasant feeling, recognize impermeance, unpleasant feeling as unsatisfying, neutral feeling as having no owner and no inherent existence. Weaving together great compassion… Whenever you encounter a pleasant/painful/neutral feeling, arouse great compassion for all those suffering from attachment/hatred/delusion. Repeat the liturgy and visualizations from this morning for each type of feeling.
Teaching pt2: Simply being present with won’t change conventional reality. Conventional reality needs to be challenged with direct realization of emptiness. Only then, can withdrawing or changing conceptual designation alter your reality.
Q1. I have chronic tinitus, and the severity of the whistling is normally correlated to my stress level. Here in retreat, I’m feeling very relaxed, but the whistling is quite loud. Is this being produced by shifts in prana?

Q2. How does the body exist? The bundle of space-energy-matter appears to the substrate consciousness as my body, but without the substrate consciousness, that bundle of space-energy-matter is still there.

Meditation starts at: 30:56

Great compassion is the principal practice of the 4 greats. Alan continues with great loving-kindness.
Meditation. Great loving-kindness. Visualize the primordial buddha Samantabhadra, deep-blue in color. From now until perfect awakening, take refuge in Samantabhadra, the dharma revealed by all the buddhas, and the sangha of vidyadharas. At the crown of your head, Samantabhadra melts into light, streams down your central channel, and reforms at your heart chakra, merging with your body, speech, and mind. 1) Why couldn’t we all find perfect happiness and its causes? Each one of us has pristine awareness, the cause, and are awaiting the contributing circumstances. 2) May we find perfect happiness and its causes. With out breath, light from Samantabhadra at your heart chakra spreads in all directions, leading each sentient being to fulfillment. With every out breath, arouse the intention 3) May I lead every sentient being to perfect happiness and its causes, and imagine each one finding perfect awakening. 4) May the gurus and the buddhas bless me, so that I may be enabled. With every in breath, light from all enlightened beings come in from all directions. With every out breath, light flows out to all sentient beings.
Teaching. Qualified teachers of the Mahayana and Vajrayana usually say that one needs a lot of merit in order to achieve shamatha. This is true. However, we shouldn’t think that we don’t have enough merit, so it’s not worth trying. As Dromtönpa said, give up all attachment to this life and let your mind become dharma. While you are actually cultivating shamatha and practicing the 4 immeasurables, you are accumulating merit.

Meditation starts at 04:40

Teaching pt1: Alan continues with his commentary on the section on mindfulness of feelings in Ch. 13 of Shantideva’s Compendium of Practices. When experiencing a painful feeling, develop great compassion for beings who fixate on feelings, totally identify with them, hold them close, misapprehend them, and ruminate about them. Let the feeling arouse compassion. One may also use a wisdom approach by inquiring who is the one who experiences the feeling? By gaining insight into the emptiness of the experiencer, one penetrates the entire system of simultaneous interdependence with the object and the feeling as mode of experience. Finally, one views feelings from the perspective of rigpa—i.e., peaceful, pure, and luminous. The first step is recognizing the feeling as a feeling, by being able to distinguish between the stillness of your own awareness and movements of mind. Only then, can we choose to react wisely, such as following Shantideva’s advice of remaining as still as a log of wood in the presence of klesas.
Meditation: Silent session with mindfulness of feelings following the compassion or wisdom method outlined above or another practice of your choice.
Q1. You’ve taught 3 methods of shamatha. It appears that in all of them, the practitioner takes the throne of awareness, and only the objects differ. The practices could be called awareness of the breath, awareness of the mind, and awareness of awareness. Upon achieving shamatha, is it possible to focus on any chosen object without effort? What is the role of the counterpart sign? Is it reasonable to switch back and forth between the 3 methods?

Meditation starts at 26:30

Teaching pt1. Alan continues with the series on the 4 greats with great empathetic joy. Unlike empathetic joy in the Pali canon, great empathetic joy is an aspiration. There’s a similar liturgy. 1) Why couldn’t all sentient beings never be parted from happiness free of suffering? This doesn’t refer to hedonic pleasure but eudaimonia. It also refers to freedom from all three kinds of suffering. 2) May we all never be parted from happiness free of suffering. 3) I shall do it. 4) May I receive blessings from all the enlightened ones to do so.
Meditation. Great empathetic joy. Let your awareness illuminate the space of the body and the space of the mind. The human body is imputed upon the appearances within the space of the body, and the human mind upon the appearances within the space of the mind. Yet these appearances are empty of body and mind. Imagine pristine awareness as an orb of light at your heart chakra. Withdraw all appearances into this orb, and reimagine your human form as transparent, radiant light with the nature of Avalokiteshvara. Inquire 1) Why couldn’t all sentient beings never be parted from happiness free of suffering? What would be needed to bring this about? Arouse the aspiration 2) may we all never be parted from happiness free of suffering. Arouse the intention from your pristine awareness 3) I shall do it. 4) May I receive blessings from all the enlightened ones to do so. With every in breath, blessings in the form of light come in from all directions and fill your body. With every out breath, light flows out in all directions, bringing sentient beings to happiness without suffering.
Teaching pt2. Try to achieve a smooth transition between meditation sessions and post-meditation sessions. In between sessions, act as an illusory being. This instruction helps withdraw reification of body and mind.

Meditation starts at 8:15

Teaching pt1: Alan revisits the 3rd application of mindfulness to the mind. Mindfulness means recollection. Here, we are taking the impure mind as the object of investigation. Specifically, we are examining the reified sense of “my mind”. Alan continues with verses 102-103 of Ch. 9 of Shantideva’s Bodhicaryavatara. The mind is not located in the sense faculties, sense objects, nor in between. It is nowhere to be found. Therefore, it is non-existent. As this impure mind which keeps us in samsara is actually non-existent, we sentient beings are by nature liberated. Realizing the empty nature of your own mind is realizing nirvana.

Alan gives instructions on gentle vase breathing which is an optional accompaniment to settling the mind. Practice this only in the upright position. Keeping your respiration natural, use a teaspoon of effort to maintain the roundness of the belly during both in and out breaths. Eventually, you will be able to do this on auto-pilot and direct your full attention to the space of the mind.
Meditation: Mindfulnes of the mind preceded by settling the mind. 

1) settling the mind. Let the breath flow naturally, and experiment with gentle vase breathing. When the belly expands with the in breath, hold the roundness, and let the breath flow out naturally. Open your eyes, and direct the full force of mindfulness to the space of the mind and its contents. 

2) mindfulness of the mind. Hold in mind that which you grasp onto as your mind. Can you find it in the body, in objects, in the space of the mind, or in mental events? If the mind is still, do you still have a mind? Investigate the mind as a whole and parts. How does the mind arise? Do mental events have inherent nature? Do the most elemental components of the mind has their own attributes? The mind is empty. The appearances are empty. Emptiness is nirvana waiting to be unveiled.
Q1. What are the 2 kinds of composites?

Q2. When the counterpart sign arises, initially it is difficult to sustain. Is this due to absence of mindfulness? Should we invert consciousness upon itself to access the counterpart sign, or should we dwell in the substrate and wait for it to reappear? 

Q3. How does the acquired sign appear?

Meditation starts at 40:00

Teaching pt1. Alan continues with the series on the 4 greats with great equanimity. There’s a similar liturgy beginning with 1) why couldn’t all sentient beings abide in great equanimity free from attachment to those who are close and aversion to those who are far? There are various levels of equanimity. In settling the mind, still awareness and a lack of preference for all arisings are crucial for the mind to settle in its natural state. If you respond with anything other than equanimity, you are not doing the practice. In vipasyana, subjective awareness itself is established as empty as are the appearances arising to the mind and their referents. In dzogchen, samsara and nirvana are not only equally empty but equally pure and equally expressions of rigpa.
Meditation. Great equanimity. Let your awareness illuminate the space of the body and the space of the mind. Your body is neither the space nor the sensations, either individually or collectively. Rest in the emptiness of your body. Your mind is neither the space nor the mental events, either individually or collectively. Rest in the emptiness of your mind. If your subjective mind is empty, so are all the sense objects out there. Rest in the emptiness of the environment. Release all grasping, and let your awareness come to rest in its ground state. Imagine pristine awareness as an orb of light at your heart chakra. Inquire 1) why couldn’t all sentient beings abide in great equanimity free from attachment to those who are close and aversion to those who are far? Arouse the aspiration 2) may we all abide in great equanimity. Arouse the intention 3) I shall do it. 4) May I receive blessings from all the enlightened ones to do so. With every in breath, blessings in the form of light come in from all directions. With every out breath, that light flows out in all directions.
Teaching pt2. Imperturbability, equanimity, and balance are signs that your practice is working.
Those in long-term shamatha retreat have a clear preference for a good environment. Equanimity is dharma practice, not just shamatha practice, and we should develop equanimity towards all appearances (mind, body, and environment). It’s about the quality of awareness we bring to reality, not the quality of the experience rising to meet us.

Meditation starts at: 11:55

Teaching pt1: Alan continues with verses 104-105 of Ch. 9 of Shantideva’s Bodhicaryavatara. Since awareness cannot precede, co-occur, nor follow the object of awareness, awareness is not inherently real. Similarly, no phenomenon comes into (inherent) existence. Inherently existent phenomena cannot causally interact with anything. Only conventionally does awareness arise in dependence on an object. 

Alan talks about the entry point of the 5 paths and 10 bhumis as outlined in Asanga’s Abisamaya Alankara and summarized into the 4 yogas of Mahamudra in Karma Chagme’s Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen.
Shamatha is the first step on the yoga of single-pointedness. The 4 applications of mindfulness brings you from earth-like bodhicitta to gold-like bodhicitta. Shamatha is the on-ramp to the bodhisattvayana.
Meditation: Mindfulnes of the mind preceded by awareness of awareness. 

1) awareness of awareness. Settle the mind in the immediacy of the present moment. With every out breath, release awareness into space without an object. With every in breath, awareness converges on itself for an unelaborated experience of being aware. There is nothing to think about. Just taste it continually.

2) mindfulness of the mind. While you may have the sense that mind is empty, how about awareness which seems really there? Does awareness have attributes? Is it static? Does it have the quality of knowing? Luminosity and clarity? Is awareness still? What is the nature of awareness with these attributes? What is the distinction between awareness and non-awareness? Awareness and appearances? Rest non-conceptually in knowing emptiness of awareness—emptiness by nature luminous, luminosity by nature empty.
Teaching pt2: Alan describes the development of ESP and other paranormal abilities. In the Theravada, paranormal abilities require realizing the dhyanas for each element. In the Mahayana, paranormal abilities appear in the first two paths through the union of shamatha and vipasyana on the nature of awareness.

meditation starts at: 55:00

Teaching. Alan repeats the series on the 4 greats, starting with great compassion. Focusing on the cause of suffering, we have experienced during the retreat that the mind caught up in rumination is very vulnerable to suffering. Mind is beaten up by samsara. Without shamatha, the mind is dysfunctional. When the mind is able to rest in the substrate, there is no blatant suffering. The proper way to view shamatha is not as an end itself, but as an on-ramp to the path of awakening.
Meditation. Great compassion preceded by settling body, speech, and mind. 

1) settling body, speech, and mind. Let your awareness illuminate the space of the body, without entering into the body. Relinquish all control over the breath, releasing all thoughts with every out breath. Simply observe the flow of the breath. In the spirit of renunciation, let awareness be still in the present moment.

2) great compassion. Turn your awarenss outwards. Inquire 1) why couldn’t we all be free from suffering and the causes of suffering? All sentient beings have substrate consciousness. 2) May we realize this freedom. 3) May I free each one. 4) May I receive blessings from the guru and all the enlightened ones to do so. With every in breath, light comes in from all directions, empowering you to fulfill your aspiration. With every out breath, that light flows out in all directions, freeing each sentient being you encounter.

Meditation starts at 03:40

Teaching pt1: Alan begins his commentary on the section on mindfulness of the mind in Ch. 13 of Shantideva’s Compendium of Practices. Where is the mind that becomes attached, hateful, or deluded? It has no location, basis, or form. The mind is not seen by any of the buddhas. The mind is like an illusion because it apprehends events with unreal projections. Even though one looks for the mind everywhere, it is not to be found. This means it is unobservable which means it doesn’t arise in the 3 times which means it transcends the 3 times which means it is neither existent nor non-existent. The same holds for rigpa which is beyond conceptualization.
Meditation: Mindfulness of the mind preceded by settling the mind. 

1) settling the mind. Let your eyes be open with a vacant gaze. Turning away from the 5 sensory domains, direct your attention to the mental domain. Observe the space of the mind and all mental events arising therein illuminated by awareness holding its own ground. Sustain the flow of mindfulness without distraction, without grasping.

2) mindfulness of the mind. Is there any stable or unchanging? Are mental events intrisically the source of happiness or suffering? Is there anything here which is intrinsically mine? Is there anything here that is really mind? Is it anywhere to be found? Mind that is nowhere to be found nor has any attributes is empty. Rest in the emptiness of your own mind.
Teaching pt2: Paranormal abilities are cited as the 4 legs of miraculous activity attained within the first yoga of single-pointedness.
Q1. What is the difference between the space of the mind when it’s still and awareness of awareness? There is nothing there in either, so can we speak of vacuity? Is it transparent and spacious? 

Q2. How long does it take to get to each stage in shamatha and maintain it? Once shamatha has been attained, how to maintain it?

Q3. In awareness of awareness, do the eyes focus on the space before us?

Q4. How can we relate to others experiencing the wrath of samsara? 

Q5. In the 4 immeasurables, the visualization and aspiration require effort and don’t work when I’m relaxed.

Meditation starts at 31:15

Teaching pt1. Alan continues the series on the 4 greats with great loving-kindness. Hedonic well-being is important, and the understanding of cause and effect in the natural world by modern science has made important contributions. In union with shamatha, knowing reality as it is through the wisdom of dependent origination and emptiness leads to durable eudaimonia.
Meditation. Great loving-kindness preceded by mindfulness of the body and the mind. 

1) mindfulness of the body. Seated on its throne, awareness illuminates the space of the body and appearances therein. Closely apply mindfulness to the body, withholding all concepts and labels. The appearances are empty of concepts, empty of the body. Sustain the flow of mindful knowing without distractions, without grasping. 

2) mindfulness of the mind. With your eyes open, direct awareness to the space of the mind and mental events, withholding conceptual designations. They are empty of concepts, empty of the mind. Withdraw the light of awareness from all appearances and turn it onto itself. Attend closely to awareness in the present moment. Where is awareness to be found? It is unfindable, unknowable, empty.

3) great loving-kindness. Turn your awarenss outwards. All sentient beings have primordial consciousness, so 1) why couldn’t we all find happiness and the causes of happiness? 2) May we all find happiness and its causes. 3) May I lead each one to happiness and its causes. 4) May I receive blessings from the guru and all the enlightened ones to do so. With every in breath, light comes in from all sides, filling your body and mind. With every out breath, that light flows out in all directions, leading each sentient to their own awakening.
Teaching pt2. While in retreat, we’ve been breathing in meditative equipoise. As we leave retreat, we need to breath out the 4 immeasurables, especially when reality is not dishing out the circumstances for shamatha. Dharma practice requires balance, and we need to be able to respond to reality with great mental suppleness.

Meditation starts at 5:10

Teaching pt1: Alan completes his commentary on the section on mindfulness of the mind in Ch. 13 of Shantideva’s Compendium of Practices. The mind is not really seen anywhere—e.g., inside, outside, in the skandhas, in the elements, etc… From what does the mind arise? Does the mind arise from an object? If so, are they the same or other? Mind cannot see itself just as a blade cannot cut itself. Ordinary mind is never still, being conscious of one thing after another. A stable mind is still, single-pointed, not agitated, not scattered, single-pointedly quiescent, and free of distraction. One should dedicate oneself to purifying the mind which also purifies the body and the environment. One should always retain the ultimate reality of the mind—i.e., mind is like an illusion. Whenever you experience attachment or aversion, probe right into the referent, since klesas are rooted in reification of the object. Whenever your mind is tormenting you, look for it, and see that it is not there.
Meditation: Mindfulness of the mind preceded by mindfulness of breathing at the nostrils. 

1) mindfulness of breathing. Let your awareness illuminate the space of the body, especially the sensations associated with the breath. Focus on the sensations of the breath at the nostrils. From there, give increasing attention to the space of the mind, until all your attention is focused on the impure mind.

2) mindfulness of the mind. Where is this impure mind? Do you see it? From what does it arise? Invert your awareness on the subject who is inquiring. Is the mind still or in motion? If the mind is in motion, where does it come from, and where is it going? Rest in the emptiness and luminosity of your own awareness free of concepts.
Teaching pt2: Atisha commented, “Achieve stability, and let the mystery be revealed.” Shamatha cultivates the unflickering flame of awareness that investigates its own nature.
Q1. Can the arts be a way to introduce buddhist teachings? 

Q2. In settling the mind, are feelings mental states associated with physical sensations? I find myself attending to both feelings and physical sensations, since it’s easier to detect feelings via physical sensations. 

Q3. Is it possible to recognize an emotion before it is manifest in the body? If so, is this a sign of clarity?

Meditation starts at 36:15

Teaching. Alan continues the series on the 4 greats with great empathetic joy. When you become lucid in a dream, happiness arises from knowing reality as it is. As long as you remain lucid, nothing in the dream can cause suffering. Therefore, the instruction is to stay lucid by not losing the recognition of the dream as a dream. Shamatha helps you sustain lucidity. Vipasyana counters our ingrained tendency to reify everything. When you break through the substrate consciousness to primordial consciousness, the instruction is similar: don’t lose the recognition by sustaining the view of rigpa. There is nothing else to do.
Meditation. Great empathetic joy. Let your awareness permeate the space of the body and come to rest in the immediacy of the present moment. In the space before you, visualize Samantabhadra, the personification of your own primordial awareness, deep blue in color and radiating a sapphire light. Take refuge in the primordial buddha Samantabhadra, the dharma of all the buddhas, and the sangha of vidyadharas. Samantabhadra comes to the crown of your head, dissolves into indigo light, flows the your central channel, and reforms at your heart chakra. Your own body, speech, and mind become indivisible with Samantabhadra. Light permeates the space of your body and your empty mind. From this perspective, inquire 1) why couldn’t all sentient beings never be parted from happiness free of suffering? Arouse the aspiration 2) may we never be parted from such well-being. Arouse the intention 3) as long as space remains, as long as time remains, I shall do whatever is needed to bring this about. 4) May I receive blessings from the guru Samantabhadra and all the enlightened ones to carry through. With every in breath, light from all the buddhas flow in from all directions, saturating your being and purifying all negativities. With every out breath, light flows out in all directions, dispelling all negativities and doing whatever is needed to bring all sentient beings to lasting happiness without suffering.

Meditation starts at 13:21

Teaching pt1: Alan gives his and the Dalai Lama’s commentary on the section on mindfulness of phenomena in verses 105-112 of Ch. 9 of Shantideva’s Bodhicaryavatara. Just as the mind does not come into existence, in the same way, we come to certainty that no phenomenon comes into existence. That which we perceive cannot be more real than our perception of it. Two objections are discussed. 1) If conventional truth doesn’t exist, then does nothing exist at all? If phenomena are just apparitions to a confused mind, then wouldn’t whatever anyone says be true? According to the Madhyamaka, entities and non-entities (e.g., a rabbit’s horn) are both conceptual designations—i.e., neither exists from its own side—but entities i) have causal efficacy and ii) can be established by verifiable cognition (incl. both perception and understanding). The mind which conceives and the object conceived are simultaneously interdependent, so neither is inherently real. An action depends on an agent, and an agent depends on an action. 2) Wouldn’t the analysis of that which is analyzed lead to infinite regression? Awareness that apprehends the emptiness of an entity is focused on emptiness, not the entity. Inverting the analysis upon awareness, one establishes that awareness is empty and emptiness is empty. There is nothing more to analyze.
Meditation: Mindfulness of phenomena preceded by mindfulness of the mind. 

1) mindfulness of the mind. Let your eyes be open, gaze rested evenly. Simply be present without distraction, without grasping. Withdraw attention from all appearances and rest in the knowing of being aware. Probe into the nature of awareness. What is the thing that performs functions such as being still or following after an object and has these attributes of luminosity and cognizance? Can you find this awareness separated from all appearances? Know that absence and sustain that flow of knowing.

2) mindfulness of phenomena. Return your attention to objects of the 6 sense domains. Focus on one object, and probe its nature. What is really there from its own side? Rest in emptiness and sustain that flow of knowing
Teaching pt2: Alan speaks about William James who understood that introspection was the first and foremost method for the scientific inquiry of the mind. Although his vision has been ignored by much of the modern mind sciences, the contemplative observatory in Bangalore will offer a setting for contemplative knowing to engage with modern scientific knowledge.

Meditation starts at 57:03

Teaching pt1. Alan completes the 2nd cycle on the 4 greats with great equanimity. Literally, it refers to freedom from attachment to the near and aversion to the far. There is nothing closer than our own awareness. Thogyal—direct crossing over or leaping over—means traversing the bhumis in leaps and bounds to complete enlightenment.
Meditation. Great equanimity preceded by mindfulness of the mind. 

1) mindfulness of the mind. Let your mind release all thoughts about that which has already happened and not yet happened, and let your awareness dwell in the fleeting present moment. Awareness is still, naturally clear, and rest in the flow of knowing of being aware. Can you identify from where it emerges? If it doesn’t arise from anything, it is unborn. Can you identify where it is to be found? If it cannot be found, it is non-existent. Does awareness cease? If it does not cease, it is ceaseless. Rest in awareness that is unborn non-existent, and ceaseless.

2) great equanimity. From that perspective, inquire 1) why couldn’t all sentient beings dwell in great equanimity free from attachment to the near and aversion to the far? 2) May we all dwell in great equanimity. 3) I shall bring all beings to great equanimity. 4) May I receive blessings from all the enlightened ones and the guru to do so. With every in breath, blessings in the form of light come in from all directions. With every out breath, light of purification flows out in all directions, dispelling all obscurations.
Teaching pt2. Despite India’s unparalleled history in exploring the mind, modern scientific materialism has become the dominant paradigm in its leading institutions. Modern science lacks testable theories of the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and the origin of consciousness. The practices of shamatha, vipasyana, trekchö, and thogyal lead to direct experience of primordial consciousness and its energy, putting the following theories to the test. Does primordial consciousness give rise to substrate consciousness which in turn gives rise to individuated consciousness? Does the energy of primordial consciousness—non-dual from primordial consciousness—give rise to life? Does the dharmadhatu—also non-dual from primordial consciousness—give rise to the environment?

Meditation starts at 7:30

Teaching pt1: Alan gives his commentary on the section on mindfulness of phenomena in Ch. 13 of Shantideva’s Compendium of Practices. This section challenges our view that we’re leaving the Mind Center and returning to the mundane world. Contemplating phenomena as phenomena can be understood in terms of the 3 turnings of the wheel of dharma. In the 1st turning, we closely apply mindfulness to phenomena. Because phenomena deceive, the 2nd turning instructs viewing them as empty, illusion-like.

Meditation: Mindfulness of phenomena preceded by mindfulness of the mind. In the 3rd turning, buddha mind is omnipresent, there is no difference between your mind and dharmakaya, and all sentient beings have the potential for perfect awakening. The lattermost points to pure perception where there is nothing where the qualities of the buddhas cannot be found. Phenomena are devoid of klesas, for when we probe into their nature, the 3 poisons arise from the 3 qualities of the substrate consciousness or more deeply, the 5 poisons are in fact the 5 wisdoms of primordial consciousness. There is nothing that brings about phenomena points to the ultimate truth. There is nothing that arises without a cause points to the conventional truth. In this context, mindfulness means to bear in mind this way of viewing reality.
Meditation. Mindfulness of phenomena preceded by mindfulness of the mind.

1) mindfulness of the mind. Let you awareness walk the tightrope of the immediacy of the present moment. What is the nature of awareness? Can you find it? Can you observe it arising and passing? What’s the border between awareness and appearances?

2) mindfulness of phenomena. Direct your attention to the world of phenomena. Whatever comes to mind, distinguish between the basis of designation and your designation. The basis of designation is empty of designation. The basis of designation isn’t arising out there. All appearances are empty of their own identity, and emptiness is none other than the luminosity of all phenomena. Sustain this flow of knowing.
Teaching pt2: We’re bringing our practice to reality. When we have some wisdom of emptiness and yeshe intuiting the blessings of the buddhas, we can perceive phenomena to be saturated by the blessings of the buddhas. Alan recounts a series of extraordinary coincidences along his own path.

Meditation starts at 55:22

Teaching: All the teachings are included in settling body, speech, and mind in their natural state. According to Asanga, sensations of the breath become increasingly subtle until prana dissolves into space. Conceptualizations diminish further and further until mind slips into non-conceptuality. Keep it simple. It’s the nature of the practice.
Meditation: Mindfulness of breathing preceded by settling body, speech, and mind. 

1) settling body, speech, and mind. Let your awareness illuminate the non-conceptual space of the body. Settle the body in ease and comfort. Settle the speech in silence. Let the breath flow in its natural rhythm. With every out breath, relax more and more deeply without losing clarity, utterly release the breath and let go of rumination, so your are especially silent and present at the end of each out breath. The in breath comes of its own accord. Release all thoughts of the past and future, and settle awareness in stillness in the present.

2) mindfulness of breathing. When the in breath is long, know that it is long. When the out breath is long, know that it is long. When the in breath is short, know that it is short. When the out breath is short, know that it is short. Let your awareness illuminate the space of the body and whatever tactile sensations arise therein, without distraction, without grasping. Awareness is not fused with the space of the body and its contents. Mindfully breath in and out, attending to the whole body.
Q1. In equanimity, does it mean we should react with satisfaction and contentment with things as they are? 

Q2. In formal and semi-formal shamatha retreat, should we hold the view between sessions by visualizing oneself as the deity and the environment as a pure land? If so, should we recite the mantra as well? 

Q3. As for the dying process, how can we help? How can non-buddhists prepare? 

Q4. How is remote viewing possible without dependence on the visual cortex? 

Q5. Returning to a socially engaged way of life, the qualities of relaxation, stability, and vividness will decline. Should we do intermittent short/long retreats for upkeep? 

Q6. According to the Madhyamaka, rigpa and buddhanature are also empty, suggesting nihilism. Rigpa and ultimate reality are in some sense real, but if we say they are real, that may be construed as eternalism. Nihilism is more prevalent in the modern world, and of the two, eternalism appears less dangerous.

Q7. How should we plan practice at home? Should we maintain a weekly structure as we have here, or do whatever we feel like? Practice shouldn’t be just limited to shamatha.

Meditation starts at 5: 35

Teaching: Alan completes his commentary on the section on mindfulness of phenomena in Ch. 13 of Shantideva’s Compendium of Practices. Composite phenomena are impermanent and unstable, rising quickly and passing away. This points to impermanence and relative reality. Although this is just the way things are, people may react with depression to the hedonic present, anxiety to the hedonic future, and PTSD to the hedonic past. Composite phenomena are also unmoving and empty, like an optical illusion. This points to their absolute nature, empty of inherent existence. Composite phenomena arise in dependence of causes and conditions. They are neither always there nor passing into non-existence. As for objects, so too for consciousness. All speech is like an echo, momentary and without essence. Its coming and going is unobservable. The essential nature of phenomena is like space. Conditions are empty and nameless. Neither the names nor their referents have any inherent existence. Names illuminate phenomena, but as soon as we reify them, they obscure their nature.
Meditation. Mindfulness of phenomena preceded by mindfulness of the mind.

1) mindfulness of the mind. Let your eyes be open, resting your gaze evenly. Rest awareness in the present moment, mindful presence without distraction, without grasping. You are aware, and you know it. What is the referent of awareness? What has its qualities of luminosity and cognizance? What are its boundaries? 

2) mindfulness of phenomena. Turn your attention outwards towards appearances arising in the relative dharmadhatu. Whatever comes to mind, examine its nature. Does anything exist from its own side? All composite phenomena are empty and unmoving. They appear, and yet are empty, mere configurations of empty space. With awareness still and clear, attend to emptiness and luminosity of all appearances.
Q1. Is it possible to experience timelessness in shamatha or only in the union of shamatha and vipasyana?

Q2. In a guided meditation, I applied vipasyana to an unpleasant feeling and made it go away. I still get stuck on visual appearances, like the square panel on the ceiling. I haven’t conceptually designated it, so how is it empty?

Meditation starts at 37:50

Meditation: Settling the mind preceded by settling body, speech, and mind. 

1) settling body, speech, and mind. Let your awareness come to rest in its own place. There may be knowing of knowing. Let your unmoving awareness illuminate the space of the body and the objective/subjective experiences. Observe them like an out-of-body experience.

2) settling the mind. Let your eyes be open, gaze vacant. Direct mindfulness single-pointedly to the space of the mind and its contents. Begin with mental images and discursive thoughts. Awareness in stillness illuminates the movements of the mind without distraction, without grasping. Monitor with introspection. If distracted, relax, release, and return. If spaced out, refresh, refocus, and retain. Let mindfulness include subjective impulses like feelings and desires. Take special note of the intervals between thoughts. Can the space of the mind be ascertained? The space where appearances of the mind arise from, remain, and dissolve into. With the mentally perceived, let there be just the mentally perceived.
Teaching: Alan speaks about how to make the teachings on emptiness practical. These teachings are designed to cut the root of mental afflictions by critiquing our views of reality. According to the Prasangika Madhyamaka, all the phenomena we experience arise in dependence on conceptual designations. We can see this process happening in our experience. Mindfulness of breathing cleans the lab. In settling the mind, awareness stops being jerked around, and with discernment, comes to view mental events as mere empty appearances in both meditation and post-meditation. You come to non-conceptual certainty that nothing in your mind can harm you, whether or not thoughts have ceased. Upon achieving shamatha, the power of samadhi flows right into sleep. The dream yoga practice of emanation and transformation strengthens the conviction that there is nothing here from its own side, just a world of possibility waiting to be designated. Sentient beings reify everything they experience. In practicing the 4 applications, ask yourself, “Do I reify anything?” When you experience craving or hostility (arising from delusion rooted in reification), identify the referent and probe its existence.

Meditation starts at: 1:00

Teaching: Alan presents the conclusion from Karma Chagme’s Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen. Emanation of Padmasambhava’s speech, Atisha addressed how to combine all the teachings of the 3 yanas into one practice. The fivefold practices are: 1) bodhicitta as motivation, 2) meditation on one’s own body as the deity, 3) meditation on one’s spiritual mentor as the deity, 4) view of non-conceptuality (insight into emptiness and rigpa), 5) dedication. Alan also introduces the 4 reliances: Rely not on the person but on the dharma. Rely not on words but on the meaning. Rely not on the provisional meaning but on the definitive meaning. Rely not on conditioned consciousness but on primordial consciousness. Both coarse mind and subtle mind (substrate consciousness) are conditioned consciousness.
Meditation. Fivefold practice with shamatha, vipasyana, and vajrayana. Attend closely to sentient beings who all wish to be free from suffering. Arouse bodhicitta to be achieve awakening for the sake of sentient beings. Practice mindfulness of breathing to clean the space of awareness. Let your awareness illuminate the space of the body and tactile sensations therein. Monitor the space of the mind. Include the flow of knowing already present: awareness of being aware. Probe into the nature/referent of awareness, and know emptiness. Imagine personification of primordial consciousness Samantabhadra before you. Take refuge in the ultimate source of refuge. Samantabhadra comes to your crown, dissolves into light, flows down your central channel, and reforms at the heart. With every in breath, light of all the buddhas flow in from all directions. With every out breath, light flows out serving the needs of sentient beings, guiding each one to freedom. Dedicate the practice with your most meaningful aspiration.
Q1. How can we keep motivation for practice fresh and unwavering?

Q2. What advice for people who want to do retreat? 

Q3. In mindfulness of breathing, sometimes I’m very aware that mind is right there. If I go into mind, it slows rumination. I’m not sure this is OK. Please explain the image of the air mattress. 

Q4. In settling the mind, sometimes everything is very vivid like I’m in right in the thick of things. Does this mean grasping?

Meditation starts at: 35:30

Teaching: Awareness of awareness is also known as shamatha without a sign. Sign refers to a target, so there’s no vector of attention. During the meditation, when you do the warm-up exercise of directing awareness in the 4 directions, don’t meditate or visualize the 4 directions. Just send out your antenna, or expand the space of awareness.
Meditation: Awareness of awareness. With your eyes open, evenly rest your gaze in the space before you. Simply be present in the present moment. Accentuate your awareness of being aware. A) Do the following oscillation at your own pace (coupling with the breath if helpful). Withdrawing from all appearances and really focusing with effort, invert your awareness on being aware. Utterly relaxing, release your awareness into space with no object. Invert on your sense of being the meditator, the agent doing the inversion. Invert on your sense of being the observer or subject experiencing your own awareness, and observe closely. If there’s an appearance of self, what’s aware of that appearance? B) Direct your attention straight up into space as far as you can. Let it come to rest in its own place. Direct your attention to your right as far as you can. Let your awareness come back to the center. Direct your attention to your left as far as you can. Let your awareness come back to the center. Direct your attention straight down into the space below you as far as you can. Let your awareness come back to the center. With closed eyes, rest your awareness at the heart chakra. With open eyes, release awareness into boundless space. Rest your awareness in the sheer luminosity and sheer cognizance of awareness.
Q1. In awareness of awareness, what’s the distinction between awareness in space and awareness holding its own ground?

Q2 In awareness of awareness, I’ve heard 2 terms used. When I hear awareness of awareness, I think of awareness of awareness of awareness, etc… You’ve also mentioned sheer awareness. 

Q3. In awareness of awareness, is this supposed to be like a Zen koan because of the conceptual impossibility of knowing that I’m aware?

Q4. In awareness of awareness, if awareness is still, how can I move it?

Q5. What’s the distinction between letting your awareness descend into the body and letting your awareness illuminate the space of the body?

Meditation starts at 06:15

Teaching: Alan shares the conclusion of phase 1 of the Dudjom Lingpa’s Sharp Vajra of Conscious Awareness Tantra. Phase 1 covers taking the impure mind as the path aka settling the mind. You identify the impure mind that is dissolved into substrate consciousness. How never to be separated from the experience of the practical instructions when distant from sublime spiritual friends. A sublime spiritual friend reveals the path. It is important to distinguish between path and not path. We need to practice diligently in this phase, as shamatha is indispensable when we venture into practice. We know the taste of luminosity and cognizance of awareness. We know substrate and substrate consciousness. But shamatha is just a preliminary to the path. If we just stay put, we don’t actually get on the freeway to liberation. Whether or not we’ve recognized rigpa, if our mind still gets distracted or dull, we need to mount conceptual mind like a cripple onto the blind stallion of the breath. Tethering the mind with attention, uncontrived, primordially present consciousness will manifest, and it will be easy for the guru’s introduction to pristine awareness to strike home. Alan concludes with some suggestions for further reading/study/practice.
Q1. In awareness of awareness, I don’t understand the instruction to forcefully withdraw attention. Is it correct to contract back towards me when inverting?

Q2 What does o laso mean? 

Q3. Can we still have emotions in a lucid dream?

Q4. When I practice emptiness of awareness, there’s an open feeling that’s not there when I practice awareness of awareness.