Fall 2015 Stage of Generation, Shamatha, Vipashyana and Mahamudra

Welcome to podcast listeners joining the eight-week retreat. Alan explains the lineage of these teachings and the text, A Spacious Path to Freedom by Karma Chagme, which all retreaters are encouraged to obtain and consult.

The function of any preliminary practice is to purify the mind and gather merit, and the fluctuations of the breath can be used to begin a progression of practices for training awareness to remain still in the middle of any activity.

Meditation starts at 46:00

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Recalling that our lives could end any moment and the importance of ensuring the continuity of our practice into the next lifetime, take refuge and generate bodhicitta.

The meditation explores the four questions of your heart’s desire, outer support, inner transformation, and your contribution to the world. If bodhicitta becomes a current underlying all desires, our practice between sessions on the cushion can help overcome our habitual reification of the world.

Meditation starts at 4:59

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Alan starts with a question - is the traffic noise a fortunate or unfortunate circumstance? Ultimately for the Vidyadhara, whatever appearances arise are displays of pristine awareness.

Meditation is on awareness resting in its own place with 20% peripheral awareness of breathing.

After meditation, Alan talks about how to get from here to enlightenment. Resting in the awareness of being cognizant, is marking the spot. Awareness is a glowing ember that melts right down to the substrate consciousness revealing bliss, luminosity and non conceptuality. If you can rest there without grasping at any of those three, then you have a chance of cutting through to rigpa. It punctures the reified membrane of our consciousness. That is the short version of the eight week retreat for those who are gifted.

Questions: 1) When thoughts or memories come up, do we release them or stay with them? 2) It seems like awareness and awareness of awareness are different, is that correct? 3) Is there a correlation between chakras and awareness?

Meditation starts at 20:52

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Alan begins by quoting Shantideva (Chapter 8 on meditation): “Those whose minds are distracted live within the fangs of mental afflictions.” He further comments that if we are ever to overcome the three mental afflictions of ignorance-delusion, craving-attachment, hatred-hostility, we need persistence during our entire lifetime, and if we have enthusiasm, the better. On the importance of silence, he adds that yogis have known for a long time that unnecessary speaking is detrimental to meditation and throws fire on mental afflictions.

The meditation is on Mindfulness of Breathing.

After meditation, Alan talks about the importance of a conducive lifestyle that supports meditation practice. He introduces the triad of View, Meditation and Way of Life. He comments that there are ways to view reality that are corrosive to the practice of meditation (e.g. holding a materialistic view). He also mentions the 5 prerequisites for achieving shamatha. He encourages us to establish a default mode of being present. The mainstream is going down the toilet, so don’t go with the flow! This is reminiscent of the Buddha’s words: “My teachings go against the grain.” Alan finally mentions the persistence and unwavering enthusiasm of HH the Dalai Lama.

Meditation starts at 10:03

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Alan starts by commenting on Asanga’s teachings on Mindfulness of Breathing, comparing them with the Theravada approach. He adds that a major theme throughout all the Buddhist teachings is relaxation. In fact he points out that the Buddha has perfected relaxation: at that level, all activity is effortless. A tiny facsimile of this can be seen on the path to shamatha. In the first phase of shamatha, we need to relax without losing clarity. This first point is especially important for people living in the modern world. Before jumping into the meditation, Alan comments that he is here to save us some time in order to achieve enlightenment, as HH the Dalai Lama said in the past. He adds also that in contemplative inquiry it is very important to maintain a flow of non conceptual cognisance, because this is the starting point that will eventually lead to the realisation of rigpa. So it is very important to sustain it from the very beginning of shamatha practice.

The meditation is on Mindfulness of Breathing.

Teaching: Alan starts the explanation of the preliminary practices by drawing from Dudjom Lingpa’s text “The Foolish Dharma of an Idiot Clothed in Mud and Feathers,” where the author presents the essence of the preliminary practices. Alan comments that currently we have a Precious Human Rebirth, with leisure and opportunity. This can be the life in which we can find a path. There is continuity of consciousness and right now we are sowing the seeds of our future. Alan asks: What is life? Is it a short story or a never-ending story? Alan concludes by quoting Drom Tompa: “Give up attachment to this life and let your mind become Dharma.”

Questions: 1) When practicing awareness resting in its own place with 20% peripheral awareness of breathing, if we go from there to awareness of awareness, if our eyes are closed, is that a problem?

Meditation starts at 23:30

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While maintaining relaxation with clarity in our practice of mindfulness of breathing, Alan encouraged us to cultivate a further emphasis of enhancing stability without losing one’s sense of ease. To achieve this, one of Vashubandu’s recommendations on technique in his six phases of mindfulness of breathing is to continually repeat counting from 1 to 10, with the count occurring on each inhalation. Do no more, nor less, and if one messes up, start again at one. However be playful with this technique. Keep continuously counting in blocks of 10 until you achieve samadhi!

Alan commented on resting in the substrate consciousness, whereby its light illuminates all appearances but does not enter into, merge or fuse with them. This resting is effortless and the technique of counting during Mindfulness of Breathing should be from that restfulness by just letting the mind do the counting.

Prior to meditation practice, we commenced our daily devotion by reciting once in Tibetan, once in English and then once silently, the prayers of going for refuge and of bodhichitta, and the seven line prayers and mantras (see separate post on Mahamudra Retreat Notes for these).

The meditation is on Mindfulness of Breathing

Following meditation, Alan spoke of finding balance in our meditation effort and referred to the familiar Tibetan drawing of the elephant, monkey, rabbit etc on the path of nine stages of shamatha meditation each with diminishing effort. The technique of counting during Mindfulness of Breathing can assist to balance the effort. Whilst 3 hours daily meditation practice is a good effort, the real catch is that the rest of our daily life also has to be one of contemplative effort. Alan said that we need to be cheerfully relentless in maintaining our flow of mindfulness, attentiveness and bodhicitta in everything we do.

Meditation starts at 31:03

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Alan began by reminding us that during the practice of Mindfulness of Breathing to just note sensations arising by surrendering all identification with them rather than identifying or claiming them. Shantideva was emphatic about developing an “I-it” relationship with all 84,000 catalogued mental afflictions. Alan quoted from one of his favourite Shantideva verses (Ch 3, v 11) “As a result of surrendering everything there is nirvana, and my mind seeks nirvana surrendering everything all at once. This is the greatest gift to all sentient beings”. Alan called this an amazing idea, and noted in surrendering everything one is just resting - discovery shamatha rather than developing it.

The meditation is on Mindfulness of Breathing.

Following meditation practice, Alan commented on the worthwhile value of discursive or analytical meditation (as emphasised in the Lam Rim). However his observation of students’ practice over the years is that cultivating our shamatha practice of Mindfulness of Breathing results in a shift of priorities in our lives towards greater appreciation of Dharma that taps into a deeper reality engendering a sense of well-being. This then provides the incentive for discursive meditation to develop understanding of Bodhicitta and the Four Immeasurables.

Alan then discussed point 2 of the text “The Foolish Dharma” (see Mahamudra Retreat Notes), noting the bounty of opportunities in the 6 independent variables of our body, environment etc, presents a highly unlikely set of circumstances. Hence if we find ourselves in this situation (as retreatants do), we should seriously apply the Dharma to one’s life so that it permeates our view of being in the world.

Questions: 1) During meditation practice involving counting the breath, when the mind activity settles there is sometimes a lack of ability or arousal to keep counting - what should I do about this? 2) During meditation practice what is your advice on posture and eye gaze in sitting and supine positions? 3) What are the advantages of meditating in the supine position?

Meditation starts at 14:08

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A classic approach to mindfulness of breathing.

Alan expands on the frequency of breathing when the body settles into the second phase… Attending to the breath I breathe in and out short. He discusses the frequency of the cycles of breathing and the volume in this phase and the scientifically demonstrated benefits to health and longevity.

He also explains the visualisation for the devotional practice at the beginning.

The meditation practice is mindfulness of the sensation of the breath at the nostrils.

Meditation starts at 20:15

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The five obscurations (like fixation on hedonic pleasure etc.) obscure what? Substrate Consciousness.

A single pointed mind is a natural remedy for all of the obscurations. Just breathing in an out doesn’t trigger craving or aversion. If you can get over the hump of boredom, there’s a sequence leading to well being, then clarity and stability until the experience becomes blissful. That’s what gets you down the home stretch. That is the beauty of this method.

The third and final point of the common preliminaries describes how we are like “reckless lunatics” riding “the wild steed of spiritual sloth” without reins to guide it. This is what happens if you miss the boat of Dharma. If you think you have experienced depression, when you understand this, it is like being cosmically depressed. This is the view of samsara from the point of view of a Vidyadhara where samsara and nirvana are equally pure It’s unimaginable! Dudjom Lingpa’s rigpa is speaking to your rigpa. So if it resonates, don’t second guess yourself, go for it.

When we fathom the reality of our own suffering, it gives rise to authentic renunciation. When you extend that out to other beings, it turns into compassion, then unbearable compassion for all beings, even the perpetrators of atrocities. Everything hinges on insight into these common preliminaries.

Silent Meditation begins at 21:10 and is not recorded

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Alan begins with the concept of intuition, a type of knowing which is difficult to define. It is unlike empirical knowledge with is based on observations and inferences from these observations. Alan discusses intuition as it relates to rigpa. Shamatha can train intuition by quietening and clearing the mind allowing intuition to come through.

The meditation is silent on the Mindfulness of Breathing.

Following the meditation Alan elaborates on the cultivation of compassion. An important step is the development of an I-It relationship to thoughts,emotions and images that arise. As Shantideva taught us, we should taunt the emotions and thoughts, dehumanise them and stand tall against them. Compassion arises from the awareness of suffering and sorrow. Is compassion the same as sorrow? Sorrow as an empathetic response is an emotion. However, compassion as an aspiration is not sorrowful. The compassionate aspiration “I shall liberate all sentient beings” has the effect of lifting us out of the veil and gloom of sorrow to the posibility of freedom. This gives great courage and conviction. Getting to the substrate consciousness is the half-way mark, the base camp. The real goal is rigpa from which great compassion arises.

Silent Meditation begins at 22:46 and is not recorded.

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Before the meditation Alan provides guidance on the mindfulness of breathing based on its natural rhythm. The central purpose of many of the advanced tantric practices is to bring the subtle energies into the central channel, to get our prana system into shape and achieve the mind of clear light. This is difficult within modernity due to our addiction to stimulation. The effortless route to untie the knots of the chakras is through mindfulness of breathing. The key to unblocking is to focus on the end the outbreath by being very still, silent and attentive at the very end point of exhalation. Alan suggests that we let the body breathe unimpeded in its natural rhythm.

Alan introduces the first uncommon preliminary by identifying two key elements of the Vajrayana. The first is some insight and understanding of emptiness of both self and phenomena. The second is an intuitive affirmation of the Dharmakaya, that the ground-state of our awareness is buddha nature. This has to be a “heart” understanding as there is no empirical evidence. Without these two elements it is not possible to practice the most secret level of guru yoga, seeing the guru as the Buddha. The true refuge is the Dharmakaya and guru yoga helps with this realisation. If this refuge doesn’t exist in our minds then it is better not to practice guru yoga. Reverence for the Buddha and teachings can still be achieved in degrees from seeing a teacher or guru as a spiritual friend or as an emissary (as in the Sutrayana). However, seeing the guru as a conduit and as the Buddha is true guru yoga and this requires the two elements. Blessing from the Dharmakaya will come from this.

Silent Meditation begins at 38:55 and is not recorded.

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Prior to meditation Alan continued on the topic of Guru Yoga and addressed the question ‘Why regard the person who is the Guru as a Buddha?’ The purpose of this is to help us realise that we are also Buddhas.

Our view of ourselves is based on our personal history which we reify. This is a deluded view of who/what we are, hiding our true nature. This reification of our ordinary selves makes it also difficult to view ourselves as a Buddha; the same perspective applied to a Guru will also make it difficult to see them as Buddha. However, the common denominator between ourselves and a Buddha is rigpa. We have a choice, to view our own minds as ordinary or to view it as rigpa which is indivisible from the Gurus mind.

So, importantly, 2 perspectives: 1. Are you a sentient being (yes) 2. Are you a Buddha? (yes, but from a different perspective - not an ordinary or reifying perspective.)In Guru Yoga we therefore dissolve this ordinary perspective of the Guru and also ourselves into emptiness and relate to Rigpa which is indivisible between the two.

Meditation focused on releasing all that you think you are into space.

The meditation starts at 27:45

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Alan starts by addressing belief. It seems we might need a lot of belief before we can practise. He explains there are two approaches: 1. by way of the view 2. by way of mediation. We can therefore go into shamatha, vipashyana and Mahamudra using a secular approach with open-mindedness, investigating over time. From the experience of meditation one can then develop confidence and faith.

He explains that when one develops genuine faith in a Guru it is transformative, intimate, personal and there are blessings. Alan then gives an example comparing the preliminaries of the Sutrayana and Vajrayana, drawing on the different perspectives. He finally addresses the second and third uncommon preliminaries. The second requires that we view our Vajra siblings from the same perspective as we view the Guru. That is, we attend to their Buddha nature. The third requires us to regard all other sentient beings as kin, they having been our father and mother countless times. However, we view them from their own side and wish for them what they wish for themselves, complete freedom from suffering.

Silent Meditation begins at 24:25 and is not recorded.

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Discussion of the two aspects of visualization; the way it appears and the way it is apprehended. The appearance relates to how good your visualization is. It is apprehended by the sense of the actual presence of Guru Padmasambhava or the deity. Of the two, the sense of presence and purity are the most important.

The prayers we do in the morning are the launching of the day. The day is then held and imbued with refuge and bodhicitta.

Alan talks about the connection between low self esteem and the obscuration of afflictive uncertainty. The mediation is the four vision questions that you ask yourself. After the meditation Alan gives the transmission for the mantra for Lake Born Vajra form of Padmasambhava which is associated with Dudjom Lingpa.

The meditation starts at 22:52

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The session starts with guided meditation on breathing. Begin with full body awareness, then awareness of the rise and fall of the breath at the abdomen and then move to the sensations at the nostrils. After the meditation, Alan discusses the advantages of each and when to choose which method.

Alan reads from the Spacious Path of Freedom starting at chapter 2 - The Stage of Generation. From the causal vehicle, you are practicing as a human being and you are seeking the causes to take you to enlightenment. With the resultant vehicle, you drop your anchor in Buddhahood itself. Must have a realization of emptiness and an intuitive sense of Buddha nature. Discussion of rigpa as abiding in the 4th time, transcending and pervading all three times. This path is taking the future into the now. The immediate present is the door to rigpa. Rigpa is hidden in plain sight, right where ordinary consciousness is. Instead of asking what can I do to achieve enlightenment, ask what can I stop doing that is preventing me from actualizing rigpa.

Alan discusses the importance of belief and faith and science as a faith based/ confidence based system. He ends with two quotes from William James - it shall be true for me.

The meditation starts at 0:20

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Alan begins by commenting on the common theme of all sentient beings in Buddhism. In Buddhism, we hear about all sentient beings, not only the humankind. The concept is so vast, that it may become vague. So Alan once asked about this issue more than 40 years ago to his abbot back then, Gen Losang Gyatso, who replied that practically speaking, all sentient beings mean everyone you encounter in your mind and through your senses. Then Alan mentions that when it comes to cultivating compassion, our practice will be imbued with the sense of who we are. The sense of who we are is usually the sense of being a human being. In that respect, Alan suggests to do an internal extreme makeover, and he recalls the story from the Pali canon in which there was once a gorgeous young woman who suddenly died, and the Buddha asked the monks, captured by the beautiful appearance, to go and see the decaying body in the charnel ground, and the monks saw in just a few days how that body was not attractive anymore. This has nothing to do with misogyny. It often happens that people are dehumanised by being looked at as objects of craving and attachment. Empty out the sense of being a sentient being: we created it, clean it out. Imagine your body being like a rainbow, empty, luminous, pure, with your mind inseparable from Guru Rinpoche, and from that state it will be much easier to generate compassion.

The meditation is on tong-len.

After meditation, Alan comments on the 7-point mind training by Atisha: in terms of sequence, he does something unusual as opposed to the Lam-rim. In fact, after a preamble, he starts directly with ultimate bodhicitta. He encourages us to adopt one of the expressions in the 7-point mind training, “View phenomena like a dream”, and to enrich mindfulness with this insight. In fact, the report from those that realised emptiness when they are out of meditation, is that phenomena appear like a dream. Sustain the insight that appearances arise like a dream. Alan also comments on another point there, which is: “In between sessions, act as an illusory being.” Appearing, but empty of inherent existence. Alan finally invites us to throw out our reified sense of identity, sweep it out before you invite in Padmasambhava or Avalokiteshvara.

The meditation starts at 19:27

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Alan begins by commenting that Sunday is a time for our personal solitary retreat within the context of this community. He encourages us to strike a balance between structure and flexibility for the retreat schedule.

The meditation for this session is silent.

After the silent meditation, Alan gives some final comments on Mindfulness of Breathing, and he also mentions that when a practitioner achieves the fourth jhana, the breath stops completely, and one can remain there for hours or days with no damage to the brain. Then Alan starts a very compelling discussion on how to differentiate between belief vs. inference based on authority. For example, parents are authorities when it comes to knowing where we were born. It has become part of our knowledge for very good reasons. Likewise, science progresses thanks to a few people having empirical evidence of their discoveries, while the vast majority of scientists knows on the basis of inference by authority. Alan then uses this same argument for Buddhism, and resumes his commentary on “A Spacious Path to Freedom” from page 43. Alan also offers a very interesting quote from HH the Dalai Lama about the measure of evaluating a Buddhist teacher. His Holiness said that we need to ask: how his or her students are turning out? That would be a very good indication of the teacher’s qualities. For example, 13 of Dudjom Lingpa’s students achieved rainbow body. Alan also makes many comments on the power of mantra. If the mantra is recited with deep faith, deep samadhi, powered by strong renunciation and deep purity of mind, then the power of rigpa can be brought forth.

Silent Meditation begins at 7:03 and is not recorded.

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Alan wants our meditation practice this week to move on to settling the mind in its natural state. Alan cleverly quotes a famous intellectual (not revealed in these notes and hence no need for a spoiler alert! - listen to the podcast) to comment that shamatha practice is often viewed as an escape from reality or a withdrawal from dealing with suffering and its causes in the world. However one’s shamatha meditation practice doesn’t make a dent in our Kleshas. Dudjom Lingpaís text last week stresses the need to recognise impermanence in and of our lives and the existence of suffering and its causes. Without this, one doesn’t have Dharma practice, but rather just technique. This is why the preliminaries taught and discussed last week are important. The meditation practice of settling the mind in its natural state is indispensable to shamatha, Mahamudra and Dzogchen. Today’s practice requires abiding in stillness while being present and maintaining and distinguishing that stillness in the midst of mental movement. During the meditation practice, Alan instructs us to let each of the six syllables of the Om Mani Padme Hum mantra arise in mind and observe them from that meditative state of stillness.

The meditation starts at 26:34

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For this silent meditation session, Alan asks us to initially practice mindfulness of breathing that cultivates ease and stillness, and then shift to settling the mind in its natural state and observe the “wind of thoughts” that come into the field of consciousness. He suggests we occasionally check the temporal and qualitative vividness of the mental events with a view to sharpening and enhancing vividness by detecting even more subtler events. Before the practice he asks us to experiment with resting our attention with eyes fixed on an object in front of us and then move the mental engagement to the left, then right, down and up, all without moving our visual attention. For the meditation practice, Alan requests we distinguish between stillness and movement of our mental attention and to attend to the space of the mind and what arises in it. A newer, subtler challenge in our practice is to detect a mode, presence or quality of cognitive awareness that is always still.

After meditation Alan returns to the Spacious Path text at bottom of page 45 to comment further on the healing power of the practice of Avalokiteshvara and recitation of Om Mani Padme Hum. He notes it is not only Buddhist practice that exhibits such healing power, with similar reports in Christianity and other faiths throughout history and with examples occurring today.

He expounds on the so-called placebo effect and the fact the scientific community remains uninterested in the issue of active forces that are not physical. Alan takes us on quite a ride through quotations of philosophers Daniel Dennett and John Searle that science is confused and in disagreement about consciousness and comments why this is so after some 140 years of modern investigation ñ the strangle-hold of scientific materialism! He further quotes Freud, the Buddha, HHDL and William James who each in their way encourage inquiry that throws away the shackles of such dogmatism!

After settling down, we continue to review the text from pages 47 to 49. Alan notes Karma Chagme’s permission at bottom of page 49 that this be a public Dharma.

Silent Meditation begins at 24:25 and is not recorded.

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Alan explains the purpose of cultivating divine pride and merging our awareness with the mind of the guru. Divine pride is a fabrication, but a better one than we currently have. Low self esteem or high self esteem are both constructions. In this practice we “un-construct” the fabrication by melting it into emptiness, then we imagine our mind stream indivisible with the Buddha. This is the swift path but it’s slender and very subtle. We seek to dissolve not only the reified notion of self but to arise from emptiness with the identity of Padmasambhava. It’s like a holographic image. It can move and it has causal efficacy but it’s not there from its own side. Hold it with the lightness of a feather. You imagine like this until the reality bursts through and like a seed sprouting, the husk falls into the soil. Then pristine awareness manifests!

The meditation is on Settling the Mind.

After the meditation Alan added a footnote regarding the hierarchy of the three modes of knowledge in epistemology. First there’s knowledge based on authority, which is belief and better if it’s in accordance with reality! But in Buddhism even if you have studied, how much has that purified your mind? In science it’s enough for us to rely on knowledge based on authority, but in Buddhism we have to probe more deeply so we really know for ourselves. As we’re investing everything in the refuge of Dharma, it’s like investing in gold. We need to make sure it’s solid gold. Even if you ascertain knowledge through reason it’s not enough. You have to know for yourself. That’s the highest form of knowledge. That is realisation. And even beyond that, there’s acquired confidence which he likened to countersinking a nail that’s already flush.

Meditation starts at 15:55

Alan started with some comments about sadhana practice and how NOT to see the deity. He then invited everyone to let go of their preconceptions and approach it as play, and see what happens. He explained that there are various doors to dharma and while some people gravitate to devotional practice, others revel in the intellectual power of dharma, or love Shamata and still others just want to be of service.

The meditation is on Avalokitesvara, taken directly from the text on p.52.

Following the meditation session, Alan explained the meaning of the six syllable mantra, elaborating on the manifestation of the jewel in the lotus, which is our Buddha nature, always present, only to be unveiled.

Then he talked more about the different doors to dharma. For some fortunate people who have been under the direct guidance of great lamas, the Guru is the Buddha. Others are drawn to a deity, like Tara, or their door is just to go directly to Dharmakaya. In relation to this he mentioned two short texts which are both complete paths. And gave a sneak preview of the practice of crossing over and what unfolds.

Meditation starts at 8:25

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Alan introduces the meditation with a reminder of the benefits of the preliminary practices, namely building a sense of trust, the development of bodhicitta and enabling us to draw closer to the Dharmakaya to supplant our samsaric selves with something better, purer and non-reified.

The meditation is on observing the appearances in the space of the mind.

After the meditation, Alan expands further on Buddhist epistemology and in particular the dhatus of the six consciousnesses. Of the six consciousnesses only the mental consciousness domain is able to embue all other domains of consciousness. For example we can direct our mental consciousness to visualise a “Mickey Mouse” on top of a person’s head. However the visual consciousness, as other sense consciousnesses, is unable to direct any of the other domains of consciousness in this way. Alan explains that the domain of the mind is considered to be the Dharmadatu, in the same way that our conventional nature obscures ultimate nature but is also part of the ultimate truth.

Further, the substrate or alaya is a relative level of knowing that obscures the ultimate level and therefore has the same qualities of emptiness. Alan therefore advises that between meditation sessions we continue to cultivate stillness and view all appearances as arising from the Dharmadatu and dissolving back again.

Meditation starts at 13:28

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The session begins with the meditation on the Avalokitesvara sadhana, taken from pp.52-53 of the text.

Alan starts on the theme that visualisation meditation is mostly a right brain practice but to engage in stage of generation practice we also need wisdom. We begin with the emptiness of self and extend to an understanding that the universe itself lacks inherent existence. The practice is counter to the scientific worldview which ignores the role of consciousness. Alan explains the Buddhist worldview of myriad worlds that arise from karma. The three main ways that karma manifests is outlined which leads to a more complete understanding of the universe with the role of the mind included. Using this as a working hypothesis, those following the bodhisattva path experience the world becoming progressively purer. With the sadhana we are encouraged to imagine the practice from the perspective of an enlightened being and not from the perspective of a sentient being. As we are in the dark degenerate times, we need to take this pure vision perspective if we are to be transformed.

The meditation starts at 1:53

The practices so far may seem separate but they are all inter-related. When settling the mind in its natural state we observe the space of the mind and what comes up within it in real time, trying not to get abducted by the content. We then move on to something more challenging, the mental afflictions, of which Alan focuses on Craving, hostility, ignorance/delusion. We become ensnared with our mental afflictions when they appear because we see them from an ordinary perspective; that is, we have cognitive fusion with them and therefore react to them. However, if we view them from the stillness of our awareness, an ‘I/it’ perspective, we see them more as events taking place, as appearances of the substrate consciousness. With reference to the sadhana of Avalokiteshvara, based on the realisation of emptiness and the power of imagination, everything is viewed as displays of Dharmakaya. Therefore when a ‘mental affliction’ appears it is seen as an aspect of primordial consciousness (a facet of Buddha mind) not as a delusion. We get a a taste of this perception when we view these upheavals from the stillness of our awareness. Alan emphasises that a person is not the same as the mental afflictions that we may witness in them. Similarly, those we witness in ourselves are also not us, they come and go. He goes on to relating this to the Sangha. Following meditation he finishes by explaining the imagery of the deities displayed on the shrine.

Before finishing the chapter Alan discusses the importance of building a sacred place of refuge which is not part of the external world. We take for real what we are attending to which, therefore, becomes empowered. Materialism is pressing in from all sides (entertainment, politics, etc.) and mental afflictions are not always regarded as so. By attending to this kind of external world we therefore empower it. If we keep reifying the outside world our practice will be difficult, so we need to do it with pure vision. To do that we deconstruct that which we have constructed and reified. However, to regard things as empty of inherent nature, especially the self, is a big step so the refuge is a kind of trust. Through intelligence we dissolve reification of the self and the external world into emptiness and we gain affirmation through our intuition, our Buddha nature. Alan goes on to explain that whatever karma we have accumulated, the blessings of the Buddha, Dharmakaya, are not contingent on karma, they are not ‘earned’.

The meditation is a silent Avalokitesvara sadhana.

Following meditation and during his teaching on the text (starting on p. 57) Alan addresses the subject of Gurus. He explains it is perfectly possible to have a root guru who doesn’t know you if there is a sense of connection, inspiration, benefit and faith. One may have many Gurus but if one enters the practice authentically one views them all as emanations of the root Guru. Viewing them in a hierarchy is introducing attachment and reification. When you really see with insight you have moved into a sacred place and Buddha’s blessings come in.

Silent Meditation begins at 29:25 and is not recorded.

We have been focusing on the mental events that arise in the mind, now is the time to focus on the space of the mind. Take a special interest in the space between mental events. Alan discusses the difference between an affirming negation and a non-affirming negation. He asks us to look at the space of the mind and determine which it is. During the meditation, Alan asks a number of questions about the space of the mind, color, shape, size etc. He asks us not to think about it intellectually but to look directly at our experience of the mind.

Meditation is on Settling the Mind in its Natural State with and emphasis on the space.

After the meditation, Alan says that Dudjom Rinpoche was said to always be resting his awareness in space, even while in the shopping mall. Because appearances seem to be coming from their own side, we reify them. It is easier to see the space in between appearances as coming from the space of the mind, so rest there.

The meditation starts at 21:25

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We take a brief break from shamatha with two vipashyana practices taught by Padmasambhava via Dudjom Lingpa in the Sharp Vajra of Consciousness Awareness. Probe into the body, speech and mind and determine which is primary. Alan discusses the 35 year period between 1875 and 1910 in which introspection was used to examine the phenomenon of the mind. This ended because many times the results were as hypothesized and there appeared to be a factor of “leading the witness”. The current scientific view is that matter is primary and consciousness is secondary. The implications of which is primary, mind or matter are enormous.

Meditation is on the Buddha’s teaching to Bahiya - in the seen there is only the seen.

After the meditation Alan provides a history of science from Galileo through Einstein and the Christian thought underlying it. He brings in Dharmakirti’s analysis of inference; how do we know things we can’t perceive. To infer the cause on the basis of an effect, at some point in time someone must have seen the cause produce the effect and the effect can’t be produced by anything else. Alan applies this analysis to the appearances we perceive. Alan ends with a quote from Andrei Linde from Stanford on the role of consciousness in the universe.

The meditation starts at 23:18

Alan begins by addressing the differences between a complex negation and a simple negation. He also makes further comments on the qualities of the space of the mind, inviting us to look into our own experiences to see whether the qualities he proposes for investigation are true or not. The space of the mind is three-dimensional, transparent, devoid of shape. He also comments that we can see what appears in between, i.e. space. The intervening space between subjects and objects, and also between objects is nothing other than the Dharmadhatu. Space doesn’t move, but experientially, does it seem to you that sometimes the space of the mind is very open and spacious like an ocean, while at other times the space of the mind is very small, like a teacup? What is contracting it? Grasping.

Alan also elaborates on the Gelugpa’s approach to realising emptiness, the crucial importance of distinguishing between substrate consciousness and rigpa, an arya’s realisation of emptiness and a vidyadhara’s realisation of rigpa. In terms of meditation instructions, Alan suggests the following: within the space of the mind, when it seems there are no perturbations, look closer, keep sharpening the clarity of awareness, don’t be content. Alan also touches on the potential dangers of getting stuck when achieving shamatha, because the three qualities of bliss, luminosity and nonconceptuality can block us as if being stuck in a pool of wet cement. This occurs because we identify and grasp at these three qualities. In order to move beyond the substrate consciousness, we need to cut through the substrate by releasing identification and grasping.

Meditation is on taking the mind as the path

The meditation starts at 39:46

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Alan starts with a brief recap of the Buddha’s meditation advice for Bahiya. Alan invites us to come out of our imaginary realm that we call reality and to come to our senses in order to see what is manifestly appearing to our senses. Appearances do not exist in physical space, they do not exist in neurons (the brain is only chemicals and electricity). Awareness is the most indubitable reality we know. Alan says that there is no evidence he can present to persuade us that we are not conscious. Awareness happens. All that we know is awareness and appearances to awareness. Is there a world out there independent of appearances? The mind alone is real. The appearances to the mind are real, and they have causal efficacy. A world that exists out there is a fantasy. Alan presents the two bulls that are bound for an head-on collision: the Chittamatrin bull and the materialist bull. Someone is profoundly wrong. Alan also touches on the two types of ignorance in Buddhism: connate ignorance and acquired ignorance, providing examples of each. This discourse comes down to showing Padmasambhava’s strategy. Before launching into shamatha, Padmasambhava shows us how the mind is crucially important.

The meditation is on vipashyana focused on the mind.

After meditation, Alan asks why do we take ourselves as sentient beings so seriously? Where is this sentient being’s mind? Alan concludes with a compelling quote from David Ritz Finkelstein (from “Emptiness and Relativity” published in Buddhism & Science: Breaking New Ground, edited by B. Alan Wallace (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003), 365-386.) and also with a quote from a Rime master.

The meditation starts at 40:22

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Alan begins with a brief summary to round off the last two weeks, highlighting the two pithy instructions in Dudjom Lingpa’s “The Sharp Vajra of Conscious Awareness Tantra” (excerpt in the Retreat Notes). These instructions are to examine the primary nature of mind being the “all-creating sovereign” and to examine its apparent properties being “objectless openness”.

Alan then discusses the three ways for individuals of differing capacities to enter the path as given by Dudjom Lingpa’s clear exposition in the three sentences of the following paragraph in the excerpt. Alan says our practice should be like “being still like a boulder in a stream” which goes counter to conventional living in the stream of modernity with its mania for activity. The more we prioritise cultivating the shift in viewing reality by following Dudjom Lingpa’s instructions, the more (ultimate) Reality rises up to meet us. This is the Dharma. Hence, practice Dharma!

The meditation is on objectless openness of self-illuminating Awareness.

The meditation starts at 19:21.

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Before the meditation, Alan comments that shamatha practice includes going into “unexplored territory” resulting in eruptions in one’s environment, body and mind. To manage this, both Karma Chagme and Dudjom Lingpa in their own ways advise on the need to create sacred space by orienting one’s view with the preliminary practices discussed over the last two weeks including the Avalokiteshvara practice. The core armour against these eruptions is to be lucid in recognising the lack of inherent nature of mind if only by comparison with dream states where if lucid we do not reify what is presented in the mind.

The guided meditation is on resting awareness on the sense and mental perceptions as they arise, flow and dissolve, and observing what conceptualisation or reification occurs.

Alan then conducts us intelligently and playfully through a summary of one of the themes of the last week, namely the human propensity for reification of the personal, historical, religious, psychological, philosophical and the scientific. The reification that is the bull of the idol of materialism appears throughout, from the Bible’s golden calf allegory to the New York Stock Exchange’s 3 tonne bull statue. Alan suggests the ordained Sangha should use their reddish robes to fight the bull of all forms of reification! The clear message is that all such closely held attachments to conceptualisation and reification of conventional reality must be renounced on the Dharma path. The Buddha said “you are your own refuge.”

The meditation starts at 10:14.

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Alan stresses how pure motivation is particularly important, as developing attention skills in itself is not Dharma. Motivation will determine whether the practice will lead to liberation. He quotes the 16th century philosopher of science, Francis Bacon, who urged his contemporaries to consider the “true ends of knowledge” and added two quotes from the founder of quantum mechanics, Max Planck, who said he regarded consciousness as fundamental and matter as derivative and that faith is a quality that you cannot dispense with. This set the scene for the meditation practice on developing a pure motivation.

Meditation is on the four fold vision quest.

Meditation starts at 10:37.

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Alan draws an intriguing parallel between the timing of the treasure trove of Buddhist teachings becoming available outside of Tibet in the latter part of the 20th century and the receptivity of a Eurocentric audience. Taking Finkelstein’s panoramic view of the history of science from Aristotle to quantum cosmology, he finds a profound resonance. He then compares that sequence to the tradition of monastic study in Tibet. The monks start their study of logic with the Sautantrika view, corresponding to our idea of reality, like Descartes, then they move to Cittamatrin masters like Dignaga, who shatter the idea of an external physical world (as did Bishop Berekely) . It is only much later that the monks study the Madhyamika view. So there’s a sequence comparable to the progression from Descartes’ dualism to Hilary Putman’s view of pragmatic realism.

The treasure of Tibetan Buddhism has been around a long time but has only recently become available outside of Tibet. He asks us to imagine how the Tibetan lamas would have been received in the 19th century Eurocentric worlds of empire, superiority and racism. But after the savagery of two world wars, the devastation of the environment and the burgeoning inequality of wealth, people are looking for an alternative to a hedonistic consumer-driven life. He points out that this is a time of crisis but also a time of high potential and there’s an urgency to practice Dharma. If not now, then when?

The meditation is on the Avalokitesvara practice concluding with chanting Om Mani Padme Hung

After the meditation, Alan reads from Chapter Three, The Cultivation of Shamatha, elaborating on the meaning of yeshe.

Then he answers several questions . The first clarifies some points on the sadhana practice. His response to the second question is a careful explanation of several terms including Dharmadhatu and Chittatha. The third question elicits a clarification of how to observe mental afflictions while settling the mind and the last question covers an aspect of the breathing practice.

Meditation is on loving-kindness.

After the meditation, Alan reminds us of the importance of viewing the preliminary practices as foundational to all our practice. They are not finished when the meditation ends but rather they should embue all that we do in daily life.

Alan then provides advice on making the most out of our retreat experience. In particular we should see this as “prime time” for the creation of new habits and the reconstruction of our sense of self. He presents two modalities that we can adopt. First is to cultivate being “naked” by not adorning or reifying ourselves and to be “just this”. The second option is to “clothe ourselves well” as Avalokitesvara and send out loving kindness to all sentient beings.

The meditation starts at 6:14

Before the meditation, Alan explains that the reason for teaching many different meditation techniques is to cater for individual preferences. The key test is whether the method results in ease, stability and clarity of awareness. The magic word is enjoyment not progress!

The meditation is in two parts - to balance “earth and wind”. First is settling the mind in its natural state and then giving full attention to the space of the mind from this grounded state.

After the meditation, Alan returns to Chapter Three of the text, starting on page 66. He explains more fully the qualities of the four dhyānas and highlights that the gold standard for Shamatha is to reach the threshold of the first dhyāna where the meditator can rest effortlessly in samadhi for four hours or more. Alan draws a link between the siddhis or paranormal activities that are attained in the fourth dhyāna with those attained through dream yoga training. Alan then provides detailed commentary on the nine dhyānas that are referred to by Tsuglak Trengwa (page 67). The nine dhyānas proceeded from the first four to progressively subtler states culminating in the ninth dhyāna of cessation. Alan offers us an interpretation of these dhyānas by way of analogy to the four stages of mindfulness in achieving shamatha identified by Dudjom Lingpa. The fourth stage described by Dudjom Lingpa is characterised by deep stillness and an absence of appearances which can seem like death. Similarly at cessation, even the subtle mind becomes dormant and in Alan’s words you are in deep cosmic sleep. Alan provides interesting examples of siddhis found in other contemplative traditions as well as out of body experiences in non-contemplative states. He concludes by stressing the point that Shamatha and meditative stabilisations are not ends in themselves, they are the means to insight.

The meditation starts at 9:42

Alan begins the day relating something on BBC news which amused him and everyone else when he recalled it.

The meditation was again on loving kindness. Alan explained that we use our imagination to increase vividness. By way of imagination we visualise ourselves as luminous, transparent. Loving kindness meditation begins with ourselves, then spreads to the people right next to us, then gradually increases further and further until all sentient beings are included. The spreading of loving kindness is visualised as a sphere of white light emanating from the heart.

Meditation starts at 10:06

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Alan begins the session with a guided meditation on Awareness of Awareness.

Following this he comments further on the passage by Tsuglak Trengwa on p.67. It is possible to gain sufficient single pointed attention while in the desire realm to shatter the underlying assumptions of classical physics, so that the world becomes fundamentally different to how it is normally viewed. Tsuglak Trengwa states that it is possible to gain this and paranormal abilities, by getting close to achieving Shamatha. Others claim Shamatha needs to be achieved. The text clearly points out though that Shamatha is not cultivated for the development of paranormal activities but as a basis for cultivating insight. Alan explains that ESP and paranormal abilities are the technology of Buddhism.

Today finding Lamas with such abilities is rare due to the disappearance of yogis doing this practice and the destruction of related scriptures in Tibet in 20th century. In addition, today, analytical meditation and devotional practices are more common than the practice of Shamatha. There are some who believe that paranormal abilities should be developed so that when the time is right they can be revealed to dispel delusion. Alan gives anecdotes of instances where paranormal displays have been witnessed.

He then addresses the section on posture starting on p.68. Alan points out that in general those described really refer to tummo (the practice of generating inner heat for gaining insight) which is a stage of completion practice. He then reassures us by quoting Buddhaghosa, the Vajra Essence (Dudjom Lingpa) and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, all of whom emphasise that the posture must be comfortable to the practitioner.

Meditation Starts at 0:18.

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

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

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

The meditation starts at 31:29.

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The symptom of an unbalanced mind is to feel ill at ease - dissatisfaction when there is no outside stimulus. Shamatha helps you balance the mind so that when you are sitting quietly your mind is ok.

The meditation is on breathing with the vajra recitation - breathe in and think OM, at the pause think AH and when you exhale, think HUNG.

After the meditation, Alan reads from the text - under the heading “The Cultivation of Attention”. He covers a variety of methods from staring at a flower, stick or pebble, visualization of a diety, and viewing one’s own body as a skeleton.

Alan provides commentary on the passage from the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, “a great being, by dwelling with introspection and with mindfulness, eliminates avarice and disappointment towards the world by means of nonobjectification and he lives observing the body in the body internally.”

Question: What to do when you have been given practices from teachers you respect, that no longer resonate for you, where you feel that you are going through the motions. Alan provides a lengthy response using Tibetan medicine as an example and encourages us to provide feedback on how practices are working so that dharma can grow and flourish in the west.

The meditation starts at 14:04.

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Alan begins by commenting that in Buddhism there is no phrase for self-compassion. In our modern world, where low self-esteem is rampant, cultivating compassion starting with oneself is crucial. Alan also elaborates on the differences between compassion, pity and self-pity. Compassion is not an emotion, it is an aspiration, and for this aspiration to have power, it must be possible. Paraphrasing Shantideva, if we don’t know the benefits of bodhicitta for ourselves, how can we wish bodhicitta to others? Alan also highlights that bodhicitta is rooted in compassion. For us, it is easy to identify with our defects, illnesses, injuries, traits, mental afflictions, social status (as in England and India). These are outer, inner and secret obstacles on the path to Mahamudra. The spirit of definite emergence from the status of being a sentient being is often called renunciation, although it’s not a literal translation. Is there hope to be free from suffering and the causes of suffering? It depends on your worldview. There are many examples in which ‘terminal’ illnesses have been cured. So is there hope or not? Unequivocally yes. There is a possibility of freedom no matter who you are. To make an analogy, if you are completely lucid in a dream, does it matter if you have terminal cancer, if you are being tortured or shot? They are just mere appearances to you. You have no preferences, you are not identifying with any appearances, you are not reifying them. The deeper your insight into suffering (blatant suffering, suffering of change, existential suffering), the deeper your compassion will be.

Meditation is on Compassion from the perspective of pristine awareness

After meditation, Alan comments that here at Araluen we are spending more time off the cushion than on the cushion, so it is important to sustain during this time the three uncommon preliminaries and “act as an illusory being.”

The meditation starts at 20:18

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Alan starts by emphasising that in the stage of generation, knowing the emptiness of self and of phenomena is indispensable, and yet there have been many stories where simple tibetans, with hardly any understanding of madhyamaka but having deep faith, have visions of Tara, Chenrezig, etc., and get blessings from them. Alan continues by discussing an essay he is translating on madhyamaka, dzogchen and mahamudra. He then emphasises that how we are conceptually designating right now is up to us. We can stop objectifying and rest in the mere appearances arising in the six sense doors. We don’t need to play the game of samsara. With the mantra “Om svabhava shuddha sarva dharma svabhava shuddo aham”, we can dissolve samsara into emptiness & dharmakaya. It’s a decision we can make, we dissolve all impure appearances into emptiness. And then out of the indivisibility of the dharmakaya and dharmadhatu, we choose to operate from a platform of pure appearances. We now move from a realm of actuality to a realm of possibility. Possibilities exist as much as anything else. If we do the sadhana with deep faith and insight into emptiness, then we get all the benefits.

Meditation is on the Stage of Generation of Avalokiteshvara (with chanting)

After meditation, Alan makes some comments on the way certain terms are translated from Tibetan into Indoeuropean languages, making a critique of how the mind is treated within a materialistic framework. He also touches on what is natural vs. supernatural in Buddhism and in 20th century materialism. He then starts addressing the topic of rigpa. What is rigpa? It’s in the fourth time, it’s beyond the matrix of causality and transcends all the eight conceptual elaborations (existence vs. non existence, one vs. many, etc.). Alan also suggests a couple of wonderful books: 1. “Fearless in Tibet,” the biography of Lerab Lingpa and 2. “Blazing Splendor” by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. The stories narrated in these two books can shatter many materialistic assumptions. Alan then continues his commentary on the shamatha section of the text, from page 78.

The meditation starts at 20:50.

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Alan discusses the approach in the meditation chapter of Santideva’s A Guide to The Bodhisattva Way of Life which develops shamatha by boddhicitta. Meditating on the equality of self with others develops equal worthiness of all to be free from suffering, both self-directed and then extending outwards by opening the heart in all directions. Alan indicates that approaching shamata practice via this technique is another ingredient in the Dharma soup of our practice. In our Vajrayana practice involving the uncommon preliminaries of Guru yoga, of viewing our Vajra siblings similarly and then of extending this view to all sentient beings, we are taking fruition as the path. This recognises or brings the nature of Buddhahood into one’s own nature, thus releasing our grasping of self-identification.

Alan comments on developing perspective on who is one’s teacher/lama and a root guru. He then discusses breaking down the barriers in developing pure vision for oneself and towards fellow Sangha who all share the aspiration of developing virtue for the greater good. In developing the equality of oneself with others, there seems to be a barrier of inside and outside. To overcome such a barrier, Alan suggests we need to rotate our axis of perspective so as to view all other sentient beings from their perspective. In so doing, we exchange ourselves with others as both sentient and as pure beings, without reification. In doing this we come to understand Santideva who said suffering has no owner.

The guided meditation is on developing compassion for the suffering of all beings.

The meditation starts at 36:00.

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Alan humorously begins by suggesting that for the contemplative observatory we should develop a Star Trek style virtual reality game of combatting alien abductors and test it scientifically as a metaphor for the practice of shamatha in combatting thoughts. He refers to Mahasidda Maitripa’s instructions (text page 80) on shamatha without a sign by maintaining an absence of thought with a flow of cognizance. However for most of the time our practice is like the analogy of the duel between the swordsman deflecting the archer’s arrows of thoughts.

The guided meditation is on Awareness of Awareness.

Alan then continues his commentary on the shamatha section of the text on page 80 covering the nine steps to attentional balance. He provides a more detailed exposition of these steps than he has done in previous similar retreats. These details are given in the updated Retreat Notes released on 23 August and more fully in his book “The Attention Revolution” (Wisdom Publications, 2006).

The meditation starts at 20:43

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Cultivating compassion through meditation is not the only way. Alan introduces a way to remove the obstacles and simply unveil the well spring of compassion within, allowing it to manifest. He points to two expressions common in English which do not translate into Tibetan: guilt and forgiveness of oneself or others. Although these have meaning in English, he explains how they are rooted in the delusion of fusing the mental affliction, the action that comes from it and the person ensnared by the delusion into one alloy.

He reminds us that the Buddha is the great healer then asks us to imagine a doctor working with patients suffering from horrible illnesses. They look bad and smell terrible but does the doctor say “come in, I forgive you”? If he accidentally infects himself, does he feel guilty? It’s meaningless. Like this, all the things people feel guilty about and try to forgive are from ignorance. If we focus at the root we see it all comes from ignorance and then delusion. There is no guilt or forgiveness. Compassion is all that remains when we understand the true causes of suffering and happiness.

We don’t find it so hard to feel compassion when we see people suffering. But when we see people engaging in actions which give rise to suffering; of greed, hatred, cruelty “may you be free”. We attend to sentient beings like us, who out of ignorance and delusion, perpetuate the causes of our suffering.

Meditation on compassion

Meditation starts at 18:03.

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Alan begins with a guided meditation which is a variation of Awareness of Awareness beginning with a visualization of Amitabha.

Alan started reading from page 82 of the text elaborating on ‘ideation’, pointing out that through rumination, you lose your energy. Shamata by contrast is an ‘energy conservation project’. He briefly talked about the various traditions of Samadhi speculating that the lineage in Greece from Pythagoras, had possibly come via Egypt from an Indian sadhu.

In the context of the discussion of shamatha as a ‘structured state’ Alan introduced the idea of how conceptuality does not need to be verbal, as a child in utero in the last trimester can distinguish one voice from another. He then finessed the distinction of non-conceptuality and of bliss in various states pointing out the necessity for us to get the big picture so when you get to this stage you don’t stop.

Using the image of Amitabha as a meditation object, Alan talked us through the process of how Amitabha would appear as you reached the 9th stage, and then crossed over from the Desire Realm to the Form Realm. Quoting Asanga, he said you release the image into space. Then you turn the awareness on itself as you do in settling the mind in its natural state. And quoting Buddhaghosa, when you achieve the first Jnana, you retrieve the counterpart sign. Emphasising “you don’t just sit there.” The inversion is what distinguishes both the practice of Mahamudra and Dzogchen.

As science has been generous in making its findings public, this information on shamatha should be common knowledge, not packed away as if it is a religious belief.

After reading through to the end of the chapter, Alan then gave a description of what it is like to actually achieve Shamata. He talked through the sequence of physical and mental signs and changes in the body and mind, culminating in physical and mental pliancy. He also emphasised that although you get great benefits at stage 9, it’s important to go all the way and not cut corners. Alan rounded off the discussion with some choice quotes from Padmasambhava and Lama Tsongkhapa.

He ended by reminding us that Dudjom Lingpa predicted that 100 of his followers would achieve the Great Transference Rainbow Body. Why would we aspire for less?

Meditation starts at 0:18.

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Alan begins by explaining that great compassion is a unique feature of the Mahayana path. Great compassion is cultivated by transforming the aspiration for bodhicitta, through the four immeasurables, to the intention of bodhicitta. Great compassion takes the perspective of calling on our own buddha nature.

Drawing on the well known prayer “Calling the Guru from Afar”, Alan suggests that the guru could also be seen as our pristine awareness or buddha nature and as we progress on the path the guru comes closer. Alan’s final theme is on the alternative paths to achieving pristine awareness. He discusses the early Dzogchen practices which taught togal (direct crossing over) first, followed by trekcho (breakthrough via the substrate consciousness) whereas the dominant approach now is the reverse order. Similarly, each person needs to find the approach that gets the most traction in cultivating relative bodhicitta, either by way of mediation or by way of the view.

The meditation is on Great Compassion.

The meditation starts at 34:32.

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In introducing vipashyana, Alan speaks about the importance of overcoming reification to gain insight into reality. The key point is that reification of self, others and objects is not homogenous but rather comes in waves. The meditation aimed at recognising the types of insight that we experience including when reification arises and when we get glimpses of reality such as emptiness. Alan informs us that settling the mind is a good launching pad for tipping over into Vipashyana practice as it sits right on the threshold.

Meditation is on Vipashyana via Settling the Mind.

After the meditation, Alan comments on two types of ignorance - connate and acquired. Connate ignorance is the one that deserves our attention and is the basis of the Buddhadharma. However, we are easily swamped by acquired ignorance, especially through materialism which then gets in the way of addressing connate ignorance.

Alan provides commentary on the first two pages of Chapter 4. Vispashyana is the method for escaping from samsara and reaching the path. The main obstacle is grasping at a non existent self, which is connate ignorance. The right domain for understanding this is the apprehension of self in the space of the mind. The way to stop self grasping is to know that we are doing it and that this is occurring in waves. The text alludes to the vast repercussions of self-grasping.

Following commentary on the text, Alan discusses the significance of dream yoga to insight practice. We can watch closely the arising of self from the dream state or from deep sleep. A very deep level of understanding is that all appearances of others are appearances of your own mind whether in waking state or dream state. Alan then provides guidance on dream yoga practice in the waking state which will help to train the mind in lucid dreaming. The technique is to do a “state check” whenever anomalies or unusual, weird events are identified. For example, like a stranger who sees Alan walking around in a red skirt! Alan concludes with three different types of meditation practices when we are falling asleep to ensure that we get adequate rest.

The meditation starts at 14:03.

Alan introduces the third of the three immeasurables, great empathetic joy. This is essentially gladness or delight. Empathetic joy is something that is cultivated, the aim of which is to bring about an inversion or shift in attitude. It is revolutionary and Alan exemplifies by citing revolutions that have occurred in the scientific world, such as the theory of evolution or quantum mechanics, where, as a result, there was a complete shift in everything. Ordinary gladness is embedded in ‘I’ and ‘mine’. That is, we are glad when we (or those close to us) gain material things, prestige, influence, etc., feel indifferent when those who we don’t identify with gain things and would prefer those who we regard as adversaries to not gain such things. Alan also draws on parallels where there is war, and how this attitude influences our how we feel about those suffering. Alan then emphasises that happiness is not found by looking outwards and by striving to acquire more. Enough is sufficient. Cultivating gladness goes back to the first of the uncommon preliminaries, that is, appreciation of this human rebirth which provides us with leisure and opportunity to listen to and practice Dharma. Alan goes on to say that some people fail to appreciate their own virtues with low self-esteem seemingly global. This leads into the meditation where the focus is on appreciating our own virtues, not as ego-grasping but gladness of what we have brought to the world.

Meditation is on Empathetic Joy.

Following meditation Alan points out that life is full of ups and downs which is reflected in our meditation practice. However, having an understanding and experience of Dharma provides a reality-based ground. This allows us to take to delight in every day, transferring felicity and adversity into the path.

Meditation begins at 31:02.

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Alan begins by referring again to the two methods of Shamatha meditation whereby the attention can focus on an external object or inwardly on the mind. He explains a method used in the Theravada tradition where outward meditation leads to inward meditation and ultimately Shamatha. The same methods can be used in Vipashyana. When cultivating insight into the emptiness of the self one can focus on the tactile sensations that arise within the body and investigate thoroughly their origin. One can then turn the attention to the mind in the same way, seeking what is truly there. This forms the basis for the mediation that follows.

Meditation is on Vipashyana.

After meditation Alan gives an historical account of how the world around us has been explained by philosophers and scientists. He quotes Hilary Putnam, Protagoras, Socrates, William James, George Berkeley and Feuerbach. Some early philosophers suggest that what we experience has no basis other than our own perception of appearances, but there are differing views on how those appearances arise. Until recently theology held dominance therefore explanations often included a theological element. In the post-Darwinian era materialism became the dominant view and with the advent of modern science is ongoing. Alan points out that a purely materialistic view has an absence of mind and consciousness and is therefore not complete. He suggests that what is needed is a view that includes both.

Meditation begins at .

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Alan starts the session with humorous comments regarding the emptiness of the names for groups of kangaroos.

The meditation is on cultivating empathetic joy and gratitude by remembering the kindness others have given you across your life. How can we repay this kindness?

After the meditation, Alan quotes Shantideva. Whoever Shantideva encountered, strangers, enemies, non-human sentient beings; he thought, it is in dependence upon you that I am able to practice dharma. In order to become a Buddha, we must transmute every experience into dharma, including experiences in which we have been treated very badly. Alan tells the story of a Tibetan aristocrat from whom he received teachings on the Seven Point Mind Training. This individual lost everything when fleeing Tibet, and yet he felt gratitude toward the Chinese because they forced him in to exile which empowered him to put the dharma teachings into practice.

The meditation starts at 12:45.

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Shamatha is enormously important yet profoundly inadequate. You must cross the continental divide from shamatha to vipashyana to enter a path, with shamatha alone you will eventually fall back.

The meditation is Vipashyana. What do you see when you think “I”?

After the meditation, Alan talks about the focus in the Pali Cannon of personal identitylessness without analysis of the world outside yourself. For Mahamudra, the big question to ask is that world really out there? Science assumes metaphysical realism; there is a real world out there.

Alan quotes Francis Bacon: “I would address one general admonition to all; that they consider what are the true ends of knowledge, and that they seek it not either for pleasure of the mind, or for contention, or for superiority to others, or for profit, or fame, or power, or any of these inferior things; but for the benefit and use of life; and that they perfect and govern it in charity.” Alan discusses his view that science is currently in the service of profit, fame, power and pursuit of knowledge for knowledge’s sake and not driven by service for life. Science is asking questions that are simply irrelevant to eudaimonia. The idolatry of religious fundamentalism and the idolatry of science empower each other. The world has never more desperately needed a middle way. We must sharpen our internal tools with shamatha and Vipashyana and seek the middle way view.

The meditation starts at 11:37.

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Alan begins by giving an explanation of the Refuge and Bodhicitta practices that we do in the morning sessions. The classic visualisation for taking refuge involves imagining Buddha Shakyamuni in front of you, with all the female sentient beings on your left and all the male sentient beings on your right. Alan also mentioned a story in which Kublai Khan asked one of his spiritual advisor, a Sakya lama, whether it would be good to make all his subjects in his empire Buddhists. The Sakya Lama replied that it wasn’t a good idea, since in Buddhism everyone has the freedom to follow their path. Alan also recalled the words of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in this regard, since His Holiness always encourages people to keep their faith. Going back to the practice of Refuge, we bring to mind what for us symbolises most the embodiment of eudaemonia. In the Buddhist view, Samantabhadra, Padmasambhava, etc. are creative displays of your own pristine awareness (in saying this Alan makes a critique of Ludwig Feuerbach’s view). For the practice of Bodhicitta, Alan explains that here we call as witnesses all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, together with all sentient beings, and we make a pledge: “I vow to liberate the world.”

Meditation is on Great Empathetic Joy (or Maha Mudita in sanskrit)

After meditation, Alan highlights that currently there is a strong psychological tendency to be critical. Criticism is everywhere, and it’s the tendency to find fault in others and oneself. This is clearly not balanced. Mudita (Empathetic Joy) is there to restore balance. It’s the antidote to Compassion when it goes astray (and thus falling into despair). This is a practice of mindfulness. Attend to others’ happiness today and enjoy others’ happiness, take delight in it. Wherever there is virtue, attend to it and enjoy it. It will spice up your life.

The meditation starts at 17:32.

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Alan starts by commenting that wherever the Buddhadharma has flourished (e.g. China, Japan, South-Est Asia, etc.), it has always been contemporary, in dialogue with what people believe to be true. Now we go back to the fundamental teachings. We all care about suffering. Anything out there can trigger suffering. Why do we suffer? These skandhas influenced by karmic kleshas are closely held. We identify with the body and mind as being either I or mine. So we have two strategies here: (1) we retreat from them, but karmic kleshas will bring us back; (2) we make an expedition into them: are you really I or mine, or not? If you discover there’s nothing there that it’s you or yours, then if you have that insight, you can stay with your body & mind but with no suffering. So withdraw for a while with shamatha and then start the expedition with vipashyana. Alan paraphrases the Heart Sutra: not only the five skandhas are empty of you, they too are empty of inherent existence. They are a conceptual designation. There is no physical universe out there. If you are fundamentally deluded about the nature of samsara, how can you be free? You must know the nature of existence. Why do we suffer from the madhyamaka viewpoint? If you grasp at the true existence of your body and mind, then grasping at I is bound to come up. Alan then brings in Dharmakirti, explaining causal inference: if you are to be able to infer fire from smoke, you must have seen fire making smoke. If you never ever see fire, you cannot make that inference. Based on that logic, have you ever seen your real body that is not an appearance to your mind? And finally we come to Dzogchen. Why do we suffer according to Dzogchen? It’s because we identify with that which is not I or mine as being I or mine, and because we fail to recognise who we are. Buddhas know who they are, sentient beings don’t.

Meditation is on vipashyana on the body

After meditation, Alan resumes his commentary on “A Spacious Path to Freedom” from page 87. He concludes the session by quoting the aphorism from Atisha’s 7-point mind training, which invites us to “act as an illusory being” when we’re off the cushion.

The meditation starts at 35:18.

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Alan stresses that cultivating or unveiling the immeasurable of Equanimity is indispensable from the beginning for our shamatha practice. The development of meditative equipoise is applied to practicing Equanimity in attending to people and all other sentient beings whilst maintaining recognition of their differences. This allows a cutting through of the veil of appearances to the view of the equal worthiness of all to have happiness and its causes and be free of suffering and its causes. The practice of Equanimity is applied to, and the culmination of, the other Immeasurables. Without this practice, one is not attending to reality. It is a prerequisite for one’s Vipashyana practice to be effective. There is no Mahayana path without Equanimity. The view of equal purity of all is necessary for one’s own liberation and consequently the liberation of all, as Equanimity makes understood the common nature and goals of all.

Alan returns to the ordinary view of appearances, noting the amazing thing that of all the faces we encounter in life no one looks like any other. The appearances of others are affected by the fruiting of one’s karmic kleshas from prior mental afflictions being seen through the filter of present mental afflictions. We need conceptualisation to ‘make sense’ of the world of objects and other people. However, Alan says the truly amazing thing is that these appearances are all me (i.e. Alan) like an artist painting each of us every moment from the colours of the mind’s palette. It is one’s own mind being personified or reified in the appearance of others with the consequent arising of attraction, aversion or indifference. The infinity of names designating others and all appearances are all my name. With this view, the notion of purifying and liberating all sentient beings individually takes on a different light. To achieve liberation quickly, then purify one’s mind, dissolving all appearances and take fruition as the path with Equanimity.

[A more personal note from this synopsis writer (as it probably cannot be fully captured listening to the podcast) is that while Alan was expressing his insight that we paint others in this way, the collective stillness in the room of nearly 50 people was palpable and poignant. Clearly these teachings are penetrating.]

Meditation is on Equanimity.

The meditation starts at 35:19.

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Alan comments that as we now enter vipashyana practice, we are in new territory. Vipashyana in the context of Mahamudra is oriented towards liberation. This is the irreversible result of one’s path of expedition, with one of three destinations of becoming an arhat (a foe destroyer), a jina (a solitary victor) or a Buddha (a victor). The path selected for this retreat is that of all the jinas. But what is the strategy to be selected for how to get to the destination? Alan says the choice of strategy is not just what one likes but rather the strategy that one has a feeling for, confidence in, or intuition about. Alan outlines some different strategies offered by each Tibetan Buddhist school. Then the vipashyana strategy has itself two basic strategies of either to develop the view and then to meditation (for those of sharp faculties) or to develop meditation in order to arrive at the view to liberation (for the rest of us). He then brings us to the method in this retreat based on Karma Chagme’s all angles approach of building from the base of shamatha to then practice vipashyana meditation on mind to obtain the view to liberation.

The vipashyana meditation is on the nature of mind.

After meditation, Alan resumes his commentary on “A Spacious Path to Freedom” from the bottom of page 89.

The meditation starts at 40:12.

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Alan returned to the cultivation and discovery of equanimity, as a practice that can be launched from settling the mind in its natural state. Appearances of people arise in our minds. Everything we know of someone else is in the space of our own awareness. So what’s the difference between those appearances and looking directly at someone in the room? And if that someone is ‘looking back’, who is that? The exchanges with two students that followed had everyone laughing. Alan then circled back to equanimity, by reminding us that if someone exists over there, I exist over here. Where’s the border? To develop deep equanimity, we need to realise the equal emptiness of all beings. Yet each is in the centre of their own mandala.

The meditation is on equanimity.

After the meditation Alan returned to the debate. To the student who replied he was ‘conceptually designated by mental awareness’, Alan then asked which came first - the designator or the designation? And quoting Santideva, he asked how awareness can be aware of itself if a knife can’t cut itself or a candle illuminate itself. After some more puzzling and very amusing exchanges, Alan left us with the unanswered question to ponder: who designates you when you’re sitting alone in your room?

Meditation starts at 20:51.

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Alan referred back to the two routes to enlightenment outlined by Kagyu master Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, who recommended meditation first, then the view for those with dull minds. For those with sharp faculties, studying the views of the various schools, in particular the pinnacle view of the Prasangika school works well. Just by presenting consequences, the Prasangikas allow the opponent’s views to self destruct. Nothing withstands Nagarjuna’s analysis. The only thing left standing is the middle way.

On the other hand the Mahamudra tradition targets just the mind. Like Luke Skywalker in Death Star, Alan suggests we search for the weak spot and nuke the ‘all creating sovereign’, implicity nuking everything that mind creates. But first you have to find your own mind, working from where you are. If we follow the route for the dull-minded, by first settling the mind in its natural state and achieving shamatha, then with a naked mind, luminous and cognisant, we can probe and investigate the true nature of consciousness.

Meditation is on identifying the mind.

After the meditation, Alan returned to the text on p. 91, likening the process of alternately analysing and meditating on the mind to a skater who has to work the legs hard but then can glide. He emphasised that this is a radically empirical method, briefly comparing it to the work of well-known physicists John Wheeler and David Finkelstein, both theoreticians who gained insight into physics by following implications.

The meditation starts at 44:14.

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Alan introduces the meditation with a quote from “Self and Non Self in Early Buddhism” by Pérez-Remón. This highlights Buddha’s teaching on becoming and non-becoming which are seen as the extremes of attachment and annihilation. By letting go of both we see the Real. In the bodhisattva path, the extremes of samsara and nirvana are abandoned and the result is non-abiding nirvana. Alan then discussed the Dzogchen perspective, where from the view of rigpa, there is equal purity in seeing samsara and nirvana as non-dual. However, from each sentient being’s perspective the world is dualistic and this is the basis for cultivating Great Equanimity.

Meditation is on Great Equanimity.

After the meditation, Alan talks briefly about the internal and external pathways in vispashyana and Dzogchen practices which both lead to realisations of non-duality.

Meditation starts at 29:55

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The meditation is an investigation into the nature of the mind which Alan introduces as the prime strategy for fathoming the depths of our mind. To be effective this precise investigation should be preceded by settling the mind in its natural state and the realisation that by resting in non-conceptuality there emerges a certainty that nothing can harm the mind. However, the main side effects of this shamatha practice are the upheavals that occur as part of the process. These upheavals need to be dealt with by insight into the emptiness of self and phenomena. This is an important step to prevent reification being “countersunk” by further identifying closely with self and phenomena. That is, by not identifying with subjective impulses this leaves us less vulnerable.

After the meditation, Alan expands on his previous teaching on the Madhyamaka approach to arriving at the Middle Way. He draws on the common ground between Western philosophy’s pragmatic realism and the Middle Way by providing interesting quotes by Ludwig Wittgenstein who had a major influence on the philosophy of Hilary Putnam. Alan leads an exercise based on Wittgenstein’s quote “So in the end when one is doing philosophy one gets to the point where one would like just to emit an inarticulate sound”.

Alan then turns to the text (p.92-95) and provides commentary on the pith instructions of Kacho Wangpo and Orgyen Rinpoche in particular. He makes the point that the approach of the chapter is to focus deeply and non-conceptually on the existence of the mind, which is not a peaceful thing to do! Therefore we are on an expedition, not a retreat.

The meditation starts at 24:21

Prior to meditation Alan reviews the progression of the teachings. We begin by opening the door to Dharma by creating authentic motivation, which, he points out, is not necessarily Buddhist. We move from this spirit of emergence to cultivating the four immeasurables through meditation, beginning with loving-kindness. This begins with ourselves, gradually ‘spreading the net’ wider to those around us and beyond. Subsequently we progress to the remaining three. We then develop the ‘Greats’, for example great loving-kindness, culminating in great equanimity, which was addressed yesterday. The initial cultivation is couched in aspiration but the ‘Greats’ are couched in intention. So where do we go from here? The next step is to develop extraordinary resolve to free all sentient beings. This might seem so high it appears unattainable, but we bring it down to right where we are now, aligning our lives with Dharma. Each of us has a unique web of sentient beings around us, therefore we can be of unique service to them. Alan points out that we are not an homogenous Buddha, but the unique Buddha we realise ourselves to be. The emphasis in this marvellous resolve is to start right now, to practice Dharma in our everyday lives, so that sentient beings benefit. During the mediation we are asked to use our best facsimile of this intention, whatever we have at the moment is good enough for now. Alan also quotes from inspiring verses from Shantideva.

Meditation is on Relative Bodhichitta.

Following meditation Alan emphasises the importance of starting immediately to practise Dharma. He refers to one of his teachers (Geshe Ngawang Dhargye) who told him not to let his life slip by without cultivating Bodhichitta – start now.

Meditation starts at 20:00

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At the beginning of this session Alan returns to reviewing the progression of the meditations so far. Starting with Shamatha and the space of the mind, the meditations have been gradually built up, firstly by attending to the appearances in the space of the mind, then the emotions, then intervals between these and finally awareness itself. The practice is really being carried out when these are brought together as a whole, leading to the substrate if done long enough. Once the substrate is revealed, he warns us not to lose it! The aim is to fuse Shamatha with Vipashyana when trying to fathom the mind. By softening Vipashyana with Shamatha the notion of the mind becomes ‘wobbly’. Alan points out that the appearances we experience when observing the mind are not the mind, they are merely appearances within it, not awareness itself. Alan refers to an eminent Lama, who explained that if consciousness emerged from physical phenomena then it would have physical properties. Consciousness is a continuum with no beginning or end. There are three focuses in investigating the mind, these are the origin, location and destination. Using these three focuses we first ask if the mind exits and then, if so, what is its nature? This practice is based on the passage by Orgyen Rinpoche (Padmasambhava), reviewed yesterday, and frontloads the guided meditation that follows.

Meditation is on Vipashyana.

Afterwards, Alan returns to the text (p. 94 – 98) and praises this chapter as indispensable as it provides all that is needed for Vipashyana practice. The passage by Drungchen Kün-ga Namgyal dispenses invaluable advice as well as a lot of humour.

Meditation starts at 40:05

Now that we have made a pledge, a promise to sentient beings to lead them to enlightenment, we need to come up with a plan for how to do so. It really is not practical until you are a Buddha. You must achieve enlightenment to carry through with this promise. If you wake up every morning with that resolve to achieve Buddhahood for the sake of all beings, that intention sets you on a trajectory so that each lifetime moves closer to fulfilling that intention. The most important thing is continuity and Bodhicitta and dedication of merit are the tie that binds.

The meditation is a recitation of verses from Shantideva leading to the taking of the Bodhicitta vow.

After the meditation is a brief discussion of the Dzogchen view. Release into the perspective that you already are a Buddha as quickly as possible. If you are grasping to yourself as a sentient being, even nominally, than you don’t have the Dzogchen view.

The meditation starts at 31:39

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For Mahamudra and Dzogchen, the one important thing is to understand the nature of your mind. We have been following the yogic approach to understanding your mind. To be fully qualified, to gain benefit from the Vipashyana questions we have been asking you must have achieved shamatha. When resting in the substrate consciousness, these questions can be used to break right through to rigpa. You are asking questions from the eight extremes of conceptualization to break through to pristine awareness that transcends conceptualization.

The meditation has you invert your awareness on itself and see what you see. Do this for a short time, rest and then question again.

After the mediation Alan turns to the text (p. 99-101). Alan then provides an overview of the 4 Yogas of Mahamudra.

The meditation starts at 33:42

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Alan begins by mentioning that the teachings offered here are given within the context of Vajrayana, and specifically of Mahamudra and Dzogchen. To get the greatest possible benefit from them, it is most valuable to dissolve all ordinary appearances (of oneself, the teacher, everything) into emptiness and out of emptiness create a sacred space, arise with divine pride, with pure vision of the teacher, etc. Alan also makes some comments on the practices of refuge, bodhicitta and the Seven-line prayer to Padmasambhava. He says that if you are intuitively drawn to Dzogchen, the Seven-line prayer can bring tremendous blessings. Within Dzogchen there are many lineages. In the short lineage starting with Dudjom Lingpa, this great master had teachings from the speech manifestation of Padmasambhava, the Lake-born Vajra (Saroruha Vajra in sanskrit). Alan then makes a wonderful announcement: he now feels it is time to grant the empowerment he has been requested on different occasions. He has the permission from Gyatrul Rinpoche to grant it, and the disciples have come together to sincerely request it. So all the auspicious circumstances are coming together. Now we go back to the vision quest within the four immeasurables. These questions invite us to be visionary. Alan then recalls a meeting he had with HH the Dalai Lama, in which His Holiness commented that “The greater opportunities, education, learning you have, the more responsibilities you have.” And then Alan comments: “Drawing on those, what can I offer?”

The meditation is on the Vision Quest.

After meditation, Alan announces that the empowerment will be available to anyone who wishes to receive it, and has faith. It will be streamed live on Sunday 13th September at 4pm (Australian Eastern Time, AEST).

The meditation starts at 17:27

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Alan begins by commenting that we may need an exorcist to protect us, since our mind is a bad neighbourhood. He then quoted a citation from a text by Dudjom Rinpoche: “For other dharmas, the main practice is considered to be profound, but here we consider the preliminary practices to be profound.” He then discusses the four yogas of Mahamudra, the five paths according to sutrayana, and then he explains how Vajrayana is the swift path, thanks to the practices of guru yoga, divine pride, pure vision & shamatha without a support. But for this to function, he adds, we must drop our baggage, our stories (good or bad), our resentments towards other people. We need to dissolve our ordinary sense of self into emptiness. If we want to follow this path, practice as Guru Rinpoche, Avalokiteshvara, and then three countless eons can be collapsed into even just a few years. Alan also explained some points about meditation on the nature of mind drawing from Yangthang Rinpoche’s teachings on the text “The Flight of the Garuda.”

The meditation is on fathoming the empty and luminous nature of the mind.

The meditation starts at 1:04:13

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Alan says for this morning’s meditation practice we will return to the cultivation or unveiling of the immeasurable of Loving Kindness. He indicates that Loving Kindness derives from the more basic drive or impulse of caring. We can’t stop caring, with the variation experienced in caring being a matter of the way we care and its extent. Alan then describes “small mindedness” where the space of the mind collapses down into a small volume when we are caught in a thought or fixated on a person or an idea. When this occurs we are “between the fangs of mental afflictions” as Shantideva says, and the all-creating sovereign of the mind has been de-throned. This wandering state of the mind is never voluntary. Yet we care about what captures our attention. We are born with caring for ourselves and those we rely upon. However this biology of caring only goes so far as it keeps us in the ocean of samsara. We need to complement it with the practice of Dharma which is about expanding our sphere of caring outwards to, well – every sentient being in every circumstance everywhere! Drawing from a thread through the history of human thought, Alan quotes Hermes Trismegistus idea of ‘as above, so below’, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s book ‘The Universe In A Single Atom’, to reinforce the notion that understanding within creates understanding without – understanding the microcosm (ourselves) is also understanding the macrocosm (the universe). Alan finishes with a quote from the Buddha on this theme.

The meditation is on Loving Kindness by expanding the field of caring.

The meditation starts at 27:02.

Course notes, other episodes and resources for this retreat are available here The text for this retreat can be purchased via the SBI Store. Finally, Please contribute to help us afford the audio equipment we rent to make these, and future podcasts freely available. The meditation starts at 27:02.

Alan says this evening we will continue this morning’s meditation practice on caring in Loving Kindness by going further than the connate and affective biological constraints to now cognitively and attentionally expand the field of awareness. He notes that the Buddhist worldview is that consciousness is coextensive with caring. Alan conveys the oral transmission in Padmasambhava’s “The Natural Liberation of Conscious Awareness” regarding the meditation method of shamatha without a sign by alternating the focus and relaxation of conscious attention while sequentially extending the awareness outwards in each direction within the space of the mind.

Alan then addresses questions raised by students during interviews concerning if we already possess Buddhahood within, then why don’t we know that and why wouldn’t we have already experienced Dharmadatu given our countless previous lifetimes. Alan provides a high density teaching on the first five Dependent Originations in his response to this question which brings us into the nature of the present moment of awareness. [Impossible to summarise - listen to the podcast!]. Alan concludes with some quotes from modern cosmologists and the need for physics to include the role of Consciousness.

The meditation is Shamatha Without a Sign on expanding the field of conscious attention.

The meditation starts at 15:07.

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Alan returned to the meditation on loving kindness with a second question: what would we like to have in the best of all possible worlds? He painted a picture of a place where everyone is young and beautiful and sweet and virtuous, in a lovely environment - a deva realm, pointing out it would also mean total stagnation and you may as well be dead! He then recapped the explanation from yesterday of how samsara arises for a sentient being, a process culminating in designating and reifying the raw data of appearances arising from the ripening of karmic seeds.

He invited us to envision the world we would like to be in. What would a pure realm look like? How would it differ from a deva realm? Remembering that as sentient beings, we need to engage with other people to develop qualities like compassion and to recognise our own obscurations.

Alan then laid out the three kinds of Bodhicitta, based on the analogies of a shepherd making sure all his flock are safe, a navigator bringing everyone to the far shore together and the king, purifying himself first and then helping others to wake up to what he sees.
The meditation is on loving kindness, envisioning a pure realm from one of these perspectives.

The silent meditation is not recorded.

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Having crossed from Shamatha to Vipashyana, Alan takes us out of the gravitational field to the non-meditation of Dzogchen - which entails not doing anything at all! As long as we activate the mind of a sentient being we are not a Buddha. There are four requirements: don’t do anything, don’t strive, don’t desire and don’t fix anything.
Alan describes two approaches to identifying the mind. We can receive pointing out instructions from a qualified master, or we can just do the practice. He proposes an approach he likens to floating on your back in a buoyant sea.

Meditation is on ‘non-meditation’.

After the meditation, Alan returns to the text, beginning Chapter Five, and warns us to fasten our meditation belts as we take off into Dzogchen! To illustrate Nagarjuna’s statement that ‘mind is a mere label…’ Alan first talks about how we differentiate phenomena through a process of elimination. A particular person’s face is identified as being ‘that which is not anything else’. Verbal designation is information and it is information or labels that is primary, not mind.

Alan then segues to physics, quoting Caslav Brukner and Anton Zeilinger who also view information as the primary concept. He compares their views to the prevailing ‘scientific’ view that matter yields information which give rise to observers. On the contrary, physicist John Wheeler inverts the sequence and proposes that the presence of the observer makes it possible for information to arise. Thus matter is a category constructed out of information. Alan then circles back to Nagarjuna, drawing the parallel between his views and theirs.

He finishes with a flourish, referring to the past and the story now widely accepted of the origins of life and the universe, galaxies and our own planet, starting with the Big Bang. But we know now there can be no reality independent of information about that reality, or independent of the mind that is aware of that information. Wheeler says it is wrong to think of the past as already existing. It exists in relation to our questions and measurements. Steven Hawking agrees, describing the past as being in a superimposition state before you make a measurement. So we can choose our past. There is no real past, independent of our question, measurements, designation and concepts.

Meditation begins at 14:32.

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Alan introduces the meditation on compassion by describing how the close application of mindfulness of our body and mind gives rise to a natural sense of caring and empathy. Through our imagination we can extend this to an understanding about the experiences of others. Alan talks about the power of our imagination and quotes from The Flight of the Garuda by Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol who describes how samsara and nirvana are created in the second moment of consciousness through imaginative ignorance. When we are without empathy we are locked in and frozen by small mindedness. It can seem simpler not to care for others or only for those closest to us. However, suffering has no owner and the plight of refugees is a reminder of this. Shamatha provides a way to melt our crystallised samsaric minds. When we achieve the first dhyana, a deeper form of empathy and compassion arises through bodhicitta and the ability to directly perceive the feelings and thoughts of others. Then when we are able to tap into rigpa, we achieve supra mundane siddhis and our compassion becomes non-dual and very powerful.

The silent meditation on compassion was not recorded.

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Alan provides a transmission of Padmasambhava’s pointing out instruction on the nature of the mind which is the meditation for this session.

After the meditation, Alan highlights two ways of cutting through the structure of the mind. The first is like a bolt of lightning that can occur as a result of pointing out instructions from an accomplished master. The second is by returning again and again in meditation until it becomes clearer. This can also happen by reading a text or listening to an oral transmission including a recording. An oral transmission has the benefit of containing a blessing.

The theme of the chapter so far has been ‘the mind as a label’. Alan gives examples of the mere labelling of phenomena through two quotes on emptiness from the Pali Canon between Bhikkuni Vajira and a mara, and another discourse between King Milinda and Nagasena. He also draws on the work of Stephen Hawking, John Serle, John Wheeler and his own scholarship to demonstrate that our belief system drives our knowledge of the world. Our understanding of the world requires three entities – the known, the knowing and the knower (Nagarjuna). If one of these is missing then simultaneously all three disappear. Alan discusses the placebo effect as being the result of the mind using information to transform matter into a healing process. The placebo is an information effect.

Alan then provides commentary on pages 110 and 111 of the text and returns to the subject of emptiness. He comments that the Middle Way is very slender and finishes with the statement that all phenomena are like reflections in the mirror.

The meditation starts at 3:31

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

Silent meditation was front-loaded at the end of the session and not recorded.

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Alan first continues with the text (p.111-115). The practice is not easy but its not complicated. The text repeatedly emphasises that rigpa transcends the intellect. It is ‘thatness’, not labelled and is inarticulate. Any of the verses referred to in the text can be considered as pointing out instructions, but Alan particularly focuses on those of Mahasiddha Maitripa who doesn’t mince words from the start. Alan explains that these verses are perfect and suggests, that, if we so wish, we could recording these ourselves, in our own language and play it back so we receive the pointing out instructions from Maitripa’s words. In front loading the meditation, which is silent, he draws a distinction between Shamatha and Dzogchen with reference to the method in Padmasambhava’s pointing out instructions, covered yesterday. If using this method without the Dzogchen view one is practising Shamatha which will it ultimately reveal the substrate consciousness. However, one can practise the same technique imbued with Dzogchen which will reveal rigpa. One Dzogchen practice is not doing. More specifically it is the practice of the four nots: not doing, not desiring, not striving, and not modifying. When not doing these things, what is left is rigpa. You are either doing the practice, by doing nothing at all, or you are not doing the practice, by doing something. This then leads into the meditation.

Meditation is on non-meditation and observing the mind.

Following meditation Alan addresses the subject of information and its dependence upon an observer, that is, a consciousness. He quotes several eminent scholars including Marcia Bates, John Wheeler, Hans Christian von Baer, Roger Penrose, and Stephen Hawking.

Front-loaded silent meditation was not recorded.

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That which has ceased, exists as a causally effective entity; the past continues to produce effects. Likewise the future is also causally effective; possibilities can affect the present. We can change our past by making a different measurement, by selectively attending to aspects of our past. In Vajrayana, we take the fruition as the path and change our perspective. From Rigpa, past, present and future all exist at the same time yet this does not imply predetermination. Let your past influence you in a way that gives you happiness. Anticipate and take joy in your own future as you envision it. Meditate on the kindness of everyone including those who present difficulties. To be a dharma practitioner, assimilate everything. What reality dishes up is not a choice, how we respond to it is a choice.

The meditation flows from the above as we remember the kindnesses in our past that brought us to this point. We recognize the kindness of those around us now and envision the future that brings us joy.

The meditation starts at 30:01

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Alan starts with a discussion of the present moment. The word present means nothing without something before and after. As you are descending into the substrate you are in the present moment. Invert your awareness in upon itself and may realize the emptiness of the present moment and cut through to viewing reality from Rigpa and the fourth time. The meditation starts with awareness of awareness, looks at the observer and then just rest without doing anything. After the meditation, Alan starts at the bottom of page 115 in the text or location 1445 on a Kindle. He describes each of the five poisons, and the corresponding Buddha, facet of pristine awareness, chakra and colour. Alan proposes that each facet of primordial consciousness is the built-in remedy for each poison. Is semantic information preserved? Alan gives a quote from Freud that says mental information is always preserved. He discusses one of the laws of karma that if a karmic seed is not purified it does not go away. He discusses the research of Ian Stevenson regarding children with past life recall and the incidence of birthmarks related to the previous cause of death. He asks the question of how does the stream of consciousness carry information. Using references from the Kalachakra Tantra, Dzogchen and computer technology, he proposes an answer to that question.

The meditation starts at 07:52

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We now return to the fourth immeasurable, equanimity. This is the grand finale of the first three. It subsumes all of them, bringing them to the full flowering. The whole Dharma practice is to restore symmetry. Asymmetries involve having attachment towards “my side, my view, me, mine” vs. aversion towards the “other side, the other view, the other.” Here we cultivate even-heartedness, but differences are acknowledged, we are not blind to them. And then we go deep down till the level of Buddha Nature where we find common ground. Alan also explains the false symmetry of aloof indifference, and the false facsimile of equanimity, acedia. Alan also draws on history in order to explain asymmetries. He argues that when differing views collide, a common pattern has emerged from history: (1) Convert the other in some way, peacefully or wrathfully, to restore symmetry; (2) If they don’t want to convert, kill them in order to feel comfortable again; (3) If you can’t kill them all, enslave them in order to control them totally; (4) If that’s not possible, ignore them and then you feel comfortable again. Alan then provides historical examples for each point, highlighting the current situation between science and religion. To respond to changes, Alan presents two ways to look at this: (1) You wish to go back to the good old days, or (2) You evolve, since there is no way to go back. You envision a new symmetry, the non-abiding nirvana of unity within diversity. Alan also shares the questions he had in his 20s, when he reflected that with religions you start with differences, but the deeper you go, is there some convergence, are they more at variance, or do they remain equally different all the way down? In his experience, he found that there is convergence. So in the midst of diversity, in terms of wisdom, can we see that common ground and feel that sense of kinship, like the one His Holiness shows when he meets monastics from other traditions? In terms of skilful means, that common ground is the quest for genuine happiness. We can together learn from each other. Alan ends with a wonderful aspiration, in which he wishes that His Holiness the Dalai Lama may be able to give the Kalachakra empowerment in Tiananmen Square.

Alan does not lead a meditation today.

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Here we are running a fast-food café, and today we have a fresh dish: Balancing Earth & Space. When Padmasambhava says to observe your mind, you are doing something. The other approach is not doing anything at all.

The meditation is on balancing Earth & Space. Start with Mindfulness of Breathing, with an emphasis of deepening relaxation while not losing the clarity with which you began, for the first half, and for the second half on space (non meditation).

After meditation, Alan concludes the oral transmission & commentary of Chapter 5 on Identification, resuming from p.118. Identification is the first taste of viewing reality from the perspective of pristine awareness. Dzogchen meditation is simply sustaining the view. It’s like having a companion in a non-lucid dream that points out to you that this is a dream. Alan then continues by mentioning the different approaches to becoming lucid found in texts he translated from Pema Lingpa, Lerab Lingpa, and Dudjom Lingpa. The identification chapter is about becoming lucid, then staying lucid and investigating the nature of that reality. Then Alan gives some background from the 20th century. He says that when we hear something, we want to know: is this religion? Philosophy? Science? In Buddhism, there are assertions about: (1) Very hidden phenomena that only a Buddha can corroborate, who is viewed as a divine authority (inference based on authority); (2) Slightly hidden phenomena that can be known by inference based on logic; (3) Evident phenomena that can be directly known through mental and yogic perception. In Buddhism, you start religious, then you become philosophical, and eventually you end up scientific. Then Alan touches on the four Imponderables in Buddhism: (1) The range of powers a Buddha develops as a result of becoming a Buddha; (2) The range of powers that one may obtain while absorbed in dhyana; (3) The precise working out of the results of karma; (4) The origin the cosmos.

And how samsara has no beginning: we are unaware of the first moment of a wandering, non-lucid mind, of a wandering, non-lucid dream, and of a wandering, non-lucid rebirth. This is unawareness, the root of samsara. We cannot recall that of which we were unaware in the first place, so the first moment of each is unknowable. It makes no sense to attribute existence to that which is unknowable.

The meditation starts at 8:07

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Alan returns to the theme of equanimity indicating that we do experience equanimity everyday but that it is contingent, short-lived and can develop complacency. Development of Shamatha practice is a form of equanimity but more stable. Think of anything that makes you happy in this life in the desire realm and imagine if you had that constantly – would you be satisfied? One soon discovers the source of genuine happiness is not to be found in the desire realm. Even the attainment of Shamatha, no matter how pleasant, is not stable in true equanimity while we remain in samsara. Clinging to anything in samsara does not generate the spirit of emergence. We know enough now to genuinely renounce such clinging. Alan says that even the sublime equanimity of an Arhat not yet on the Mahayana path, who has realised nirvana and sunyata, needs to go beyond that by generating Great Bodhichitta. When equanimity falters, the natural remedy is compassion. When an Arhat returns into samsara, great compassion arouses their Buddha-nature which becomes the impetus for them to then generate great equanimity.

Alan comments on the nature of the ongoing and current suffering in the world and that it can become unbearable. What can be done? Shantideva said that if you unknowingly meet a Bodhisattva and you express benevolence or gratitude, then the karmic connection is generated whereby you are in the Bodhisattva’s mandala which carries through in this and future lives. Since you don’t know who is a Bodhisattva, then treat every encounter with everyone in this spirit of generating Bodhichitta. Alan says “let’s become Bodhisattvas” and turn this thought into actuality by attending with compassion to every creature with the goal that “I will liberate you. I will become a Bodhisattva”.

The guided meditation is on cultivating becoming Bodhisattvas to free all.

Note to all podcast listeners: Alan says that those people who took yesterday’s empowerment of the Lake-Born Vajra via the live audio streaming, should contact the Santa Barbara Institute with their details so that the text for the sadhana can be provided to them.

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Alan says the text’s next chapter 6 “Practice” may be over our heads as it assumes we have broken through to Rigpa. Our practices to date should have ‘softened up’ our experience of mind and the previous chapter on “Identification”, or pointing-out instructions, should make it easier to cut through. Alan describes the view from the awareness of a lucid dream state as a parallel to the view from Rigpa of the mind. However, we can generate a facsimile of viewing this conventional reality from Rigpa. For those who have had a taste of Rigpa, the question arises how to sustain it and deepen or purify the experience. The next chapter 6 “Practice” chapter is about that, and of course it is useful to know even if we’re not quite there. We can purify by the practice of alternating Shamatha and Vipashyana.

The guided meditation is on resting our awareness in the stillness, cognizance and luminosity of consciousness and observing the displays of Rigpa.

After the meditation, Alan says the practice dredges the psyche that can catalyses outer, inner and secret upheavals. These are but expressions of your own awareness of appearances and emergences. It is the view from resting in Rigpa, or resting in our best approximation of Rigpa. All phenomena arising should be considered as part of the practice of resting in the view from Rigpa – we have to “let it be”.

Alan starts Chapter 6 of the “Spacious Path to Freedom” text on page 125. He then returns to discussion of the scientific worldview since this is the dominant modern view of life, mind and the universe we are all subject to, providing an oral transmission (!) from one of his books (extract to be provided in weekly update of Retreat notes). He comments that this view of scientific materialism is toxic for what it does to us and our treatment of the environment.

The meditation starts at 24:02.

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Alan starts by describing a vision he had from what he calls his ‘fantasy channel’ of the tar pit in Los Angeles where thousands of animals have died over millennia. He compares it to the black hole where the materialists are stuck, decaying, like Daniel Dennett, poster child of the neuroscientist community, who says qualia don’t exist. There are no appearances. Others claim there is no consciousness. Their black hole sucks in all meaning and joy of life and gives you nothing.

That’s why we need compassion – to catalyse the first revolution in the mind sciences and create a renaissance of rigorous contemplative enquiry into the nature of the mind. The information is there, it’s just drowned out by the ubiquitous materialist message in the media. We need to wake the ‘sleeping giants’ of the religious contemplative traditions and use the insights from the leading quantum physicists like John Wheeler and Stephen Hawking, which look a lot like Dzogchen. But the scientists and philosophers have no method for investigating the observer.

We should leave behind the Eurocentric view based in ignorance, delusion and greed that has spawned the misery of colonisation, where the settlers preferred to eliminate the indigenous people, rather than live with them. In the same way, the materialists have colonised the territory of the mind and ‘kill’ any views that do not concur with their own. All they have left is the brain and behaviour. That’s the black hole. Ending on a positive note, Alan invites us to imagine a network of contemplative observatories where everyone is welcome, from whatever background, be it science, philosophy, religion, atheism. All are welcome to come with their own world view and leave with it enriched. That is a vision of loving kindness, with no boundaries, no one excluded. Following the advice of Padmasambhava and Panchen Chogi Nyima, we can go for shamatha first and let the view arise from within.

The meditation is on great loving kindness.

The meditation starts at 44:02.

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After a brief musical interlude, Alan comes back to the Pali tradition, introducing us to Ajahn Po, an 82 year old Thai forest monk whose detailed explanation of the view naturally arising from his own experience corresponds to Mahamudra and Dzogchen. And all this from following the breath. So there’s a wide openness and a convergence from wherever you come with pure motivation. The great perfection is there.

Meditation is on mindfulness of breathing and non-meditation – ground and space After meditation, we return to the text on p. 127 – which sets out the journey ahead. Then Alan returns to the discussion of the history of modern science and how its trajectory outward put an end to the contemplative tradition. Now there’s just a monolithic approach to truth, based on quantitative and physical enquiry. This creates a problem for the many fine scholars of the Pali cannon, because the Buddha’s description of the universe is fundamentally incompatible with main stream physics and astronomy. How can they reconcile the scientific view of our world with Mount Meru, previous Buddhas with lifespans of tens of thousands of years and so on.

But if we investigate carefully, it’s all internal. There are no objective measures. For us the power of jnana is inconceivable. But if you master the jnanas you can master our physical reality. So from that perspective, Mt Meru is as real as cats and dogs and none of them are inherently existent. Alan then takes us through his understanding of the Buddhist world view and how it may or may not correspond to the world we know, including a brief foray into Hopi territory!

He finishes with an intriguing and wide-ranging excursion into the Kalachakra tantra and the significance of Shambhala, including one description of how to actually walk there! This is a fantastic foray … you need to listen!

Meditation starts at 12:25.

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Before introducing the meditation, Alan highlights two important points for us to note regarding the previous day’s teachings. The first point is that a degree of discretion is required when disclosing Vajrayana and Dzogchen practices as they can be misinterpreted by those who are not “ripe” and don’t have a degree of purity. The second related point is that our perceptions are limited by the expectations we hold. When we see or hear an anomaly, we try to fit it into our expectations which can distort our understanding or we simply ignore it. Therefore to be truly open to teachings we need to leave our preconceptions and baggage behind.

The unguided meditation is on the third of the Great Immeasurables, which is Empathetic Joy. Alan reminds us that the Practice chapter of the text is about deepening and enhancing pristine awareness. The virtuous practice of lojong arises from this. He then describes the dream yoga practices taught by Padmasambhava, including the phases of dream yoga which ultimately lead to rigpa. Alan’s final point is that when we have obtained siddhis we should demonstrate these abilities to those around us. This can help counter the dominance of the materialistic worldview by showing that there are alternative ways of exploring and knowing the nature of reality that have been practiced for thousands of years.

Silent meditation on Great Empathetic Joy was not recorded.

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Alan begins by saying that this will be a mellow session! Before the meditation on balancing wind and space, he extends briefly on the morning’s theme on how our conceptual frameworks determine what we observe and see. He quotes from Einstein and Niels Bohr. He explains further that once we label a phenomenon or idea, that “thing” becomes simultaneously illuminated and darkened. Alan then talks about our eternal longing for transcendence. Meditation practices such as vispashyana are designed to deconstruct and transcend existing frameworks. Ultimately, when we breakthrough to rigpa, all conceptual frameworks are transcended.

Meditation is on balancing wind and space.

After the meditation, Alan speaks about the difference between the experience of an arya bodhisattva and a vidyadhara when each emerges from meditative equipoise. For the arya bodhisattva, all phenomena appear as if they are a dream. By contrast the experience of a vidyadhara is that all appearances are a dream, but taken from the perspective of “sacred space”. Everything is seen to be divine when experienced from the View.

Alan then returns to the text and provides commentary on passages in pages 131 to 136. The main theme is to simply rest in rigpa, without grasping and without going back to conceptualisation. An important point is that once we have tapped into rigpa, there is no need for further validation. However it might be wise to check with a qualified guru to ensure that we are not mistaking the experiences such as those coming from the substrate for rigpa.

As promised, Alan ends on a mellow note with an anecdote about David Crosby of Crosby, Stills and Nash fame. Enjoy the music and lyrics!

The meditation starts at 14:54

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Alan begins this morning’s session by referring to self-emergent beings who experience spontaneous realisations due to having been highly realised in previous lives. Dudjom Lingpa, to whom he has made many references during this retreat, had no human teacher but received teachings directly from Padmasambhava. Within the Spacious Path to Freedom lineage, Karma Chagme had a mutual guru-disciple relationship with Min-gyur Rinpoche, whom he recognised as a reincarnation of Padmasambhava. Alan recalls the story of Franklyn Merrell-Wolff (1887-1985), who, he feels, is an example of a modern day self-emergent yogi. Wolff, son of a theologian, was born in Pasadena and did not connect with the religion of his background. He wanted to achieve higher states of consciousness. As well as studying psychology, maths and philosophy he read widely around other religions and studied the teachings of Shankara. At the age of 49 years Wolff had spontaneous experiences of non-dual conscious states. These had a profound effect on him and he subsequently set up an ashram. Alan’s own story weaves into that of Wolff’s, with whom he feels a resonance. The meditation follows, focusing on Great Equanimity in which samsara and nirvana are viewed as non-dual.

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

The meditation, balancing sky and space, follows.

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

Meditation starts at 34:40.

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Alan starts by talking about renunciation. Without the experience of suffering and mental afflictions, we wouldn’t develop renunciation or Bodhicitta. Stemming from the four greats, Bodhicitta is the intention to lead all sentient beings to liberation. This is the Buddhist higher calling and only makes sense when it comes from your own Buddha nature. Alan talks about tonglen and how even now that practice can have a very real effect on others.

Each of us is unique. Each Buddha has the same realization but brings a unique expression. It is not too early to begin making your plan including short-term, medium and long-term vision. Alan discusses the four principle paths of knowledge; healing, intelligence, creation and sound. Dharmakaya is the fountain at the center which flows out to these four fountains and they in turn bring you to the center.

Alan does not provide a guided meditation but asks each of us to envision our unique path throughout the day.

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We start immediately with meditation. The meditation is mindfulness of breathing while viewing the body as a field of energy and breathing as fluctuations in the field. It ends with a brief period of non-meditation.

After meditation, Alan returns to the text (pg. 144 or 1838 on the Kindle). The text offers many ways of saying, stop doing anything. There is a play between observing your own mind and returning to not doing anything. If anger or any mental affliction comes up, don’t go to the referent of the affliction but observe the mental event itself. The meditation is what is left over when you are not distracted. Once you have identified pristine awareness, the method doesn’t change from there to enlightenment.

Alan continues into the Mahamudra chapter. First one experiences understanding, then experience, then realisation and finally confidence. The text discusses signs that the preliminary practices have given rise to fruit. This discussion encompasses the four thoughts that turn the mind, guru yoga, Vajrasattva practice and the mandala offering.

The meditation starts at: 0:18

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Alan begins by making some comments on divine pride. Dissolve all ordinary appearances (of one’s own ordinary sense of self, and of everything) into emptiness and out of emptiness arise with pure vision and divine pride. It’s utter sublime surrender. Then Alan recalls the story of Milarepa, in which he offered everything to his guru, Marpa, even a lame goat. This is total relinquishment, and then a gift is received. Then Alan quotes Shantideva: “Surrendering everything is nirvana, and my mind seeks nirvana. If I must surrender everything, it is better that I give it to sentient beings.” For the meditation, after the devotions and settling body, speech and mind, rest in your best approximation of ultimate bodhicitta, not imagining, not doing anything. Then Alan recites the verses for taking the bodhicitta precepts from Shantideva, mentioning that we can all take the bodhicitta precepts, if we wish to, also via podcast at any time now or later.

The meditation is on ultimate and relative bodhicitta.

After meditation, Alan gives just this simple instruction: “Just don’t be distracted, and see what happens.”

The meditation starts at: 16:47

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We go directly into the meditation: Balancing Earth & Wind, culminating in non-meditation. Afterwards, Alan resumes the oral transmission and commentary of the Mahamudra chapter from p.156. In the commentary, Alan recalls a few stories about people dwelling in deep samadhi and he also makes more comments on shamatha practice and its early signs of progress along the nine stages. Alan points out that this great scholar, teacher and practitioner, Karma Chagme, after the chapters on stage of generation, shamatha, vipashyana, identification and practice, he goes back to shamatha. Now some context from the 21st century: if we go to the great western universities and ask what is Buddhism, the overwhelming response would be that it is one of the world’s religions. That’s the can in which Buddhism has been placed. Then Alan recalls a talk he gave at Stanford to the faculty and graduate students, at a time in which he could have been granted an endowed chair. In that talk, he argued that scientific materialism has the hallmarks of religious dogmatism and that Buddhism has scientific, philosophical and religious aspects. Alan’s strong sense is that we need to get Buddhism out of the box. A collaboration is very close between highly trained contemplatives and scientists, so that finally we can make contemplative knowledge publicly known under the careful guidance of our teachers, HH the Karmapa, HH the Dalai Lama. An experiment Alan proposes is to get 5, 10, 15 people achieve shamatha within 5 years and ask these yogis to display clairvoyance, past-life recall, etc. Alan concludes by quoting William James: “In what manner do we espouse and hold fast to visions? By thinking a conception might be true somewhere, it may be true even here and now; it is fit to be true and it ought to be true; it must be true; it shall be true for me.”

Belief creates reality.

The meditation starts at: 0:17

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Alan begins this morning’s meditation by asking us to initially imbue our practice with taking refuge, of Bodhichitta and our guru devotion, and permeate it with pristine awareness. Then release all appearances and simply rest in non-meditation.

Following meditation practice, Alan comments we are choosing when taking refuge involving, among other matters, deciding which community, path, practice or method. However, if you can’t take refuge in yourself then how do you expect to find it in your choice? Refuge is not an intellectual thing, it is more intuitive. When we adopt practices coming from outside ourselves such as guru devotion, Avalokiteshvara and Lake Born Vajra sadhanas, you must have some confidence or trust in that practice and the guru. It comes back to being your choice. But what do you do when big questions arise? You can invoke and pray to the guru, but bear in mind this is of your own appearances. Alan says we should clearly articulate the question before meditation, then initially during meditation generate devotion, Bodhicitta and the indivisibility of body, speech and mind, followed by releasing the question and resting in non-meditation. If something comes up that looks like a response (perhaps nothing) to the question, then cognitively evaluate it. Is it contradicted or refuted by anything I know to be true? Does it have the taste of truth? Then pragmatically evaluate it in practice and life. This becomes a practical implementation of to not look outside of oneself for the Buddha.

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We go directly into the meditation on resting awareness with single pointed attention on the space of the mind. Alan resumes the oral transmission and commentary of the Mahamudra chapter from pages 161 to 165. He emphasises that Karma Chagme makes it clear he is focussed on Shamatha with its 9 stages mapped onto initial, intermediate and culmination metaphors of moving water. The first 3 stages are like a cascading waterfall. Then stage 4 Shamatha is the initial metaphor of a stream in a narrow gorge. The intermediate metaphor is like a river flowing through a valley – equivalent of Shamatha stage 6. The culmination water metaphor is an ocean unmoved by waves, Shamatha stage 8. Alan says we must know these pith instructions (pp. 161-162). Continuing with the text, Alan comments on the fact that it is very easy to mistake the lower accomplishments for higher ones and this has been happening for a thousand years. However, this Mahamudra chapter is our guru to check these mistakes. Alan further comments on the text that we need to be aware of meditative states accompanied by grasping.

The meditation starts at 0:19.

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

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

Meditation is silent mindfulness of breath.

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The meditation is a combination of earth, wind and space. Meditation starts straight away.

After the meditation, Alan explains that when we see this chapter is called Mahamudra, we may think there will be something very special, but the author goes back to the preliminaries and spends most of the rest of the chapter reviewing Shamatha. His strong sense is that this is to prevent the practitioner from grasping onto non- meditation. This is a wake up call and that’s why he’s going back.

He returns to p. 161 to highlight the experiential comments in the two texts that are quoted, pointing out that there is nothing more definitive or authoritative. Then he talks about what it’s like to achieve Shamatha and the radical changes that happen to the physiology and the mind.

Returning to p. 165, Alan comments on the four contemplations or four yogas, and talks about Lama Tsong Karpa’s view that a gifted practitioner may go into vipashyana without much Shamata, gain some realisation of emptiness and that can be the object of shamatha, so the method itself is the union of shamatha and vipashyana. Or Shamatha can be achieved by way of generation stage practice. There are also the methods discussed in the Vajra Essence.

The transmission from the text continues until the end of the chapter, and Alan ends with a very clear explanation of the meaning of rang jung /self-emergence of primordial consciousness in this context.

Meditation starts at 0:01

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The focus of the meditation is the dedication of our merits. This is relevant as we return to “ordinary” life at the conclusion of this retreat. Alan explains that from the Mahamudra and Dzogchen perspective, we seek to realise Dharmakaya from the ordinary consciousness of the present moment. Pristine awareness is to be found right in the present moment when there is no grasping; no hopes and fears. When we leave the retreat, how ordinary our lives become is dependent on our motivation and view. The key question is “what do we really want?” Our dedications reflect this question, which can either fuel samsaric desires or the path to enlightenment. We can bring the view and motivation into every moment and turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. Alan’s final point is that we choose which desires to follow and from the broad bandwidth of desires we need to decide which is the most important priority; which aspirations we will live by. The motivation to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings is very deep and authentic.

The meditation starts at 22:43

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Prior to the meditation, Alan’s final teaching on the text is commentary on pages 198 to 202 of the Dedication chapter. This includes the promise of Buddha Amitabha to take us to the pure realm of Sukhavati when we pray to take rebirth there. We can accept this as a true gift, otherwise we can simply pray for a precious human rebirth. After the meditation, Alan establishes a karmic connection with next year’s 8 week retreat by reading from Naked Awareness by Karma Chagme which will be the text for that retreat. The reading is Padmasambhava’s parable of the prodigal prince. To make meaning of this parable, Alan invites us to meditate in the context of the teachings on this retreat and also to read Padmasambhava’s own explanation which Alan will make available. He then concludes with the wish for us all to be well.

The meditation on the Avalokitesvara sadhana, which starts at 09:57

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End of retreat celebration :)