B. Alan Wallace, 28 Aug 2024
On Dakini Day, August 28, 2024, Lama Alan emerged from retreat silence for a few hours to offer the fifth installment of his talk series entitled “Believers, Contemplatives, and the Future of Human Civilization: A Buddhist Response to the Current Metacrisis.” Lama Alan continues with the theme of cognitive intelligence, picking up exactly where his previous talk on July 16 left off.
The last lecture in this series focused on the cultivation of cognitive intelligence by way of the vipaśyanā practice of exploring the phenomenological nature of the mind. The core practice discussed was the close application of mindfulness to the mind in a radically empirical and pragmatic way, identifying core mental afflictions when they arise, and investigating the factors of origination and dissolution of mental processes. This is a prime example of Buddhist contemplative science taught in the Buddha’s first turning of the wheel of Dharma.
In this lecture Lama Alan continues with the theme of cultivating cognitive intelligence by way of the more advanced vipaśyanā practice of exploring the actual nature of the mind through philosophical and contemplative inquiry. The text that is the basis of this talk is an excerpt from the Kagyü master Karma Chakmé’s Great Commentary to Mingyur Dorjé’s Buddhahood in the Palm of Your Hand, which will be published by Wisdom Publications in Lama Alan’s forthcoming book, Śamatha and Vipaśyanā: An Anthology of Pith Instructions (New York: Wisdom, forthcoming) co-composed and translated with Eva Natanya. This teaching presents a direct path to realizing the emptiness of inherent nature of the mind, based on the Buddha’s philosophical teachings on the transcendence of wisdom in the second turning of the wheel of Dharma. Insight into the essential, empty nature of the mind is an immediate prerequisite for fathoming our buddha nature, or pristine awareness, which is the central theme of the Buddha’s third turning of the wheel of Dharma.
While we encourage you to watch Parts 1–4 of this series in advance of listening to this talk, at a minimum, please listen to Part 4.
This lecture does not have a text transcript. Please contact us if you’d like to volunteer to assist our transcription team.
Ask questions about this lecture on the Buddhism Stack Exchange or the Students of Alan Wallace Facebook Group. Please include this lecture’s URL when you post.
RSS