2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 04 May 2020, Online-only
Vajrasattva Mantra Fast
The Seven Preliminaries according Düdjom Lingpa, 04 May 2020, Online - Originally part of 2020 8-week retreat
Vajrasattva Mantra Fast
2017 8-Week Retreat, 26 Apr 2017, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Tuscany, Italy
To understand how the world can have sustainable peace, and how we as individuals can have a sustainable feeling of well being, Alan says that we need to understand what causes “anti-peace” or “unpeace.” A unifying aspiration of all people, nations, and religions is to have peace. However, there is no consensus as to how to bring this about, or about what the causes of human suffering are. In the Buddhist view, the vast majority of human-caused suffering can be attributed to ego, or grasping at oneself as radically separated from others. This generates the three poisons of delusion, craving, and hostility. Alan says consciousness is imbued not only with luminosity and cognizance, but also with a primal sense of caring. It is this caring that can focus our attention outward and lead to compassion. Western society generally views craving and hatred as normal and acceptable unless they become excessive. In the Buddhist view, these are toxic no matter what their level. To effectively arouse compassion, Alan says that we need to understand the cause of suffering, and moreover, to use wisdom to develop a strategy to alleviate suffering. The tools we use to bring about peace and well being are ethics, and for Buddhists, the practice of the six perfections. In this morning’s meditation, we bring to mind suffering we have experienced in our lives, and ask whether the root of this suffering is attributable to the three poisons. We generate the wish to be free of suffering, and then extend this wish to others. Guided meditation starts at 27:21
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 13 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
For the morning sessions, Alan says we will continue to focus on cultivating our shamatha practice, where a loose translation of shamatha is ‘peace of mind’ or, in Jackson’s translation of the Panchen Lama’s text, serenity. The surrounding peaceful Tuscan environment of ILTK and the graceful, kind and courteous staff are certainly conducive to practicing Dharma. Alan says that it brings him great satisfaction to obtain feedback from the ILTK Director that all participants are doing just that in their daily interactions. Yet how do we bring deep peace of mind, equilibrium, balance, stillness, clarity and the benevolence of an open heart – all aspects of eudaimonia – to every interaction, particularly outside of our formal practice or the retreat environment? Of course we start where it’s easy on retreat. However we need to cultivate sustainable peace of mind so that when we meet or interact with otherwise difficult people and situations we do not become caught up in or cognitively fused with our own or others' mental afflictions. The key is the peace that awareness brings - this is the Dzogchen approach. The developmental approach is shaping the mind like Shantideva suggests, very effective. The other way is resting in awareness and not getting caught up in our own dramas that arise and in other people’s mental afflictions. This is the discovery approach: resting in awareness without cognitive fusion with the mental afflictions, resting there in the natural stillness, clarity and purity of our own awareness, observing the dramas, the upheavals arising and passing of their own accord with no ownership, and watch the mind heal itself. Prior to the meditation practice, Alan reads and comments on the ideas of the Stanford University cosmologist Andre Linde on the role of consciousness in science’s current understanding and investigation on the nature of reality. The meditation is initially guided on taking appearances and awareness as the path. After the meditation practice, Alan says that for us to continue to practice Dharma for the rest of the day, the starting place is to continually rest in the immediacy of Awareness and Appearances in our mental and sensory perceptions. We should bring an element of Vipashyana practice to this method by examining what we are superimposing on these perceptions. This is Dudjom Lingpa’s method of taking Awareness and Appearances as the path. It is to start every moment with the reality we have immediate access to. The meditation starts at 19:55 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
Spring 2012 Shamatha Retreat, 11 Apr 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
The cultivation of loving-kindness entails the breaking down of the barriers within our own hearts and minds in order to establish peace of mind
Meditation starts at 06:18
2017 8-Week Retreat, 24 Apr 2017, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Tuscany, Italy
The guided meditation is the practice of Settling the Mind in Its Natural State with a special emphasis on knowing the peace of still awareness so that the disturbance of a mental affliction will be noticed as soon as it arises.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 04 May 2021, Online-only
We come back to the Satipatthāna Sutta, on the instructions of mindfulness of breathing. Lama Alan elaborates on how the practice of mindfulness of breathing can lead us to the cultivation of peace of mind and a sense of well-being. He comments on how long de we need to practice to develop and achieve Dhyana through this practice. Lama Alan goes to the next part of the Sutta, highlighting the importance of maintaining constant mindfulness and introspection and the different postures for the practice. The Meditation begins at 37:00 with maintain awareness of the rhythm of the respiration, applying mindfulness to the body and introspectively noting if any of the five obscurations appear.
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 04 Sep 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
If you don’t listen to this podcast, you will miss the celestial music that spontaneously manifested in our auditory space, only The Who knows from where! After that musical intermezzo we continued our search for the mind from yesterday, at the end of this session foraying into identifying awareness, even pristine awareness, which will be the dominating topic from this afternoon on. In his teachings Alan highlighted the necessity to come out of the peace of shamatha to arouse the mind for the inquiry of vipashyana. As the Buddha himself found out after he had mastered the deepest levels of samadhi, when he came out of it again, his mental afflictions were still present as before. So you only reach the pinnacle of samsara in the deepest samadhi. If you want just peace, you are wrong here, vipashyana is meant to be upsetting. Then we came back to yesterdays topic of this psychotic split between ones views and ones everyday behavior. If we don’t bring Buddhism into the 21st century, this same split takes place in us, the split between the “Sunday mentality” with its unquestioning, simple faith and the “working-day mentality” where we switch into our intelligent, inquiring, questioning mode. We have to integrate, unify our scientific world view with the religious one. Otherwise our practice will fade out when we leave from our retreat, due to the discontinuity that breaks us apart into two modes of being. Meditation starts at 07:11 min
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 09 May 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
In the next section of the text, Panchen Lama is taking us from the limited domain of examining the self and establishing the absence of inherently existent self to the domain of all phenomena. Alan reminds us of a previous reference to the six elements in the analysis of the self. At that time, we examined these six elements individually and collectively in order to establish that they were empty of self, and that the self was not to be found outside these elements either. We have not done a meditation on the imputed sense of “mine”, but Alan encourages us to do it during our individual practice. To linger experientially not only in the discovery that these six elements are empty of “I” but also of “mine”. To see how the sense of ownership arises as something objective. And then to see how light, how ethereal it is. To scan through the visual, auditory and other consciousnesses up to the mental domain and see whether with any appearances there arises the sense of “mine”. Is it my voice or just a voice? How mine is my sensation? How about my thoughts, my emotions? Then we move on to today’s topic: the examination of the six elements themselves to see that they are just as empty of inherent existence as the self. That their ontological status is just as empty as that of the ownership of a cellphone. Before the meditation, Alan raises the question of whether these six elements are inclusive and contrasts them with the elements we know from science - the periodic table of elements. Alan points out that in Buddhadharma the elements are all about the world of experiences. The four elements of earth, water, fire and air refer to everything that arises in the physical world: the earth element is what provides solidity, the water - fluidity, the fire - heat and cold, and the air - lightness and movement. Then there is the domain of space where all these take place. And finally - consciousness which in this context covers all configurations of consciousness, all activities of the mind. In today’s meditation we examine how these elements exist. How do their manifestations and configurations exist? The meditation is on vipashyana After the meditation, we return to Panchen Lama’s text. We have already asked: how do we exist? Now the question is: how does everything else exist? Alan underlines that it is very important to read this 17th century text from the perspective of the 21st century and not 19th century physics. Hence he begins by quoting Andrei Linde’s article on “Inflation, Quantum Cosmology and the Anthropic Principle”. It turns out that if the whole universe is viewed as a quantum system then the element of time “falls out” of the mathematical equation. As if the universe was static. This is called the problem of “frozen time”. Andrei Linde explains that the notion of evolution is not applicable to universe as a whole, because there is no external observer with an external “clock” outside the universe. So why do we see the universe evolving? For this we need two pieces: 1) an observer with a ”clock” and other measuring devices and 2) the rest of the universe. The universe is evolving dependent on this observer and the measurements. If there is no observer, there is no evolution and the universe is static (or “dead”). Now, from this 21st century perspective, we go back to Panchen Lama, continuing to read verse 30 of the root text. Here the same sequence applied earlier in the meditation on self (way of appearing, apprehending and existing) leads to the conclusion that the six elements do not exist inherently, because they are composites. To illustrate this Alan coins a new term (a new concept) “smordge” which he makes to mean the configuration of laptop, smartphone and eyeglass case together. In this way, by designation, “smordge” comes into existence. And this means that there may be more “smordges” out there, just as there may have been “smordges” in the past and will be in the future. As long as someone designates them. And everything else is exactly like that! - underlines Alan. For example the solar system. It is also a mereological sum. Was it already out there? Does it include Pluto? Where does it end? Does it include its gravitational field? Who decides? It is a conceptual designation, it has the same ontological status as the newly invented “smordge”. Here Alan quotes a question posed by another contemporary physicist Paul C. W. Davies: “Without a miracle, how can something come to exist that did not exist before?” The answer is: by conceptual designation! Next, we read verse 32 of the root text and Alan explains the meaning of the phrase “you do not find even the minutest particle of meditative equipoise and of the one who rests in meditative equipoise”. Physical objects can be described using space and time dimensions but configurations of consciousness occupy only a time vector, not a space vector. Therefore in this context the “minutest particle” must mean particle of time (pulse). Lastly, referring to the final phrase of the commentary to the root text read today (“Alternatively, the subtle basis for imputing a self is said to be the very subtle energy-mind”), Alan points out that at any time one can designate oneself on the basis of one of the three levels of the energy-mind: coarse, subtle and very subtle. For example, when resting in shamatha, one can designate oneself “I am resting in shamatha”, on the basis of the subtle energy-mind. Similarly, in the bardo, one may use the subtle energy-mind as the basis of designation. And finally, resting in rigpa, the Buddha nature can serve as the basis of designation. In all such cases, as previously, in order to establish how the mind exists, one needs to first identify the mind. The meditation starts at 19:33 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 06 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan says that the aspiration for Awakening and Bodhicitta takes us out of the present with a goal that has great significance and provides direction in our lives – the path of Dharma. One understanding of Dharma is as a way of viewing reality that brings forth a sustained well-being. This eudaimonia is genuine well-being that arises independently of pleasure or stimulation as occurs for hedonia which is ephemeral, thin or just a fleeting memory. Alan amusingly suggests that the practice of Mindfulness of Breathing is not exactly hedonic, is it? Boredom can set in, along with withdrawal symptoms from the all too constant world of hedonic stimulation. However, we should not try to “jazz up” our practice. Peace is the way in shamatha, and we should get through any habitual need for stimulation by giving peace a chance - relax! We should weather any boredom or desire for stimulation by releasing and relaxing and being careful to ward off dullness. The Buddha’s instructions clearly shows that this practice will bring first a peaceful mental state, then a sublime one and afterwards also an ambrosial state of mind. In doing so, we enhance the psychological immune system so that when any of the mental hindrances or obscurations arise, e.g. attachment to hedonia, we do not become infected. The practice of Mindfulness of Breathing opens the door to overcoming the variety of obscurations as they arise. Then Alan recalls a question from a student in Spain, where he was asked if there is any way to bypass the nyams (desires, memories, all sorts of mental afflictions, etc.), specifically as they arise when practicing “Settling the Mind in its Natural State”. Alan says there are two types of responses, each valid. By disposition, some people have devotion, faith, worship and reverence, and all of these come very naturally. For such people, if they generate an image of the Buddha with a rich understanding of the life, the teachings, the blessings, the lineage of the Buddha etc, it is quite sublime. With that type of devotion, people find that this sustains them by giving the juice to go deeper and deeper in the practice of shamatha. Since you are looking at the object of your Refuge, this brings tremendous joy. If the person is also gifted at visualisation, together with the devotion this can be a winning package. That can be very powerful and can bring a person all the way to achieving shamatha. The dredging will also take place, bringing up stuff, but it will be like background noise because you are not attending to it (it’s outside the focus of your attention, like the rock quarry noise here in Tuscany). So that’s one bypass. Another type of bypass is by practicing awareness of awareness. This is for people fascinated by the nature of awareness and want a direct track to Mahamudra & Dzogchen. By resting in awareness of awareness, whatever somatic experiences and psychological stuff (memories, desires, emotions, etc.) arise they are there in the periphery, you don’t give them any attention at all. To conclude, why then practicing Settling the Mind in Its Natural State at all? The reason for it is insight. The meditation is silent (not recorded). ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
Fall 2011 Shamatha Retreat, 20 Sep 2011, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
We have begun to see the promise and the obstacles - our minds bare and naked. We have seen some glimmerings of our potential. In the vajrayana path we can take the fruit as the path. Go where you have never been before and invite this into the present actuality through imagination.
We are at an important moment in history - a lot changing and going and being destroyed. A lot of possibility will be dharma to have a little bit of this and a little bit of that. But few teachers can show a full path to liberation - not many out there who know the real path.
There is no way to peace, peace is the way.
There is no way to freedom, freedom is the way.
We come back to the practice of loving kindness focused on one self, again posing these four questions:
1) What would make you truly happy, and provide you with a sense of fulfillment, the realization of your innermost heart's desire?
2) In order to find the fulfillment that you seek, what would you love to receive from the world around you; hedonically, which of course is very important; and what would you love to receive from others in order to find genuine happiness at its perfection?
3) In order to realize your heart's desire, from what qualities would you love to be free, with what qualities would you love to be endowed, how would you love to transform and mature, evolve, so that you can become the person you'd love to become?
4) What would you love to offer to the world around you, to those near and far, over the short and the long term, what is the greatest good you can offer?
Alan also shares his own vision of this, comprised mainly of: following the path to true awakening, and helping other people to do so.
Meditation starts at 8:14
Note: No, we didn't skip a session :) Alan has decided to switch the format so we're now having the 4 immeasurables in the morning and shamatha in the afternoon. He talks more about this in the next episode, so stay tuned!
Spring 2012 Shamatha Retreat, 19 May 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
We begin tonight by reading an excerpt by Düdjom Lingpa describing the dzogchen practice of open presence and discussing its similitude to settling the mind in its natural state. The illusions of a lucid dream are analogous to the empty appearances of mental phenomena when settling the mind which in turn is a microcosm of the immeasurably deeper open presence practice and recognizing pristine awareness in the emptiness of all phenomenon.
Silent meditation from 40:02 - 1:04:40, then Q&A.
Q&A
* The fast-track helicopter method of entering into meditation.
* Om mani padme hum and Newt Gingrich.
* Judging nonsectarian bare attention mindfulness meditation.
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 01 Sep 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
aka: An insiders approach to understanding reality Alan continues teaching from the text, beginning with the preface before heading into the meditation and the gentle transition from shamatha to vipashana. Following the meditation, Alan discusses the contemplative laboratory concept, and the desire to bring His Holiness’ vision to fruition - breaking down the barriers between contemplative traditions (beyond Buddhism) in the name of research. Alan likens mundane vipashana to science in that it is asking questions. The subtitle of this podcast is explained through how Himalayan practitioners refer to themselves as ‘insiders’ (looking inwards for answers). He (Alan) asked us to strip down our consciousness and make a discovery, reminding us that we are on the ‘fast track’ and there is no time to waste. There was one question relating to being stuck inside the skull, in which Alan references a 1960’s TV show and a soap box in Hyde Park in his reply. Meditation starts at 19:42
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 13 May 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan begins by juxtaposing two seemingly contradictory perspectives. First, he first turns to the obvious and widely held perspective regarding the coronavirus and all of the suffering and hardship related to it. Then, he turns to the view that sees all reality as The Great Perfection, asking how we can possibly unite these two perspective such that they are not contradictory? That is, from what perspective is what we are seeing in the world today "The Great Perfection?" Lama Alan urges us to consider this deeply for ourselves and turns to relating the question to Great Compassion. To explain the meaning of Great Compassion, Lama Alan reiterates the fundamental question, "Why couldn't we all be free?" He then returns to the issue of these apparently contradictory perspectives of suffering and purity by citing HH The Dalai Lama's comments on Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro's explanation of how Longchenpa and Tsongkhapa present the Buddhist path. Jamyang Khyentse, a great Rime (nonsectarian) master, explains that Longchenpa presents the path from the perspective of a Buddha, while Tsongkhapa presents the path from the perspective of deluded sentient beings, and as such there is no contradiction, only a difference of perspective. Lama Alan then comments on how this view helps to clarify misunderstanding regarding the apparently contradictory perspectives of reality as suffering and reality as purity (The Great Perfection). It also helps to keep us from holding one particular view as inherently "supreme" among all views. Lama Alan then turns to Longchenpa's presentation of the Four Immeasurables and their relationship to Great Compassion. He also speaks to the importance of understanding the continuity of consciousness when we are practicing the four immeasurables, and compassion in particular, as it is through this that we can see that though we may think of ourselves as "good" in this life, it is just about guaranteed that in past lives we have done all manner of terrible deeds. Therefore, when we look upon others who are committing heinous acts in this lifetime, we will not be so quick to judge them as "rotten to the core," or totally unrelated to us. This is then complemented by the Dzogchen view that regards all phenomena as our "own appearances," and which understands that from the deepest perspective we have never become deluded sentient beings; that is, we have never moved from the dharmakaya in actuality. Through these considerations, we come to see that there really is a basis for saying that all beings could be free, and that we cannot give up on any being no matter how hopeless it may appear. The meditation on "A Mother's Great Compassion for All Sentient Beings" begins at 38:40.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 08 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan returns to the balance of the five faculties, starting with the different modalities of faith - appreciation, aspiration and belief - and the relation of belief with karma. The belief in karma depends much on the culture, but a confidence in Buddha and other great adepts who replicated his discoveries also may arise due to study, reflection, and meditation. Regarding the balance between intelligence and faith, including belief, Alan quotes William James: "Where preferences are powerless to modify or produce things, faith is totally inappropriate, but for the class of facts that depend on personal preference, trust, or loyalty for actualisation, faith is not only licit and pertinent, but essential and indispensable. The truths cannot become true till our faith has made them so." As a comment, Alan said, for instance, that it doesn't matter what you think about gravity and, in his perspective, the same goes for the continuity of consciousness beyond death. What matters is that your beliefs will have a big impact on you. Beliefs have no influence on what is true. And that is where intelligence comes in - if something is true, the more deeply you investigate it, the truer it should appear; that's a basic buddhist principle. But there are some things that can be true if and only if people believe it. Looking in Israel and Palestine conflict, could be possible that somehow, maybe with a long term strategy, they find peace and coexist without hatred,without violence? If you're sure it's not possible, you're right. If you think it might be possible, you're probably right. But it will not happen unless Israelis and Palestinians do believe it's possible. Can you or people like you achieve shamatha? If you're quite sure not, you're quite certainly right. And if you think you could, you might be right. As His Holiness said, "the situation becomes hopeless only when you lose hope." Alan asked Yangthang Rinpoche whether it was possible to "moderners" (more than Westerners or Easterners) to achieve shamatha and thereby gain direct knowing of past lives memories and so forth. And his answer was, "you'll have to see". And Alan gave us another quote from 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." So, maybe it's true that there are individuals nowadays who will achieve shamatha in Tibet, India, maybe Brazil, Germany, whatever, it might be true! And it could happen here and now! And then we have the balance of enthusiasm and samadhi. In Tibetan Buddhism, we have a great emphasis on prayers of supplication, arousing motivation of renunciation, and bodhicitta, taking refuge, reflect upon the benefits of achieving shamatha, realization of emptiness and bodhicitta and so for, guru yoga, receiving the four empowerments and imagining your guru as the Buddha coming and indivisibly merging with your own body and mind - all to arouse your motivation, enthusiasm, to receive blessings, and to arouse faith as well. Gyatrul Rinpoche advised Alan a long time ago, when he was in a very intense 6 month retreat, "do all of these just before you enter into the practice, and then drop it, go into the practice, and leave even your desire behind". Because desire by nature is the desire of something you don't have yet and it will take you out of the present. But there is a balance of practice and desire. You call for blessings and then you go into the practice and you just do it - that is samadhi - not doing anything else. And then you come out and dedicate merit. But don't conflate the preparation with the main body of your practice. And then, focusing on shamatha, Alan remembered a comment that Lobsang Rapgay made some years ago. Lobsang Rapgay is a very dear friend of Alan, - he was trained as a monk with Alan, then he studied Tibetan Medicine, then he got a PhD in Psychology and now he is a researcher in UCLA - and he said to Americans, but it fits for all "moderners", in a very gentle way: "you're all suffering from "lung" disorders, nervous imbalances, and considering how sick you are, you are coping very well." We indeed are driven, we are overstimulated in every way with entertainment, with the pace of life, internet and everything else. For us, living in modernity, if we were tires, we're all overinflated, ready to pop, or in the best case scenario, it's a rough ride. So, for most of us, the first agenda is to put a pin in the valve, and "pssss". Otherwise, if we get ourselves always pumped up, we'll never achieve shamatha. The first thing is just relax and then keep on relaxing and breathing out, and releasing. That is the pin in the valve of your tire - psssss. And then, during the inbreath, if you're losing clarity, when the breath flows in, gently arouse, uplift your awareness, quietly, non-conceptually for a short time, and then relax more deeply. Then you discover stillness that is left over, which will become your base camp, your default mode when you're sitting, walking, standing, when there's nothing to think or talk about. Meditation starts at 26:46, first taking refuge, arousing bodhicitta, making every breath meaningful, and then moving to shamatha with emphasis on relaxation. Alan commented that the onramp to enter the freeway of enlightenment is shamatha - the mind has to be superbly serviceable to sustain that level of bodhicitta, of insight and so forth. But this is so often overlooked. And then we raise the issue, is it possible for people like us, conditioned by modernity to achieve shamatha in this lifetime? For this to be realistic, the outer and inner causes and conditions need to be there. Alan has been orienting around 30 students all over the world who are fully dedicated mainly to shamatha and none of them have a really conducive environment. But the place is not the only issue - it is so important to have have the support, the group energy of fellow contemplatives. When Alan was receiving Geshe Rabten's life story, especially about his very demanding, astonishing 4 years Madhyamaka training, much more intense than medical training in the West, he asked "how could you keep this pace up?" And Geshe Rabten said "well, everybody else was doing that". None of Alan' students have a place like a contemplative observatory, with a conducive landscape, companions, a teacher and an experienced guide. The viable place for that seems to be 5km from Tsongkhapa Institute - Castellina Marittima - blessed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khandro la. Decades ago, when Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa were looking for a place to start Tsongkhapa Institute, Lama Yeshe looked right to Castellina Marittima and said - "that would be good!" But it was not for sale. But now it can happen. We can purchase it as soon as we get the permit. And that is the missing piece. And also the scientists from Pisa for example, very close to Castellina Marittima, are open minded, interested and they would really love to come and collaborate. It seems quite ripe! So, as you dedicate merit, bring forth this aspiration "may it happen" as Claudio said, "in the homeland of Galileo". Meditation starts at 26:46 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 11 May 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan says that in the context of shamatha meditation there is a pyramid with the foundation being the ease, relaxation and stillness whereas at the top of the pyramid there is the clarity, vividness and acuity. The practice of vipashyana is all at the top of the pyramid. In practicing vipashyana we are cultivating the psychological factor of prajna, which in Buddhist psychology means discerning intelligence. When prajna is cultivated to its perfection, then it is translated as the perfection of wisdom. As an aside we should understand that intelligence is not by itself virtue. There are four types of intelligence to be cultivated. The first three are sharp, fast and clear intelligences which are part of vipashyana practice and hence explains why it can be demanding. The fourth intelligence is profound intelligence and brings about deep transformation. The meditation is initially guided on the nature of awareness and appearances, followed by resting in our closest approximation of rigpa. Following the meditation practice, Alan comments that the stronger and more stable our shamatha practice then the sharper and clearer the vipashyana will be, which will lead to the realisation of emptiness. Alan then resumes the transmission of the Panchen Rinpoche text from verse 35, and makes a number of comments and clarifications assisting our comprehension and enhancing our practice. Meditation starts at 7:00 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
The Wisdom of Atisha and Knowing Our Own Minds, 14 Sep 2021, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, CO
Lama-la begins this session by explaining that any guided meditation is a cost vs benefit kind of deal (resting in awareness which is the instruction and listening to Lama-la which is a distraction). Front-loading the mediation by speaking for 5 minutes and then meditating in silence for 24 minutes would only make sense for people who know the practice and then they wouldn’t need the front-loading in the first place. So this approach is a temporary, expedient means in order to remember the instructions in the practice. What will be done for the rest of the sessions (this one and the next one) is to stay on the same practice, but each time Lama-la will give less and interfere less. Once we have heard it three times and we are practicing it, we are developing and implementing retrospective mindfulness and then we know how to practice with no instruction at all. The meditation beings at minute 3.14. After the meditation wich starts at minute 3.14, Lama-la emphasizes that this practice is a complete commitment of eudaimonia over hedonia, because in the very nature of awareness, there are no pleasant appearances arising to which one could be attached to. So there is no stimulation that arouses pleasure. Of course one could give deliberately attention to some thoughts, which we might find more interesting, stimulation and entertaining than straight, unelaborated awareness, but here we are not even interested in thoughts. Ideally, we are approximating a „Jabba The Hutt“-type of awareness. So the Dzogchen approach to mindfulness of breathing is a choice and a commitment to cultivate genuine wellbeing. Moreover it is giving peace a change, because we can experience a peace of mind, a serenity, a calm, a quiet and choosing that over stimulation. Eventually, Lama-la comes back to the section of the text where Atisha asks whether the dreamer or dreams exist, and begins to discuss this and the subsequent dialogue following. This leads us to understand that both, waking and dreaming reality are created or emanated by the mind. Lama-la urges us to understand this as a completely naturalistic approach to understand nature as compared to the materialistic world view of our time. Having understood that everything is an emanation of the mind, this begs the question what the mind is. To answer this question, Atisha starts the process of elimination by inquiring whether the mind is something physical.
Fathom the Mind. Heal the World., 05 Oct 2022, Online and in person from Blazing Mountain Retreat Center, Crestone, Colorado
This guided meditation is an extrapolation of the first chapter of the Gospel of John, where John gives an account of John the Baptiste witnessing the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus like a dove and testifying that he is indeed the Son of God. John relates how when Jesus’ first disciples posed questions to him, he invited them to, “Come and see.” Eva reflects, “I’m sure that the very words ‘Come and see’ don’t pass unnoticed for all of you”. In this meditation Eva invites us to be very honest with ourselves about the vast space between where we think we are and that which we aspire to. She asks us to reflect very honestly how far we seem to be from a state of perfect peace, perfect understanding, all-encompassing knowledge, all-embracing compassion, much less the ability to act upon it perfectly for all beings, and in all worlds. In this context, she invites us to ‘Come and see’, as she guides us through our own experience of encountering Jesus.
2017 8-Week Retreat, 07 Apr 2017, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Tuscany, Italy
Alan begins this afternoon with an explanation of what is meant by the stillness and movement mentioned in commentaries on the practice. He links this to the habituation and addiction to stimulation and activity so prevalent in modernity. To overcome this, we’re advised to develop a preference for cultivating samadhi by “going in” rather than looking outside for stimulation and pleasure. This in turn develops peace, wellbeing and joy. After a critique of physicalism disguising itself as naturalism, we pick up the text with a summary of the first three points on the last paragraph of page 142. Alan gives a further commentary on renunciation – definite emergence. The text now moves on to the unique practices, beginning with guru yoga. Alan’s commentary includes some of the unique cultural anomalies of western students taking on Tibetan root gurus. He also gives clear advice on how to approach teachers of Sravaka, Bodhisattva, and Vajrayana systems. The 24 minute silent meditation period starts 16:41. That silent period has been cut from the audio.
Fathom the Mind. Heal the World., 04 Oct 2022, Online and in person from Blazing Mountain Retreat Center, Crestone, Colorado
Lama Alan begins the afternoon session with the root of suffering—not knowing how what is going on, and the root of awakening—knowing how things are happening. This leads him to investigate the question how it is that we see so much in common without falling to a solipsistic worldview nor metaphysical realism. We will see that both, appearances and awareness, arise from the substrate,the alaya, in a mode of intersubjective non-duality from individual and collective seeds (vasanas). The basis of reality, therefore, is causality and the consensuality of appearances. The meditation starts at minute 17.38 and is on appearances and awareness of them and culminates in the experience of the absence of existence and non-existence of the mind. After the meditation Lama la talks about the philosophical background of the meditation which could lead us from the Cittamatra to Madhyamaka and eventually to Mahamudra and Dzogchen. Then he moves to the text of the Sravakabhumi to cover the 16 phases, which are 16 aspects entailing Shamatha and Vipashyana laid out sequentially. He gives explanation on the stages and paths of Sravakas or Bodhisattvas, talks about acquired and connate mental afflictions and when we overcome them. One important point is that we could be born as a stream enterer, because we could have reached the path of seeing in the previous life, but we may not know it. In this case we have to start from the ground up, though you will be very fast. Lama la also mentions that there are two ways of sufficiently achieving Shamatha: - access to the first Dhyana (1) - and fully achieving the first, second, third or fourth Dhyana (2). After having achieved Shamatha, we are equipped with the five Dhyana factors and one of them is joy, which we can use for probing the apprehending mind and its qualities. He covers this section of the Sravakayana bhumis until phase 12.
The Wisdom of Atisha and Knowing Our Own Minds, 19 Sep 2021, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, CO
Content: - The list of the 11 virtuous mental processes and the 6 root and 20 derivative mental afflictions are responses to our eternal questions of what causes our suffering and what causes our happiness. - The afflictions are what ails us and none of them are symptoms. The first symptom is they disrupt the harmony of the mind. - After the mediation we will look into the 11 virtues. They are the response to the question "What makes us happy?" To gain happiness we usually look outwards to experience either pleasure, excitement or peace. However any kind of happiness is coming from the bliss, the luminosity and the non-conceptuality of our own substrate consciousness, so everything we are going out for is all here. And whatever is out there, may or may not catalyze happiness. - Cultivating the seeds of the 11 virtues will bring about a bountiful harvest that will always accompany you, because they are the seeds of genuine wellbeing. Weed out your own garden and cultivate the seeds of eudaimonia. - The key of whether the meditation on loving kindness is simply wishful thinking or whether it is profoundly realistic is the distinction between hedonia and eudaimonia. - Discussion of the 8 of the 11 virtuous mental processes: faith, dignity, propriety, non-attachment, non-hatred, non-delusion, enthusiastic perseverance and pliancy. The meditation is on self-directed loving kindness also called the four-fold vision quest. It begins at minute 20:40.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 21 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Lama Alan starts with the meditation, and further inquiry advised to be practiced for one full day, whether we are still working primarily on the preliminaries, advanced or not on the path of Shamatha, and to start from a sacred place having checked the authenticity of the transmission and the conduct of the vehicle, to dissolve the sentient being and see Padmasambhava himself guiding the practice. The meditation which starts at 00:14:40 is an excerpt from the revelations translated in the book Natural Liberation. Padmasambhava leads quintessential vipasyana inquiry into the nature of mind. After the meditation Lama la comments that the mind is a big culprit, but nobody has seen it and we need to get definitive certainty about its nature. And it’s a necessary prerequisite to stage generation, completion and phase five. But why all that time and effort to look for the unfindable: as Buddhists, we cannot bring our insights to 7 billion people. The only way to reach out public schools, public institutions and transcend religions, is thru science as it is the only practice not universally banned, as the delivering mechanism, the skillful means. Shamatha is universal for people to achieve peace of mind, to come face to face with the nature of mind. Then start rummaging about into the consciousness and take the laser pointer to the past and see if one can pull out memories of events forgotten outside of samadhi. Come and see for yourself, this is a telescope that can be used by anybody. As for Vipasyana, it does not require a leap of faith either as a tool for everybody who wants to be free of suffering and its causes, to investigate into the nature of existence—and the role of conception—the mind, space, energy, all kinds of phenomena as dependent related events. Therefore, we come to this V having established the tools of Shamatha and Vipasyana as the basis to bring about a Renaissance of contemplative traditions – the profound wisdom and Revolution in mind Science – the skillful means. Shamatha and Vipasyana can cut through all the borders of religions – for example to acknowledge the existence of past lives which is running through or has been recognized by front figures of all main traditions – and to expel fundamentalism from science as well. Then Lama Alan continues the transmission from “These teachings…” on page 162 at 1:19:50 and emphasizes the outer and inner secret nature of those teachings, hence of the necessity not to reveal teachings, on emptiness for example, let alone on the generation and completion stages, to unripen minds, especially not to entail on Bodhicitta and the understanding of the efficacious causality of phenomena, and foremost not to trigger gross misunderstanding. The inner secret nature of the teachings also reveals itself only to suitable vessels.
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 13 Oct 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Alan starts by talking about his last dharma talk and once more making clear that his anger was not directed towards any person, but simply towards a certain view. This is important to stress because in the West often a view is conflated with a person. Alan emphasizes how important views are and they are clearly the most horrible non-virtue of all because they justify any kind of behavior. That is why also Dharma talks can be very intense and unpleasant. If a certain view is being burned and you identify with that view (e. g. that the mind is the brain and your awareness is a cartoon, thus, you are not a sentient being but a mindless robot), the dharma talk will not be comfortable for you and the lama might manifest as wrathful. As what concerns great equanimity we are asked to release all attachment to the near, which means our views. But not only that; we should also release the extreme of peace and the aversion to the world of becoming, that is, as much as we like to be in a peaceful retreat we have to let go of that preference over the uncertain world “out there”. That then finally to the ultimate equanimity which means letting go of the attachment to nirvana. On that note, Alan tells two stories that illustrate these points, one being about a Geshe, who saved a calf from drowning in filth, and the other about Franklin Merrell-Wolf, who experienced such a “complete transcendence of all opposites”. Meditation starts at 47:02
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 19 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Lama-la starts today the preparation for phase 5. He advises that Yangchen will continue with meditations and commentaries in the morning sessions, so that we may familiarize ourselves with the stages of generation and completion for further practice after the retreat if we are so inclined. He reminds us that these stages are not another path, but in the service and embedded in Dzogchen and he makes an analogy with fast cars. The following topic title in the text is : “The Synthesis and names of the Great Perfection.” Lama-la gives the oral transmission on page 161 starting at 03:57 and commentary today on the fundamental nature of reality (the Synthesis). He revised completely this morning the translation of the first paragraph. This is a phenomenological, as well as an ontological approach, in which emptiness is ascertained as the ground of all phenomena, encompassing all of samsara, nirvana and the path, all divine, all of one taste, nothing other than pristine space. He describes his personal journey of integration and re-engagement with the world, in which he found quantum mechanics to be the bridge between Buddhism and physics, bringing them together in a great encompassment. He comments in this context two quotes by Dudjom Rinpoche and Atisha, respectively, on the delusive appearance of reality, he gives atomic particles as examples and reads a number of provoking scientific quotes from brilliant physicists. It is a dissertation on the lack of inherent existence of everything, including space and time, with the knowing that reality is nothing other than our reified assertion of relations between aspects of experience, the Lebenswelt. A single objective reality is an illusion and materialism has to be thrown out as it is only a dry, vital energies-sucking ghost. While the paragraph covered in the text is short, it is very dense, and once again, the commentary is an amazing rhetoric tour de force which ignites our intellect and inspires us profoundly. He will proceed with the topic of the ‘names’ tomorrow. There is no meditation with this teaching.
2018 8-week retreat- The Essence of Clear Meaning, 04 May 2018, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute in Pomaia (Pisa), Italy
Lama Alan again mentions that it is wise to practice Loving-Kindness towards ourselves given the predominance of self-criticism, self-hatred and low self-esteem in the modern world. It is one thing to wish for happiness and its causes, but then we need a strategy. He proposes a 3-part plan. First phase: we wish that we may have enough happiness on the level of hedonic needs with enough wealth, power and reputation as a baseline. Lama Alan references the social science studies which show if we're in poverty or disempowered and oppressed or abused, maligned without a sense of belonging anywhere, it is hard to be happy. Once we're above baseline, there are diminishing returns on happiness. Lama Alan proposes that if all human beings in the world were all at baseline, we'd have world peace. Second phase: we don't stop once reaching hedonic baseline, but begin to explore the possibility of experiencing wellbeing in the context of a sentient being's mind. Here we find ethics-based eudaimonia. So we can envision deeper maturations of nonviolence and benevolence in body, speech and mind. Third phase: we leave the realm of coarse mind and wish for ourselves the discovery of our rightful inheritance of bliss, luminosity and non-conceptuality, from practicing shamatha up through resting in rigpa, which is the source of immutable wellbeing beyond conception. The meditation is on loving-kindness towards oneself and starts at 31:32
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 28 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
Lama-la opens the session by adding a footnote regarding genuine happiness, the cultivation of which is Dharma, as opposed to genuine unhappiness, rooted in mental afflictions. After highlighting the characteristics of the four stages of practice, Lake Born Vajra warns that if someone makes big claims regarding their level of realizations, this in itself is nothing but a proof of self-grasping and delusion, revealing the falsity of such people who then become objects of great derision. Whether one is liberated or not can be assessed through objective examination and investigation, through peer review. And Lama-la discusses a number of useful examples. Furthermore, the measure of liberation can be understood through one’s dreams, and a thorough discussion regarding lucid dreaming, dream yoga and the bardo of death ensues. Individuals with superior progress’ dreams become thoroughly integrated with the clear light, and they will achieve liberation in dharmakaya. Those of middling progress are able to have lucid dreams, engage in emanation and transformation, and they will be liberated into sambhogakaya. And finally, those who have made little progress will have only good dreams and will find relief as a nirmanakaya. Lama-la reads further. Great erudition will not liberate, but only great meditative experiences, so striving in essential practice is indispensable. And so one must seek out for realized teachers who practice, not just good academics. But essentially our ultimate refuge must be the trust in ourselves and the three jewels. The meditation which start at 01:06:44 is on the Dzochen approach to mindfulness of breathing and the opportunity to choose peace over the stimuli. Lama la starts with the aural transmission at 00:05:44 ad covers the pages 209-211.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 22 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan posits that the Buddha’s teachings on the 4 Immeasurables and the antidotes to the 3 poisons (Loving Kindness for Hatred, Generosity for Attachment and Intelligence for Ignorance/Delusion) are at the root of Positive Psychology. Lama la gives further commentary on the 3rd Immeasurable, Empathetic Joy. He says that the close facsimile/near enemy of Empathetic Joy is Hedonism (as it is missing the dimension of a meaningful life), the far enemy is Envy and the substantial cause is Accomplishment. He says that the benefit of cultivating Empathetic Joy is that it lifts one out of despair. He warns against global cynicism. He says that the proximate cause of Empathetic Joy is seeing/rejoicing in our own and other’s successes and joy. That that may involve celebrating hedonia but then look ahead. Can it be used as a platform for something more? Will it be a catalyst to find dharma which will be productive of more sustainable happiness and joy? He says that a pivotal difference between the two is the presence or absence of self-centredness. That if no envy is present, more cheerfulness will arise. He recommends that we imbue beings in whose joy we take delight with emptiness and that then dualistic grasping will not occur and good fortune will be stabilised from lifetime to lifetime. Lama Alan then gives commentary on the 4th Immeasurable, Equanimity or Impartiality - cultivating a sense of caring equally. He refers to straining out hostility for those to whom we are averse and attachment for those to whom we cling. He refers to cultivating the qualities of being courteous, respectful, appreciative and humane. Lama la says that the near enemy of Impartiality is aloof indifference. The far enemy, attachment and aversion. The proximate cause, karma. He says it is helpful to accept that there is no one whom has not been your friend, enemy and parent. That all appearances are reflections of ourself. The key he says is to overcome preference and to see emptiness. The benefits of Impartiality are the realisation of a profound peace (a mind unclouded by attachment and hostility, of near and far) and ultimately, that we experience the actual nature of non-dual reality (the perspective of the Buddha). Meditation starts at 01:07:46 with taking the mind as the path, practicing tonglen for every person who comes to mind.
2017 8-Week Retreat, 24 Apr 2017, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Tuscany, Italy
Alan begins the evening session with the reminder that we have five weeks left and are now at "cruising altitude” in the retreat. With the weeks remaining Alan recommends that our relatively nonconceptual shamatha practices of Mindfulness of Breathing and Awareness of Awareness will especially benefit from the serene environment of the retreat. However, when the retreat is over and we need to engage conceptually with the world at the Pisa airport, the non conceptual methods are not so practical. That is the time for the techniques of maintaining stillness in the midst of motion. Another priceless benefit of developing this method is the ability to recognize mental afflictions as soon as they come up. Alan compares this to tapping out a spark before it becomes a forest fire. Because they are so damaging and contagious, we must notice the spark of a mental affliction as early as possible. Since mental afflictions disturb the peaceful balance of the mind, we should know the experience of a peaceful mind so we will recognize the disturbance. One way to know a mind at relative peace is to rest in an unmoving, relaxed, and clear way without obsessive thinking. Another and better baseline is knowing substrate consciousness and the ultimate home is rigpa. Following the guided meditation on Settling the Mind in Its Natural State, Alan returns to the Mud and Feathers text on page 154, the second paragraph, "Now sentient beings seem to perish due to..." Dudjom Lingpa adds more details on how, once achieved, to protect your rigpa from being derailed by delusive appearances. Guided meditation starts at 23:40
2019 8-Week Retreat, 07 Apr 2019, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Tuscany, Italy
This morning Lama Alan returns to the infirmary. Before doing so he mentions that Buddhist teachings go against the stream of much of what we usually do. Tibetan Buddhists call themselves insiders. The mainstream, however, focuses on the outside with the overall goal to increase productivity. “Don’t just sit there, do something” is a phrase that we commonly hear when we meditate, so our practice and this retreat goes against the stream. Lama Alan then quotes several verses from the fifth chapter of Shantideva’s Bodhicharyavatra about introspection, where he recommends we remain like a piece of wood whenever mental afflictions arise. Beyond just doing nothing, it is important to learn to identify afflictions as soon as they arise in order not to spread the disease. Expressions of mental afflictions never turn out well and are very contagious. If we all acted according to Shantideva’s suggestions, we would have world peace. Productivity would go down but happiness, our actual goal, would go up. Lama-la finally compares our addiction to obsessive compulsive delusional disorder with the fight against alcoholism. Not taking a drink is the path to healing and in a similar way every time we overcome distractions we are on the way to healing. Meditation is on the infirmary After the meditation we move to questions and discussion. Lama-la encourages us to share the successes and difficulties we have with our practice and requests we only ask questions related to the text. In case we are too shy, he recommends we write the question down, so that everyone can benefit. The meditation starts at 15:34
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 16 May 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Tonight we return again to the theme of the path and to the four applications of mindfulness discussed yesterday. This time, Alan gives a presentation of the four application of mindfulness in the context of Mahamudra. First, however, he points out that contrary to some views which present Buddhism as “selfish” - centred only on “me” and “mine”, as in “my body”, “my mind” - in the four applications of mindfulness the Buddha actually gave instructions to attend to the body, feelings, mind and phenomena internally and externally, and then both internally and externally. Thus, for example, one examines one’s mind subjected to mental afflictions and develops kindness towards oneself, and then attends to others and discovers similar mental afflictions and therefore is able to display empathy and kindness towards others as well. It has nothing to do with “selfishness” and self-centredness. Alan then explains why he chose the Buddha’s instructions from the Satipatthana Sutta, and specifically the close application of mindfulness to the mind, as the basis for our meditation yesterday. First, he notes that according to those teachings, to achieve nirvana it is sufficient to gain insight into one of those four applications of mindfulness (body, feelings, mind and phenomena) by realising the three marks of existence, i.e. impermanence, dukkha and non-self. With a few exceptions (see the story of king Milinda, Nagasena and the chariot), in the Pali canon there is no reference to the emptiness of phenomena. However, we are here to follow the Mahayana path. Therefore Alan presents the four applications of mindfulness in a different light, namely from the perspective of Madhyamika view. In the close application of mindfulness to the mind, this entails the assertion of the lack of inherent existence of the mind. To “front load” the meditation, Alan reads a passage from his translation of chapter 13 of Shantideva’s “Compendium of Practices on the Four Applications of Mindfulness” (this text was used at the Fall 2012 Retreat on Shamatha, Vipashyana and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, and will be made available to us via Retreat Notes). The meditation is on the close application of mindfulness to the mind. After the meditation, Alan returns to the theme of mapping the four yogas onto the five Mahayana paths - a topic he discussed briefly yesterday based on Panchen Lama’s text. For today’s teaching Alan chose a number of relevant passages from Karma Chagme’s “Naked Awareness”, chapter 10 on the four yogas. These excerpts, too, will be available in the Retreat Notes. In conclusion, Alan stresses the importance of having a clear vision of the path, a strong motivation to get to the very end of the path to enlightenment. This will propel us through future lifetimes and ensure the suitable conditions to finish what we started. Alan also contrasts the “slow” approach in which getting from the path of accumulation to the path of seeing takes one countless eon with the fast Mahamudra and Dzogchen way in which this may be shortened to just a number of years, i.e. one lifetime. What makes it possible is, of course, cutting through to rigpa. Rigpa is the Warp drive - concludes Alan. The meditation starts at 35:00 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
Spring 2010 Shamatha Retreat, 25 May 2010, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
In today's lecture, Alan gave a very brief reflection for when we finish this retreat. As we know, the still, sustained focus / samadhi of our attention will naturally diminish within a socially engaged lifestyle. However, the Four Immeasurables have no reason to do so and in fact can even be amplified and practiced all day within the context of our life. We then go into a free Four Immeasurable meditation, and I have a question for you valued listeners:
Do you prefer for me to trim the silent meditations out of the podcast? Please comment on the site for this podcast episode. Keep in mind that I always place chapter markers so you can easily skip to after the meditation or just use fast forward. So please comment, I want to see what you all think! I left it in today, also because we had a great meditation-enhancing rainstorm. Unfortunately the tiny wire microphone I use for Alan obviously does not do it justice, but you can at least imagine meditating here with us in the rain :)
After the meditation I stripped what will be the second sunday bonus, a continuation from yesterday. I say this again, you should be very excited for this sunday, just as if there was a big sports match or something. I left a brief question from Malcom about the different interpretations of equanimity between the Theravada and Mahayana views, and Alan added some very wise information on sadness and remorse at the very end.
Enjoy!
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 28 Apr 2021, Online-only
From the Discourse on the Four Close Applications of Mindfulness or Satipatthana Sutta, Lama Alan comments on the Buddha’s instructions for mindfulness of breathing and then on that basis bringing in an inquiry to the body. He describes mindfulness of breathing as a simple, subtle and profound practice. Lama Alan explains how the practice purifies the mind to bring peace, wellbeing and joy, as described by the Buddha. Through allowing the breath to flow naturally and not trying to control it, which we could, the sense of “I” as an autonomous agent who possesses and controls the body is released. Lama Alan reads the first tetrad from the Satipatthana Sutta on practising mindfulness of breathing. This is a complete instruction for achieving shamatha and proceeding to the fourth dhyana. He emphasises the importance of mastering the ‘sign of the mind’, reaching the substrate consciousness, as a prerequisite for the four close applications of mindfulness. He explains that in the sixteen phases of the Anapanasati Sutta, mindfulness of breathing is a method for both shamatha and vipashyana, with the first four phases concerning the development of shamatha and the next twelve concerning vipashyana, culminating in arhatship. With the explanation for achieving shamatha complete, we turn to vipashyana and the refrain from the Satipatthana Sutta on viewing the body. Lama Alan explains that having refined our awareness with shamatha, we are now ready to examine and pose questions to our own experience. Firstly, we attend to the sensations of the breath in our body, then we expand our awareness externally to the breathing and body of others, seeing the body as ‘just a body’ and not equating it with the person. Then we review both together as we engage with others and investigate the dynamic interactions, laying the foundation for empathy, which is the foundation for all the four immeasurables. We witness the myriad sensations that arise and pass away in the body, observing the manner in which the body is coming into being and passing away moment to moment and thereby examine impermanence and causality. So, with mindfulness we know the nature of the body from the inside out. Lama Alan ends by reflecting on how viewing the body in this way removes our dependence upon outside stimuli for our gratification and therefore releases us from fixation from the allures of the desire realm, the first obscuration. If we can release clinging to the body, then how much easier to release anything outside of the body. This is a big step towards releasing our delusional tendencies of latching onto anything or anyone else. Meditation starts at 00:35:58 and is on bringing awareness out into the space in front of you and maintaining awareness on the rhythm of the respiration, allowing the respiration to settle in its natural state.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 12 May 2020, Online-only
The four immeasurables consist in aspirations. It appears in a variety of forms in many different traditions. But there is an approach to them that are unique to the Mahayana: the four greats. What is unique is a shift beyond the aspirations. They are a pledge made in the presence of all sentient beings. The root of the Buddhist teaching is great compassion. The classic liturgy of the Indo-Tibetan tradition begins with a question: “Why couldn't all beings be free of suffering and its causes?” With the recognition that all sentient beings can indeed be free of suffering, then, inspired by that recognition, we can aspire: “May all sentient beings be free.” It is the next phrase that goes further: “I shall do it.” That’s a commitment. Then, one not being yet able to fulfill the pledge, the fourth line says: “May my guru and personal deity bless me, that I may be able to do so.” The promise that is integral to bodhicitta itself starts in the commitment of the great compassion and the other greats. In the context of the Mahayana Sutrayana, Lama Alan talks about how wisdom inspires great compassion. We will not aspire to something that we don't see is possible, or that is doubtful, let alone make a commitment. We won't aspire to free all beings if we can't see it can be done. But when you realize to the actual nature of your mind, it is none other than nirvana, ultimate peace, freedom from suffering and the causes of suffering, in the next second you know that such realization is also possible to others. Not only that, every one of us is imbued with Buddha nature and therefore can also realize it. So wisdom opens the floodgates to great compassion, because through it we see that what the pledge is about can be done. If there still is a prioritization of one's own well-being, and then one gains realization of the emptiness of one's own identity, that will be devastating. In contrast, if one is cultivating the four immeasurables, the four greats, cherishing others more than oneself, then such insight can be the most joyful experience of one’s life. In the context of Dzogchen, having cut through to pristine awareness – who we actually are – then compassion arises spontaneously, and it is great compassion. So why cultivate relative bodhicitta, if all we have to do is identitify pristine awareness? Self-centeredness will obstruct the realization of pristine awareness. The same goes for reification of the self. Everything we do on the path is for the sake of cutting through, to see you own face as dharmakaya. Lama provides an analogy to “drilling through”: if you are drilling through dry rocks and sand to get to a deep source, you can put some water to soften them a little bit. Meditation is “Great Compassion” and begins at 36:25. After the meditation, Lama Alan says that he strongly associates the cultivation of great compassion with bringing bringing each sentient being to the path. Keywords: Great compassion, four greats, Dalai Lama, Khunu Lama Rinpoche, relative bodhicitta, ultimate bodhicitta.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 19 Apr 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan opened by addressing the world living in the midst of COVID-19, with all the hopes that medical relief will arise soon. He then draws a parallel between between the damage and suffering caused by this pandemic, and the damages and suffering caused by the wide-spread, mutating, viruses of the 84,000 mental afflictions-which spread far more widely than a physical virus. And mental afflictions do nothing bu harm both ourselves and others. Thus we should be even more keep to cultivate meditation that helps us avoid contracting mental afflictions, and to bolster our psychological immune system. The practice we'll return to this morning, Mindfulness of Breathing, not only can bring peace, bliss and inner joy, it can also empower our psychological immune system to the extent that when mental afflictions are catalyzed, they can't get a grip on us -they can't infect us or disrupt the balance of our minds. Lama Alan then expounds on a quote from Shantideva which speaks to stabilizing, from 8th chapter on meditation based on conative zeal for Dharma. "A person whose mind is distracted lives between the fangs of mental afflictions". When our minds are trapped between the fangs of mental afflictions, they've breached our inner sanctum. Over the last couple of mornings we've practiced mindfulness of breathing with a Dzogchen twist. And in the midst of this approach, the first challenge is to relax ever more deeply without loosing clarity. Now Lama Alan address different ways to relax, to treat the symptoms of being uptight, stressed out and so forth. But go deeper and ask "how far does relaxation go?" Does it go down to the core? How do we relax in midst of vast ocean of not-knowing the outcome of COVID-19, which looks so threatening to ourselves and our world. Samsara itself is not a place of ease. Lama Alan weaves in why one would take refuge in Buddha, Dharma, Sangha and Guru -it's because there is a sense of danger. Understanding the impact of mental afflictions on our present and future lives, and we understand the ocean of suffering of Samsara, we realize Samsara isn't a "self-healing process". So Lama Alan speaks to the sense of ease that can emerge with taking refuge, even in the midst of the most dire of times. He then moves to talking about this morning's meditation, and how we begin each meditation in a meaningful way. Expanding the field of awareness through the 4 immeasurable, through bodhicitta, then our awareness becomes as big as space. The ground of one's well-being is then as vast and as imperturbable as space itself. So we begin with refuge, with bodhicitta, and applying skillful means to stabilize this mind. On this basis, Lama Alan introduces this morning's meditation, Mindfulness of Breathing which builds on relaxation without loosing clarity by strengthening stability without loosing relaxation. Meditation "Emphasis on Stability in Mindfulness of Breathing" starts at: 27:00 Lama Alan wrapped up by returning to theme of integrating our meditative practice with daily life. And he ended with an additional quotation from Master Shantideva.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 02 Apr 2021, Online-only
Settling the Mind in its Natural State
Fall 2015 Stage of Generation, 19 Sep 2015, Araluen Retreat Center, Queensland, Australia
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 ___ 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.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 08 May 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
A Dharma sister stays in Alamida and reports to Lama about Gyatrul Rinpoche’s actual state, and Lama la kindly shares this with us: Rinpoche is still in tukdam, his body is still shrinking while not showing any signs of decomposition. The sea burial is scheduled for Guru Rinpoche Day on May 30, and Lama la plans to attend. Questions: - Will samatha enable one to pass lucidly through the dying process? Yes, very likely, if one has a gradual, mainly pain free death, because through samatha practice one has trained to pass through the process of coarse, subtle, and afflictive mentation lucidly. Will samatha also suffice to identify rigpa during the dying process, when one has not identified it prior to death? No, it won’t. - What to look at when taking consciousness as the path? One should not look at anything, but simply be aware of being aware. Thoughts should just be noticed without being looked at, as Yangthang Rinpoche advises. Padmasambhava introduced us to a transitional phase within this practice, the alternation of focusing on the „doer“ with releasing into open space—a practice which might suffice to break through the demarcation between outer and inner space. If an experience of luminosity arises, one will be non-conceptually be aware of it. This practice of taking consciousness as the path can at times be complimented with vipashyana practice. - The next question is about movement / the decrease of movement (referring to the movements of awareness) through samatha practice, with different approaches in Sutrayana, Vajrayana, and Dzogchen. Depending on which samatha practice one chooses, the strategy regarding movement is different. Yet, with sustained intensive practice over some time, movements will gradually subside. - How can one find out whether one is ready for a long-term retreat, using the metaphor of the cat and the elephant? The elephant has cultivated a stable mind, which brings with it a sense of serenity, peace, and, sooner or later, joy. As a preparation for extended retreat one should already have practiced Dharma all day long in daily life, transforming all challenges and joys into one’s path. According to the Tibetan master Jikme Tempe Nyima, in our degenerate times one can only progress spiritually when one learns to transform adversities, so becoming an alchemist of one’s life. Lama la highlights the practice of dedicating one day each week to spiritual training, as done in biblical traditions. Lama la encourages us to gradually build on our success, and so to train in a way that we can be confident about our progress. Why do practitioners drop out of retreat? There are a variety of reasons: good reasons, for example if one is the only one to take care of a relative, or because of health issues, or because of a change in the environment one is practicing in. And then there are reasons that one will drop out because one was not prepared well enough. - What to do when one is prone to laxity during the practice of awareness of awareness? Since this is a very subtle practice, it is crucially important to uphold the clear cognisance that is needed to practice correctly. When one starts to lose grip, it is better to find a practice with more traction, like taking the mind as the path, or Asanga’s approach to mindfulness of breathing. One should also make sure to get enough sleep. The practice of alternating between concentrating inwards and releasing outwards is an approach to losing all interest in the appearances of the six senses with the only interest in what it is like to be conscious. There should not be a sense of contraction involved. When we are looking inwards, we do not search for a „person“ but rather for the referent of the „I“, our mind, and then for the referent of this mind. On an even subtler level we are just being aware of being aware, and then ask if there is anyone who is aware. Lama la invites us to a short meditation, in which we individually choose a meditation which we can do, so we can build on success. Finally Lama la reminds us that it is the time in between sessions that will determine the success of our samatha training: can we maintain a non-conceptual, mindful presence towards our thoughts and our environment, and then dive into the next session of formal practice?
Spring 2010 Shamatha Retreat, 29 May 2010, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
In this afternoon's marvelous introduction, Alan talks about The Great Path of the Bodhisattvas, comparing it to a Freeway (using the American term). Using this very accurate analogy he talks about getting on the fast lane, and never getting off (until we reach the common destination). A very inspiring introduction!
After a thirty minute silent session, we go into some very interesting Q&A. Among the topics covered we have a quick question about the breath as the body settles during the practice, and then a very interesting question about Merit. If you have any doubts or would like a refresh on this topic, I really recommend this part of the lecture. Alan covers all of the bases, from the basic act of helping someone with any little thing, to realizing emptiness. He talks about how it can be gained, lost, and how it can be used for many things, incorporating the story of Śāriputra (how he realized Nirvana after hearing a short phrase) and what role Merit played in it.
Throughout the entire lecture and up to the ending, Alan goes back to his original example about this Great Path, highway, freeway, autopista, carretera, autobahn, autostrada, autosnelweg, ทางหลวง, 高速道路, 公路, हाइवे, автострада, of the Bodhisattvaas. As I was writing this description I realized that my laptop's desktop background, which I have had for months, seemed to fit this podcast perfectly. Granted, it's not an autobahn, and it's not as full of Bodhisattva's as we'd like it to be, but it certainly gives the feeling "the road is all yours.”
Go for it!
Credit: Trey Ratcliff (amazing photogapher, uses the HDR technique!)
http://www.stuckincustoms.com/
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 09 Apr 2021, Online-only
Taking the Mind as the Path, Not Blocking and Not Thinking the Thoughts
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 04 May 2020, Online-only
Empathetic Joy
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 14 May 2021, Online-only
Identify “mental afflictions” (kleśa) by the criteria that they disrupt the balance and equilibrium of the mind, and they distort (kliṣṭa) our awareness of reality.
Fall 2015 Stage of Generation, 12 Sep 2015, Araluen Retreat Center, Queensland, Australia
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 ___ 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.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 15 Apr 2021, Online-only
Resting in Awareness, Identify which Mental Processes are Calming and which are Disruptive
2019 8-Week Retreat, 09 May 2019, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Tuscany, Italy
Lama Alan begins. Olaso. This afternoon we will continue in the stream of meditation to identifying pristine awareness. Lama shares some memories of Geshe Rabten and the difference of the Geshe's path (outside-in) as opposed to the meditative path (inside-out) when speaking of the intense nature of the debate and monastic life devoted to study. What we cover today in 2 pages, the Geshe path will take 4 years on. Lama Alan speaks about the intellectual approach of the Shravakayana, and then the super power of Stage of Generation and Stage of Completion which will manifest the indwelling mind of clear light. Lama speaks of how here we have a different method with the meditation first and the view coming out of that. He speaks again of the need to achieve shamatha and then in a matter of days you can apply the vipashyana techniques and get the job done. Here the mind that is doing the meditation is fathomed. Lama finishes with an analogy of breaking through the ice on a frozen lake. The guided meditation is on pith instructions to pristine awareness by Padmsambhava. Lama Alan continues and brings back the analogy of the pyramid of shamatha, vipashyana, and dzogchen relating how each needs its prior support. Lama speaks here of a correction in the text to be made on page 194 (listen to hear the correction). Today we cover the bottom of page 194 to the bottom of page 195. Lama begins with saying that the role of a spiritual guide or a text like we are studying is to save us time. He speaks about our modern world of looking for fast results and how this can lead to thinking we have already achieved something we have not. The biggest impediment to knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge. He moves now into the text, continuing with the section of distinguishing between understanding and realization. Lama Alan returns to stories of Geshe Rabten and that of gaining understanding in debate and the importance of then applying it to meditation. He returns to the text and proceeds into Dzogchen with seeing things as nothing other than yourself from the perspective of primordial consciousness. The term ‘one taste’ signifies Dzogchen, describing that at this point there is no preference for Samsara or Nirvana. He then again shares an interesting note about the teachings of Dudjom Lingpa as being teachings intended for those in the future. Lama Alan continues further in the text to the section of distinction between liberation and delusion. Do we have any lingering hope in Samsara? Then he moves into two ‘threads’ of thought that leads to a discussion on invariants within physics and then within Buddhism. He tells a story of Milarepa and his disciple Rechungpa (and a ram's horn) to illustrate this. The two invariants in Buddhism: emptiness and pristine awareness. Lama finishes through the bottom of page 195 where one becomes free from all impure appearances, irreversibly. Meditation begins at: 18:34
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 14 May 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan welcomes us back to the four applications of mindfulness and reminds us of vipashyana being like an expedition and samatha a kind of retreat. When we devote ourselves to samatha practice as a “psychological hygiene”, this entails a temporary, strategic retreat from samsara, seeking a respite to withdraw from all mundane concerns, from our body and mind, into simple awareness. The practice of taking the mind as the path is not a full retreat, we’ve retreated from an involvement in and appropriation of the activities of the mind. From that vantage point we’re observing the mind from a safe place. It’s a place from which to re-view how to live our lives. Sooner or later and when we’ve made our minds serviceable, we’ll have to come out of retreat, and we need to return to the burning house of samsara. But we need an exit strategy, coming back to the desire realm but reviewing everything, taking nothing for granted, not even the existence of ourselves and others, and find the Middle Way. That’s what the four applications of mindfulness are all about, not running away but returning to the body, the feelings, the mind, in order to understand them phenomenologically and ontologically. Lama-la points out that in his pith instructions on the close application of mindfulness to the mind the Buddha focuses on recognising the presence or absence of attachment, hostility or hatred, delusion, laxity or dullness and excitation. He’s a trouble-shooter. He could have focused on the presence or absence of loving kindness instead. One of the reasons for not doing that is that by purging or even just subduing the mind of all mental afflictions (or at least the five obscurations), there’s a surprise waiting: bliss. We don’t need to do anything in addition to samatha to discover the bliss that is already there: bliss, luminosity and non-conceptuality. That’s what you discover when your mind is unobstructed by the five obscurations. In the application of mindfulness to the mind, the Buddha is focusing on the removal of the afflictions so you don’t get trapped by them. Lama-la draws a parallel to modern media that tends to focus on the negative. When we hear about the crises in the world, this is a call to arms: now is not the time to be complacent, we need to do something. So, if we were able to eliminate the evil and misconduct that we perpetuate, we wouldn’t need to do anything else to find peace on earth. This is what the Buddha dharma is about: by cultivating virtue, the four immeasurables, know that these are skilful means to discover the nature of reality as it is and that will give you all the reward you ever hoped for. Lama-la cites Santideva from the 5th chapter on Introspection: “When mindfulness stands guard at the gate of the mind, then introspection arrives, and even if it departs, it will return. At times, upon first recognizing that this mindset is faulty, I should remain still like a piece of wood.” He comments that “stands guard” means to protect, watching over, looking after, caring for the mind. Introspection is the indispensable aid, the assistant to mindfulness, the “quality control”. Introspection can be intermittent, but the guard has to be there continuously, without distraction and without forgetfulness. Introspection checks in as frequently as needed. “Faulty” means that the mind has been beset by mental afflictions. To recognise them generically, each of the 6 primary and 20 derivative mental afflictions each has their unique qualities, but they all have something in common. The way we know that the mind is faulty, the afflictors have come, is that we see that the equilibrium of our mind has been upset, we’ve lost our balance, there’s a disturbance. If our introspection is well honed, we’ll see that our way of apprehending reality is warped, distorted. Anything that does that internally is a mental affliction. As soon as we recognise through mindfulness, coupled with introspection, that our mind needs servicing, it’s not a time to use it but to remain still. We mustn’t let the virus spread and infect our thoughts, speech and physical actions. We may not give others our mental afflictions, but we can easily trigger their own, they’re contagious. Lama Alan comments that following on from “zeal” (meaning a delight in virtue, enthusiasm, and has to do with conative intelligence), Santideva advises us to stabilise the mind in samadhi, by way of refining attention. This is because a person whose mind is distracted “lives between the fangs of mental afflictions”. We need to notice when our psychological immune system is down, be on the alert regarding mental afflictions and not get caught up in OCDD (Obsessive-Compulsive Delusional Disorder). Lama-la invites us to recognise that the most detrimental virus that’s ever besieged humanity is that of mental afflictions – with all its variations, 6 primary, 20 secondary. These are at the root of every conflict and act of violence. We’re freed of all physical viruses at death but what afflicts the mind continues in the bardo and in all future lives. Lama-la reminds us to follow Santideva’s advice – when we see that our mind is infected by the klesha virus (something that presupposes that we know the symptoms, not be non-judgemental), we should “be like a piece of wood”, until the symptoms subside. And then, if you need to bring about change, do that when your mind is not afflicted. Once symptoms subside, you may be ready first for a retreat, then an expedition. Welcome to Dharma. Let’s practise! Meditation on this topic begins at 00:42:24.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 30 Mar 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan says that for each morning session we will proceed directly to meditation practice on the basis that each of us have individually undertaken our daily preliminary practices and prayers of Refuge, Bodhicitta etc. Alan describes Asanga’s powerful method of meditation focussed on the breath whereby one lets the body settle naturally without mental forcing and, following the Buddha’s instructions, one closely observes the in and out breath with repeated letting go of any thought. This allows the breathing to become relaxed, shallower and calmer. With practice, one’s sensations become subtler with the aim to withdraw all sensory perception and rest in the substrate consciousness, being then aware only of the rhythm of the breath. Alan says that Asanga’s method has proven to be one of the most effective meditation practices and that we should even adopt this stance outside of formal practice as a baseline or default mode of mind in our everyday activities. Meditation is on Mindfulness of Breathing. After the Meditation Alan indicates that his notes including references will be posted daily on the SBI website. He also encouraged us to practice in the supine position as a means to develop full body relaxation with care not to lose mental clarity. The meditation starts at 1:30 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 05 May 2020, Online-only
Rejoicing in Virtue
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 06 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
This session starts out with Lama Alan giving commentary and advice about yesterday's meditation (April 5) on the Dzogchen approach to mindfulness of breathing. As Lama describes this as like a chef adding ingredients to a recipe, he designed this meditation with existing techniques of shamatha without a sign, mindfulness of breathing and noticing without reifying thoughts as just thoughts. He relates a story of a Theravadan monk asking His Holiness the Dalai Lama for a recommendation for a practice for people with many concerns and activities. The answer was to focus on sheer luminousity and cognizance of your awareness. In this practice yesterday there is always awareness of awareness present as the main object of meditation, even more so than the body (breath) or mind (thoughts, without appropriating them or reifying them) as supports as the latter two are not as constant as mere awareness. Thoughts and even breath can cease for periods of time but not awareness. However, awareness of awareness can be difficult and likened to the main wheel of a tricycle with the smaller two there for balance. One back wheel is breath or body and one is thoughts or mind. There was also an example of a three ringed circus with the main ring being awareness. Also, a sort of third eye for introspection is needed until about the eighth stage. This introspection, while vital, also disrupts the flow of meditation. This practice takes lots of words to describe, Lama Alan states, but not as much energy to actually do the practice. A very interesting insight was given about the body and mind portions being like one's own personal samsara of happy and sad thoughts, up and down emotions, pain and bliss in the body, while the awareness was nirvana. The nirvana is veiled by the 5 obscurations but just like the sun or moon behind clouds or a body behind marginally sheer curtains, you are not really looking at nirvana fully, but where it is located. Luminousity of awareness and cognition are not human, Lama Alan points out. A great presentation. An important point is that as long as one reifies the mind, one cannot see nirvana so one important key is seeing the emptiness of one's own mind. The topic turns to Violence and Non-Violence. A link has been sent out from SBI to an article by Bhikkhu Bodhi, “War and Peace: A Buddhist Perspective"" and Lama Alan was stopping just short of making this reading mandatory. The monk delves into the morality of killing for non monastics who must flee or be killed, but never to kill. For lay people, Bhikkhu Bodhi poses the case for special circumstance such as defending children or family or country by means of killing. Lama Alan prefaces this portion by siting examples of brutality by Americans, such as the American government paying for scalps of any Indian, be they man, woman or child, or the example back east where small pox infected blankets were given to Native Americans, so we need to be careful about pointing the finger at Putin or other similar examples. One finger pointing out, three back at ourselves. Then Lama Alana turns to the text and talks about the violence of killing as described. He cautions adamantly that this is the portion to not practice. It is only for highly advanced beings as he describes. There was an example of a suffering dog that Khamtrul Rinpoche on whom he performed phowa, but with a detailed story for why and how. There are a few examples given of who is and who is not eligible for a high lama to perform such phowa in the midst of that person trying to kill or commit grave harm, and to have terrible karma with a Bodhisattva is actually better than no karma, but as usual, the devil is in the details and Lama Alan explains how this occurs, who is eligible for a high being to perform such a phowa for a being suffering or especially about to commit an atrocious act. Lama Alan strongly recommends reading the article, as well as really practicing the meditation technique from yesterday. There is no meditation with this teaching At 46:05 Lama Alan continues with the aural transmission on page 140 of the English translation ("For the practice of liberation...") to 144 first paragraph.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 18 May 2020, Online-only
Watching the Conception of Delusion
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 11 May 2021, Online-only
Experientially discern the difference between stimulus-driven, mundane feelings and feelings of genuine well-being, distress, and equanimity, which are symptomatic of your current level of mental health and balance.
