Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 15 May 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan began by introducing the practice of Equanimity and by giving a snapshot of his experience the day before at a virtual reality laboratory founded in 1991 in Pisa. Alan then drew a deeply meaningful parallel between the reality we can experience in a lab with such refined instruments and the reality we experience while we are in a lucid dream. He invites us to do our best to see that all appearances to our mind are empty appearances as in a lucid dream, and yet they are deeply interconnected and clearly influencing each other. This should allow us to develop a sense of equality and an even loving kindness for all beings. We should go beyond appearances, in some way to “see through” them and see that we all have the same Buddha nature. The reason why we do not respond to all sentient beings in the same way, with equanimity, is because reification comes up and we fuse the person with his or her behaviour, which sometime may be very disagreeable. All that appears to us as disagreeable arises from delusion, from misapprehending our real nature, our Buddha nature. By practicing Equanimity, by seeing the equality of all beings, and by seeing their lovability and pleasant qualities we may go beyond our grasping to their behavioural appearances. But this unconditioned loving kindness needs to be balanced with wisdom. The meditation is on the cultivation of Equanimity. After the meditation Alan says that by cultivating pure vision, by purifying the way we apprehend all sentient beings living around us, we can see their lovability and kindness and finally really apprehend their Buddha nature. Alan concludes by making very useful remarks about the proper way to practice Guru yoga and the importance of equanimity, the foundation for all other practices. Meditation starts at 22:42 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 30 Apr 2020, Online-only
This morning begins with Lama Alan speaking to those who expressed concerns about his health. He shared his personal practice in the midst of allergy season, becoming an “absent landlord from the tenement of the body” through variations on resting in awareness and taking the mind as the path. He transitions then into this morning’s practice of compassion, which is not an emotion but rather it is an aspiration: the aspiration that all sentient beings be completely free of all suffering and its causes. Lama Alan points out that if we don’t believe there is hope, that liberation is possible, then this practice becomes untenable. He shares some inspiring examples of how we may not be able to fix the injuries to body or mind, yet we can still be free from suffering. And this is bases on the realization always available to us that we don’t have to view “suffering” as “me” and “mine”. Why doesn’t compassion come first in the 4 Immeasurables? Good question. Lama Alan shares his insights into this question and why we would practice Loving-kindness prior to practicing Compassion. Because Loving-kindness creates the vision beyond hedonia, from which we then practice Compassion Lama Alan then gives a brief introduction to the actual practice before transitioning into the guided meditation on Tong-Len. Meditation is Tong Len and begins at 32:49
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 24 Sep 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Teaching pt1: As we revisit this section, Alan will present teachings from the shravakayana and dzogchen.
According to the shravakayana, nama rupa should not be understood as two entities but as a single activity of experience. Nama (naming) is the subjective experience of identifying an object. Rupa (all appearances) is the objective experience of an object perceived or conceived through the process of identification. Mano/manas (mind/mentation) is the mental process of conceptualization which makes meaning out of the 6 sensory inputs.
According to dzogchen, dharmadhatu and primordial consciousness (yeshe) are of the same nature and extensive. Appearances are considered their creative expression or effulgence. Ignorance of this play when rigified becomes the substrate which is immaterial, blank, unthinking, and void. Substrate consciousness radiant and clear is the basis for appearances. It reflects but does not identify them. From the substrate consciousness, arises sense of I over here and substrate over there. As the sense of I cements, mano/manas becomes acitvated, and from that, appearances illuminated by the substrate consciousness. Reification leads to appearances becoming owners of those very conceptualizations. Thus arises samsara. By returning to the substrate in shamatha, we are reversing this very process.
Meditation: mindfulness of the body. Withdraw your attention from all 6 domains of experience, and just rest without knowing anything at all, as if in deep sleep. Arouse your attention just enough to become aware of awareness. Do you have a sense of being aware, present, or yourself as the subject? Attend to the space of the mind. Do you have a sense that you’re here and that the space of the mind is over there? Allow consciousness to illuminate all 6 domains. Apply mindfulness now to the appearances of the body. Observe the process of conceptualization of the body—e.g., my head with its attritbutes, moving on to other body parts. Attend to the subject experiencing the body. Is the body already there in appearances? Is the I already there in appearances?
Teaching pt2: Alan introduces the first 4 links of the 12 links of dependent origination. 1) ignorance – which is nature of the substrate. 2) mental formations (samskara) – karma or kinetic energy of the mind stirs or activates. 3) consciousness – substrate consciousnes becomes explicit, yet it is luminous without illuminating anything. 4) nama rupa which refers to appearances and identifying appearances. Mere labelling is not the problem, their reification is.
Q1. How does your diet affect shamatha practice?
Q2. What do you mean by appearance? Is it possible to have pure appearance without ignorance?
Q3. Is it possible to observe with introspection the entire evolution of manas and nama rupa at once?
Meditation starts at 31:30
Fall 2013 Shamatha and the Seven-Point Mind Training, 05 Sep 2013, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Normally sustained focus comes at the cost of relaxation, we concentrate by contraction. This is exactly what is not done here. The balance is to increase the stability of attention, which entails some effort, but without losing the relaxation. Earlier we enhanced relaxation without losing clarity.
In a larger framework, again we come back to issue of balance. We are engaging in retreat, in mindfulness of breathing we are withdrawing our attention from the entire environment and then attending to the flow of sensation of the breath in the body and in the meantime monitoring the mind with introspection. As in warfare, we are retreating to recoup, re-strategise how we go back again.
Post meditation, Alan speaks on sustaining the ongoing flow of mindful presence off the cushion, so that when we return to the cushion it is an enhancement of what we are already doing, rather than something new.
Meditation starts at: 16.18
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 09 Apr 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan begins by reading the next lines of the text, which refer to the initial instructions for mind training of the disciples –who maintain the samayas–, when encountering the entrance to the path. This pertains training in the four outer and seven inner preliminaries.
Lama Alan talks about the four outer, four revolutions in outlook, these are questioning our preconceptions, habitual way of seeing the world we inhabit. He compares this to the Galilean revolution, Darwinian, modern cosmology, and other such shifts in human history. The first of the four revolutions directly shifts the way we regard this human life, from regarding us as a unitary individual, which in the materialistic view comes from nothing and turns into nothing at birth and death, to realizing that each of us is endowed with this inconceivably precious opportunity, as rare as a star in the daytime, to achieve awakening. So our way of engaging with the world radically changes. Wether this is true or not, can be put to the test. Do we have the potential to be forever freed from Samsara? If it turns out to be true, then what do we do with this wish-fulfilling jewel?
Then the lake born Vajra lays the first step for seeking the path: merge your mind with your Guru's mind, rest there for a little while.
Our Lama clears out that in the sessions it is assumed that we have already done our dharma practices by ourselves in the morning, so recitations will be done just once (sometimes English sometimes Tibetan), and we will go straight into the main practice. Today’s practice is about precious human rebirth, in the particular context we face today.
Meditation starts at 19:10
We close the session with dedication prayer.
[Keywords: precious human rebirth, four outer preliminaries, revolutions in outlook]
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 20 May 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
Lama starts by adding to his answer to yesterday’s question on distilling the teachings into a daily practice. He emphasises that one will engage in the preliminary practices until one is a buddha. Starting on the firm ground of the four noble truths, the three principles aspects of the path, as well as ethics, samatha and the four applications of mindfulness (the foundation for vipashyana), the four immeasurables (the foundation for bodhicitta), and on that basis the teachings on reincarnation and karma, Lama suggests to put all these practices into the bowl of the Seven Point Mind Training (lojong) as a daily practice which is not too difficult but intelligent and transformative. On that basis we can then turn to the explicit preliminary practices for this lineage, starting with the four revolutions in outlook. For every day Lama recommends to cultivate the foundation which he likens to three basic food groups: samatha, vipashyana and the four immeasurables. Lama stresses that before practising samatha it is important to settle the body and speech in their natural states in order to cultivate sanity. This type of daily practice will ensure that we can die without regret. Returning to the Vajra Essence on p. 260 Lama comments that the following sentence is addressed to people who have been practising everything covered in the text so far (samatha, vipashyana, ascertaining rigpa, stages of generation and completion) but have not yet come to the culmination: “In doing so, if you acquire confidence by growing accustomed to pristine awareness holding its own ground, the appearances of this transitional phase will be cut off, and you will gain mastery over the magnificent, manifold displays of ultimate reality.” It is for such mature practitioners that the six transitional phases are outlined here. Lama-la refers to daytime and nighttime dream yoga as the icing on the cake for such practitioners who can support their access to pristine awareness by samatha and vipashyana, which is the meaning of “holding its own ground”. These practitioners will be able to transcend the transitional phase of dreaming (“the appearances of this transitional phase will be cut off”). Lama reiterates that the transitional phase of living is the indispensable foundation for the transitional phase of meditation which is the indispensable foundation for the transitional phase of dreaming as a launching pad for enlightenment. This in turn is the indispensable foundation for the transitional phase of dying as maintaining lucidity as one is falling asleep into the substrate is the perfect preparation for dying lucidly and thereby transforming the dying process. Moving on to the transitional phase of dying, it is “like falling into the hands of an evil assassin and it refers to the period from the time you are struck by a terminal illness until your inner breath at the heart ceases with a gasp”. There are three signs that one has entered this phase, i.e. one’s feces do not emit any vapor, one can’t see through one’s fist and the hum in one’s ears has vanished. One is then advised to apply oneself to ritual practices for the sake of accumulating merit. Lama-la then prefaces the six methods of what to do during the dying process by emphasising that it is extremely important not to do phowa practice prematurely and stressing that it is preferable to die with a clear mind so that one can guide one’s consciousness. He also reiterates that these methods are intended for practitioners who are “Olympic athletes” in all the practices outlined so far rather than for beginners. By contrast, Lama points out that we need something practical that we can all do and suggests that this is the seven-point mind training. Lama then comments on the five powers to be applied at the time of death, as outlined by Atisa in his seven-point mind training. 1. “resolve never to be separated from the two bodhicittas during the transitional phase of becoming”: this can be done by alternating the practice of tonglen (relative bodhicitta) with one’s closest approximation of ultimate bodhicitta (by resting in awareness with no grasping which can take you through the dying process). 2. “familiarization means maintaining the continuity of the practice of the two bodhicittas through life and through death”: whatever we do during our lives from going shopping to going to the bathroom, it is essential not to lose the ‘scent’ of cultivating the two bodhicittas at all times. 3. “positive seeds of constant devotion to spiritual practice”: here, Lama stresses the importance of having a broad range of spiritual practice so one is never in a situation where one cannot practice dharma but can turning one’s whole life into practice. 4. “abhorrence towards self-grasping and self-centeredness”: These are the roots of samsara so it’s crucial to be disgusted with them. 5. “prayer entails disclosing all misdeeds and taking refuge”: if there’s anything to disclose it’s important to do so and it’s never too late to do it and to burn those seeds as one dies. “making offerings and asking for blessings to sustain the two bodhicittas; and to meet spiritual mentors who can guide you on a path that leads to your continuing spiritual maturation both during the intermediate state after death, the bardo, and in future lives.”: Lama shares that he prays for this every night. In addition to these five powers Lama-la stresses that everything we need to have confidence to be born in sukhavati is contained in the one text referenced earlier, The Lotus Garland: practice that and you’re in! Integrating this with the five powers is everything we need to know to be born in sukhavati where one will become a bodhisattva. Lama-la then gives the oral transmission of the various methods to try at the time of death as stated in the Vajra Essence. For the meditation which starts at 01:05:30, we are going back to Padmasambhava’s pith instructions with Gyatrul Rinpoche’s commentary. After the meditation Lama-la shares briefly how helpful he finds reflecting on something that is true, i.e. that it's only a matter of time when we'll be in the bardo, and wondering whether when the time comes one will be able to remember the teachings from today. The aural transmission starts at 00:26:35 and covers the text on page 260 “Taking your understanding of this as the basis, train in regarding all appearances as dreams; then recognize dream appearances for what they are.“ until page 261 “This counsel will bring greater clarity to the dying process, for it is like a message sent by a king.“
Fall 2013 Shamatha and the Seven-Point Mind Training, 07 Sep 2013, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Before the morning meditation, Alan raises a question: what makes a practice Dharma? Is, for example, mindfulness of breathing Dharma in and of itself or is there something else necessary to make it Dharma? Mindfulness of breathing can be simply a relaxation technique.
What makes it Dharma is motivation based in Bodhicitta. In fact, if we hold Bodhicitta as our motivation, everything we do throughout the day can be used to cultivate virtue and ethical way of life, not only our meditations. Our motivation (aspiration) connects all our activities from one day to another creating a karmic momentum. Practicing Bodhicitta is like investing in a fund and creating leftover karma for future lifetimes. The virtue of our lives goes where our aspiration goes. In the meditation practice, we continue mindfulness of breathing at the aperture of the nostrils.
Meditation starts at: 12:30
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 05 Apr 2021, Online-only
Today’s lecture is focused on demons which Lama mentions the text uses in two ways. The first usage we can easily identify with refers to our enemies, or people who threaten us in any way (examples include politicians, races, countries). The second, we are less familiar with, but exists as belief in more traditional cultures of demonic forces which influence our mind and body. Lama gives examples of the many types of Lojong that can be applied to transform our perspective on our enemies. One source of instruction is Buddhaghosa’s Masterpiece, The Path of Purification, in which a whole list of Lojong for overcoming resentments and shifting attitudes are given. In the Mahayana teachings, Lama reminds us that, the Sixth chapter on Patience in Shantideva’, Guide to The Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, addresses this issue. And, he cites several other sources of mind training for overcoming habitual resentment, anger, and viewing others as demons. However, the one presented here is the most powerful, or, even deeper is resting in awareness. Remember though in Phase 3, to be able to derive full benefit, you will have achieved samatha, have insight into the emptiness of the mind and have some taste of your own pristine awareness. Here, to deepen these realizations and to protect and sustain these insights, these teachings are offered on the actual nature of reality. They are directed at the deconstruction of demons, first people we see as demonic and secondly actual demons as more readily viewed through the eyes of traditional cultures. Lama Alan recounts how he witnessed what appeared to be His Holiness’ first encounter with the concept of self-hate or low self-esteem and a Mind and Life Seminar in 1990. While common concepts among Eurocentric civilizations, among Asian cultures, this was virtually unheard of at the time. Lama prepares us for the meditation which will be an ontological probe into the nature of demons. He will invite us to recall a time when we regarded ourselves with self-loathing and then examine the nature of this person within ourselves who is labeling us in this way. Deconstructing our fear and hatred of others must begin with deconstructing our fear and hatred of ourselves. This approach is similarly applied by His Holiness to our development of loving-kindness. To foster that development towards others, we must first develop it towards ourselves. Finally, Lama reminds us that we are “nangpa” or “insiders”, using a contemplative approach to understand the mind from the inside out. Meditation begins at 00:14:53. During the meditation, Lama Alan invites us to remember a time when we had an unworthy sense of ourself. He then systematically helps us deconstruct this reified notion of our unworthy self. Resuming his talk Lama Alan begins by pointing out there are many different kinds of Vipassana. All, however have proven to be effective methods. He reminds us that the Buddha is a great physician and Buddhism provides us with many types of medicines and meditations to realize emptiness/shunyata. He talks different approaches to Vipasyana. He mentions how many misinterpret such analyses to be advocating nihilism. But the Buddha never said we don’t exist, that the “I” doesn’t exist. What is being refuted is the self-existent self or I. This we examine in meditation with our systematic inquiry and then when we come out of meditation and have all these appearances of people, things, and states of mind, we must then ask, “How do they exist?”. They exist as dependently arising events. Once you realize that you do, in fact, exist as a dependently arising human being (dependent on causes and conditions), you can develop yourself with practice, renunciation, bodhicitta, etc. and IT WORKS! Lama Alan emphatically makes the point that we are not just espousing doctrine, but applying principles that have pragmatic value in diminishing our afflictions and reducing our non-virtuous behavior. Buddhism may not be the only way, but it is a way to have this practical effect. The method that is being applied here from the Nyingma tradition is to focus on whatever you are attending to and to examine its origin, location, and destination. We see the emptiness of existence and non-existence, starting with the mind itself in Phase 1. Now, in Phase 3, we’re applying this search for origin, location, and destination to “demons”. Whenever we are regarding anything or anyone with a mental afflictions(hostility, craving, attachment, greed, lust, envy), these are our true enemies. We reify them. This whole chapter is about deconstructing and eradicating reification. It is a form of radically empirical depth psychology. At 53:50, Lama Alan returns to the text. The text refers to demons as our terrible enemies. Our ontological analysis begins by asking ourselves, where do they first arise? Are they born from the physical elements? If you think they come from the elements, examine those substances and reduce them to smaller and smaller particles. You will find there is no origin found by such an inquiry. If you think demons don’t come from matter but reside in the consciousness itself, apply the same analysis of origin, location, and destination. Lama points out, we don’t have to achieve samatha to apply vipasyana. For the demons that we think we can see (people, institutions, political parties), we find they are nowhere to be found. In that way, we disempower the object and then disempower the fear and/or mental affliction. We free ourselves. In Tibet, however, and many other traditional cultures, people believe there are diabolical beings that are intangible in the form of demons, ghosts, spirits, etc. Western European culture had a similar set of beliefs. Lama Alan outlines the 300-year historical period in Western Europe (1450-1750) in which 40,000-100,000 people (mostly women) were tried and convicted of being demonically possessed. During that period, there was an unquestioning reification of angels, devils, spirits, saints and the like. This period peaked at 1560-1630 when the scientific revolution began with Copernicus. Scientists were trying to make sense of what goes on in nature and find order in what otherwise looked like chaos. Science came into being as the medicine to help people come to their senses. By mid-18th century, the world was making sense. Angels, devils, spirits, and gods were not composed of matter. There was still the question of what to do with the devil. Thomas Sprat in 1667 wrote a monograph declaring that Christianity had prevailed and rendered the devil impotent. Furthermore, he declared (with no further evidence) that the non-existence of spiritual entities had been proven by experiments. His rationale was that if you haven’t heard or seen one, they don’t exist. This is very flawed reasoning: it’s the common mistake of taking the absence of evidence for evidence of absence. (Recall gravity, photons, electromagnetic fields which we don’t see.) Newton, was not so satisfied with this interpretation, but redefined the spirit world and evil spirits as mental disorders. All demons would be internalized. Later psychoanalysis would deal with them in the subconscious. Thus, the human soul was removed from the domain of science. The progression was theism, to deism with an inert god, atheism and materialism. And, now, here we are.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 16 Apr 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan brings us back to the inquiry on “origin, location, and destination” of the mind as agent. He illustrates this inquiry with an example: when we go into deep dreamless sleep, this mind that is active vanishes, and when we wake up it emerges again. While this is an extreme scenario, during the day there are moments in which a strong sense of self comes up, in those occasions, who is this self? Where is its location? What about its form and color? And when it vanishes, where does it go? The important thing is to see directly what comes up when this sense of self emerges, maybe it really does have form, so watch closely!
Meditation starts at 10:52
After meditation Lama Alan comments on the use of sitting quietly in our room doing these type of practices. While it is interesting and peaceful, the most important consequences come up when we are engaging with the world. How do we apply what we learn in our sessions when something suddenly disturbs us, when any kind of mental affliction arises?
There is one very powerful method that we can use in any situation: being able to release self-grasping. In that case, we are equipped with an inner objectivity which prevents us from fusing with any particular situation. We then turn to the text, at this point the Bhagavān is inciting “Vajra of Mind” to determine all the characteristics of the one who is there – the being doing everything – and to watch how it moves. Lama Alan emphasizes on the importance of having real clarity on the answer to these questions, because the consequences are enormous.
The response of the bodhisattva Boundless Great Emptiness goes as follows: “I have no eyes, so there is nothing that appears as form”. Lama Alan carefully clears out what is meant by this statement. Great Emptiness makes the same assertion with respect to sound, smell, taste, and touch. Moreover, appearances are also not in the essential nature of the mind. From all this, the bodhisattva concludes “there is no one who comes into being”. “If it were established, then from that moment onward, it could not be established and would not exist”.
Lama Alan talks about the philosophical conundrums of establishing something as real and existing from its own side. He draws an analogy from physics, for which the observer-independent, objective, universe is frozen (no time evolution). So, it would not make sense to deem it as existent, because if one were to ‘peek’ into it to verify its existence, that universe would start evolving, and hence it would not be that static, objective universe anymore. “I am the emptyness that never arose”, concludes bodhisattva Boundless Great Emptiness. Lama Alan then comments on the emergence of apparitions from self-grasping, based on the first among the twelve links of dependent origination. For the contemplative, reality is appearances all the way up and all the way down. “It appears, but it is not really there”. If you know this, if you fathom this, nothing will ever be the same, Lama closes the session.
[Keywords: characterize the self as agent, conjured apparitions of the self-grasping mind]
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 18 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
Phase 6 of the text is about drawing distinctions between essential points of the practice. Drawing distinctions is a key characteristic of Dzogchen. Lama la states that there is no distinction more important than the one between mind and pristine awareness. Lama la provides a commentary on, and transmission of, the text (p199 at minute 23:20) that explains the term “mind.” Tomorrow the term “pristine awareness” will be covered. Lama la states that you can know the distinctions between these two terms by knowing each term individually. One way the mind can be known is by practicing the close application of mindfulness to the mind. The text councils us that “if you do not know how to distinguish between the mind and pristine awareness, you will mistake the mind for pristine awareness, which is a fault that will cause obstacles to your achieving the state of liberation.” Three types of mind are described: “(1) the deluded mind that clings to appearances, (2) the mind that seeks the path... and (3) the mind that takes consciousness as the path.” In his commentary, Lama la clarifies the role of conceptualization in the practice of taking the mind as the path (2). He explains that conceptualization is subliminal, and that whenever we observe anything we see it through the grid of conceptualization. Lama la also clarifies the role of correction, modification, acceptance, and rejection in this practice. If you fall into excitation or laxity during this practice, you recognize these with introspection, and correct and modify them. You “accept” stillness and clarity, and “reject” dullness and excitation. Lama la states that if you don’t do this, you will never achieve shamatha. However, you do not accept, reject, or modify the content of what you are attending to. The mind that takes consciousness as the path (3) can be ascertained through the shamatha practice of awareness of awareness. Lama la explains that at this stage of the path, you have not transcended the mind; you are still reifying. You have not yet ventured into the view, cut through to rigpa, or identified rigpa. Lama la also provides sage council on how to be in retreat without being caught up in desire for the fruits of your practice, or fear that you won’t make progress. Gyatrul Rinpoche explained that outside of formal mediation you can pray for blessings and for obstacles to the practice to be removed. However, during formal meditation, you release all such hopes, desires and fears, and simply practice in the moment. Lerab Lingpa also councilled that you should not contaminate your practice with “critical judgements” or be impatient with your meditation. The teachings in this section of the text are applied in today’s meditation which starts at 01:06:35.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 01 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan answers the question “why are we suffering?”. From a Dzogchen perspective it is because: 1. We identify with or closely appropriate that which is not I or mine; and 2. We fail to realize whom we actually are. We are not our body or mind. The aspect of our identity that is not contingent on a human body is awareness. The single thread of consciousness that is carried on from lifetime to lifetime – that cuts through a localised stream of consciousness - is substrate consciousness. Buddha nature (primordial consciousness) is the deepest truth of who we are. Primordial consciousness is not a person. It is a valid basis of designation though to say “I am a Buddha”. In Dzogchen the ultimate refuge is the Buddha within. Prana is the key to understanding the mind/body relationship, not the brain. Rest in and identify sheer luminosity and sheer non-conceptual cognisance of awareness. This is not other than primordial awareness. In that simple awareness there is no suffering or causes of suffering and it takes no effort to rest there. The actual nature of the mind is emptiness. Stop the addiction of reifying. It takes an enormous amount of committed motivation (unwavering resolve, courage) to sustain the focus necessary to cut through to pristine awareness. There can be significant outer, inner and secret upheavals experienced when attempting to realise Shamatha or reach the path. You will never have enough momentum to do so unless you have steeped your mind in the Four Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma. The practice of the Stage of Generation is not absolutely necessary to cut through but practically it will help everyone. The Meditation starts at 1:06:39 and is about Settling Body Speech and Mind more deeply.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 11 May 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan starts by reviewing the four types of nirmanakayas. He continues with the text on the sentence: “These four types of nirmānakāyas are emanations of the sugatagarbha that arise naturally in the objective field of ego-grasping consciousness.” He comments on how nirmanakayas arise because of self-grasping in order to help us overcome the inner causes of suffering, and they cease as soon as that task is fulfilled. The text then turns to the explanation of the svabhāvakaya and vajrakaya, expounding on the seven qualities of the vajra and listing the four vajra promises. It then concludes the theme of the five kayas explaining how every jina is included within these five kayas, the ground from where they emerge is revealed as Samantabhadra and his creative expressions are established as the five buddha families. Then the five facets of primordial consciousness and the first two, of the five buddhafields are explained. Meditation starts at 01:12:24 and in on observing the afflictive nature of the coarse mind and tracing it back to primordial consciousness.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 18 May 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan starts with a short preamble to the meditation in order to weave in more closely the Shamata practice of taking the mind as the path, and the active inquiry into the nature of existence presented in the vipassana section of the text. Meditation starts at 18:10. Watching the Conception of Delusion Picking up on the sentence: Insofar as there is no mirage in a mirage, it is nothing more than a mere name. Lama Alan comments that what has been said repeatedly is the view of the middle way; there is nothing really in here at all and there is nothing really out there at all. Everything is simply nominally designated on things that they are not. Based on Buddhist´s teachings and science he then elaborates on the questions: If nothing exists from its own side, how to avoid extreme subjectivism and the view that everything goes? How do we know if something exists or not? What is a valid cognition? He shares a story from John Wheeler called Negative Twenty Questions. And then concludes: The cognitive validity on a conventional level, is simply relative to others, but not to a preexisting reality, existing independently. The only reality is that there is no real world, nothing exists inherently. The real truth is nirvana, that is the truth that liberates and it is now that we can use our intelligence to liberate ourselves and all sentient beings.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 09 May 2021, Online-only
We begin today reflecting on the choice we need to make to either follow the Dzogchen teachings and practices alone, or to follow Dzogchen, complemented with Stage of Generation teachings and practices. In considering this choice, the text elaborates on a number of points to consider. First of all, Lama Alan reminds us of the dangers of becoming complacent about our practice, falling back into mundane habits of delusion, craving, pride etc. Then, he points out that we need to consider if we have the karmic momentum required to carry through with the authentic motivation, practice, and conduct required “ to become liberated through the ultimate, [184] effortless path” of Dzogchen. We can know this by checking-in on our practice from time to time, to see if it is actually working. Are our most toxic mental afflictions subsiding; is the mind gaining greater equilibrium; are virtues arising more effortlessly and spontaneously; is our mediation on emptiness actually alleviating self-grasping; is it diminishing reification of phenomena? Lama clarifies that if we consider that our practice is not really working, then we have two options. Firstly, check-up to see if it is authentic and complete, including the Preliminaries, Shamatha, Vipashyana, and Cutting Through, augmented with the absolutely essential practices of Guru Yoga. Then, if we still consider that Dzogchen alone is not working for us, then we are advised to simply recognise that, and augment our practice with the Stage of Generation teachings and practices. The text then turns to elaborating on the Stage of Generation path of skilful means, in which “…the kāyas and facets of primordial consciousness of the ground sugatagarbha are presented with signs (imagery, mantras, symbolism, words, concepts etc), “as a means for leading beings to ultimate, effortless absolute space”- resting in the signless dharmakaya, which is directly revealed in Dzogchen. Even though these signs can be useful, we are reminded to be mindful that we do not reify our objects of refuge. Then we begin a new section in the text, addressing The Nature of the Kayas and Facets of Primordial Consciousness, exploring how the five kayas, the five Buddha families, and the five facets of primordial consciousness, relate to the definitive, ultimate meaning of dharmakaya. In doing this, the Lake-born Vajra presents a number of etymologies and how they pertain to sugatagarbha. These include: (i) that of dharmakāya, showing that it is another expression for sugatagarbha; (ii) that of sambhogakāya, showing that all phenomena from the perspective of pristine awareness, or sugatagarbha, arise spontaneously, effortlessly as creative displays, self-appearances of sugatagarbha; and (iii) that of nirmāṇakāya, showing that all appearances are nirmāṇakāya, they are all displays of the divine, they are all perfect. Given that we know all too well that appearances are not so perfect from the perspective of a sentient being, Lama Alan challenges us to consider deeply the implications of this statement that all appearances are nirmāṇakāya, displays of the divine. As sentient beings most of us live in a deceptive reality that is saturated by suffering and dissatisfaction. Yet, the Lake-born Vajra is revealing to us that right here and now, at the depth of our being, we already know that all phenomena are natural, spontaneous, emanations of sugatagarbha, of our own Buddha nature. Therefore, Lama suggests why not (i) shift perspectives as swiftly as possible, and take the most direct and effective route we can, to be fully aware of this reality that is already here; and (ii) view all living beings that we encounter, just as they truly are, each one manifesting as a skilful means of the Buddha. Lama concludes that it’s a matter of our own choosing. Instead of perceiving other beings as autonomous, existing from their own side, objectively pleasant or unpleasant, virtuous or non-virtuous, by shifting perspective and seeing them all as nirmānakāya, we can realise them as the Buddhas gathering in around us, manifesting in ways that we can see, in order to lead us along the path. The meditation begins at 01:08:26 and focuses on the appearances of beings manifesting in the space of your mind, attending to them as individuals, and viewing them as living-being nirmānakāyas manifesting from your own sugatagarbha to lead you to Awakening.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 15 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama la gives the second part of his commentary on the following sentence that appears on page 81 of the text: “In this way, with pride as the cause and the contributing conditions created and meditated upon by the mind, with a continuous stream of consciousness, you actualize quickly what had not existed before.” How is it that it can be said that something exists conventionally? And how can we identify when errors in identification occur? Something isn’t true because someone said it, or it is a matter of tradition, or it appears in religious texts or it is merely logical. Consider what you are attending to and what your fundamental assumptions are. Don’t take appearances at face value, or merely rely on intuition or speculative opinions. Don’t believe something just because you like it. Or accept it to be true because it is a seeming possibility or an assertion of your Guru. Be skeptical but not agnostic or complacent. Seek reality as it is in response to the (pragmatic) Buddhist question “What are the root causes of suffering?” Lama Alan says that Buddhism focuses on ethics for the answer as assessed by our internal assessment of what is right and wrong. Watch the consequences of our actions (in body speech and mind), in doing so refine our intelligence and make choices – accept and follow what is right and give up what is wrong. Our “eyes of wisdom” can assess this (our ethical responsibility may be met and our valid cognition developed) by paying attention to whether: 1. our experience of reality/perception has become warped; and whether 2. the balance of our mind has become upset or is in equilibrium. Also known phenomena must not be invalidated by ultimate analysis. That all that appears in this world is provisional truth and that nothing inherently exists, independently of any perspective. Lama Alan refers to aspects of science, religion and philosophy and says that scientific materialism has won out because it is objectively verifiable. Lama la concludes by saying that it is time for a revolution, to bring all three worlds together (via Buddhism). The meditation starts at 00:44:25 and is about resting in awareness, ientifying which mental processes are calming and which are disruptive, being aware of what is wholesome and what is unwholesome.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 26 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan outlines the relationship between The Four Immeasurables, The Four Applications of Mindfulness, The Four Noble Truths, and The Four Marks of Existence and how they constitute a rigorous science of reality from the inside out. He starts off emphasizing the value of The Four Immeasurables which are positive aspirations. He reminds us of the term “conation” which represents not just aspirations, but also ideals, values and intentions. When we move to The Four Greats, aspirations become intentions with karmic consequences. And, although there is no mention of shamatha in the Kalama Sutra (the positive psychology of the Buddha), as we develop these aspirations, it will lead to a unification of the mind. At some point, and in conjunction with other practices such as mindfulness of breathing, these aspirations shift to intention. Then, we need shamatha to see what is there and what is not there. The Four Applications of Mindfulness help us cut through the veils to see what reality is presenting us from moment to moment. Each application elegantly reveals a noble truth of the Buddha. When we apply mindfulness to the body, we discover to be embodied and to cling to the body is to be vulnerable to suffering (the First Noble Truth). Next, when we exercise the close application of mindfulness to feelings (pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral), we see the way we fuse our identities with them and desire to hold on to the pleasant ones, desire to get rid of the unpleasant ones, or go out of our way to ignore the neutral ones. Thus, examining how we relate to feelings reveals the origin of our suffering (the Second Noble Truth). The third application of mindfulness is to the mind which will show us the possibility of cutting through our attachments (the Third Noble Truth). And, finally, in the fourth application of mindfulness to phenomena, we discover what obstructs and facilitates our movement towards well-being which is the reality of the path (the Fourth Noble Truth). Similarly, Lama Alan, draws parallels between what we uncover via the Four Applications of Mindfulness. We uncover the Four Marks of Existence. The first mark revealed by examining the body is the suffering of impermanence. The second, arising out of feeling is the clinging leading to constant dissatisfaction or dukkha (suffering). The third, anatta, or not-self, is revealed when we examine the mind to discover there is no “I”. And, finally by examining phenomena, we discover all forms have no autonomous existence anywhere, i.e. emptiness. Lama Alan concludes by stating this is a radically empirical science which seeks to comprehend reality as a whole from the inside out. It complements modern science’s study of reality from the outside in. He reminds us that to understand the ultimate nature of any kind of phenomena, it is imperative to fathom as well as you can the relative nature of the phenomena. With the example of a banana, it begins first by examining its taste, texture, shape, sound, and so on. To begin with a relative examination of phenomena before our investigation of the ultimate protects us from falling into nihilism. The Meditation begins a 00:39:50 and resting in awareness and observing your body as a body, your mind as a mind, and other phenomena simply as phenomena, without imputing “I” or “mine” on any of them.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 30 Apr 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan returns to the topic of relaxation, stability and vividness. This sequence is very important; stability and vividness won´t be sustained without relaxation. Any one of the four methods of mindfulness of breathing is especially conducive for bringing forth the sense of ease, stability and continuity. By persevering in any one of these methods, rumination and mind wandering will thin out. By taking the mind as the path since the beginning, there is no indication that a decrease in the volume of thoughts will occur. Progress in this practice is not measured by the diminishing of thoughts, progress is marked by an increasing sense of relaxation, ease and a continuity of awareness in the midst of whatever is coming up. In this practice, there is no preference between less or more thoughts, the instruction is to attend to whatever is coming up, without preference, without trying to modify. Meditation starts at 17:06. Balance of Earth and Wind. For the first half, choose any one of the four methods of mindfulness of breathing that serves in this moment, with an emphasis on relaxation and stability. For the second half, taking the mind as the path. Returning to the text, commenting on the different meditative experiences that can come up when doing the practice of taking the mind as the path. The whole point of all these experiences is to allow them to come up and not get stuck in them; just be present with them and let them release themselves. All of them are transient and triggered by authentic practice. The actual healing of the mind has to come from within; from pristine awareness. This path of Dzogchen goes straight to the source of all virtue, of all healing, of all wellbeing.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 11 Apr 2021, Online-only
Today’s teaching opens with an introduction to the meditation, take your mind as a means for transcending your identity as a human being - a variation of the foundational practice of taking the mind as the path. Lama Alan emphasizes that through this practice of not appropriating or identifying with our thoughts, desires, emotions etc., we can break our addiction to identifying with the activities and movements of the mind. In this way, by resting in the substrate consciousness, we transcend the limitations of our identity as a human being - which from the perspective of Rigpa is a delusion. In so doing, we make a huge identity shift from that of a human mind haver, to that of a sentient being’s mind haver, with the substrate consciousness as the ground state. Given the preciousness of this human rebirth and these teachings, Lama Alan reminds us of the urgency for making this shift, and suggests that when the time is ripe, and with the help of a guide, take the plunge to establish a new base line, settle your mind in its natural state and achieve Shamata. The meditation begins at 00:22:19. Returning to the text, we continue in the section titled, The Ground of Samsara & of All Delusive Appearances and Mindsets, that was started in the previous session. We return to the text on page 68, paragraph 3, “Thus, obscuring ignorance veils the natural glow of the ground: self-emergent, connate primordial consciousness [123] and its radiance shifts to become an external display.’ Lama Alan points out here that in describing how this occurs, the Lake-Born Vajra explains in relative terms, how there is the substrate, the activation of the substrate with karmic energies, and from this emerges the substrate consciousness and so on, to the full-on dualistic mind. Lama then points out that the text sets out a deeper ontological presentation on how samsara emerges fundamentally from the ground of being, from primordial consciousness itself. This Buddhist cosmology from the Dzogchen perspective details how (i) when the five facets of primordial consciousness are obscured, their radiance shifts; (ii) how this radiance shifts from the five facets of absolute space to the five great elements (air, space, water, earth, fire), and the five derivative elements (green, indigo, white, yellow, red light); and how (iii) the cosmos forms from the five facets of absolute space; (iv) the five poisons emerge from the five obscurations of primordial consciousness; and how (v) saṃsāra appears from the five aggregates. As the Lake-Born Vajra further elaborates on how all three realms of existence – the formless, form & desire realms, all emerge from one’s own continuum, from the substrate, from the substrate consciousness and from mentation, Lama Alan underscores that this means one universe for every sentient being. Therefore, he concludes that because there is no world apart from appearances, transform your mind and appearances shift.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 10 May 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan begins by threading together various streams of Dharma that we have been working with. First, he speaks to the oscillation of retreating from the world and going out into the world in a beneficial way. He sees this oscillation as one of the keys to a balanced life. He then relates this to the idea of acknowledging the dukkha that is ever-present in the very nature of the conditioned mind and body, and the way in which we can take a retreat from these two fields of experience through the practice we have been cultivating in taking the mind as the path. That is, in this practice we step back, as it were, from the mind and simply rest in awareness, noting the movements of the mind only in as much as is necessary to avoid identifying with them, or reifying them. It is for this reason that Yangthang Rinpoche regards this practice as "shamatha without a sign." Further, Lama Alan interprets this "noting" of the movements of the mind as a direct substitute for identifying with them, which is what we habitually do. When we rest in this pure stream of consciousness free of conceptualization, the kleshas, which rely on concepts, cannot "get in." Lama Alan also mentions that we shouldn't feel surprised or disappointed if we are not immediately cutting through to pristine awareness when we hear the instructions of Padmasambhava or other masters. And it is for this reason that we should become very familiar with taking the mind as the path, as it is a practice that can help us in our everyday life even if we have not fully cut through to pristine awareness. For it is this practice of resting in awareness without identifying with or reifying the movements of the mind that gives us the space to avoid being carried away by mental afflictions throughout the day. Lama Alan also mentions that this simple cognizance or consciousness that we rest in during this practice does not die at the time when the human body and mind die. So if we wish to avoid this death, then we must stop identifying with that which will die and become more and more familiar with this sheer cognizance. Finally, before going to the meditation, Lama Alan mentions that as we look at Phase 2 of the text, we notice that there are no new instructions on cutting through to rigpa. He explains this is because the pith instructions on this cutting through were already given at the start of Phase 1. The meditation on "Retreat in the Substrate Consciousness" begins at 25:12. After the meditation, Lama Alan begins Phase 2 of the text. He begins with a brief reminder about the nature of Ground, Path, and Fruitional Pristine Awareness, explaining that the Ground is ever-present, the Path becomes increasingly manifest, or evident as we progress in practice, and the Fruition is the full realization of the dharmakaya. In this section of the text, the Lake-Born Vajra makes the important point that if we merely achieve shamatha and rest in the substrate consciousness without ever identifying primordial consciousness, the dharmakaya, then we will not be liberated and attain Buddhahood. Rather, we will be reborn in the form realm. He then makes the point that there is no "other path" outside of our own stream of consciousness, which in its relative essential nature is the substrate, and in its ultimate essential nature is primordial consciousness. Lama Alan explains that this is not a sectarian statement, but one that makes clear that looking for the path to liberation outside of this consciousness, the ultimate essential nature of which is one's Buddha Nature, would be an absurd idea. It would be like saying one could put aside one's Buddha Nature and achieve awakening in some other way. Further, the Lake-Born Vajra explains that it is the substrate consciousness, the relative aspect of this consciousness that acts as the basis for all experiences of the various realms and rebirths within samsara, whether we are going "downward" in the direction of non-virtue, or "upward" in the direction of virtue. Lama Alan then emphasizes how closely related the substrate consciousness and primordial consciousness are, and he relates this to the fact that the same word, "rigpa," is used in Tibetan for both "ordinary consciousness" and pristine awareness. This is because ordinary consciousness is not other than pristine awareness, but in the case of ordinary consciousness, self-knowing pristine awareness has not fully manifested. Towards the end of the teaching, Lama Alan interprets primordial consciousness being referred to as a "stream" as indicating that while rigpa never moves (like a stream) when you first ascertain rigpa, it is still veiled by the conceptual mind, which is still perceived as stream-like. Finally, Lama Alan tells us that when you truly reach the end of Phase 1, you have already gotten a taste of rigpa, and you have entered the Dzogchen path. And he says that the practices within Phase 1 are sufficient to reach the Dzogchen path and that Phase 2 is, as he interprets it, a confirmation of having reached the path.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 03 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
In this first Q&A session, Lama Alan answers questions regarding the following topics: - About the death of great beings, and if they have to show signs of realization upon death. Lama Alan explains the death process of various realized beings, like the Buddha, Padmasambhava, HH Dudjom Rinpoche, and others, and how such beings chose their practice and manifestations according to their wish to serve sentient beings. He then goes on to explain the process of Tukdam where the body of a realized being may not only not decompose for days or even weeks after death, but may shrink to the size of a child’s body. This phenomenon is still happening in our times, and Lama Alan has witnessed it personally. - About the practice of projecting one’s awareness in the space in front of one’s body. Here Lama points out, that one might succumb to spacing out. He then explains that from the Buddha’s teaching in the Pali Canon up to the practices of Vajrayana, it is taught that one should practice with one’s eyes open, resting one’s awareness in space. - About a practice taught in the lineage of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, where one practices shamata to gain some stability, and then directly moves on to training in rigpa. Lama Alan kindly answers this question but makes a point that he will not answer any other questions of this kind, which do not directly relate to the teachings he is giving. He also emphasizes very clearly, that what he is teaching is not „Alan Wallace’s“ teaching, but that he is, with great reverence, passing on the teachings of the lineages that he has received, tracing back to Padmasambhava and Vimalamitra. In the context of the question, Lama Alan emphasizes a middle-way approach between the urgency and indispensability of reaching shamatha in order to reach the path, and the sowing of seeds of more advanced practices. He points out the precious power of the lineage of Dudjom Lingpa, which teaches how to manifest Great Transference Rainbow Body in one lifetime. Lama la then declares that this is why he is still teaching: to keep this lineage alive, and to guide beings to reach the path in this lifetime. - About the difference between settling the mind in its natural state in the sequence of settling body, speech, and mind—as a preliminary practice of shamata—, and the actual practice of shamata focused on the mind, such as observing the space of the mind, and awareness of awareness. According to Lerab Lingpa’s teachings in Open Mind, resting the mind in its natural state is the seventh of the common preliminaries, leading to the achievement of shamata. Lama points to the subtle difference between „settling“ versus „resting“ the mind in its natural state. He then goes on to explain what is meant by the shamata practice focused on the mind: that one cannot directly focus on the mind itself, but only on the activities of the mind and the space of the mind. This practice culminates in inverting awareness in upon itself, and in the achievement of shamata. Lama Alan continues to explain how this practice was taught by Yangthang Rinpoche as a shamata practice without a sign, where the main focus is on awareness itself. This is similar to the final practice of shamata in Padmasambhava’s teaching in Natural Liberation, and to the Buddha’s teaching on the tenth kasina. Lama emphasizes that there is no best shamata practice other than the one which works best for oneself. - About reaching Buddhahood through perfectly settling one’s body, speech, and mind in their natural state, with an emphasize on „perfectly“. - Finally, Lama Alan points to Karma Chagmey’s teachings on the Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen, which is also taught in the lineage of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, and of which Gyatrul Rinpoche is the lineage holder. Lama Alan reads a quote that highlights the importance of shamata in relation to the practice of vipashyana. There is no meditation with this session.
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 13 Oct 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Teaching pt1: Alan gives his commentary on the section on mindfulness of phenomena in Ch. 13 of Shantideva’s Compendium of Practices. This section challenges our view that we’re leaving the Mind Center and returning to the mundane world. Contemplating phenomena as phenomena can be understood in terms of the 3 turnings of the wheel of dharma. In the 1st turning, we closely apply mindfulness to phenomena. Because phenomena deceive, the 2nd turning instructs viewing them as empty, illusion-like.
Meditation: Mindfulness of phenomena preceded by mindfulness of the mind. In the 3rd turning, buddha mind is omnipresent, there is no difference between your mind and dharmakaya, and all sentient beings have the potential for perfect awakening. The lattermost points to pure perception where there is nothing where the qualities of the buddhas cannot be found. Phenomena are devoid of klesas, for when we probe into their nature, the 3 poisons arise from the 3 qualities of the substrate consciousness or more deeply, the 5 poisons are in fact the 5 wisdoms of primordial consciousness. There is nothing that brings about phenomena points to the ultimate truth. There is nothing that arises without a cause points to the conventional truth. In this context, mindfulness means to bear in mind this way of viewing reality.
Meditation. Mindfulness of phenomena preceded by mindfulness of the mind.
1) mindfulness of the mind. Let you awareness walk the tightrope of the immediacy of the present moment. What is the nature of awareness? Can you find it? Can you observe it arising and passing? What’s the border between awareness and appearances?
2) mindfulness of phenomena. Direct your attention to the world of phenomena. Whatever comes to mind, distinguish between the basis of designation and your designation. The basis of designation is empty of designation. The basis of designation isn’t arising out there. All appearances are empty of their own identity, and emptiness is none other than the luminosity of all phenomena. Sustain this flow of knowing.
Teaching pt2: We’re bringing our practice to reality. When we have some wisdom of emptiness and yeshe intuiting the blessings of the buddhas, we can perceive phenomena to be saturated by the blessings of the buddhas. Alan recounts a series of extraordinary coincidences along his own path.
Meditation starts at 55:22
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 28 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan begins the session on a playful tone, saying he invited a guest speaker to lead this afternoon’s meditation session. After a brief commentary, we then move on to the session, that consisted of Alan reading pointing out instructions to rigpa, by the Lake-Born Vajra, a speech emanation of Padmasambhava. After the meditation, we return to the Panchen Rinpoche’s text transmission, and begin the section on vipashyana, focused on identifying the ultimate nature of mind. Alan continues the oral transmission, commenting on passages from Saraha, Lingrepa and Shang Rinpoche. The guided meditation session begins at 7:40 (Pointing out instructions by Padmasambhava) ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 06 May 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan completes his commentary regarding the Satipatthana Sutta relating to the body - it’s constituents and decay. He says that DNA doesn’t belong to anyone, the body is impersonal and that once deceased, after a while, the body is not even the basis for the designation of a body. He then refers to the Vaibhasika philosophical interpretation of the Buddha’s teachings – seeing (perceiving) reality externally (objects) not by way of subjective experience, but from the perspective of apprehender and apprehended. Lama la also refers to the Sautrantika view, seeing the primary qualities of physical entities as compared to the secondary qualities of subjective experience and similar views of some pioneers of modern science. Lama la speaks about Vajiranāna comments on the earth element (including as it relates to nimittas), a cognitive scientist’s view that perception equates to externally guided hallucination, a philosopher’s view that introspection and consciousness are unreliable and a neuroscientist’s denial of subjective impression. Lama Alan concludes by asking “What can we count on?” “Are we deluded all the time?” He invites us to throw off the blindfold of materialism and says there are the experiences of suffering, joy and pleasure. He invites us to be free of delusion and to observe the body as a body. Meditation starts at 00:45.35 with resting in awareness, maintaining mindfulness of breathing, observe the arising and passing of the four elements in the body and well as the conceptual images and labels projected onto qualia.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 15 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Lama Alan starts by picking up on the familiar point that all appearances are one’s own or even self-appearances (rang nang). In the Dzogchen context “rang” means pristine awareness. From this perspective all the displays are primordially pure displays of dharmakaya, yet this is not true from the perspective of a sentient being (cf the example of Ukraine). This idea is in line with modern science which concurs that qualia are not out there in objective reality. Lama-la explains that we never perceive reality as it is objectively but only as an alloy. Lama begins the aural transmission at 00:08:40 from the bottom of p.156 (“Drawing the energies together many times…”) - middle of p.158 ("...cycles of breath“). He explains that the expression “so that none remain” means that what manifests as “habitual propensities” dissolves into a deeper dimension of reality. To explain how to understand this in the context of Dzogchen, Lama Alan draws on Sautrantika (the Buddhist equivalent to Newtonian mechanics) according to which for every conditioned phenomenon that comes into existence there has to be a cause that turns into it and when it disappears it turns into something else. In terms of metaphysical realism this makes a lot of sense. However, Lama Alan explains that in this text the framework is that of prasangika madhyamaka where nothing takes place independent of perception and conceptual designation. Using the example of a rainbow he explains that there’s nothing transforms into it and it transforms into nothing else because it is not really out there and is not in physical space. Where do the colours and shapes come from? The space of your own awareness and this is where they dissolve back into. Lama-la then comments on the expression “burning to a crisp” through the example of telling a lie in the sutrayana context where you can apply the 4 remedial powers. The karmic seed of having lied is thus burned. What’s left is the burnt crisp which means it’s a burnt seed (which is not the same as no seed, it’s not as if the deed had never been committed). He specifies that the expression “burned to a crip” is in fact inaccurate (and could possibly be replaced by something like “utterly burned up”) as there is no remainder (not even a crisp). Lama Alan then comments on the phrase “the accumulations are completed” regarding knowledge and merit and how to think about this in terms of a fully charged tank of a car or a battery. After the transmission Lama-la emphasises an important point, also stressed by HHDL, regarding the prerequisite “view” for any Vajrayana practice: for Vajrayana practice, realisation of personal identitylessness is insufficient as one could still be reifying all five skandhas. If shamatha, vipashyana and a taste of rigpa suffuse all our generation and completion practice here, this would be sufficient for those who love the elaborate path. If, however, you’re still reifying the external world, you’re not a suitable vessel for stage of generation and completion because you’re just pretending and you can’t dissolve them into emptiness. Lama then discusses the questions where appearances come from, e.g. the appearance of suffering? The metaphysical realist says that appearances are caused in part by something out there (that acts as contributing condition). According to Dharmakirti and Dignaga this means that one infers an external contributing cause for the subjective appearance we have but this is in fact impossible: to be able to infer the cause somebody must have seen the cause producing the effect but nobody has ever seen it. Also, whenever you see the effect you have to know that the effect cannot arise without the cause. But nobody has ever seen the physical universe prior to and independent of appearances. Such a universe cannot be deemed existent, either on empirical or rational grounds. So this insight is enough to get started in stage of generation; we don’t need to dissolve the sun etc into emptiness as it’s not there (only the different appearances of it as it appears to a deva, an animal etc). What accounts for the consensuality of experience is karma. Lama explains that when we recite “om svabhava shuddha sarva dharma svabhava shuddho hum” we dissolve the entire physical world and our physical body into emptiness, then out of this emptiness, acknowledging the emptiness that was already there, we can generate more appearances. Visualising oneself as a deity is no less real than imagining oneself as a human being because the physical body is not really there. Cittamatra is enough to begin stage of generation but not enough to complete because the Cittamatrins are still reifying the mind. If we go beyond Cittamatra to Prasangika Madhyamaka then even the mind doesn’t inherently exist and we can simply stop designating and reifying it. Since from the primordial indivisibility of dharmakaya and dharmadhatu we can be all that we want to be – why would we be anything less than a buddha? In Dzogchen you can conclude neither that the physical world does exist nor that it does not exist which means that it is indeterminate. There is no meditation with this teaching.
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 10 Sep 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
As the 4 applications of mindfulness bring us knowledge of our experience, the 4 immeasurables bring balance in our emotions. If feeling down, practice loving-kindness and not its near enemy attachment. If feeling disengaged, practice compassion which is an antidote to the near enemy cold indifference. Worldly life is characterized by restlessness and anxiety, and for genuine happiness and the achievement of shamatha, we need to gradually wean ourselves from the props of hedonic pleasures.
Meditation: silent meditation of your choice.
Q1. Could you please explain the terms substrate and substrate consciousness? Is the substrate consciousness something we can tap into now? Are their equivalent terms in the Gelug and Kagyu traditions?
Q2. Do we also experience the substrate if we fall asleep lucidly?
Q3. Does the tactile consciousness illuminate the body or does the mental consciousness? How does consciousness illuminate?
Q4. What is the object of substrate consciousness? Most of the descriptions I’ve read have focused on what the substrate is not.
Meditation starts at 12:17
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 26 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
As we approach the chapter “Liberation by Taking Primordial Consciousness, Pristine Awareness, as the Path” (page 187), Lama-la gives a short review on the practices of “Taking the Impure Mind as the Path”, and “Taking Dharmata as the Path”. He then likens the sacrifices that one needs to make in order to pursue the path of actualizing pristine awareness with exchanging a handful of sand for a wish fulfilling jewel — one would not hesitate to do that! The Lake-Born Vajra states that if one “gains mastery over primordial consciousness”, liberation will be attained “in this life and with this body”. Lama then explains what is meant by “gaining mastery over pristine awareness”: to have cut through and to be able to dwell in pristine awareness, free of the nine types of activity, so that one’s mind becomes Dharmakaya. The Lake-Born Vajra continues with a stunning series of analogies on the radical change that occurs through identifying pristine awareness: no matter of how violent and cruel one might have been, or how saintly and virtuous one might have been, upon identifying pristine awareness, one would immediately reach the same state of enlightenment without the slightest difference. This is promised by Samantabhadra. Lama Alan helps us to understand these radical, and maybe disturbing, statements with the analogy of the non-lucid dream versus the lucid dream: once the shift has occurred, the content of the dream and one’s actions in it have no more relevance. The key is to sustain lucidity, respectively to “gain mastery over pristine awareness”. Since pristine “awareness transcends cause and effect”, once it is realized, actions and their consequences are no longer efficacious. Lama Alan then elaborates on the power of habitual propensities, for the better and the worse, and raises the unanswered question of free will. Lama-la modifies it to a question we can answer: What is necessary for us to be able to make wise choices in regard to our own and others’ wellbeing? From this perspective the power of training one’s mind becomes obvious. Then the text continues with analogies regarding the transcending power through identifying pristine awareness. Lama Alan lays out the levels of practice according to the different yanas that enable us to cut through ignorance until we come to know who we truly are. The transmission ends on page 189 at end of third paragraph “...So know this!” Then Lama Alan picks up the theme of Vajrayana vows and introduces us to Dudjom Rinpoche’s advice to keep three things in mind in order to not commit a root downfall: Firstly, constantly view your guru as a buddha, secondly, view your vajra siblings with pure vision as viras and dakinis, and thirdly, view all sentient beings with compassion. As in regard to the samayas of the five Buddha families, since they are more complicated, Lama Alan kindly offers us the transmission of the 6-Session Guru Yoga. To engage in this short sadhana on a regular basis was not a requirement for the Lake-Born Vajra empowerment, but can be a skillful and even joyful way to keep our samayas. The meditation which is a transmission on "A Guru Yoga for Guarding the Samayas of the Five Families“ begins at 01:27:35
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 18 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
We pick up in the text at 9:20 on page 159 where Yangchen just left off. Lama Alan notes that a variant reading of the Vajra Essence was discovered by Yangchen with phrases that would be helpful here and they have been added in parenthesis. At Lama Alan begins with the taking of the essence of the five elements, saying that the passage about space is especially interesting and compares it to the practice of taking the vital essence of flower petals for which he was granted the oral transmission, commentary and training in preparation. He also discusses his training in Quantum Mechanics and that while physics knows nothing about vital essence, there is an energy of empty space. Lama Alan tells us that it is crucially important to learn that when the Buddhist tradition speaks of the natural mandala of the world that this is not primitive or folk physics. The periodic table of elements from the rarely-challenged realm of metaphysical realism assumes that these elements are really out there and the universe is made up of them. Whereas, when it comes to earth, water, air, fire and space, they were never considered in Mahayana, Vajrayana and Dzogchen to be something that is out there existing independent of experience. Lama Alan asks us to bear in mind the core theme of Tibetan medicine where your body is in dynamic interrelationship with the five elements of your environment as we move through the five elements in the text here. Lama Alan gives a full description of the eight common siddhis. He says that if you are drawn to it, the quintessence of Stage of Generation and Completion can be found in Phase 4 and that while it can be much more elaborate, this is enough. He then concludes the Lake-Born Vajra's presentation of the Stage of Completion from which we will move on to the synthesis and names of the Great Perfection. At 1:07:15, Lama Alan begins to give pith instructions on a meditation that can be done later on our own to observe samsara coming into existence moment by moment and to know there is an option. There is no meditation with this teaching but Lama Alan gave precise instructions at the end of the teaching for a meditation.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 09 Apr 2020, Online-only
Rare and Precious Human Rebirth
Outer preliminaries for Dzogchen from Lama Alan, 09 Apr 2020, Online - Originally part of 2020 8-week retreat
Mediation on Rare and Precious Human Rebirth
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 01 Oct 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Since in October 1950 Tibet was invaded by Chinese troops and has been oppressed ever since, today is a good day to practice Bodhicitta. Alan tells the story of a Geshe Rabten he interviewed several times to be able to write down his life story. This Geshe explained to him that all of Dharma appears to him as either 1) being preparation for bodhicitta, 2) being bodhicitta, or 3) flowing out of bodhicitta. This underlines the importance of cultivating bodhicitta and not striving for the achievement of nirvana and then leaving everybody behind - which Alan sees as the only situation in which the phrase ‘ignorance is bliss’ is actually true. However, this would be to realize only half of your buddha nature. Alan then starts with pieces of his own biography and how he was unsatisfied in his twenties with western, secular education as it was too fragmented and not infused with meaning. It seemed to have no center. What Alan later encountered and what the Dalai Lama often emphasizes as another way of educating people is that the core of all of education should be the science of the mind - that is, understanding the whole universe of experience from the inside-out. In a traditional Nalanda approach, there are four doors that lead to this center: 1) Healing: Whether you are a doctor, therapist, physiotherapist, etc. your aspiration is to heal. But you do not stop with healing the body - you see the interconnectedness of body and mind and therefore strive to heal all afflictions. 2) Reasoning: This concerns people with sharp minds such as philosophers, mathematicians, (quantum) physicists, etc. Their aspiration is to penetrate deep enough by way of logic so they will find nirvana. This is what is meant by the perfection of wisdom. 3) Creating: Technology, all of the arts, architecture, engineering and the like are in this category. Here the goal is to create in order to be of service to other sentient beings. However, here again one should acknowledge that one is also one’s own creator by being able to shape one’s mind. 4) Sound: This category relates to music, the voice and truth-speaking. All four lead to the center - science of the mind - which marks the fifth category: the inner approach, which goes directly to the center. Alan finishes his talk by citing Shantideva. The quote shows how one should not just aspire for bodhicitta but really engage in bodhicitta up to the point at which a continues flow of merit marks one’s actions, even if one is distracted or asleep. Thus, in such a state no matter what you do, your motivation to do it is always bodhicitta. Meditation starts at 46:59
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 03 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
This session is about how our practice becomes sustainable. Lama la starts off with sharing his 53 years of experience of listening to Dharma practitioners where people in various traditions—Tibetan Buddhism, Theravada, Zen—and practices, ranging from Shamatha, Vipashyana, stage of generation and completion, have meaningful experiences but aren’t able to sustain them. He mentions that all the shamatha practices, from the most subtle—shamatha without a sign—to taking the mind as the path, to mindfulness of breathing, won’t be sustainable if the missing step to make it sustainable is missing. This step is the practice of settling the speech in its natural state with its physiological correlate of settling the respiration into its natural rhythm. This is accomplished by not thinking thoughts and it involves stoping thoughts that come up and if they persist to subdue them. According to Tertön Lerab Lingpa, an indicator of your success is that your respiration becomes imperceptible. Only when we have succeeded in that initial phase we allow thoughts to arise and settle our minds in the natural state. The meditation starts at minute 22:48 and is on settling the speech in its natural state. After the meditation, Lama la emphasizes that whether or not our Shamatha practice will be successful depends on being able to be content with simply being aware of being aware—being conscious with no additives. The he continues with Padmasambhava’s teachings on the practice of settling the body, speech and mind in their natural states from „Natural Liberation“ and comments extensively on the sections of settling the speech and the mind in its natural state as well settling the respiration in its natural rhythm. He reminds us that whether we remain in samsara indefinitely or heading on the path to liberation is because of your mind. And looking inwards upon the sheer cognizance and luminosity of awareness is looking right in the direction of nirvana. Then he balances the sky (Dzogchen) with earth (Pali Caon) by quoting and commenting the Satipatthana Sutta. He closes the session with his aspiration that we are able to learn in these two months to settle our body, speech and respiration in their natural states and gain the confidence to shift the vision of our own future so that we have time to reach Shamatha before we die.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 06 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
"Supplication to the Guru” in The Vital Essence of Primordial Consciousness in Open Mind: View and Meditation in the Lineage of Lerab Lingpa" is the source of this day's discussion. Two main topics are discussed in this session. There are two presentations of settling body, speech and mind. One by Padmasambhava and the other by Vimalamitra, the two greatest lineages and practitioners of Dzogchen, with more discussion of the difference of the preliminary practice of settling body, speech and mind, and the Shamatha practice of settling the mind in its Natural State. Lama Alan gives us more teachings on prana. There is also some discussion about lifestyle off the cushion and how it can affect one's practice. Lama Alan also discusses settling speech in its natural state and how the pranas are affected by this, and encourages us to watch His Holiness the Dalai Lama's online video (on YouTube) giving instructions on the nine-fold breath expulsion, and the breathing of 15 cycles per minutes with two seconds in and two seconds out as where the breath will settle. Motivation, specifically regarding how one views their motivation regarding the altruistic motivation of benefitting others as other and oneself as being separate, or even just for oneself, versus the the understanding of the interdependence of us all. Commentary of the substrate and what that means to have settled in its natural state and a discussion of pre- and post-shamatha, and dissolving into the substrate. This deep dive discussion then turns to the foundation of Dzogchen, Guru Yoga as explained by Lerab Lingpa. Supplication, devotion and deep reverence for ones Guru is indispensable. Akanishta pureland is explained and how one becomes qualified to go to this highest pureland and the benefits of visualizing it. More explanation continues with how to visualize one's root Guru as Samantabhadra and why this is the definitive visualization as a sambhogakaya. Samantabhadra is the archetypal and most sublime representation over all others with an explanation of who is Samantabhadra and how he is imputed on primordial consciousness, and whose primordial consciousness? This Guru Yoga is the indispensable foundation for all the practices that follow. The meditation which starts at 1:06:00 is on settling body, speech, and mind with authentic motivation. After the meditation we get a sneak preview of the next teaching. You don't see your root guru as a human being. This path is not open if one's intuition doesn't resonate with this teaching. With no Guru Yoga, there is no Dzogchen path. But there is another approach from the ground up rather than the top down way of taking primordial consciousness and Guru Yoga (Samantabhadra) as the path. That will be for tomorrow's talk.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 21 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan encourages us to take to heart the cultivation of loving-kindness as a central theme of our spiritual practice and he explains how its healing powers are a natural remedy for the five poisons. He draws on the teachings and meditations of the Buddha in the ‘Dhammapada’ and ‘Mettanisamsa Sutta’, as well as Buddhaghosa’s ‘Path of Purification’ and writings from Longchenpa on the Four Immeasurables, to guide us in our understanding of this ancient truth. When we first come to Buddhadharma we come with a whole array of mental afflictions and the advice is to identify which is the most virulent affliction and to apply the antidotes to this first. Lama Alan likens this approach to Tibetan medicine, which treats the underlying causes and helps us heal by balancing the body. Dharma heals by balancing the mind. The root poison or affliction is delusion, giving rise to the misapprehension of reality, and so leading to craving, hostility, envy and pride. There are specific antidotes to remedy each poison, but loving-kindness has a special position amongst the virtues. Loving-kindness is a direct antidote to animosity, as well as arising as a natural antibody to fixation on hedonia, which is one of the five obscurations and also the false facsimile of empathetic joy. Lama Alan warns about attachment to hedonia and encourages us to develop intelligent loving-kindness for ourselves. He advises that to be hedonically well is a preparation for the cultivation of eudaimonia, and this is by way of ethics, samadhi and wisdom. He reminds us that few people have this opportunity. The Meditation starts at 00:19:54 and is about to attend to yourself and see yourself as lovable. Then see this lovability in a loved one, a stranger, and an enemy. Lama Alan provides guidance on the Buddha’s advice on loving-kindness in the Pali Canon, focusing on the eleven benefits, and also methods for countering resentment from the Theravada tradition. He ends by ‘joining earth and sky’ and comments on the Dzogchen master Longchenpa’s teachings on loving-kindness, which culminate in the practice of ‘uniting loving-kindness and emptiness, viewing everyone as being insubstantial like space’. A practice which starts with the aspiration that all sentient beings might experience happiness and the causes of happiness, and transcends to become the intention to pledge to all sentient beings, “I shall bring us all to happiness and the causes of happiness.” - Great Loving-Kindness.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 24 May 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
A synopsis will be added soon
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 23 Aug 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
It is crucial for our progress to be able to distinguish the qualitative difference between the clarity of substrate consciousness and the lucidity of rigpa. In the practice of Mindfulness of Breathing, awareness illuminates the field and notices fluctuations in the field produced by the rhythm of the breath. The fluctuations become more and more subtle as continued practice produces a decreased volume of the breath. By following the simple instructions of the Buddha to maintain stillness of awareness while noting that the breath is long or shot and by attending to the entire field of the breath, the practice can lead to the the complete cessation of breathing at the singularity of the fourth jhana of the form realm. Meditation starts at 42:26
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 11 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Now that all of the core, indispensable elements have been covered, Lama Alan proceeds in the text where he covers one last page devoted to the Stage of Generation before the Stage of Completion begins. This is the grand finale, the self-empowerment. This is only to be done by those who have received Mahayoga or highest yoga tantra empowerment, whether it was last year receiving the Guru Rinpoche empowerment from Garchen Rinpoche or the Lake-Born Vajra empowerment from Lama Alan or an empowerment of the same class of tantras from another lama, then you are perfectly welcome to engage in this. Lama Alan explains that when we receive an empowerment of any kind, that you are receiving the authorization to practice and granted the power to engage in a certain kind of practice that entails the self-generation of your pure self as the yidam. The empowerment authorizes you to dissolve all impure appearances/objects, including the object of yourself, into emptiness and from that emptiness and with your own buddha nature as the basis of designation - utterly authentic - then to arise as the deity in question. You receive the original "charge" from a lama and then the self-empowerment recharges you. Lama la gives the aural transmission of the text on pages 152 and 153 at starting at 7:13 These are pith instructions, the highest class of Dzogchen, for whom the individuals it is intended are those, as stated by Dudjom Rinpoche in his instructions for ‘Practice in a Mountain Retreat’ text, who have faith and confidence in Dzogchen and in the guru who imparts it, and who are committed to entering and proceeding along the path to its culmination – preferably in this lifetime. In his commentary on the aural transmission, Lama Alan explains that while it is good enough for you to dwell in primordial consciousness, because we do not exist in isolation, the whole point of realizing the mind is Dharmakaya is for the sake of service, and for that we need to manifest for everyone else. Lama Alan discussed the fork in the road of which neither direction is superior, but one is simply drawn more to one or the other. When having achieved samatha and vipashyana and identified pristine awareness, do you want to follow the straight unelaborated path of trekchö, tögal or do you want to follow the more elaborated path of Stage of Generation and Completion and then trekchö, tögal. The culminating insight is to recognize that the skillful means of all the rich, elaborate practices of Stage of Generation are already present within the absolute space, then you are seeing the union of skillful means and wisdom. Lama Alan then responds to questions. - To the foreign nature of rituals involving visualization of Buddhist deities, he responds that everything is alien to you until you experience familiarization and context where it can then take on great meaning. He adds that while you don't have to dedicate yourself to Stage of Generation and Completion if you are really devoted to Dzogchen, you must however practice Guru Yoga because it is absolutely integral to realizing your own identity as Buddha. There is one image that you can familiarize yourself with that is the most primordial; Vajradhara - primordial Buddha, Samantabadhra, deep indigo blue in color in male form with vajra and bell. - To a question about the ganacakra, empowerment, and the problem for a strict vegetarian, Lama la discussed the context of Stage of Generation, the lack of purity in the entire food chain, and for us to think about the broader context and wherein lies the greater benefit. In the end, the decision is up to us. - In response to a question about keeping the Mantrayana vow of not killing and how one would respond to the invasion of their home, Lama Alan reminds us of the words of Bhikkhu Bodhi where if foreign invaders are willing to engage in atrocities, then we simply have to understand with sympathy that people will rise to protect their homelands. - How do we transmute the situation in Ukraine? The only way that we can save humanity from atrocious wars such as Ukraine and saving the environment is the one thing we haven’t tried, Dharma. We need accomplished mystics from all traditions. That is the only hope - engage in the Four Enlightened Activities. Dedication of merit. There is no meditation in this session.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 22 May 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
Our last week of retreat starts with a Q&A teaching about the following topics and answers from Lama la: - The secular practice of dream yoga has very helpful techniques but never questions the nature of waking reality, so it is not transformative. What are the effects of living out hedonic fantasies in lucid dreams? This will reinforce habitual tendencies during the waking state, very likely not beneficial tendencies. Contrary to that, according to Yangthang Rinpoche, harmful acts performed in non-lucid dreams do not accrue negative karma, because one is completely delusional. When, while being lucid, the dream fades, one accesses the substrate with one’s coarse consciousness. That’s very different from the brilliance experienced when one accesses the substrate when achieving samatha with the substrate consciousness. When lucid, the dream state should be used in meaningful ways. - Is there a difference between asking for blessings and praying? One can call upon Tara for blessings for oneself and for others, even for mundane issues. All Four Immeasurables can be viewed as a form of prayer. Prayers of gratitude are very common in the Christian tradition. Supplications are done towards one’s Guru (for swift blessings) and one’s Yidam (for deep blessings), calling upon blessings for one’s spiritual maturation, to dispel obstacles, and the like. Praying wisely, which may entail not asking for the obvious but for what is of greatest benefit, is a skill that can be developed. - The skill of transformation during lucid dreaming serves to comprehend the nature of the dream: the fluidity of our perceived reality through the process of conceptual designation as described in Prasangika Madhyamaka. During daytime, the realization of emptiness imbued with samatha may bring with it the ability to manifest miracles, like transforming water into wine. But it is not that just anything can be changed in the way one likes, because, unlike as in dreams, sentient beings have karma, and even the Buddha cannot turn back the karma of sentient beings. - A question about the difference between false and valid facsimiles, the latter being an approximation towards a spiritual attainment. Lama la answers this question with the example of caring relationships approximating the Four Immeasurables. - The person asking has suffered from insomnia for 30 years, and with the attempt to practice nighttime dream yoga, this has become worse. Lama la advises not to do this practice if it interferes with one’s sleep but explains that one can still practice daytime dream yoga as taught in the Seven Point Mind Training. Although medication does not cure insomnia it can be helpful, and it is not incompatible with the spiritual path. A medical check should be done first. Psychological issues may be treated with medication at first, then with a caring talk therapy, until one is stable enough to practice meditation. Lama la then, as a spiritual teacher, gives some practical advice on how to calm oneself to be able to fall asleep. - The person asking is grieving the recent loss of a loved one. Lama la describes how grief, like all emotions and mental events, takes place in the mind—and how solace can be found by resting in awareness, experiencing only its luminosity and cognizance. A freedom that can be cultivated is to de-personalize the emotion and to observe it as an event taking place in the space of the mind. The question “Who is aware?“ is at the core of vipashyana, and resonates with the ancient Greek aphorism “Know thyself“. Then Lama la points to the truth of entropy: wherever there is meeting there is parting, whatever comes up goes down etc. This applies to all of our relationships, and to develop good cheer in the face of these truths is a sign of a good practitioner. Lama explains how grief is often self-related, and encourages us to recognize that the death of a virtuous person can be a relief for them, leaving behind a disabled body, and taking a fortunate rebirth. And we can always pray for the deceased. - There is a difference between the practice of Taking the Mind as the Path, with no appearance arising, and the practice of Awareness of Awareness: in the first practice, one focuses on an empty field, the substrate, whereas in the second practice, one focuses on awareness itself. All practices of shamata within the Indo-Tibetan tradition culminate in the practice of Shamata without a Sign. Space is established by direct perception or by conceptual designation. - At the end of this teaching Lama la kindly shares a story of how he and his wife experienced the power of Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche’s blessings.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 17 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
The topic of this 8-week retreat covers the broad bandwidth from shamatha to vipashyana, to Mahamudra and Dzogchen because the text Naked Awareness is the Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen. Alan is drawing repeatedly from the most foundational teachings of the Buddha, as presented for example in the Pali Canon. The Shravakayana is infact the grounding, the foundation on which you can build a skyscraper touching the sky. And the sky is Dzogchen. In the midst of this whole range of teachings it’s very important for those who are really intuitively drawn to Dzogchen to see that all the teachings are nested within the view of Dzogchen. Dzogchen completely encompasses all the other yanas, or vehicles, including that of the Shravakas, the non Buddhists, the Hindus, the yogis, the Bonpos, the shamans and so on. It’s a perspective from which all of these other spiritual paths make sense. According to the Vajrayana approach as explained by Panchen Rinpoche, a practitioner realizes emptiness with the primordial mind of clear light once he has fully accomplished stage of generation and completion. So when you are almost finished you put in a drop of Mahamudra. This method may sound quite inaccessible to us and we might feel frustrated. It’ easy to feel discouraged because we keep on suffering from amnesia. We keep on forgetting that we are already buddhas. Alan then reads a quote from the Vajra Essence: the words of Padmasambhava, by way of Dudjom Lingpa, explain how to ascertain our ultimate nature, the nature of the ground Samantabhadra. For this there are two methods, the first of which is by directly identifying it in your own being realizing the view by way of pointing out instructions; the second is identifying it in dependence upon the expedient path of the stage of generation and completion. Through the Dzogchen practice you finally come upon the nature of great all-pervasive openness and this is called meditation free of the intellect and devoid of activity. The powerful presentation of Dzogchen meditation by Dudjom Lingpa is quintessential in Dzogchen. It’s based on viewing reality from the perspective of dharmakaya, of rigpa. And in this presentation there is no reference whatsoever to having first achieved stage of generation or completion. That is the Dzogchen path. Finally Alan quotes a comment by H.H. the Dalai Lama on the different approaches of the Gelug, Sakya and Nyingma schools, which can help clear many misunderstandings: “As is said in an oral transmission by the great lama Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, when the great Nyingmapa adept Longchen Rabjam gives a presentation of the ground, path, and fruit, he does so mainly from the perspective of the enlightened state of a Buddha, whereas the Sakyapa presentation is mainly from the perspective of the spiritual experience of a yogi on the path, and the Gelukpa presentation is mainly from the perspective of how phenomena appear to ordinary sentient beings. His statement appears to be worthy of considerable reflection; through it many misunderstandings can be removed.” The meditation is on Settling the Mind in its Natural State. Meditation starts at 21:00 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 06 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan goes directly to the text starting with the sentence: “So for as long as you are engaged in fixing your mind on practices such as meditations, views, goals…” explaining the inner, outer and secret upheavals that might arise from all kind of Buddhist practices. He continues with the text, expounding on the point that whether doing the practice of severance or of stage of generation, the most important point is realizing the emptiness of inherit nature of all phenomena. Failing to recognize this can lead to a false path. Meditation starts at 00:46:50 with the Vipassana practice of identifying when the mind conceptually designates, when the mind is silent and just being aware of appearances, and then those moments when we conceptually designate and reify. Lama Alan continues with the new paragraph: "Collapsing the False Cave of Hopes and Fears", where the Lake-born Vajra deconstructs the existence of buddhas.
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 20 Sep 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Teaching: Continuing from Asanga’s Shravakabhumi, Alan introduces the 3rd thorough training by way of dependent origination. Asanga begins by attending to the breath which is dependent upon the body and mind which are in turn conditioned by the life faculty (subtle continuum of mental consciousness and prana) which is in turn dependent on previous compositional factors (samskara) which are in turn dependent on ignorance. The antidote to ignorance is wisdom which leads to the cessation of ignorance and so forth. Alan briefly sketches the 3rd thorough training by way of the 4 Noble Truths which involves contemplating them repeatedly.
Meditation: mindfulness of breathing per Asanga followed by mindfulness of phenomena (aggregates).
I) Mindfulness of breathing per Asanga. Let awareness rest at the space of the navel, and observe sensations of prana coming to fill that space and flowing out again like at a train station. Observe the body breathing without inhibiting the exhalation or pulling in the inhalation.
II) Mindfulness of phenomena (aggregates). For each of the aggregates, view them as being impermanent, devoid of self, and having no owner: 1) see form as form, 2) feelings arising in the body and mind, 3) observe recognition of the space of the mind, 4) observe the compositional factors in the space of the mind, 5) direct awareness to the experience of being conscious. Open awareness to the realm of all phenomena.
Q1. What stage of shamatha can we reasonably expect to achieve while living in the modern world?
Q2. At times, part of the mind is wandering while part of the mind is still on the object. What should I do? Should I multi-task?
Meditation starts at 26:55
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 14 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
In this Q&A session, Lama-la answers questions related to a number of topics, including: - The practice of awareness of awareness and overcoming reification by imbuing shamatha with vipassana practices. - Patience with oneself in practicing Dharma, explained in the context of lamrim, with regards to spiritual maturation on the stages of meditation. There is direct correlation between the degree of our renunciation and the magnitude of Boddhicitta that we cultivate. - The impact of aging on the practice and achievement of shamatha, a two-wedged sword. There is an advantage to maturity, and Lama-la refers to the ancient Indian tradition regarding individual duties as one progresses through life. Overall though, best is to start progressing on the Path sooner rather than later. - Regarding the Guru as the Buddha versus as an ordinary person has to be understood by context and with intelligence. Guru Yoga is essential for the practice of Dzogchen, and is not appropriate in a secular context or needed as such in Theravada tradition or Sutrayana. A discussion regarding ultimate and relative realities follows, with emphasis on the importance of very rigorous ethical standards in all stages of practice. The higher are one’s realizations, the higher is one’s moral responsibility. It is important to understand well the concepts of essential nature and manifest nature. - The challenging worldview of the Dharma, which is so antithetical to the commodification of secular buddhist teachings. Lama-la states emphatically that if the Dharma is not unsettling us, we simply don’t understand it. The practice of meditation is simple per se, but existentially extremely challenging, it is not a mere act of escapism. We are swimming against the stream, and this is why our spiritual community support is essential for us, valuing the Dharma above everything else, a different paradigm. This is why the motto for Myio Samten Ling is „Fathom the Mind, Heal the World“.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 19 May 2020, Online-only
Meditation #1 "Ultimate Bodhicitta: the Primordial Indivisibility of Emptiness & Luminosity" @ 9:57 Meditation #2 "Dzogchen Practice of Great Impartiality" @ 34:46
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 25 Aug 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
It's important to settle the motivation for the day. In Mahayana teachings the motivation is the base of bodhicitta. It's important to have cognitive balance, which brings intelligence to our desires and aspirations.
Relaxation, stability and clarity are crucial for meditation. First melt away the body and then allow the breath to flow naturally. Trust in the healing capacity of our own body. If you get tired when meditating, focus on relaxation without loosing stability.
Meditation starts at 14:55
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 23 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Yangchen begins with outlining that she will now lead us in transitioning into a Dzogchen perspective on the subtle winds/energies, drawing from an essay by Jé Tsultrim Zangpo — An Ornament of the Enlightened View of Samantabhadra, which is translated in part two of the text Open Mind, pp. 173–175. But first, having fine-tuned the translation of two sentences in the passage from Jé Tsongkhapa that she commented on yesterday, Yangchen shares the updated version: “Suppose you claim that this "so called wind” is simply that which enables consciousness to move. Then, since the name of wind would simply be applied to the mental function that is a movement of the mind, which is not a wind, then if this is some other kind of wind you have to give me a definition for it.” Addressing some questions that have arisen, Yangchen clarifies that it is only at the very subtle level that we can say that energy/winds and mind are of one essential nature. At the coarse and subtle levels of conceptualisation, the wind and the mind are not necessarily always joined. Referring back to Ārya Nāgārjuna and Je Tsongkhapa, Yangchen highlights that since the joining of wind to mind is an action of movement, when there is no movement the conceptualisations of nature do not arise. On the other hand, when there is movement, that’s what enables conceptualisations to arise, so if one can still those winds, then that’s what enables those eighty conceptualisations to unravel and stop activating. Shifting context to the essay by Jé Tsultrim Zangpo, Yangchen outlines that it describes the essential nature, manifest nature and all pervasive compassion of pristine awareness, correlated with dharmankaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya, respectively. Focusing today on the section titled, ‘The Manifest Nature’, Yangchen highlights the similarities and differences between the Guhyasamaja Tantra and Dzogchen. She draws our attention to how Jé Tsultrim Zangpo highlights that — “… different classifications of the meaning of the tantras are formulated according to the specific qualities of the disciples who are their recipients. So, in reality, whatever the tantra may be, it is infallible with regard to the accomplishment of its own siddhis. That is a special quality of the Teacher, the Buddha”. Reflecting on this point, Yangchen refers to all the effort His Holiness the Dalai Lama has given to cast aside centuries of debate and animosity that had arisen in Tibetan Buddhism, regarding different views. She adds that this same point could be applied to broader inter-religious dialogues and debates. Elaborating further on distinctions between Guhyasamaja and Dzogchen contexts, Yangchen encourages us to make a long-term commitment to becoming more and more sensitive to the distinction between effortful and effortless practice. She gives the example of how in the Guhyasamaja context, the five energies of the clear light only manifest when one has passed through the three states of consciousness of the dissolution; whereas in Dzogchen, pristine awareness can become manifest when the senses are open; and the visionary experiences of the direct crossing over can take place when one is just resting. However, she emphasises just how thoroughly complete such inactivity has to be, in terms of body, speech and mind. In today's meditation, which starts at 1:06:59, we arise as Amitābha.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 06 Apr 2020, Online-only
9.1 Great Compassion from the Dzogchen Perspective
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 19 Apr 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan asks how could awareness not be self-existent and how is it that it comes into power only by conceptual designation? If something is autonomous then it is waiting like an island with borders to be labelled. There are some things that Lama Alan finds helpful. The scientists discussed in previous sessions talk about meaningful information with a referent. So, a neuron in the brain is not a referent from its own side. All physical categories are constructed by categories. Meaningful information is therefore primary but meaningful information is only meaningful because there is a conscious observer to do the conceptual designation. As contemplatives what do we come across – what appearances arise? What meaningful information is to the scientist, appearances are to the contemplative. Appearances do not exist apart from a conscious observer so consciousness cannot be self-existent. If awareness is self-existent then there must be an intrinsic border that exists between it and everything else, such as appearances. Lama Alan asks, if you look really closely can you see a border between the subjective observer over here and the objective appearances over there? Can you demarcate them? He compares this to the way that international waters have borders only be agreement, the borders are not actually there. If something is deemed to exist, then there have to be multiple qualities. If awareness exists it must be identifiable by way of its characteristics so that we can set it apart from everything else that is not consciousness, like qualia. So, when you, the listener, listen to this audio your consciousness is illuminating Lama Alans’ voice, or image if watching a video. One the attributes of consciousness is to illuminate, it is to make you aware. That is one characteristic and there is another, which is knowing, like you know that this sound of the audio is Lama Alan talking, which is a human voice. So, consciousness as two qualities: luminosity and cognizance. Other qualities are that it is non-physical and impermanent. Awareness is something that you can directly experience because you know that you are aware. What entity in the universe has these attributes of cognizance and luminous? The Buddhist view that awareness is not a continuous stream but bursts of knowing, a sequence of finite pulses like a strobe light illuminating and knowing. It is not static. William James, coined the term of ‘stream of consciousness’. There is a prior moment, and the following moment, which are both finite moments. The mind is no more inherently existent than the objective world. What is the nature of consciousness that experiences all appearances and know all things? Lama Alan invites us to find out by looking inwards.
Meditation starts at 25 Minutes.
Lama Alan said that if you saw your mind he would like to know! He cites Shantideva who says that none of the Buddahs have ever reported to have seen their mind.
Lama Alan then turns to the text p.19.
Keywords: consciousness, luminosity, cognizance, emptiness of consciousness.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 20 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan comments that it is very common that practicing loving Kindness can be difficult at first, but he advises to continue with it and little by little it will get easier and start to flow. After time, it can become effortless and Shamata can be developed with this practice. For some people, this may be the most beneficial and transformative practice. He then touches on Buddhaghosa’s Path of Purification and his instructions on cultivating loving kindness and highlights Buddhaghosa’s instructions on developing loving kindness for people that are especially difficult for us. The meditation on loving kindness begins 00:44:50, finding the loving qualities of ourself and others and extending ones loving kindness. Then he discusses the false facsimile of loving kindness, self-centered attachment and its far enemy, malice. He closes by expounding on the difference between an “I-It” relationship and an “I-Thou” relationship, as defined by Martin Buber.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 14 May 2020, Online-only
This afternoon we return to the text, on the section on identifying the identitylessness of persons. This is the medicine, the method for overcoming the affliction of misapprehending oneself. Lama Alan comments there are different methods to achieve this. Meditation starts at 24:07. The Search for Identity. Let´s find out who we think we are; observing location and what comes up when we think I am. Returning to the text on the paragraph starting with: “Finally, to investigate and analyze where it goes: ¨ Lama Alan comments on this topic and how if the ‘I’ does not exist and is not established as real, is it possible to have continuity from one appearance to the next. He then expounds on the topic of autonomous self and decision making.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 29 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan starts remembering the pointing out instructions of Padmasambhava that he read yesterday. In the preface, Padmasambhava says he is pointing out to what he called by many different names: atman, middle way view, emptiness, tathagatagarbha, alaya, perfection of wisdom, and so forth. And then there are two phases: in the first he challenges us - "what do you mean ... Observe your mind!?" Just do it! In the second, he poses a hypothesis: "Is is that way or not? Observe your mind!" The first phase is shamatha, and the second, as he poses a question and we have to report what we see, that's vipashyana. And this instructions are so inviting because Padmasambhava also says he is pointing out to "ordinary mind", not something in a distant future. So, how deep we can penetrate? Can we see the luminous and cognisant aspects of consciousness, can we identify the relative nature of consciousness? That is where substrate consciousness is. Can we go deeper and penetrate our mind right to the substrate consciousness? The emptiness of our own awareness is there too. Can we realize it? And all of these is rigpa. Can we identify it? Very simple and very complete. But only for the simultaneous practitioners it is sufficient to see the ordinary mind, the substrate consciousness, the emptiness and rigpa only once. Why most of us cannot see rigpa, if we're looking right where rigpa is? Alan talks then about the obscurations that prevent us to see rigpa. There are conative obscurations, related to desires: "I don't want to. I'm busy! I have to make money and this is not profitable. It's boring!" If we don't have the aspiration, we'll not dedicate ourselves twelve hours a day for months. It's not gonna happen. A conative passion, renunciation, bodhicitta are indispensable. The second type of obscurations is the obsessive compulsive ideation, a very noisy mind - attention obscurations. But even if you have real interest and refined attention skills, there are still conate (we're born with) and acquired cognitive obscurations - ignorance, delusion. Alan says he stands by this big generalization: the belief system of scientific materialism consists of acquired delusion. It's not connate, we get educated, introduced to it, and so if you love science you have to go with this belief system. One of the major points of this belief system is that the mind is just an epiphenomenon of the brain. As meditators do not know anything about the brain, they need neuroscientists to tell them what is going on in their meditation. Among the scientific community, most materialistic groups of scientists among all the fields are cognitive scientists, although they know the least about matter. And the least materialistic are the physicists, like Thomas Hertog, Stephen Hawking, Anton Zeilinger, John Wheeler, Andrei Linde, Paul Davis - they're casting off materialism and coming into adulthood. Meanwhile, the cognitive sciences are still in infancy, pretending they understand consciousness. Then Alan presents us Donald D. Hoffman - Professor of Cognitive Science, University of California, Irvine, PhD in MIT. But before proceeding, Alan cited this quote from "The Foolish Dharma of an Idiot Clothed in Mud and Feathers" where Düdjom Lingpa says that before you set out on the path, among body, speech and mind you have to investigate and know which one is primary. Düdjom Lingpa had a vision in a dream of a boy who said: "The body is like a paper bag blown by the wind", including your brain, of course! "Speech is like the sound of air passing through a pipe. This mind is the creator of both samsara and nirvana. Among these three, identify which is primary!" So, Donald Hoffman address this question: among matter and mind, which is primary. Click here to find his interview, "The Case Against Reality". Click here for his TED Talk. Alan highlights this point, saying that it gives him hope: "The central lesson of quantum physics is clear: There are no public objects sitting out there in some preexisting space. As the physicist John Wheeler put it, “Useful as it is under ordinary circumstances to say that the world exists ‘out there’ independent of us, that view can no longer be upheld.”" Alan highlighted this paragraph too: "The mathematical physicist Chetan Prakash proved a theorem that I devised that says: According to evolution by natural selection, an organism that sees reality as it is will never be more fit than an organism of equal complexity that sees none of reality but is just tuned to fitness. Never." If Hoffman findings are true, science has undermined its own credibility. Because natural selection which gave rise to scientists has nothing to do with knowing reality as it is. There is no reason to believe that science is accurate, since we did not evolve to know reality as it is - we evolved to make babies and survive - if evolution is the whole story. To keep its integrity following this mathematical theorem, scientific community has to add another variable: in addition to natural selection, there is something else going on that gives us a drive to know reality as it is. It has nothing to do with evolution and that's where credibility stands - the credibility of science stands outside of science. Alan discussed some more points of this interview: "The idea that what we’re doing is measuring publicly accessible objects, the idea that objectivity results from the fact that you and I can measure the same object in the exact same situation and get the same results — it’s very clear from quantum mechanics that that idea has to go. Physics tells us that there are no public physical objects." Then Amanda Gefter asks Hoffman: "It doesn’t seem like many people in neuroscience or philosophy of mind are thinking about fundamental physics. Do you think that’s been a stumbling block for those trying to understand consciousness?" Hoffman: I think it has been. Not only are they ignoring the progress in fundamental physics, they are often explicit about it. They’ll say openly that quantum physics is not relevant to the aspects of brain function that are causally involved in consciousness. They are certain that it’s got to be classical properties of neural activity, which exist independent of any observers—spiking rates, connection strengths at synapses, perhaps dynamical properties as well. These are all very classical notions under Newtonian physics, where time is absolute and objects exist absolutely. And then [neuroscientists] are mystified as to why they don’t make progress. They don’t avail themselves of the incredible insights and breakthroughs that physics has made. Those insights are out there for us to use, and yet my field says, “We’ll stick with Newton, thank you. We’ll stay 300 years behind in our physics.” One more: "I’m emphasizing the larger lesson of quantum mechanics: Neurons, brains, space … these are just symbols we use, they’re not real. It’s not that there’s a classical brain that does some quantum magic. It’s that there’s no brain!" Last one: "As a conscious realist, I am postulating conscious experiences as ontological primitives, the most basic ingredients of the world. I’m claiming that experiences are the real coin of the realm. The experiences of everyday life—my real feeling of a headache, my real taste of chocolate—that really is the ultimate nature of reality." Hoffman has just identified between mind and matter, which is primary. Consciousness is primary. Matter and brain don't even exist except as symbols. Now, back to Düdjom Lingpa. He wrote Vajra Essence down during the heyday of mind eradicating scientific materialism with their brain washing. So, Düdjom Lingpa prophesizes: "This is for the future. This will flourish in the cities of the West." Düdjom Lingpa says "this mind is the all creator sovereign". Now, the question is: does the mind really exist, or mind is just one more symbol, one more name? Is mind real, does it originate from some place, is it located some place, does it really go some place? Where, where, where? Nada, nada, nada! The meditation is on probing into the nature of the agent who is meditating, taught by Padmasambhava. Alan quoted Einstein: "It is in fact the theory that determines what we can observe". What can you observe and what you can not observe because of the belief you already have? Düdjom Lingpa' strategy is introducing us to the view of middle way, of emptiness and dependent arising. So we hear it, we think about it and then we view reality with the middle way view. Then once we deconstruct the reification of mind and all appearances to the mind, then we're introduced to the Dzogchen view. When we view reality this way, the practice becomes very simple: we dispense with all activities that we embrace as a sentient being - recitations, prostration, mind wandering and so forth. These are all incompatible with the perspective of Dharmakaya in which there is nothing to achieve. We just get familiar with this view and then we're ready for open presence. Then we view reality not from a marmot's perspective but from Dharmakaya's perspective. Nothing to do! But until then... let's go back to motivation and let's practice! Meditation starts at 41:04 ___ 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 he was advised that he inadvertently overlooked part of the oral transmission of Karma Chagme’s Naked Awareness text so he now delivers it for completeness (page 18 beginning “You are the protector of all sentient beings without exception…”). This afternoon’s topic is on the second of the Greats – Great Loving-Kindness (Maha Maitri). As with all the Greats, we require a fundamental shift from aspiration to intention whereby the intention in this case requires taking responsibility for the care of all sentient beings. Alan comments that in Western tradition the focus is human-oriented (and mostly only men at that) whereas this is not even considered in Tibetan Buddhism where the focus is on all sentient beings. When His Holiness the Dalai Lama was asked what the fundamental drive in humans was, he replied “caring”. At the very least we care about ourselves, and almost everyone else cares about someone else in addition to themselves. The Bodhisattva ideal however is to take responsibility for caring for all sentient beings. The ground for beginning the Bodhisattva path is cultivating immeasurable equanimity. However when you calculate the number of sentient beings in all worlds, this can be overwhelming. The practical advice Alan received from one of his teachers, Gen Losang Gyatso, was to focus on caring for everyone (including every animal) that comes to mind. This is not only everyone we’ve met but also the broader spectrum when we consider our exposure to all people and animals via study of history and the media. However the practical importance of this is that it pretty much covers beings of all the six realms from the most sublime to the most diabolical. The practice then is to care for each and all these beings without exception by recognising their fundamental Buddha-nature. The third part of the Bodhisattva liturgy startles us in that it requires us to resolve that “I will bring all sentient beings to happiness and its causes”. So how are we to understand the personal pronoun “I”? The only way is that the referent “I” has to be from the viewpoint of Dharmakaya or Buddha-nature. Then Alan asks: “Why do we need more Buddhas? Why do we need another copy of the Buddha? Isn't that covered? Aren't there enough Buddhas already?” The meditation is on Great Loving-kindness Following meditation practice, Alan returns to Chokyi Gyeltsen’s root text - stanzas 3-5. Alan comments on the nature of the accumulation of merit, the purification of afflictive and cognitive obscurations, and the way to view our root and lineage gurus. Meditation starts at 43:45 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
