THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 14 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
Day Two, Session One Q&A To maintain the privacy of the attendees some of the questions may not be heard, but in the video version of the Q&A the questions are shown on the screen. We apologize for this inconvenience.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 03 May 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
Question 1: „I have experienced meditative states where there is an apparent loss of agency—I could no longer modify the practice despite being well aware I remained within it. These experiences pop up suddenly and catch me off guard—could subtle laxity lie within them? They also feel beyond quality control. Sshould I be worried about this?“ - Answer: Subtle laxity could well be hiding within this state—but this is a technical term that only crops up in one of the nine stages of settling the mind for Shamatha. Here, subtle laxity is one of the most difficult things to identify in our practice; there is no reference to laxity in the first four stages because our awareness isn’t sharp enough to identify anything other than dullness. By Stage 4, you are never completely away from the meditative object for around 30 minutes or so. By the 5th stage, coarse laxity can occur. Here the mind is just not that clear. Tightening up at Stage 5 triggers medium excitation and relaxing brings on this coarse laxity; this is what makes Stage 5 such a common obstacle for practitioners. It is only by Stage 7 that you are likely to have identified coarse laxity and its distinction from dullness to understand medium and subtle laxity. Most would consider subtle laxity a sign that the meditation was going well; it’s only when crystal sharpness occurs—almost unveilling the luminosity of the substrate, freeing oneself from subtle laxity—that this state is truly understood as an obstacle. As such, subtle laxity is just the slight blunting of the sharp edge of pure clarity. It can only be remedied at Stage 7 and onwards. These feelings this practitioner is describing may instead be facsimiles of the 3rd and 4th Samapattis in the form realm, but seem to be closer to characteristics of hitting the vacuity of the substrate consciousness. Lama-la emphasises that there shouldn’t be any cause for concern as these experiences are described as being transient. However, there is another state that must be avoided—one where concentration is so absorbed that time, space and outward awareness are all obscured by a state of obliviousness. In this state of samadhi, there is no clear sense of discernment of 'this or that’ or of the passage of time. This is not a dangerous state in itself, but is certainly not one to be stuck in as this is not the path and may derail a practitioner from achieving Shamatha. If one were to stay in this state for a long time, they may seriously blunt the faculties of their human mind—atrophying them from lack of use—and cause long-term damage. Slipping into a sheer vacuity is not the aim of Shamatha. We must remember that the qualities to look out for are cognisance, luminosity and bliss. Meanwhile rigpa is far from ‘dead nothingness’. It is all-knowing and crisp luminosity. There’s always a role for quality control and introspection. In terms of identifying agency - it’s wise for us to pepper Vipashyana techniques in our shamatha practice, probing through strongly-held beliefs around identity. Upon inverting awareness you discover there is no difference between external and internal space - nothing to bump up against. As such, we should avoid states that disconnect us from our introspective faculties - viewing them as an impediment to our progress. Question 2: „You mention that appearances arise due to mentation, so that means they stop arising for someone who rests in total samadhi of emptiness. The vajradhara who rests in rigpa is also realising emptiness, so why do appearances keep arising in this state?“ - Answer: Lama-la explains that, in Tögal phase of practice, we would be resting in pristine awareness and have adopted a certain posture. As we would move sequentially through the various stages of this process, we would experience all manner of appearances that are not generated by mentation as we wouldn’t be resting in our minds but in pristine awareness. What’s coming to us in such a state would therefore constitute pure appearances, not the tainted experiences of samsara where conceptualisation occurs instantaneously. We wouldn’t be viewing these by way of visual perception even though our eyes must be open during this practice. Instead, what is now piggybacking on the visual faculties is pristine awareness, seeing pure appearances rise in the dharmadhatu. In these circumstances, appearances would not be arising to us out of our mentation. However, we need to be very precise about labels and concepts here - like a carefully carved jewel - to ensure we use this same precision in our meditation. Fuzziness will get us nowhere and make us more likely to confuse key concepts, like open awareness versus rigpa. So instead of saying ’total samadhi of emptiness’ - which doesn't mean anything in Tibetan - we should talk about resting in meditative equipoise (when vipashyana is fully merged with shamatha to create a state that transcends time- and space- based reality) in which case the statement made would be true. To the point that 'A vajradhara who rests in rigpa is also recognising emptiness’ - Lama-la confirms that this is true. Here Lama-la underlined this point by giving us a pop quiz: Q: ‘If you are resting in meditative equipoise and have a non-dual realisation of emptiness, have you necessarily realised rigpa?' A: ‘No' Q: 'If you are resting in meditative equipoise and are resting in rigpa, have you necessarily realised rigpa?' A: ‚Yes' Lama-la clarified that appearances do not always keep arising in this state. Stage of completion practice, for example, is dedicated to realising the in-dwelling mind of clear light - this is identical to rigpa. But this path is very demanding and extremely sophisticated when practiced authentically. It requires us to make dormant all levels of our conceptualisation - including the coarse, subtle and very subtle prana that we utilise to see, move, act etc - to deactivate the physical body. There would be no thoughts, no activity, no conceptualisation in this state - all that would be left in such dormancy would be the innate mind of clear light. Everything else has to be down to experience this. Furthermore, it is possible to cut right through the substrate consciousness to pristine awareness in a dreamscape - all without experiencing appearances. Such non-dual experiences are never forgotten when we return to the waking state. Question 3: "Would you share a story or two of the nyams you have experienced in your meditative practice?" - Answer: Lama-la felt that he didn’t have much to share here - especially when compared to the nyam being experienced by those he has interviewed in full-time retreat here in Crestone. Lama-la did share what occurred when coming to the culmination of his 100,000 vajrasattva mantra recitations in 1975, however. Lama-la began these in India before moving to Switzerland to serve as Geshe Rabten’s interpreter; here, two nyam came up right at the end of this series. Initially, Lama-la felt enormous surges of energy that weren’t unpleasant but were incredibly intense. Secondly, despite being given a completely clean bill of health - including no parasites - when returning to Switzerland, Lama-la also experienced worms emanating out of his skin. Lama-la’s interpretation of this is that this extensive purification process meant that his body was no longer a happy home for these parasites. Keywords: Shamatha, vipashyana, prana, nyam, agency, clarity, pristine awareness
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 19 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan continues the teachings of the morning session on Jé Tsultrim Zangpos An Ornament of the Enlightened View of Samantabhadra, focusing on Guru Yoga in all three Yanas: The emphasize hereby lies on approaching ones Guru with reverence and devotion. When we understand that the object of this reverence is the Buddha himself, we will not get lost in false facsimiles of Guru Yoga like idolization or personality cult. Yet there are differences: in the Sravakayana, the teacher is viewed as the person “carrying the torch of the Dharma”, him- or herself being an ordinary human being, whereas in Mahayana the Guru is seen as a conduit of the Buddha's blessings and wisdom. The most demanding approach, of course, lies in the way we view our Guru in the context of Dzogchen: as Samantabhadra himself. This is only possible if, through strong devotion, reverence and faith, we try to actualize the Dharmakaya and see its display personified as our Guru, as Guru Rinpoche (being the primary Yidam in Dzogchen), and ultimately as ourselves - to see our own face as the Dharmakaya. In all of the three Yanas could it happen that the person we have accepted as our guide and Guru, strays away from the authenticity of the teachings or from a conduct in accordance with the teachings. In this - very sad - case, we should turn to find a new teacher, knowing that the Dharmakaya is the ultimate source of the teachings. Lama Alan describes that the way the Guru appears to us is the fruit of our own karma because all we can perceive are our own appearances. Then Lama Alan continues today's teachings with explanations on the Four Immeasurables: • Loving Kindness as a basis for a vision of how every sentient being could have met all their hedonic needs and also could find ultimate happiness. • Compassion that arises from observing the suffering of sentient beings, suffering that is incredibly vast in ways and numbers. • Empathetic Joy as fuel that eases our despair and nurtures our aspirations, when we rejoice in the countless acts of kindness displayed in the world. • Equanimity which breaks down all the barriers between those close to us, those neutral to us and those we regard as enemies, so that our Love may extend equally to all sentient beings. Lama Alan then lays out the two ways - that complement each other - of how to cultivate the Four Immeasurables: a socially engaged way and a contemplative way. Meditation starts at 01:06:48. We are invited to listen to the words of the Buddha in His Discourse on Loving-Kindness, where we embrace all sentient beings with Love and compassion.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 26 May 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
Lama-la starts by commenting again on the excellent last question posed in this retreat, emphasising the fact that Buddhadharma offers us choices on how to die well, and having such choices gives us freedom. A few minor corrections follow regarding the text read the day before. Back to the text, from the last paragraph on page 272, there is a detailed explanation pertaining to practices in which we could engage once we are well trained, as spiritual friends helping a dying person’s substrate consciousness to be transferred through Phowa, to the pure land of Sukhavati. This completes the transmission of the main body of the text. The Lake Born Vajra concludes by explaining the reason for which this Tantra was revealed. It is precisely for such degenerate times as ours, when authentic teachers are very rare, and there are hardly any people practicing, that these teachings are needed. Lama-la uses the analogy of an adrenalin injection administered to a person in imminent cardiac arrest. By practicing these teachings, we may liberate ourselves through realization, we liberate others through compassion, and we awake non-duality as youthful vase kayas. He is calling on powerful Dharma protectors, to provide disciples with conducive conditions to practice, and the treasure of teachings is sealed. Lama-la reads the colophon which includes a beautiful prayer for the perfect enlightenment of those of us fortunate enough to practice correctly. The meditation begins at 00:54:56 and continues the series of Padmasambhava's pith instructions for identifying pristina awareness. The aural transmission begins at 00:04:00 and covers pages 272-276.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 27 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan returns to the Vajra Essence, on the last paragraph on page 91, commenting on the sentence: “This is the great being, primordially free from all faults, stains, and habitual propensities.” He traces a parallel with the ideas of Max Planck and Albert Einstein. He continues with the text, discussing the primordial originally pure ground which is flawless and unwavering. This ground is free from the eight extremes of conceptual elaboration: origination and cessation, nihilism and permanence, coming and going, diversity and unity. As long as we are enmeshed viewing phenomena between these extremes, we are far from the path to liberation. Pure perception, free from elaboration and all extremes is the path to liberation. The text then covers the first door of liberation: outer and inner emptiness. Lama Alan draws a parallel with physicist Anton Zeilinger´s ideas. Meditation starts at 01:08:27 and is about viewing mental appearances and the mind with direct perception to examine whether they can be identified within the context of the eight extremes.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 12 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Lama-la starts by asking and answering the question whether it is moral for us to pray to be reborn in Sukhavathi. As the buddhists’ plan is in fact for eternity, and not just in the context of a lifetime, we should be looking at the big picture. While a bodhisatva is a maestro of lojong, we might not quite be one yet and therefore we should be focusing for now on following the path and aspire for continuity of practice above all else. In this context he reads and comments two quotes, one by Panchen Lobsang Chokyi Gyaltsen and the other by Jamyang Kyentse Wangpo. He further emphasises that for the practice of stage of generation and completion in dzogchen, it is essential to have at least some ‘scent’ of pristine awareness. He goes on to explain the differences between practicing stage of generation and completion in sutrayana context from dzogchen. Moving on to the presentation on the stage of completion, we must have in fact already have mastered shamatha, vipasyana and identified rigpa and Lama-la explains once again the two approaches to buddhahood - elaborated and non-elaborated - as a fork in the road. He then quotes HH the Dalai Lama from his book “Kindness, Clarity and Insight” on the various techniques for manifesting the mind of clear light. Either way, we have to be able to ascertain the essential nature of the mind (=consciousness= buddha-mind) which is that of non-conceptual luminosity and cognisance, through experience. The oral transmission of the text on stage of completion and commentary starts at 53:30 and page 153. We are urged to develop a very powerful conviction that the generated body of Vajrayogini is not superimposed on anything at all, let alone our ordinary body, but arising out of emptiness. Lama-la emphasises once again that practice of stage of completion is not sustainable without a solid foundation. The meditation which starts at 1:17:51 is on Padmasambhava’s pointing out instructions on the nature of awareness. When awareness is relaxed, still and naturally clear, observe carefully and focus intently, piercingly, on that which is still. Then gently release and relax. Again concentrate, without inhibiting the flow of respiration, on the experience of being aware. Know the nature of the mind by observing it directly, not thinking about it. The awareness observing itself.
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 19 Sep 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Exploring the wisdom necessary to discern the causes underlying the unease and discontent that characterize our experience, Alan leads a meditation probing our delusory sense of self before generating the aspiration that we and all beings be free of this deepest dimension of suffering. In the teaching afterward, Alan discusses how the misunderstanding of “not self” as “no self” whatsoever can be allied with the tenets of materialist neuroscience to justify the catastrophic view that humans are robots with no moral responsibility. Meditation starts at 5:20
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 06 May 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan gives previously omitted oral transmission of the text just prior to [180] and [182] and provides related commentary. He then continues with the text from part of the last paragraph on page 101 to part of the first full paragraph on p 102 of the text. Lama la refers to the meaning of the three kayas and to a teaching by Lerab Lingpa, that if one naturally rests in consciousness, mental afflictions will be subdued. He says that one identifies the ground Sugatagarbha by first ascertaining the view of emptiness and then either: 1. directly identifying the ground within one’s own body (Dzogchen); or 2. identifying the ground in dependence upon the path of skilful means through the practice of stage of generation (which is more elaborate). Lama Alan asks “How are we perceiving the world around us?” and “What’s out there prior to and independent of appearances - acting as contributing conditions?” He refers to: 1. somatic information and superimposing on that other than somatic information by way of conceptual elaboration/interpretation; 2. the Sautrantika view which posits that subjective impression is caused by the external world. The subjective aspect of appearances (qualia) corresponds to the apprehended/objective aspect, which is somehow correlated to substrate consciousness; 3. the Cittamatra view which posits that the objective aspect corresponds to the subjective experience and is indeterminate because subjective experience is in a “black box”; 4. the Materialist view which suppresses subjective experience; 5. the Madhyamika view which holds that inherently existent subjects are just as unknowable as inherently existent objects; 6. the Prasangika view which posits that the external world is experienced “nakedly”, not by way of subjective appearances. Perceptions of appearances are valid, but perceptions of “external entities” may be mistaken. All six modes of consciousness are not representations of something really out there in the physical objective world and nor are they really internal. They are just appearances. That’s all of reality. This does not mean naïve realism nor that all apprehensions of reality are correct. All perceptions of appearances without interpretation are valid. Valid Cognition is always provisional, recognised as accurate only internally and retrospectively (on review). It is driven by Vipasyana and supported by Shamatha. Through Vipasyana we come to know whom we are not and what the world is not. Following the implications of the view, we can’t ignore the role of the observer any longer. All that remains is awareness of appearances. Appearances and mind nominally exist and have causal efficacy but cannot be found (are empty of inherent nature). Cut through to the actual essential nature. Free yourself by understanding there is nothing out there upon which to designate “me” or “mine” and by taking pure appearances (based on pristine awareness) rather than impure appearances as the basis for those designations. This is not making believe, it is already there; 7. Stage of Generation practice where we are imputing your own divine identity on pristine awareness as the basis for the imputation “I am a Buddha”. This is possible without first having identified pristine awareness - by intuiting it as our fundamental nature (this is analogous to “blind sight” (visual consciousness derivative of mental consciousness)). It is common to augment Dzogchen with stage of generation practice. Meditation starts at 01:06:54 and is about resting in awareness, probing and then recognise that objective reality and the subjective mind that lies behind appearances are equally unknowable; viewing all appearances as arising from the substrate and recognising that it is impossible to peer beyond/behind appearances into the “black box” of objective reality and the subjective mind.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 18 Apr 2021, Online-only
As a prelude to the mediation, Lama Alan explores the theme that we have been following over the past few days, that of imputing beings on things that are not beings, but rather are our own mental factors. Lama asks, ‘Does this make sense? Can you really create a being? In response, he underscores that we do this all day every day, and then sets about unravelling this for us. He reminds us that no one and nothing exists independently of conceptual designation. On the basis of a person’s body, mind, personal history, behavior, we impute that person, but neither body, mind, personal history, behavior, and so on, are a person. On the basis of behavior, we designate people, we conjure them up, then we lock them into static ways of being by reifying them. As a result, we engage with them as we have designated them, and so they act as our enemies, or friends, and so do we. So every person we encounter is always painted with a brush of our own mental states, personifications of our own mental processes – our mental afflictions, virtues and so forth, every single one. They are all self-appearances. Then, Lama invites us practice, to see how utterly familiar and ubiquitous this process is, that everyone we designate are personifications of our own mental processes—all self-appearances. The meditation begins at 00:31:40 - Resting in Awareness, Observe the Array of People who Mentally Appear as Self-Appearances and Wish them Well Before returning to the text, Lama Alan filled in a gap in the oral transmission from two days ago. It reads ‘When appearances of hunger and thirst arise in the body, the mind is distressed by them.’ pg 87, 2nd paragraph. Continuing on in this section, the Lake-Born Vajra is emphasising that an absolute prerequisite for the practice of Chö is giving up our obsessive grasping to, and identification with, our bodies, which constantly sets us up for dissatisfaction and unhappiness. Lama Alan points out that Śantideva also focuses on the importance of this idea of giving up our bodies, as a part of cultivating bodhicitta (Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life, Chpt VIII). Śantideva highlights the irony, that whilst ageing, death and decay comes to us all, we continue to cherish and invest so much in our bodies and mundane relationships, even though the striving to fulfill such mundane wishes is futile, they can never be fulfilled. As a result, Lama Alan highlights, we waste so much time for bringing about lasting, transformative change in this lifetime, and sowing a bounty of seeds for future lifetimes. Reflecting on why we would do that, Lama suggests it’s because we don’t know who our true refuge is. The Lake-Born Vajra then advises us to “Repeatedly ponder the pointlessness of striving for the sake of this body.”, and Lama elaborates that this includes the pointlessness of prioritising (i) the concerns of this lifetime over the concerns of future lifetimes; (ii) hedonia over eudaimonia; and (iii) our mundane relationships over our sacred relationships. Lama then concludes by reflecting that our time here on this planet with this human body and mind, with intelligence, creativity, and potential for goodness, is very brief, and there are very few people out there that are really intent upon helping us cultivate virtue, recognise mental afflictions, provide us with a means for overcoming mental afflictions, showing us what is helpful and non-helpful, virtuous and non-virtuous. So, his recommendation to us is to seek out good spiritual friends, serve them well, and be served well by them.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 08 Apr 2021, Online-only
Before starting with today's teaching, Lama Alan corrected yesterday’s reading transmission by giving one more passage that had been omitted and gave related commentary. Then he referred to commonalities between aspects of Buddhism, Dzogchen, Science and Religion and suggested they stemmed from primordial consciousness. Subsequently, he ventures into the next section of the text with the title “space made manifest as the primordial consciousness that is pristine awareness” and explains that we don’t see the actual nature of reality with the eyes. Buddhas have two types of primordial consciousness. That which: 1. perceives the whole range of phenomena; and 2. knows reality as it is. All appearances are purified in the suchness of ultimate reality. Realising emptiness transforms mental afflictions and other appearances into displays of primordial consciousness. Mental afflictions are not inherently existent or intrinsically toxic, as we can trace them back to their source, substrate consciousness. The three root poisons will then be experienced as ethically neutral (as luminosity, bliss and non-conceptuality). Then, if one cuts through the frozen-ness of the substrate to pristine awareness, from that perspective the three root poisons appear as facets of the ultimate ground (mirror-like primordial consciousness, primordial consciousness of discernment and the primordial consciousness of the absolute space of phenomena). Mental afflictions are healed by pristine awareness. The substrate consciousness provides no benefit or harm – it is disastrous to stay there. Like a field with no owner. However, in substrate consciousness all analytical constructs are transcended, course mind dissolves into subtle mind and from a deeper mode of knowing, roaming there in your natural state, eventually you will actualise ground (primordial) awareness. That is the practice. Meditation starts at 00:08:39 and is on resting in awareness, viewing all phenomena as empty and as creative expressions of pristine awareness
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 14 May 2020, Online-only
Meditation is “Cultivating Great Loving Kindness” and begins at 40:30 This morning we turned to “Great Loving Kindness”. Lama Alan began by saying there are different ways to order the 4 Greats. And explained why he chooses to begin with “Great Compassion” – that which motivated Shakyamuni Buddha to turn the wheel of Dharma. In fact, could say all the teaching the Buddha has offered are motivated by the commitment, “I shall liberate all living beings from suffering and the causes of suffering.” With 4 Immeasurables, Lama Alan begins with Loving Kindness, yet with the Greats he begins with Great Compassion, and he addresses this.Lama Alan points out how some people give up on finding happiness, yet no one ever give up on finding some relief from suffering. And once we have some relief from suffering, then we may envision, entertain, “is it possible to find happiness”? What makes the Greats “Great” is our making a promise to be the one who has cultivated these for the sake of all sentient beings, to give rise to Bodhicitta. When any of us makes this resolve, we make a promise, and we wouldn’t make it unless we believe what we are promising is possible and that we can fulfill it. Even if we don’t fulfill our promise in this lifetime, we can dedicate our virtue to carry our promise through to our future lives -for example, through the practice of dedication and prayers to be reborn in Sukhavati. Lama Alan then returns to focusing on the treasure of Dharma we have now in our hands. For Lama Alan personally, Dzogchen is the Dharma which speaks to him. “Natural Liberation”, “Vajra Essence”, lay out the path he follows. And this is the path we’re focusing on -not because it is better than others. Rather because it is the most personally meaningful complete path which Lama feels he can follow in a dedicated manner, through the kindness of his Lamas. We’re focusing on this particular path, which lays out the whole complete path all the way up to Rainbow Body. Where does this path start? Of course, mind is primary and we have to get over idea of matter being primary. Then the crucially important preliminaries, which may expand beyond the preliminaries taught in this retreat. All the Dharma you’ve practiced in this life and others, all of it, counts as preparation, brings us to meet the precious Dharma & creates spiritual momentum. Sometime the formal preliminaries themselves can be daunting. If boil them down to essence for this path, what is absolutely crucial are 2 things which Lama Alan then delves into: Bodhicitta, & 4 Immeasurables. These 4 are the “roots” of Bodhicitta. Then when we take the jewel of Bodhicitta up into our own hands, we are moving from aspiration to promise. Lama Alan points out that the nature of promises is we believe we can keep them. If we keep promises, we need to know it’s doable and that we will do it. So being prepared for Taking the Mind as the Path, preparing the ground with Bodhicitta and Guru Yoga are the essentials. Having spoken already of Bodhicitta, Lama Alan speaks to Dzogchen Guru Yoga & Emptiness. So with Bodhicitta and an understanding of Wisdom, of Prajna, Pristine Awareness, we will see our Guru appear as the Lake Born Vajra himself. If we’re seeing our Guru as a sentient being, how are you seeing yourself? Lama Alan then turns to the Liturgy of Great Loving Kindness, beginning with questions of “Why couldn’t all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness?”. While the words are simple, the meaning is a depth to be plumbed through our meditation and reflection. Lama Alan takes us deeper into the meaning, addressing how we include ourselves in the practice and the blessings of the Buddha.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 28 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
In this session Lama Alan completes the oral transmission and commentary on Phase 5 of the text with the concluding prayer, which he suggests is like a synopsis of everything that has gone before in the Vajra Essence, in this and previous retreats. Starting with the transmission on page 189 at 00:11:45, Lama-la leads us through the prayer line by line, providing some detailed commentary along the way, emphasising blessings and guru yoga. Citing Dudjom Rinpoche on this theme, Lama Alan shines a spotlight on “… guru yoga as the life force of your practice”, because in this degenerate era, combined with our own karma and obscurations, without practicing guru yoga, “it will not be possible for genuine realizations to arise in your mindstream”. Therefore, Lama comments that attending to the guru with pure vision, admiration and reverence, is like a valve for opening up to the flow of blessings from within. As Dudjom Rinpoche points out, “…after some time, the enlightened view from the guru’s mindstream will be transferred to you, and extraordinary, inexpressible realizations will certainly emerge from within your own being. Commenting that receiving blessings is neither a maturation of one’s karma, or coming from one’s aspirations and visualisations, Lama-la points out that the dimension of your reality here and now that has causal efficacy, but is not within the network of cause and effect, is in fact your buddha nature – pristine awareness. Therefore, when, with devotion and reverence, you call on Tara, Guru Rinpoche, or Manjushri for blessings, you actualise, or open up the valve of blessings from your own pristine awareness, of which Tara, Guru Rinpoche or Manjushri are an expression. Continuing through the prayer, Lama-la reminds us to reflect on the aspirations we might make for progressing along the path, in the Four Fold Vision Quest practice, considering that what we want, may not be what we need. He suggests that adversity, for example, may not be what we want, but it could be what we need to help deepen our renunciation or compassion. In this way, when adversity arises, we can view it as an opportunity. As the prayer continues, Lama highlights a buddha’s-eye view of reality as that of seeing all phenomena as “the display of the equal purity of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, upon the originally pure, primordial ground”, and notes that this prayer shows us the whole direct path to realising this view. He then makes a quick summary of the stages leading to the four Dzogchen visions in the direct crossing over: — from shamatha, vipashyana and identifying pristine awareness; to deepening and broadening one’s understanding of emptiness by way of Phase 3, possibly augmented with stage of generation and completion in Phase 4; leading to practicing the Dzogchen view, meditation and conduct, for six months, as in Phase 5. On this basis, Lama-la points out that once your body, speech and mind have dissolved into emptiness, you will arise with the vajra body, speech and mind, achieve the first “vision of the direct perception of ultimate reality”, and continue on to the second, third and fourth visions, before becoming a buddha. The prayer concludes with achieving a youthful vase body. In the final words of this phase, Samantabhadra gives the assembled bodhisattvas specific advice for how and when to make auspicious prayers and mantra recitations. In this way, Lama Alan concludes the oral transmission and commentary on the Vajra Essence, to the end of Phase 5, with the aspiration to continue with Phase 6 and parts of Phase 7 in the 2023 spring retreat. Lama shares that due to the overwhelming kindness of Gyatrul Rinpoche, he has been motivated to give these profound teachings and have them recorded, so that they will last long. He acknowledges the great contributions made by co-teachers Eva Natanya (Yangchen Osel) and Glen Svensson, as well as long-term sangha member, Doug Veenhof. In this way, Lama expresses his deep gratitude to the whole lineage going way back to Samantabhadra. There is no meditation with this teaching.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 11 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
This afternoon we come to the culmination of the series of discursive meditations which started with the four vision quest and the four immeasurables - bodhicitta. The definition of bodhicitta may seem religious, esoteric, abstract. Therefore, in today’s teaching Alan intends to bring it down to its roots. He begins by describing the state we often find ourselves in: we are suffering and we want it to go away. When the suffering eventually passes, there is breath of relief, but soon after a nagging thought arises: “maybe it will come back”. And so there is dissatisfaction, one is ill at ease, one knows one’s own vulnerability. Then there is pleasure - physical or mental. But again there is dissatisfaction, another nagging thought: “I’ll lose it. How can I keep it?” We cannot really be happy and at ease until we know that happiness will last. But then we want to be happier… This is primal. Because we care. His Holiness the Dalai Lama calls caring one of the primal forces. It is the definition of “sentient” as in sentient being. Humanity’s many achievements - in arts, engineering, science etc. - can be traced back to this drive. Alan then turns to the topic of science. He mentions Francis Bacon who envisioned that the natural sciences would one day alleviate suffering by understanding nature. But he of course meant hedonic happiness. For the eudaemonia, in Bacon’s times, there was religion. Nowadays, science is still considered an important tool to secure wellbeing. But when we go back to our basic wish to be free from suffering and to achieve happiness - science cannot explain it. Alan raises a number of important questions: Why do we have this aspiration? Why this lust for life? Why the will to survive? Why the drive to procreate? Why do we wish to perpetuate? Where did the desire to be happy come from? What do we need feelings for? Why do we have to be conscious? In Alan’s view science, and evolution and biology in particular, do not give adequate answers to any of these questions. They provide no satisfying explanation for human intelligence, creativity or virtue. Alan repeats the fundamental question: Why do we care? And he formulates a hypothesis, gives an answer: it is our buddha nature, the primordial consciousness. It is the only source of caring that makes sense. Of course, all sentient beings have it, but we, humans, are in a particular position having been endowed with this precious human life in which we can realise our potential and grow - from generation to generation and from lifetime to lifetime. But we are not alone - continues Alan. It is normal for human beings to care for others. Parents naturally care for their children. People care for their families, loved ones. There is a sense of kinship, a sense of identifying with a village, a religion etc. According to His Holiness the Dalai Lama there is a biological imperative to care about our close ones and our possessions. But there is a point where biology stops. There is the other side - the other people - who may pose a threat. The Dharma comes in precisely when we take this natural flow of caring and break down all the barriers until everything and everybody is on our side. This is when immeasurable loving kindness comes in. And we ought to realise that if we truly want to satisfy our desire to end suffering and achieve true happiness - the barriers must come down. Coming back to bodhicitta, Alan points out that this is what Tsongkhapa had in mind when speaking of eternal longing. To fulfil the eternal longing. This is bodhi - awakening. Since there is no duality, if I want to be free there is no sense to pursue it for myself alone. Everyone, literally everyone has to be included. To achieve freedom from suffering and true happiness for our own sake we need to realise dharmakaya. But knowing that the boundaries must be destroyed, that this caring has no limit, it extends everywhere and includes everyone - this comes at the realisation of sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya. This way, before tonight’s meditation, Alan laid out the notion of a universal, truly cosmic bodhicitta. To conclude, he recalled the advice of his teacher Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey that it is never too soon to cultivate bodhicitta. It is the only way out of samsara - adds Alan. The meditation is on bodhicitta. After the meditation Alan continues the oral transmission of the First Panchen Lama’s commentary “Lamp So Bright” to his root text on Mahamudra. Today we finish reading the part dedicated to the tantra (Vajrayana) practice of Mahamudra. Alan makes corrections to the translation and explains a few passages in more detail. In particular he comments that there is some difference of opinion as to whether ordinary sentient beings experience the clear light of death (this is the view stated in Panchen Lama’s text) or not. Alan resolves the issue by saying that in any case some degree of realisation is needed to recognise it, so even if all beings experience the clear light of death they may not be aware of it. Alan also explains the notion of “simultaneist” or “simultaneous individual”, giving the example of Bahya who after receiving the Buddha’s teachings simultaneously achieved arhatship. There have been many individuals in history who upon hearing the teachings or due to some other catalyst achieved nirvana, became vidyadharas etc. Last but not least: even though the chapter on tantra is very difficult, among the passages read today there have been some quite amusing bits, so do not miss Alan’s commentary on them! The meditation starts at 35:40 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 05 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
In this session Lama la takes us on a journey revealing a truly scientific approach to and understanding of siddhis. He begins by exploring the meaning of the word magic, highlighting that if we were to transplant someone from the 19th century into our world today, much of what we have here would be perceived as magic. Arthur C. Clarke: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic for a person who does not understand it.” This applies for physical technologies as well as technology of the mind. He takes us on a journey through time and demonstrates how humans transitioned from the psychosis of the witch-hunting era to the psychosis of materialism and the belief that there are no non-physical influences on our world. He then applies the idea of extra-sensory perception to our thoughts, highlighting that we have no scientific way of explaining or measuring or knowing the impact of a thought, let alone the imagery (aka Mary had a little lamb). From here Lama La presents myriad recently published books that show/explore (from various perspectives) the ignored non-physical aspects of reality. Seeing these perspectives gain traction is evidence that we are stepping towards breaking through the nearly universal veil of materialism. Coming home, we are reminded through the powerful words of Atisa, Wangchuck Dorjé, and Karma Chagmé of the indispensability of samatha. Here Lama la also demystifies and “takes all of the magic out” of siddhis by walking us, step-by-step, through the process of how/why they arise - the science of siddhis. All of the teaching thus far become a beautiful prelude to the foundational importance of what is unfolding at the CCR locations around the world (something that has not yet been done). Individuals without extrasensory perception, individuals who do not have realization of past lives, who are not Tulkus—but who do demonstrate sincere motivation, the four immeasurables, faith, dedication, and ethical discipline, can follow the instructions laid out before us and can achieve samatha, vispasyana, and siddhis. Then, rooted in the Bodhisattva ideal, one can use these siddhis in a responsible, beneficial, impactful way. The meditation is on settling body, respiration and mind in their natural states and then resting in awareness of awareness. It starts at '1:32:00. After the meditation Lama la urges us to reimagine what is possible. "It is time to be deeply visionary, embracing everyone." What if 100,000 people come to fathom the nature of the mind down to its core? What if attention training begins in kindergarten? What if our schooling trains us to investigate and identify our true sources of happiness and unhappiness? What if siddhis became as common as telephones?! We could heal the world. All we need to do is fathom our own minds. At 2:04:40 Lama continues with the aural transmission on page 235 (Tibetan text) 1 paragraph: "As for all the other offerings...and offer them thus."
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 13 May 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
Lama-la begins the session by giving the transmission (from the text on kenosis) for a few lines he had skipped the day before. Turning to the Vajra Essence (p.256): “The essential nature of the transitional phases is simply this ordinary, lucid, clear, fresh, unstructured, uncontaminated consciousness of the present moment.” Lama comments that perception is always “fresh” as opposed to conception that get stale quickly. With regard to the word “unstructured” he shares his strong conviction that this refers to the substrate consciousness which is unstructured by karmic imprints, habitual propensities, conceptualisation unlike, for example, a human mind which is heavily “structured” until the dying process. The nature of the substrate consciousness is that it is not veiled by the five obscurations and the limitations of being embodied. Lama reminds us of the twelve links of dependent origination and how the substrate consciousness emerges from the substrate, stirred by karmic energies, which is prior to the emergence of afflictive mentation and thus not contaminated or “structured” by it. Even the ground of samsara is pure as the mental afflictions require a host. Lama-la comments on how uplifting and motivating this view of sentient beings is. Lama-la then comments on the sentence “By failing to fathom this, you must wander endlessly in saṃsāra, but by realizing it, you are brought to nirvāṇa.” He explains that he’s using the term “fathom” rather than “realise” because what is meant is that one has ascertained the actual nature of the substrate consciousness. Drawing on His Holiness’ comment he comments that the actual nature (cittata) of one’s own mind, its emptiness of inherent nature, is nirvana. Lama-la then comments on the sentence “The emergence of the mind from ignorance of the ground is, as an analogy, like the sun.” The referent of “ground” here is the ultimate ground, dharmakaya/dharmadhatu, the ignorance of which gives rise to the “mind”. The substrate is of the nature of unawareness (of the ground). Right where the substrate is, there is the dharmadhatu. The ignorance of the ground is the essential nature of the substrate, and the substrate consciousness emerges from the substrate. The word “mind” here thus refers to the subtle mind. Lama-la continues by commenting on “The emergence of conceptual mental processes from the mind is like the rays of the sun.” Mental processes refer to the 51 mental factors arising from the substrate consciousness by way of mentation (preceded by afflictive mentation). This emergence of conceptual mental processes from the mind happens in two phases, first by way of subtle mentation (in which a variety of appearances arise) and subsequently through coarse mentation (when conceptualisation and conceptual mental processes arise). The diverse appearances and the objects that are conceptually designated are like refracted light appearing as sounds, smells, tastes etc and the light that illuminates them is the sun, while the appearances are like rays of the sun emerging from the sun. Concomitantly with the (subjective) mental processes is the emergence of objective appearances (from mental processes): “The emergence of appearances from mental processes is like the light of the sun.”. Appearances arise from subtle mentation refracted outwards, and appearances of things arising from coarse (conceptual) mentation. Lama then comments that the referent of the word “mind” in the following sentence refers to substrate consciousness: “The radiant and clear essential nature of the mind, which makes appearances manifest, is like the eyes.” Commenting on the phrase “mental intentionality” (which describes the idea that the mind over here has a referent over there) Lama mentions that the salient characteristic of a sentient being’s mind is that it is entrenched in dualistic grasping by which appearances arise to us as objective (from over there) which is a cognitive obscuration that applies even to an arya bodhisattva between sessions. The most direct way to cut through that is samatha without a sign which provides us with a respite from reification. With reference to the following sentence, Lama-la comments that the “essential nature of the mind” is the substrate consciousness. Moving on to the next paragraph, Lama-la explains that he chose the phrase “transitional phase” instead of intermediate period for bardo because there are six bardos and the question arises what’s outside of the intermediate periods. Appearances are described as “unstable” because they don’t last, as “delusive” because they’re misleading, as “dream-like” because everything is occurring within one’s own substrate. Lama-la then elucidates the six transitional phases as follows: 1. The transitional phase of living, which takes hold of a lifetime (it has a beginning and an end) 2. The transitional phase of meditation (which is to be cultivated) 3. The transitional phase of dreams, which is delusive 4. The transitional phase of dying, which passes through stages of dissolution (e.g. due to a mortal wound or a terminal disease) 5. The transitional phase of ultimate reality, which is inconceivable 6. The transitional phase of becoming, which is based on karma (which is the phase commonly referred to as “bardo”) For a more elaborate presentation of these six transitional phases Lama suggests to consult „Natural Liberation“. In terms of the first transitional phase the text refers to “the attitude of preparing to remain in this world for a long time” which is our tendency to see the impermanent as permanent. “Hearing and pondering the Dharma” refers to the well-known sequence of hearing, thinking (and meditation). The reference to “acquiring broad learning and deep understanding” suggests the importance of studying and Lama stresses that this is something that is important to do when one is younger. He then comments on the sentence “First gain a sound understanding of the view, meditation, meditative experiences and realizations, and the nature of the grounds and paths, and comprehend them through your own experience.” The sequence of view and meditation is about first understanding the big picture and then, once one has the understanding, to comprehend them through one’s own experience. This will lead to the “awareness that the appearances of this life are like dreams and illusions.” Before turning to meditation, Lama-la comments on the phrase “do not succumb to activities involving the eight mundane concerns” which he suggests is like a reverse kenosis whereby one has to “empty” all of that out to enter into Dharma. The meditation which begins at 01:07:27 is on pointing out that which is hidden in plain sight. After the meditation Lama comments on the expression “pointing out instructions“ and that with sacred texts, which come from a much deeper source than the human mind, it's advisable to go back to them again and again and he suggests to record Padmasambhava's instructions in our own voice, at our own pace and in our own native language so that we can listen to them again and again and put into practice not to look outside ourselves for Padmasambhava. The aural transmission starts at 00:03:22 and covers pages 256-257 "The essential nature of the transitional phases is simply this ordinary, lucid, clear, fresh, unstructured, uncontaminated consciousness of the present moment....Adhering to this crucial point is the sublime quintessence for all Dharma practitioners, so be aware of it!“
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 10 May 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan begins by turning to the final of the six root afflictions, "wrong view." He makes it very clear that the sense of "wrong view" in this context differs from the notion of "heretical" views in the Abrahamic religious traditions. That is, in the Buddhist context, the "right view" does not become "right" simply because the Buddha said so, as in the case of some interpretations of the word of God in Abrahamic religions. Rather, in Buddhism, something is a "right" view if it is in accord with reality, and it is a "wrong" view if it is not in accord with reality. Furthermore, it is the Buddhist view that on the night of his enlightenment the Buddha discovered truths about reality in much the same way that scientists have discovered truths about reality. From this perspective, if someone were to prove the Buddha's insights into reality wrong, then it would be the Buddha (and all subsequent Buddhists) who have the wrong view. As such, "wrong view" in this context is not "heresy," but simply getting things wrong about the nature of reality. Lama Alan then goes through the various aspects of "wrong view" as described in the textbook, offering commentary on each aspect. After this, Lama Alan turns to the issue of pointing out instructions and the nature of suffering according to Dzogchen. According to Dzoghcen, he says, we suffer because (1) we grasp to that which is not "I" and "mine" as "I" and "mine," and (2) because we don't know who we really are (and then we get it wrong). He continues with another saying from the Dzoghcen tradition: "Buddhas know who they are, sentient beings don't know" (and they get it wrong). He then turns to the meditation on Padmasambhava's pith instructions on "Identifying Pristine Awareness." Meditation begins at 37:35 and is "Padmasambhava: Knowing Who You Really Are"
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 06 Apr 2021, Online-only
Before returning to the text, Lama Alan revisits the materialistic assumption of the 19th century that there are no nonphysical influences in the world and the problems that arise from this like the placebo effect. Failing to recognize the obvious, that consciousness is not physical, the scientific community continues to negate the existence of anything that is not physical. Contrary to this, John Wheeler asserts that the world does not boil down to matter and energy, but to information. Similarly, to what he proposed for the universe, the body could be considered as an information processing system. What scientist call information, Buddhists call appearances. Any object that we impute upon appearances is indeterminate until it is so conceptually designated. Things don’t exist from their own side. Then Lama Alan expounds on the issue of the mind influencing the body, exploring the idea of causality, where body and mind influence each other as cooperative conditions. He returns to the text on the sentence: “Examine and recognize whether those gods and demons and all virtue and vice actually do any good or harm.” Meditation starts at 00:55:00 and is on investigating moments when we appropriate that which is not I or mine as I or mine. After the meditation, Lama Alan explores the absurd idea of viewing things as I or mine and its relation to suffering with the classic example of French explorer Robert de La Salle.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 19 May 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan discusses the two-stage process for the elimination of destructive forces. The text presents self-grasping to oneself as an ordinary being personified as the ’great demon’: the ground of all samsara. The derivative mental afflictions are personified as the vighnas, grahas and bhutas. The first step is to invite them into your presence, and by the power of your ‘illusion-like samadhi’ create a banquet for the demons to feast. The second stage is to banish them with fierce means of intelligence, as the vajra of hatred Heruka. Lama describes the various practices that use this approach in the different traditions of Buddhism and also compares the practice of samatha focused on the mind, where we observe mental events and rather than one annihilating them ferociously, they release themselves into the space of the mind. Lama Alan describes the meditative practice of impartiality in which one banishes craving, hatred and aloof indifference with the sharp sword of inquiry. He reads Shantideva’s description of the war on his own maras and his resolve to “liberate the fearing heart”. Shantideva diverts his mental affliction of anger to ‘wage war’ on his maras and cultivates the power of wisdom with which he annihilates all other mental afflictions. Lama Alan discusses how Shantideva examines the origin, location and destination of mental afflictions and finds they have no inherent existence. Lama Alan explains that to embark on stage of generation practice it is necessary to expel all discursive thoughts, as one cannot sustain pure vision if ordinary thoughts are still present. Mental afflictions will come back riding on discursive thoughts. He introduces the conversation between Atisha and Drom Tönpa on how to eliminate the ‘enemy’ of conceptualisation. Atisha’s advice to his student is to recognise and expel discursive thoughts as soon as they appear. Lama Alan continues to the next section of the text and explains that once you have banished the vighnas and other destructive tendencies from the space of the mind you must protect this space with a wheel of protection, so they cannot return. Lama Alan guides us on how to visualise a wheel of protection. He first explains that the actual wheel of protection is ascertaining that all of samsara and nirvana is the display of bodhicitta. He then describes the stage of generation practice and explains that the symbolism is primordially transcendent and not a cultural artifact or specifically Buddhist consciousness. Meditation starts at 00:59:44 and begins with Dzogchen meditation of the actual nature of the wheel of protection and then moves to stage of generation visualisation of the wheel of protection.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 28 Apr 2020, Online-only
Meditation begins at 24:24 and is on "Sending Loving-kindness to the 10 Directions"
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 17 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Today Yangchen began the session with the 7-line prayer followed by the full opening refuge and bodhicitta prayers from the Sadhana then continued with a recitation/meditation of the Sadhana until „The Main Yogas“. Yangchen then talked about blessing the offerings in the beginning of the Sadhana in order to establish the sublime space early on. She then started discussing further the „Blessing the Outer and Inner Offerings“ starting with letting us know that the secret offering, which doesn’t need to be blessed in advance, and the essence of which is the four forms of ecstasy. “What would the four forms of ecstasy in the mindstream of a a Buddha look like, feel like, be experienced as, and then you offer that.” Yangchen then spoke about how wondrous it is to offer your own deep experiences as your secret offering. Yangchen then referred us back to English page 118 in the Vajra Essence for more detailed commentary that can be applied to the offering verses in this section of the Sadhana. She also noted that there is a break from the „Blessing of the Offerings“ in the Sadhana before „The Main Yogas“, and compared that to what was discussed in the commentary on English page 119 in the Vajra Essence. She then discussed in detail relevant sangha questions starting with “How do you bridge the space between using the conceptual mind to understand what’s not there to eliminate the thing to be refuted and how to transition into the sublime and effortless state beyond cognition that we are intuiting within a Dzogchen Sadhana?” Yangchen sums this initial discussion up by sharing that there is an enormous step, or gap, between simply recognizing the absence of the inherent existence of an object or even one’s own mind and unveiling the very subtle energy mind which is beyond cognition in which realization of the clear mind arises. She reminds us that the stage of generation is all about approximating and anticipating so we can train the mind to be ready to dissolve. All of these practices are actually preparing our energies to dissolve into the central channel. Yangchen continued discussing subtle energies with regard to this practice and the empowerment and asking us to notice what might be happening within ourselves with these practices. Yangchen reminds us again that working with subtle energies cannot be forced or rushed. Yangchen then concludes this discussion on the „Samadhi of Suchness“ and quotes from The Vajra Essence Tibetan [214] “The actual Samadhi of Suchness is only within the realm of experience of Yogins who have realized the view of emptiness.” She leaves us with knowing that we can now relax into the knowledge of that which is being approximated and assures us that the withdrawal of the energies will start to happen. Yangchen then returns to the first verse in „The Main Yoga“s and discusses it line-by-line and reminds us not to rush through these verses while doing the Sadhana, especially by resting in meditation on each section, taking as much time as you can or need. Returning to the Vajra Essence again, here Yangchen shares relevant details pertaining to the causal seed syllable Om, but says we can take the instruction verbatim for this Sadhana with the seed syllable hrīh. Yangchen then continues with commentary on the second verse of „The Main Yogas“ and refers us again back to The Vajra Essence for an elaborate description of the peaceful mandala. Yangchen closes the session by encouraging us to take this into our own meditation and actually see the hrīh hovering above the lotus, sun and moon disk in the center of the celestial palace (not in an abstract space) and not to rush it to meditate at our own pace. She finishes by speaking the dedication prayer from the Sadhana. There is no meditation with this teaching.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 26 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
- Question 1: 'When taking the mind as path and experiencing episodes of being lost to the referent, is it helpful to make note of the types of mental content that are able to snag the attention vs those which you are more adept at watching in the space of the mind?' Everything hinges upon the nature of the practice - this would not be appropriate when taking the mind as path, the only crucial information here is to not elaborate on the thought itself but to notice a thought is present. Likewise, if practicing mindfulness of breathing, these thoughts are to be released. However, if someone is practicing Vipashyana via the Theravada lineage, then this would be an appropriate way forward. However, we shouldn’t be completely rigid here. While there is meaning to all sequences in Buddhism (from ethics through to Shamatha through to Vipashyana to the sequenece of the four immeasurables) having Samadhi around mind will inform your ethics and, therefore, inform your Shamatha. Thoughts can be triggered for all sorts of reasons, outer and inner, but understanding these factors of dependent origination is a valuable process. We should all know our triggers and whether these thoughts are stable, static or whether they change at all. Finally, we should look into whether these thoughts even ours to begin with. All of these interrogations are credible forms of Vipashyana - especially when observing the factors associated with the dissolution of these thoughts and the movement from active thought to past tense to memory. That said, it’s important not to add to cogitation but to ask these questions in a concise and non-elaborative manner. Doing so - looking at thoughts as thoughts and not owning them - does a great deal to pull out the punch of these thoughts. As such, introducing a little Vipashyana here and there, even during Shamatha practice, is no bad thing. - Question 2: ‘Likewise, is it useful to look into where thoughts are manifesting in the space of the mind?’ The same answer applies as above. Knowing where these thoughts appear - in front, behind, in the left hand side - is important for countering the notion that they arise from and within ’the head’. However, this is only appropriate when we are undertaking Vipashyana, however. These sorts of inquiries aren’t appropriate for taking the mind as path practice. - Question 3: ‘How do we stay in our perch of awareness when certain thoughts are wrapped up with instantaneous visceral reactions which make them feel truthful?’ There are corresponding pranas to thoughts in our body; expressions such as ‘heartbreaking’ and ‘gut-wrenching’ have weight to them as they’re based on universal experience. In Buddhism, however, there are only three feelings: like, dislike and indifference. We must practice the same dispassionate analysis during mindfulness - where are these feelings located, what are the factors of dissolution and so on? As with the mind, so with the body - just be present to these physical sensations without appropriating or reifying our body. We have to be totally present with sensations - somatic or psychological - without appropriating them or reifying them as mine and inherently existing or real. - Question 4: ‘What is meant by the expression of ‘unifying Shamatha with Vipashyana’?' Lama-la emphasised that questions which have been covered previously should be sent directly to Glenn as it’s possible his explanation could resonate more clearly. However, ultimately, this is about questioning the nature of mindfulness - is it wavering or static? This is stillness met with clarity. The stability and unity of Shamatha is unified with the insight of Vipashyana (non-self, emptiness or other concepts). - Question 5: ‘I was wondering whether another way to look at these teachings is from the Mahamudra perspective that a 'deluded thought is the dawning of enlightenment’?' Lama-la asked that we do not ask questions that cite figures outside of our tradition. It’s vital that we don’t overly romanticise toxic characteristics or events - such as hatred or genocide - as emanations of the divine. Ignorance is the womb of all samsara but also the first link to understanding dependent origination. This is different from enlightenment. This statement here, and the other ones regarding the five poisons that obscures, are helpful for having us understand what veils progress but must not be viewed as equivalent to awakening. Likewise, we must not present suffering or hardship as divine emanations of dharmakaya. As the Lake-Born Vajra advised, mentation must not be mistaken for wisdom. The nature of Dharmakaya is, in fact, absolute purity - pure of inherent existence. Conceptualisation should be viewed as a source of our problem, but balancing this with its value to our processing and productivity. Likewise, mental afflictions can be sources of wisdom from one perspective - especially from the purview of pristine awareness - but can just be conceptualised and appropriated objects when looked at with the wrong view. We must not be prematurely introduced to pristine awareness because of this - we must also not back away from njam when they arise, but also not imbue them with more meaning than they warrant. Certain elements of Dzogchen practice - especially state of regeneration or viewing ourselves as deities more generally - must be done with a taste of pristine awareness, otherwise this would be false - even deluded - practice. There is far more transformational potential in meditating on more fundamental concepts including emptiness and Bodhicitta. - Question 6: 'If you take consciousness as the path you are taking its aspects - luminosity, cognisance - to guide you. Is this ordinary consciousness or primordial?’ Lama-la pointed out that the translation has changed from ‘aspects' to ‘aspect'. We have to be careful to differentiate between characteristics of mind with the authentic path of primordial consciousness. This consciousness-as-path approach can take us all the way to Buddhahood, prefaced by mind-as-path. That said, primordial consciousness is not inert - we should attempt to recognise the effulgences and creative displays of pristine awareness that are empty appearances of dharmakaya. This is also a valid path - it is not imagined, like it is for state of regeneration - but you can transform ordinary manifestations into the transcendence of the primordial. Conceptualisation from a conceptual mind is not the path. Unstructured consciousness viewed from the perspective of the conventional mind is also not the path. - Question 7: ’You said that the energy of the appearance - including mental afflictions - can be traced back to its neutral source of the primordial consciousness. Is it skillful to do this in practice? Should we look at the referrent or the energy?’ Lama-la stressed that the word energy shouldn’t be used - it’s a word bandied about too much with very little understanding of its referrent, even amongst physicists. Experiential energy - such as prana - is a fair use of this term, but no one has ever seen or really defined energy in a universally agreed upon way, so best to avoid. If you’re practicing Vipashyana - yes absolutely this is a helpful exercise. However, if following the mind as path, then just watch these afflictions arise and dissipate. Best not to look at the affective feeling-tone of these afflictions, but their arrival and departure in Shamatha practice. Lama-la also gave a concise account of the ways in which concepts of ‘vital energies’ have been disbanded by dogma-setting physics - especially the conservation principle of Helmholtz - and how this has led to the view as brain as agent. Such ‘vital energies’ don’t fit into conservation frameworks because they ellude measurements and would not exist in a casually closed universe (whereby there are no non-physical influences on the universe on physical matter). This conflicts with uncertainty principle, quantum mechanics and more modern forms of physics where this concept of self-containment has been debunked via violations of the conservation principle. There is space for the non-physical - such as the immateriality of mental events, desires, expectations, hope - to influence the physical basis of neurons without violating conservation principle without violating quantum mechanics. To conclude, Lama-la requested that retreatants only submit one question at a time.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 20 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan says we will now return to the central theme of balance, grounding our shamatha practice in relaxation and stability. We will later move to being aware of the sensations and movements of the body but attending to them from the perspective of stillness. Subsequently we will apply this to the practice of taking the mind as the path. In this method, our practice of attending to the mind can energise or arouse leading to tightness, and therefore we need to maintain a sense of looseness in the practice by returning to relaxation. Alan then describes several aspects of this shamatha practice, from coarse to subtle. The essential instructions of this practice are the following: “Attend to the space of the mind and whatever arises within it, without distraction and without grasping”. (1) The easiest thing to observe are the appearances that arise more objectively, which are primarily audio-visual to simplify a bit, like the face of your mother, a piece of fruit, discursive thoughts, etc. (like watching a movie in 3D, not flat-screen). If you are right there when they first arise, you rest in the stillness of your awareness, you are clear, you are still, and you are directed at the target such that if something comes up in that field you notice it immediately, in real-time. It is seeing a mental event as a mental event from the very beginning: in other words, when the mental event arises, in that moment you are lucid. (2) Secondly, thoughts at time come from within, and as they arise in that first moment we cognitively fuse with them (e.g. we think about chocolate - we want chocolate). In that first arising (as a subjective impulse maybe by way of an image of chocolate for example) there is already cognitive fusion. It is like entering in the first moment of a non-lucid dream. In the first moment of a non-lucid thought, we are attending to the referent of the thought, e.g. chocolate. Then hopefully I return to the present moment, and then retrospectively I recognise with introspection “I was thinking about chocolate, I wasn’t here and now”. As soon as you see this, let your first response be: Relax. Then release the grasping, the cognitive fusion that captured your attention and directed it to chocolate. (You are not releasing the thought of chocolate, nor the desire for chocolate - they may remain, look at them). Finally return to the present moment from a perspective of stillness, and if there is a thought of chocolate and a lingering desire, that’s fine - observe them. They are not going to stay forever, sooner or later they are going to fade. (3) Thirdly, during periods when there is no distinct content in the space of the mind, then the practice is sustaining the flow of cognisance - you are clearly knowing the space of the mind. (Alan says this is crucial and there will be more on this later in the retreat.) (4) Finally Alan asks if we left anything out. Yes, there is awareness of awareness, which is also taking place in the space of the mind. Meditation is silent (not recorded). Following the meditation, Alan resumes the transmission of Karma Chagme’s text “The Cultivation of Shamatha”. Alan makes a range of comments in response to the text covering: experiential breakthroughs cannot be sustained without shamatha; avoiding being too rigid in our practice; one could realise emptiness and not realise rigpa; the importance of teaching the Dharma with a wholesome mind. At the end of the text’s preamble, Alan says we should understand this part is designed to engender motivation, enthusiasm and inspiration. In the next section, “I. The Cultivation of Shamatha with Characteristics”, Alan comments that the posture for meditation practice should be taken seriously but not dogmatically. For this reason Alan quotes the following passages: ·Vimuttimagga (by Arhat Upatissa, 1st c. C.E.): The standing and walking postures are particularly suitable for lustful natured personalities, while sitting and reclining are more appropriate for anger-natured personalities. [Ehara, N.R.M. et al. tr.,The Path of Freedom (Vimuttimagga), Kandy: BPS, 1995, 61] ·Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga (430 C.E.): Whichever posture is effective for developing concentration is the one to be adopted. (128) Finally, as a foretaste of Dzogchen, he reads a quote from Dudjom Lingpa’s Vajra Essence and Essence of Clear Meaning. Meditation is silent and not recorded. ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 07 Apr 2021, Online-only
Where do appearances come from? This refers to all appearances: such as colours, smells, sounds, our dreams, our thoughts and so on. Modern science has no answer to this question as it is restricted by the ‘big picture’, that everything emerges from matter and this started with the Big Bang. Lama Alan explains that all appearances are arising to you in the present moment and are emerging from your substrate. There are scientists, such as Stephen Hawking, John Wheeler and Paul C.W. Davies, who have provided an alternative to the ‘big picture’, but this has not caught on generally in science or the media. Stephen Hawking has written that everything we know of the past is based on measurements we are making in the present. On that basis we construct our past, and so there are multiple versions of the past. Lama Alan returns to the text, which now provides analysis to collapse the False Cave of Fears. He explains that our waking state - which includes our mind, body, and everything in our environment - as well as our dreams, the six realms and the bardo, are all appearances arising from our habitual propensities stored in our substrate. As these are all empty appearances they cannot harm or benefit us. To wake up to this reality is key to finding freedom; if we do not reify everything we are released from these realms of existence. This is like becoming lucid in a dream. There follows an explanation that ultimate reality is the ground of all appearances. The Meditation on resting our awareness in external space and do nothing starts at 01:04:41.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 14 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
We pick up the text of the Vajra Essence on page 20 in Phase 1, as Lama-la continues to pluck out specific points of clarification. The Lake-Born Vajra warns us not to cling to the bliss, luminosity and non-conceptuality that arise with achieving shamatha, as they can all be simultaneously addictive and this may cause us to remain stuck in samsara. Along the way to shamatha there will be waves of these, like sneak previews, but then fade off. Also indispensable for irreversible transformation, liberation and reaching the path, there are an inconceivable range of potential nyams that may arise, and an extensive list of them is given in the text. As shamatha is achieved extrasensory perceptions arise and Lama-la quotes Acharya Atisha who states that ‘those who lack them cannot work for the good of living beings’. On page 22 a warning follows regarding unqualified teachers guiding students, who may mistake nyams for mental disease or blame them on demons. Such teachers may become maras for their disciples, and therefore strong advice is given not to follow them blindly. The text goes on discussing a technical term used on this path of teachings, as different terminology is used in different texts for a similar meaning. In this lineage, mindfulness is likened to a cow herder and thoughts to the cows grazing the plain. Thoughts arise, but their manifest nature is of no interest to us; we are paying attention to the domain of stillness, the space as well as the movement. This is called enmeshed mindfulness. Observing with objectivity is the first type of mindfulness, single-pointed mindfulness, where we attend only to the essential nature of thoughts. It is a form of shamatha with a sign, where the object of mindfulness is the space of the mind and whatever arises in it (as explained by Yangthang Rinpoche). As we become more and more familiar with the object of meditation, we become simultaneously aware of the stillness and the movements of the mind. On pages 23 and 24 a list of nyams is explained as arising dependent on the different kinds of psychophysiological constitutions, as the channels and elements function differently from one person to another. This is well-taught and important in the traditional Tibetan medicine, and Lama-la sends us a list of detailed explanations. On page 25 the term vipasyana is used for the unification of stillness and movement. Climbing the mount of samadhi, this is mundane vipasyana, referring to enhanced vision, and not to realization of emptiness. Lama-la further discusses the other 3 stages of mindfulness: - Manifest mindfulness, which is essentially further familiarisation, as the consciousness settles in its natural state, becoming un-configured. It is peaceful, soothing, when there is no further urge to modify thoughts and emotions, which decrease in quantity; - gradually all perceptual senses implode and the third mindfulness, mindfulness devoid of mindfulness is achieved, which is essentially an empty screen, unstructured consciousness, at which point we invert our awareness in upon that which is aware and - The fourth type of mindfulness, self-illuminating mindfulness or shamatha is achieved. The meditation is on taking the impure mind as the path and starts at 01:05:45. Before closing the session, Lama-la makes the comment that in fact Phase 1, if we pay attention closely, is not only a presentation on shamatha, but also includes vipasyana and trekcho, albeit in condensed and subtle form. The sections covered in Vajra Essence are p 20-27. The aural transmission starts at 00:50:00
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 26 Apr 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan returns to his explanation of taking the mind as the path, emphasizing that in this practice we don't try to change anything, but simply stop reifying and identifying with the movements of the mind that arise. He remarks that while there is a time for cultivating good thoughts and abandoning bad thoughts, we don't do this during this practice. He also mentions taking this practice into daily life where we strive to experience a greater stillness in the midst of not only the movements of our own mind, but also the movements of the world around us. Lama Alan then turns to the issue of unpredictable meditative experiences arising during this process of taking the mind as the path. He explains the process through which Lama Karma achieved shamatha through this method and reads from Lama Karma's firsthand account of his time in solitary retreat, which includes some of the specific challenges that he faced. Particularly, he spoke of the cascading waterfall of thoughts that appear in the beginning of the practice, and that many people don't make it past this initial gate into the practice because it is so difficult. Therefore, Lama Alan emphasizes preparing well before venturing into this type of retreat. Finally, he reminds us that we cannot fully enter the path to enlightenment if we are still caught up in the five obscurations (that is, if we have not yet achieved shamatha). Meditation on taking the mind as the path begins at 23:30. After the meditation, Lama Alan returns to the text. In this section of the text the Lake-Born Vajra is speaking to the vast array of meditative experiences that arise depending on the qualities of the disciples practicing. He tells us that because there are an unimaginable variety of possible meditative experiences, the tantras only give the most general account of possible experiences that could come up. The Lake-Born Vajra then speaks to the ways in which accomplished teachers who are vidyadharas with extrasensory perception are able to effectively guide disciples because they can see into their minds and understand their experiences even if they themselves as the teacher have not had the exact same experiences. This leads Lama Alan to discuss the way Tibetan medical doctors assist patients, and how this relates to a wise and compassionate teacher who can truly see into us and understand our needs, so as to guide us most effectively on the path. Further, as shamatha or samadhi is the prerequisite for extrasensory perception, Lama Alan again emphasizes the importance of attaining this level of meditative accomplishment. He compares the mind of an ordinary being to a flashlight and that of an master of samadhi to a laser. At the end of the talk, he explains the idea that comes up in the text about focusing one's samadhi on seed syllables and how this relates to the kasina practices in the Theravada tradition. Lama Alan ends by saying that ideally our teacher would be a vidyadhara who can help us along the path from their elevated vantage point and suggests that we simply take the Lake-Born Vajra, a Buddha, as our guru.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 14 May 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan begins by correcting some mistakes. Amoghasiddhi is not holding an alms bowl but a crossed/double vajra. We return to the text on “How to Practice Teachings on the Stage of Generation” (p.112). Lama-la explains that grasping to things as permanent here means that insofar as we reify anything, the way that reified object appears to us is static, unchanging. The “signless dharmakaya” is the definitive truth and there’s the straight, unelaborated wisdom path of Dzogchen to realise this. But for those who need something to hold on to, we have the stage of generation, which is imbued with signs, symbolism, words, mantras, referential objects. The Vajra of Pristine Awareness asks how to practise this, for those who are drawn to this. Stage of generation (maha yoga) is encompassed by the Dzogchen view from which the practice is here presented. Stage of generation is not complete without stage of completion and will not lead to Buddhahood on its own. It’s called “referential” because we’re still working with subject and object, this is used as skillful means. Lama Alan points out that many people who are introduced to Vajrayana don’t have deep insight into emptiness but can still receive tremendous benefit, one doesn’t need to realise emptiness to receive blessings from Amitabha. If you arrive in Sukhavati you may not even have any understanding of emptiness. You’ll become a bodhisattva and realise emptiness there. This would set you onto the path. This is an avenue of deceptive skillful means, in other words, it’s not yet challenging the delusive nature of appearances which we will need to do at some point. Many people are not ripe for emptiness, so this is skilful means. It’s not a catastrophe if we don’t reach the path in this lifetime. Lama-la suspects that far more people reach the path in the next lifetime rather than this one, without having achieved samatha, vipashyana before, but with devotion and the blessings of the Buddha Amitabha. He stresses that these are both authentic paths. In the big picture, whether we reach the path in this or the next lifetime, is not so important for us personally. Having said that, considering the degeneration of Buddha dharma in this era and the unprecedented crises humanity is facing on so many fronts, what is the greatest service we can do for this world and all fellow creatures than to reach the path as soon as possible? In this respect there’s a greater value in reach the path in this lifetime which should provide us with sufficient incentive not to be complacent. Our top priority should be to establish the view of the Great Perfection (which includes the Middle Way view) by ascertaining pristine awareness. And by viewing reality, having a glimpse or even better, a realisation of viewing reality from pristine awareness, you thereby correctly realise that the deities and mandala do not exist from their own side but are illusory displays of the primordial ground. That’s your Dzogchen entry into stage of generation practice. In order to see and know our body, speech and mind as vajra body, speech and mind and follow the path by the power of the Dzogchen view (turbo-powered stage of generation), we need to take the “illusion-like samadhi as our contemplative technology (which means knowing and sustaining the view), and on this basis recognise the deities as illusory displays of our own pristine awareness. This is needed to facilitate the shift in the way we perceive our own presence in the world. This is the route to achieving enlightenment in one lifetime. It’s by the power of having the view that one can imagine one’s own body, speech and mind as the Buddha’s body, speech and mind. We can fortify this view by the practices of stage of generation. The idea is that we don’t just dissolve everything into emptiness but into the indivisibility of dharmakaya and dharmadhatu. When we come out of the practice, everything, the visualised appearances, our sense of identity etc, have shifted by virtue of the Dzogchen view which expands and enables us to see everything as divine. Lama-la explains that “transferred” here does not mean that ordinary appearances ever “transform” but the same phenomena are re-viewed from the Great Perfection view, and because our view has shifted, all appearances and our sense of identity shifts, by the help of imagination. Lama Alan stresses a familiar point: in terms of ordinary appearances, all the appearances do not come from objects, all the qualia (subjective experiences) arise in the substrate, they don’t need objective, physical referents to arise. These appearances, generated by karma, which is generated by klesha, are imbued with the fundamental root klesha of dualistic grasping and are therefore tainted. They don’t turn into anything else but these same appearances, seen from another perspective, are now seen as pure. It’s crucial to realise that you’re not looking somewhere else. In other words, the two phases of Vajrayana practice are first, to realise the emptiness of all phenomena (mental and physical, objective and subjective), and second, to view these illusory displays as displays of your own pristine awareness. This is the ultimate refuge. Taking refuge means you entrust yourself to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha (those who’ve come to know the actual nature of reality). There are many different levels of taking refuge, but this is the ultimate level. You can never become a buddha if you haven’t taken refuge in your own buddha nature. In the context of Vajrayana, to engage in stage of generation practice you need to have taken refuge and have some insight into emptiness and pristine awareness. Therefore, the foundation of all the samayas and vows, and the root of all empowerments and siddhis, is taking refuge by way of the three-fold faith in the Three Jewels and offering them your body, speech and mind. If you are to engage in authentic stage of generation practice, you need to offer everything you value as a sentient being with no attachment and maintain this as your pledge. Lama-la draws from Düdjom Lingpa’s Treasure House of Blessings and Spiritual Attainments to elaborate on the meaning of the “three-fold faith: 1. admiring faith (seeing the majesty of the representations of the enlightened body, speech and mind as well as the sangha, and recognising the perils of samsara), 2. aspiring faith (belief that the sources of refuge will protect us and trusting that by following the path we can fulfil our eternal longing), 3. invincible faith (brings to mind the three jewels and relies on them with confidence, which comes from putting the teachings into practice) Meditation begins at 01:07:27. By recognizing the need to take refuge in the Three Jewels, do so by arousing admiring faith, aspiring faith, and invincible faith in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, ultimately taking refuge in our own pristine awareness.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 16 May 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
Today’s session starts with two corrections of Lama la’s commentary from yesterday on the transitional phase of living. The first has to do with his comments on whether a person who manifests small transference needs to be reborn in a womb (this is uncertain), and the second with the description of the Buddha who occupies the central seat in the Buddha field to the east, in the section on training in the path of transference (it is Aksobhya or Vajrasattva, not Vairocana). Lama la then gives us the transmission of Gyatrul Rinpoche’s commentary on yesterday’s pointing out instructions from Padmasambhava on identifying pristine awareness. This commentary ranges from the ground (a discussion of seeing the faults of others) to the summit (identifying pristine awareness). Lama la comments that Padmasambhava’s pointing out instructions are intended for us to transcend even a nominal sense of identity as a sentient being. If we linger on other’s faults, we are elevating ourselves above them, and are no longer dwelling in rigpa, or practicing Dzogchen. Lama la then moves to the next transitional phase in the text, the transitional phase of meditation (the transmission starts at 00:20:58, pages 258-9). The text urges us to “examine the causes and conditions for how you became deluded….[and] became possessed by the great demon of dualistic grasping…, [to] take control of your energy-mind…establish...firm mindfulness and introspection...and strive in the practice of meditation.” Lama states that the next paragraph (the first full paragraph on page 259) is “one of the best in the whole book.” Lama la provides commentary on how you progress along the 3 main phases of meditation, starting with mindfulness of breathing and culminating in awareness of awareness. Mindfulness of breathing allows you to still the inner voice of the mind through arresting and subduing thoughts. When the inner voice relaxes effortlessly in silence, you are then ready to take the mind as the path. In this practice you remain still and continue practicing until you can sustain the stillness of awareness amidst the movements of the mind. On this basis, you take aspects of consciousness (luminosity and consciousness) as the path, which is shamatha without a sign. Although achievement of shamatha does not free you from samsara, it prevents you from descending to the lower realms. The text then explains that “once consciousness has manifested and you practice single-pointedly” you need to “remain in that state.” If you fail to continue practicing “you will not transcend the three realms of mundane existence” and you will be “cast back” into samsara. Once you “have identified pristine awareness...[you] disengage from all nine types of activity until you reach...perfect enlightenment.” It is not sufficient to “merely identify pristine awareness.” Lama la points out that you need to continue to rest in rigpa without identifying with any aspect of a sentient being. The text continues: you must practice “with zeal and great courage until the state of liberation and omniscience has been made manifest.” The meditation is a continuation of Padmasambhava’s pith instructions on “Identifying Pristine Awareness” from Natural Liberation. Pristine awareness is first identified by a process of elimination, i.e. as being distinct from the 8 extremes of conceptual elaboration. The meditation starts at 01:03:09. Lama la also shares with us Gyatrul Rinpoche’s commentary on this passage. Following the meditation (01:27:56), Lama la again emphasizes that our practice should be one of balance. We should neither fall into the extreme of thinking that “I’m not ready for the next step,” nor the extreme of picking and choosing our practice based upon what we like, instead of what we have the foundation for. The primary focus of our practice should be what we are deriving the most benefit from, what is transforming and purifying our minds. At the same time, we should “seed” our practice with higher practices, so that when we arrive at these stages, we will be familiar with them.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 07 Apr 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan teaches Supplication to the Guru in the context of Guru Yoga (which he says is centrally emphasized in Dzogchen).
Like Russian Dolls Lama Alan describes Dzogchen (the 9 th Yana) as couched in the Stage of Completion practices (Anuyoga), which are couched in the Stage of Generation practices (Mahayoga). All of Vajrayana is couched in Sutrayana (most explicitly the 3rd Turning of the Wheel of Dharma), which is couched in teachings on Emptiness and Dependent Origination (the 2 nd Turning), which is couched in the teachings of the 1 st Turning. Lama Alan stresses that it is important to consider the context of teachings when looking for a swift path and not to pick and choose out of context. Guru Yoga relates to the student’s relationship with their spiritual mentor.
The Theravadin/Sravakayana perspective on Guru Yoga is impersonal. The student regards the mentor as an emissary of the Buddha. The student looks upon the Guru with reverence, the teachings as authentic, the teacher as embodying the teachings and knowing more than the student and the teachings as helpful. From a Mahayana perspective the student also sees the Guru as empty of inherent nature saturated with buddha mind. The Guru is viewed as a channel of blessings and wisdom.
From a Vajrayana perspective (through an understanding of emptiness) all phenomena and concepts are dissolved into the non-duality of primordial purity. The student attends to the Guru as a pure manifestation of Samatabhadra. The Guru is a personification of Dharmakaya and Dharmadhatu from which all appearances of samsara emerge. Samantabhadra can manifest in myriad ways including your Guru.
The Stages of Generation and Completion are effortful. It is possible to progress from Shamatha to Vipasyana to Trekcho and Togal in Dzogchen without that type of effort. In Dzogchen Guru Yoga carries the weight of the Stages of Generation and Completion. Swift blessings come from the root guru and deep blessings from the Yidam (which in this lineage is the Lake Born Vajra and consort). If you see your root guru and your Yidam as indivisible, swift and deep blessings will flow.
We make multiple supplications to the Guru (say 100 x) not because that will increase the likelihood that the Guru will give blessings. Blessings are constantly manifesting. We are repeatedly reverent and pay homage to open up our own buddha nature. All perceptions of the Guru are creations of our own awareness. Then we merge with the Guru into a single sense of identity. Dzogchen is not practiced as a sentient being. It is embedded in pure vision and divine identity.
Meditation starts at 43.50.
[Keywords: Guru Yoga, Motivation, Supplication, Pure Vision, Divine Identity]
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 13 Sep 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
For this meditation Alan reads a passage found on page 136 of Natural Liberation in which Padmasambhava excerpts descriptions from various tantras about the nature of primordial awareness. After the meditation Alan discusses Freud’s statement in The Future of an Illusion that a view of the universe that doesn’t take into account the role of mental perception is an empty abstraction of no practical interest. He then proposes a playful approach for how concepts in Buddhist cosmology such as the four continents might be integrated with contradictory scientific evidence without resorting either to fundamentalist denial or opening the gates to all claims and saying they have equal validity from their own perspective. Meditation starts at 0:55
Fall 2013 Shamatha and the Seven-Point Mind Training, 05 Sep 2013, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
We return to mindfulness of breathing, with a gradual and persistent cultivation of stability, which is really getting the mind to calm down. Maintian a continuity of attention, a flow of mindfulness but without the habitual contraction which is almost always associated with ego, stress, a goal. Yogis that come out of hours of samadhi come out feeling fresh and revived. How? By the concentration coming out of a sense of release.
Post meditation: The second of the four preliminaries, reflecting on impermanence and death. This is a way for us to develop conative intelligence, that is, having wise or intelligent desires. There are so many dumb desires, the meditation on impermanence and our own mortality is like taking smart pills.
Meditation starts at: 7.15
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 29 Sep 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Teaching pt1. Alan introduces the 3rd and deepest level of suffering called all-pervasive suffering which is the fundamental vulnerability to suffering of body and mind caused by closely holding the aggregates. Compassion requires more than just sympathy. Just as we must have a sense that there’s another source of happiness than hedonic pleasure, here we must have a sense that liberation is possible. These direct tastes provide us with a platform for attending to that very suffering in others. The cause of all-pervasive suffering is delusion, and the antidote for delusion is wisdom—i.e., the wisdom of viewing reality from the Middle Way.
Meditation: compassion preceded by vipasyana. Release awareness from the network of rumination into the space of the body.
1) vipasyana. As the cognitive basis for attending to the deepest dimension of suffering and wisdom, practice mindfulness of the body to attend to the experiences of the 5 elements for what they are. Now examine closely, can you find a referent for “my body” in any of its parts or in any of its appearances? Not just not finding the referent, but the referent is nowhere to be found. Rest in that awareness of emptiness, and view the body as space.
2) compassion. With this awareness, arouse the aspiration “May I be free from all dimensions of suffering, including its deepest dimension caused by delusion.” With every in breath, visualize them as darkness dissolving into the white orb at your heart chakra. Imagine becoming free here and now. Turn attention outwards to those around you. “May we be free from all dimensions of suffering and their underlying causes.” With each in breath, repeat the visualization. Finally, attend to someone especially burdened by delusion and its resultant suffering, and repeat the practice.
Teaching pt2. NASA is working on a warp drive that would allow spaceships to travel to distant galaxies. In buddhism, several practices can give us warp drive on our way to enlightenment: shamatha, bodhicitta, and vipasyana. In stages of generation and completion, we collapse the space-time between us and enlightenment. In trekchö, we break through directly to rigpa which is beyond space-time and all conceptualizations.
Meditation starts at 20:30
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 09 May 2021, Online-only
Continuing on with the close application of mindfulness to feelings, Lama Alan reminds us that our ways of appropriating our feelings and responding to them in habitual ways, is what keeps us locked into the perpetual cycle of dissatisfaction that is samsara. He stresses that by changing the way that we engage with feelings, we can relieve so much suffering, and transform them into spiritual awakening. Referring once again to the Satipatthāna Sutta and commentaries by Anālayo Bhikkhu, Lama highlights that the challenge we have with feelings, is that our attitudes, views and opinions are dominated by them. Therefore, they have an enormous impact on our world view, and contribute to the fate of the planet as a whole. Our feelings fuel our habitual desire for hedonic gratification and pleasure, such that even though it is obvious that such pleasures can never satisfy, our relationship with feelings, and how we respond to them, keeps us trapped in the desire realm. However, together with making a shift in our priorities from hedonic pleasure to cultivating genuine well-being, Lama underscores how we can turn things around by coming to understand feelings. This begins with taking a fresh look at them, coming to recognize feelings just as feelings, without identifying with them as ‘mine’. Then, instead of appropriating these feelings and responding to them in habitual ways, we can train our minds to be aware of them before we express them, act upon them, react to them, in any way, or use them to justify how we are feeling. Lama then then continues to broaden our understanding of feelings, from the Buddhist perspective, identifying the three kinds of feelings - pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral. He elaborates on a two-fold distinction of happiness, that the Buddha drew between worldly / mundane feelings - related to five sense pleasures, and the unworldly / supramundane feelings - those related to renunciation. He also refers to another a three-fold distinction of happiness which includes (i) worldly (sensuality) – all pleasures in desire realm; (iii) unworldly (absorption) – that from achieving dhyana and entering the form realm: and (iii) completely unworldly (realization) – this is the supramundane happiness and well-being that stems from wisdom / insight – knowing reality as it is. Lama Alan then highlights the importance of being aware of the very broad bandwidth of both the joys that we can experience, and the suffering to which we are vulnerable. The latter including not only (i) blatant suffering, entailing aversion to unpleasant feelings; but also (ii) the suffering of change - that entails attachment to pleasant feelings; and (iii) the pervasive dissatisfaction of conditioned existence, entailing neutral feelings. Lama emphasizes that until we become so disillusioned with suffering that we want to turn away from it all, then we have not yet developed an authentic spirit of emergence, and entered the Mahayana Path to be free of samsara. Lama summarises that it’s time to use our intelligence to fully to understand feelings, to know how we can find sustainable well-being, and be forever free from suffering and its causes. He concludes, ‘Now is the time. This life-time!’ Lama invites us to see for ourselves, and explore this experientially through the meditation, which starts at 00:38:27.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 26 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
In this session we are looking into the root bases of where things come from, asking more deeply the question: What is the source for the creation of worlds? One of the main themes explored is the differentiation of impure appearances that are part of the mandala in contrast to the impure worlds created by karma and klesha. After exploring this juxtaposition through commentary on the excerpt from Jé Tsultrim Zangpo (see the end of yesterday’s notes), followed by commentary on a passage by Jé Tsongkhapa, Yangchen takes this foundation and connects it to guru yoga as a way to support a deeper understanding of guru yoga’s roots (how it can be true), ultimately leading us to a more authentic practice. The meditation is on arising as Vajrayogini and experiencing more deeply the subtle energies. It begins at 1:03:45.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 13 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan starts by contextualizing the pluralistic spirit worldview of Dzogchen, trying to make sense of it for our modern 21st. century thinking. He goes back to history reminding us that European world was filled with spirits and ghosts, until the 19th century when scientific/materialistic thinking took over and eradicated all belief in anything not physical. He points out how this scientific/materialist view comes more from a set of beliefs from exploring reality in a very limited way, rather than from scientifically proven facts. Contrary to 19th. century science, 20th century physics points out how matter losses its central role and all that is left are principles that do not exist out there in the physical world. Even time and space are poised as not really existent from their own side. Meditation starts at 00:34:20, following phase two of Padmasambhava’s instructions of Shamata without a sign. Lama Alan invites us to reassess the next part of the text from the perspective of the middle way and 21st. century physics. All appearances about to be discussed are our own experience coming from the substrate. This does not mean that they do not exist at all. They are as real as appearances in a dream. He returns to the text where he continues with the sentence: “By constantly invoking forms by name…” explaining the importance of conceptual designation and imagination to establish phenomena in actuality. The text then turns to the Black Protector Mahakala explaining his nature, how he is emanated and how he abides from the perspective of the Great Perfection. Explanation on how deities are actualized is the subject of the next paragraphs.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 17 Apr 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan starts with the aspiration that we can all offer the very best we can to the world. Then he comments on the importance of transmuting daily life difficulties into Dharma, using whatever comes up as meditation. Where someone sees adversity, someone else sees an opportunity to deepen their wisdom and passion to achieve perfect awakening. The path of the Great Perfection is letting the sense of the sacred go wherever you go, imbue whatever you do; attending to the deeper truth of the primordial purity of ourselves and others. If we have the faith and the trust to devote ourselves to the practice of the Great Perfection and apply ourselves, in this life we can achieve the perfect awakening of the Buddha.
Meditation starts at 24:32. Full body awareness, maintaining the ongoing flow of the awareness of the aspect of knowing; enriching the practice resting in the non-dual awareness of the Buddha.
The challenge for all of us is to not only develop a continuity of daily practice, but to integrate it with daily life; let our mind really become Dharma and be integrated to all aspects of life. The most profound lojong of all, is the Great Perfection.
Lama Alan shares a comment by Yangthang Rinpoche on how to continue with our practice in daily life activities and comments on the three ways thoughts are released.
He ends by advising: Whatever qualities arouse on your meditation, let them flow into the rest of your activities.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 19 May 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan said he will frontload a little bit the meditation. After the preliminaries, he will take us through the mind as the path and then use prajnya to see if we can distinguish the difference between simple observation of mental events like a bird watcher watching birds fly by. Another strain of this practice is to rest in awareness and then realize retrospectively becomes aware that you were caught in coarse observation, that is mind wandering. This is when you are caught unawares and you do not notice the thought come up. Lama Alan explains that these are two different experiences. In one you are resting in stillness and the second you don’t notice the thought but are identified with it carried away, like a non-lucid dream. He said that you do not remember the very first moment of a non-lucid dream just like in mind-wandering during meditation where you are unaware of the thought that comes up but identify with it and get carried away by rumination. These seem binary – either resting in stillness or bound to the thought, but Lama Alan says it is not quite that binary. There are many shades of lucidity in between these two mind states. This is why dream yoga is so useful to train in the recognition of dreaming. So, Lama Alan says, watch for the gradations and see how many shades there are between being completely lucid and being caught completely in coarse excitation. Especially watch for when a thought of a person comes up and watch for the mental conceptualization of the referent of that thought and watch for any mental afflictions that arise and watch to see if you reify that appearance. These are our tools as contemplative scientists. Lama Alan then returns to the text, we left off in the middle of a paragraph. He reads the first part of the paragraph to give some translation improvements. P.37 He says in principle, while the Buddhist observations of particles do not correspond to modern physics, the principle of having atoms, which can be divided and and then elementary particles that cannot be further divided. The text then gives classic examples of all phenomena as like illusory phenomena such as the reflection of the moon on the water and so on and also that names are also just conventions. Emptiness is also empty of inherent existence, likened to space. Lama Alan pauses here to clarify some points raised yesterday with regard to existence and non-existence as elucidated by HHDL14th and Tsongkhapa. HHDL14th outlined 3 points with which to determine the relative existence or non-existence. 1) its known to worldly convention by valid cognition. 2) The known phenomenon should not be invalidated by any other valid cognition, which may include one’s own subsequent cognitions. For example, you may perceive something and think it to be the case, but your subsequent perception of the phenomenon may ultimately invalidate it as a false perception. Similarly, it could be invalideated by valid cognitions of a third person. 3). The known phenomenon must not be invalidated by ultimate analysis. Meditation begins at 13:20 and is on "Graduations of Lucidity" [Keywords: lucidity, existence/non-existence, valid cognition].
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 28 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Lama La starts with an introduction to the meditation on the unreal nature of the mind, which is a teaching from Atisha. The meditation begins at 15:20 After the meditation he continues with the transmission of the text at 43:00 on pages [302] - [305] together with the commentary.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 22 May 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan starts the afternoon’s meditation closely related to the text. He said that it is important to understand the terminology often used in Dzogchen concerning the outer world and its appearances. The appearances are between the subject and the outer world. Lama Alan cautions us that it could sound like the physical phenomenon generates the appearances, but that is not so. In the Dzogchen view, completely melded with the prasangika Madhyamika, unlike the mind only school Dzogchen does not refute the existence of phenomena. The Mind Only school reject the outer world but reify the mind. On the other hand, Dzogchen says that both outer phenomenon and the mind are equally empty. Lama Alan says the world ‘out there’ is not rejected, the galaxies and all other phenomenon do exist when we are not looking. He said that this can be done by understanding that the ‘in here’ and ‘out there’, is no border to be found. There are objects that are conceptually designated and the objects do not exist independent of the conceptual designation of them. Appearances do not exist independently of the awareness that conceptually designates them. Lama Alan gives the example of when Galileo found that there were moons circling Jupiter, the moons were not waiting to be discovered and named, they were already there. However, from the moment that Galileo designated the moons, from that moment, the moons exist conventionally relative to this particular cognitive frame of reference, nominally known as the moons of Jupiter. Lama Alan wonders what is the cognitive frame of reference for a deva looking at the moons of Jupiter? How do the moons of Jupiter appear to the cognitive frame of reference of a Deva or to hell beings? Lama Alan highlights that one point to make here is that not everything is the result of the karma of sentient beings. For example, the laws of gravity, the laws of nature were true before we discovered them but they do not exist independently of the cognitive frame of reference of the observer. There is a middle way of understanding this. Natural phenomena operate according to regular patterns of cause and effect – that is causal interdependent relationships, which are ‘just the way it is’. It is because phenomena are empty that they are able to interact relationally. Lama Alan then invites us to explore this experientially in the meditation. After the meditation, Lama Alan continues with the lung and explanation of the text. Meditation starts at: 22:32 minutes ‘Experiencing the Middle Way View’. [Keywords: emptiness of phenomenon, cognitive frame of reference, conceptual designation, the middle-way view]
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 20 May 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
The next session of the text in this chapter is on guru yoga (Naked Awareness p. 273). In the introduction, Karma Chagmé says “The best way to counteract obstructive forces, avoid pitfalls, and enhance your practice is guru yoga.” The central point of this practice is to realize the indivisibility of your own mind with the mind of the guru, or rigpa. It means that this practice is designed to melt away any sense of difference, any separation, between your ordinary consciousness of the present moment and Dharmakaya – to see your own face as the Dharmakaya. Some people for many reasons may be more devotional than other people, the same way some are more artistic than others. Also, not being born in Tibet, not being raised with mantras and deities, this practice may not seem very natural. So what to do if you’re not devotionally inclined? Alan compared this situation with an arranged marriage – the couple may not be in love in the beginning but, if there are no objections, it ends up working well. This practice we’ve just done is very simple, very sweet, and straight forward; so, If you feel like it, just do the practice, even if you don’t have tears falling from your eyes. That´s ok! Just do the practice! In the beginning, when we look at our guru, what we see is just reflections of our own minds, our own karma – impure appearances. But as one purifies the mind in the Mahayana path and gets to the Path of Accumulation, one really sees the guru as a buddha, a nirmanakaya, not imagining and not pretending – one really has the sense of being in the presence of the sacred, of a buddha. The guru does not necessarily change during the years or lifetimes of practice but the veils of your own awareness fade away. And then, when one progresses on the path and achieves the second yoga, freedom of conceptual elaboration, then from this perspective, from rigpa, you see the guru as Avalokiteshvara , sambhogakaya – just as Khandro-la saw a thousand-armed Chenrezig when she met the Dalai Lama. Then Alan said that seeing our own guru as Amitabha will be very good for us; if we’re drawn to this simple practice, we should do it sometimes – let it be an arranged marriage! Faith is like intelligence, it’s like shamatha, it’s like learning how to play piano – you do it more and more, you cultivate what you have and it grows. Doing this practice you may receive blessings, know you’re receiving blessings and then you will know your refuge is really not far away. If you’re able to look through your guru, whoever he or she is, seeing his/her empty body, empty speech and empty mind, attending to buddha´s body, speech and mind, your guru will be Amitabha, Avalokiteshvara, or Guru Rinpoche. And then, at the end of your life, you couldn’t do any better than hold the sense of your guru placed on the crown of your head. This will be really a good idea. Alan elaborated a little bit on how we deal with appearances according to the three turnings of the wheel of Dharma. And then when we come to guru yoga, the teachings of Amitabha, Avalokiteshvara, Guru Rinpoche, on pristine awareness, we don’t get it by observing appearances or by analyzing them very profoundly. The intended audience here in Dzogchen is pristine awareness itself – Padmasambhava is talking to your pristine awareness. Actually, your own pristine awareness introduces itself to your mind. The guru is there as a reflection, a projector, and he has the appearance of pointing out your own rigpa to you. And then Alan returned to the text, Naked Awareness, page 274, moving to bodhicitta, love and compassion. Alan encourages us to practice tonglen, within the context of pure vision, as described by Karma Chagmé on page 275, imagining our own form as Avalokiteshvara. The next paragraph is on tögal or direct crossing-over. Alan commented that in those instructions, the posture is very simple, the gaze is very simple, and to do this practice resting in rigpa is also very simple – for those who have realized rigpa. There is nothing wrong about receiving teachings on direct crossing-over with no realization of rigpa. If you receive them, the seeds are there; so it’s up to you and your lama. Then Alan read and commented on the text up to the two paragraphs on dedication. And finally, Alan said that tomorrow they will all be visiting Castellina Marittima! Khandro-la has already been there and blessed the land, and Alan wishes His Holiness to come and bless the land. The meditation is on guru yoga and starts at 3:15 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 22 May 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan started the session by going directly into meditation, in a practice where we directed our awareness towards the space of our body, the space of our mind and, finally, awareness itself. Following the meditation, Alan did a quick reflection over the theme of strategy for our path, highlighting as before some of the underlying assumptions behind scientific materialism. Afterwards we returned to Naked Awareness, and Alan concluded the oral transmission of the text, with a closing section on how to proceed at the time of death, in case our level of realization is not the one we’re currently hoping for. A possible strategy in that situation is to pray in order to be reborn in Sukhavati, a pure land which is outside of the realms of samsara, being a creation of Buddha Amitabha. In the last part of the afternoon’s teaching, Alan shared the oral transmission for pointing out instructions from Padmasambhava, by way of Dudjom Lingpa, in Alan’s cherished Vajra Essence, that way ending new teachings during this retreat. The meditation starts at 01:00 - Non meditation. ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 02 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Yangchen began the session with two corrections. The first was from session 5, in which Lama Alan discussed the Buddha’s manifestation of a staircase in order to descend to our realm. The second was from session 4; Yangchen clarified that the Vajra Tent tantra is an explanatory tantra of the Hevajra cycle. Yangchen then drew parallels between Lama Alan’s discussion of siddhis that can be manifested on the basis of samadhi (e.g. the manifestation of one element, such as solidity, where there is another element, such as air) with the manifestation of the elements from seed syllables in the creation of a mandala. She commented that samsaric worlds are built from archetypes from the form realm based on the shared karma of beings who inhabit that world, while tantric systems are given to us by the Buddhas to build a pure world out of pristine awareness. There was then a discussion of purification, and the parallels between the terminology used in the Vajra Essence, with that used in Lama Tsongkhapa’s works on the stage of generation, especially in regards “that which is to be purified, the basis to be purified, and the agent of purification.” There are three main things to be purified: death, the bardo, and rebirth. Each of these elements is present in any complete sadhana. Grasping to ordinary appearances are purified through pure appearances and identification with the diety. Yangchen commented that even though Dudjom Lingpa had no human teacher, the terminology of his revelations is consistent with traditional Buddhist teachings on Madhyamaka and Stage of Generation. Further, the entire buddhist tradition is encapsulated within the Vajra Essence. Yangchen mentioned that the details that she is explaining concerning the Peaceful and Wrathful Mandalas in the Vajra Essence will lay the groundwork for how to practice the Lake Born Vajra Sadhana. The empowerment for the LBV sadhana will be given by Lama Alan in May. Yangchen went on to discuss the importance of seed syllables in creating a mandala. The syllable Om at the beginning of a peaceful mandala, and the syllable Hum at the beginning of a wrathful mandala are the seed syllables for the holy mind of the Buddha. This represents the sign of the Buddha’s mind. The syllable E, which manifests from the Om, represents absolute space manifesting as relative space. By meditating on the sign of space you start creating a world. These symbols come from the form realm, from the pure realm in which the elements are creative expressions of pristine awareness. Training in a sadhana is training to see a world that is generated entirely by pristine awareness. Finally, Yangchen discusses how creating a mandala can be of benefit to our world, and the inhabitants of our world. The meditation is on the peaceful and wrathful mandalas in sequence and starts at 1:00:00.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 08 May 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
In this session Lama-la gave the oral transmission of his presentation, “A Lamp for Dispelling the Five Obscurations: Pith Instructions for Achieving Śamatha in the Dzogchen Tradition with Alacrity”, B. Alan Wallace, 2023, beginning at 00:07:05. By way of introduction Lama-la pointed out that this piece arose in the context of retreat, drawing on thirty-five years of study. It is set out in the classic triad of view, meditation and conduct, namely - what view gives the sustaining power to achieve śamatha? - what to do?; - what way of life best supports this aspiration? In presenting the view, Lama points out that he has drawn from across diverse Buddhist perspectives, from Abhidharma, to Madhyamaka and Dzogchen; and then he has correlated this with perspectives of mathematicians and modern physicists, highlighting that the interfaces between Buddhadharma and modern physics are astonishing. He hopes that this may provide us with much incentive to fathom the nature of the substrate consciousness and the nature of the substrate which “…is the womb from which all appearances emerge.” As the oral transmission continues to meditation, Lama highlights that his motivation here is related to the fact that in all the four traditions of Tibetan Buddhism today, it is very rare to find people who are well informed and knowledgeable about śamatha, who engage in rigorous practice and continue until they achieve it. Therefore, Lama says his aspiration is to highlight this Dzogchen approach to achieving śamatha, as it is not widely known. After the transmission of the final section on conduct, Lama reflects on the simple practice of resting the mind in its natural state, which leads to “a non-conceptual sense that nothing can harm your mind, regardless of whether or not thoughts have ceased”. He concludes that simply by resting in awareness that is discerning, sharp, and clear, without suppressing the activities of the mind, you disempower the mind from its tyranny, that has been torturing us from lifetime to lifetime. What a relief! Returning then to the Vajra Essence at 00:56:05, Lama focuses on the second-last paragraph on page 254. We’ve completed the whole presentation on tögal, describing that you are transferred to the state of a perfected Buddha and you become all pervasive. Now we have one paragraph in which the Lake Born Vajra summarises the ways you may manifest your realizations, in terms of different types of rainbow body - the great transference rainbow body, the great rainbow body, the small rainbow body, and the small transference. Before the meditation, Lama-la reminds us that we have now received all of Padmasambhava’s pith instructions on shamatha without a sign, with Gyatrul Rinpoche’s commentary, so today we turn to his pith instructions on vipashyana. The meditation begins at 01:04:55 — Padmasambhava Serves a Teaspoon of Pith Instructions on Vipashyana The aural transmission of "A Lamp For Dispelling the Five Obscurations“ starts at 00:07:05, those of the Vajra Essence starts at 00:56:05 and covers page 254, 2nd last paragraph
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 27 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
A synopsis will be added soon
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 04 Apr 2021, Online-only
This session begins with a meditation at 00:05:58, which focuses on resting in awareness, observing all appearances arising and passing in the space of awareness. Having settled body speech and mind in their natural states, in this practice one completely opens all six doors of one’s awareness, five sensory and one mental consciousness, and rests in that stillness, in the midst of motion. In this way one recognizes that all of these appearances, visual, auditory, tactile, are also not ‘out there’, any more than thoughts etc. are ‘in here’. They are not physical, they are appearances, qualia, and they arise from the space of awareness. They are located in the space of awareness, and just dissolve right where they are, in the space of awareness. So, all that we know of the world, in terms of immediate experiences, are appearances. Conversely, as Lama highlights in Phase 3 of the text, there will never be any sustainable source of well-being or happiness so long as we hold onto that sense of ‘I am’, which triggers a clinging to the idea of inherent existence - grasping onto actions themselves as being inherently existent; and the objects of our virtuous and non-virtuous actions as being really out there, inherently existent. Therefore, to fathom the true causes of mental distress vs genuine well-being, we are strongly advised not to look outwards, because that is when we tend to reify everything we see. All of which ends up in praise or blame, for either those we view as friends or those we view as foes. Such reification becomes habituated into dualistic grasping, which in turn speeds up into an indefinite downward cycle into samsara. Lama points out that when one is imbued with this kind of reification, there will never be any kind of freedom; there will not be any sustainable sense of well-being or happiness; and there will be no enlightenment, or liberation. On the other hand, reminding us of the very directness of the Dzogchen path, Lama outlines that (i) resting in the metal awareness of a sentient being is a step in the right direction; (ii) resting in the subtler mental awareness of the substrate consciousness, is a big step further; then, (iii) cutting through that to rest in the awareness of pristine awareness, then you are home! In conclusion, reflecting on the nature of insubstantial phenomena, Lama Alan raises the question ‘How could something insubstantial influence something that is substantial, or physical?’ Through this discussion he raises various examples including spirituality, history of the universe, nature of reality, theism. Highlighting not only the relationship between science and Christianity over the last four hundred years, Lama points to how these Eurocentric worldviews have influenced and dominated.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 07 May 2021, Online-only
We return to Phase 4 of the Vajra Essence. Lama Alan gives a brief review of the preceding paragraph (p.102) in which the Lake-born Vajra gives the quintessence of the path of Dzogchen, rooted in the prior achievement of samatha, having settled the mind in its natural state: realising all phenomena as emptiness, realising them as creative displays of pristine awareness, gaining confidence in this through sustaining the realisation with a fusion of samatha and vipashyana. From that point you’ve entered the Dzogchen path and all you do from then onwards is to settle in the ground pristine awareness, free of extremes of conceptual elaboration. This is the swift path. If you carry this right through 24/7 until your death, then that’s a direct route and if you haven’t already achieved enlightenment before you die then that would be the optimal preparation for transforming the dying process into dharmakaya. Recognising the mother clear light is a direct portal to achieving perfect enlightenment by way of dharmakaya. To do this you must have achieved samatha as well as the union of samatha and vipashyana. Once you’re aroused bodhicitta, so that it arises spontaneously and effortlessly, you’ve entered the bodhisattva path. If this is supported with some realisation of emptiness, then your bodhicitta is irreversible and you’ll always be a bodhisattva, you’ll never be off the path. At this point you may follow one of two avenues: either Dzogchen or Vajrayana stage of generation and completion which culminates in the word empowerment and resting in dharmakaya – sooner or later you’ll come to the Great Perfection either way. Or you may follow both the wisdom method (Dzogchen) and skilful means method (stage of generation and completion) as they complement each other. There’s good reason to have achieved samatha before embarking on Vajrayana practice although in principle it would be possible to achieve samatha by way of stage of generation (but this is extremely rare). We continue in the text (“Some people...”, p. 102). Lama-la stresses the importance of choosing wisely who one associates with. Lama-la comments on the text by giving several modern-day examples of how one can easily derail own’s Dharma practice through being captivated by the eight mundane concerns. This is like having a wish-fulfilling gem in your hand and throwing it away, expecting to find another one. Lama-la points out that meditation can easily become a servant to mundane pleasure, the pursuit of wealth, power, prestige, and warns us never to take dharma for granted. Commenting on the text’s reference to people who “crave experiences”, Lama-la explains the danger of just acquiring a bit more intellectual knowledge with no interest in viewing reality in this way. Revelling in their purely intellectual understanding of pristine awareness, many people never get around to meditation. Thus, their knowledge remains limited to the understanding from hearing and thinking rather than the grand finale, the understanding from meditation. He equates this to someone learning a recipe but never cooking the meal. Lama-la warns us not to be satisfy too early, with mere erudition. He explains that when we first gain some glimpse of pristine awareness, the mind that is glimpsing it, is still the dualistic mind. Since it’s the conceptual mind that first gains such insight, this may not be satisfying as we ascertain pristine awareness through layers of obscurations. This may put people off practising meditation. Let’s turn to practice and let’s not be satisfied prematurely. Meditation begins at 01:07:27 and is about settling the mind in its natural state and inverting awareness into the actual nature of the mind – ultimate bodhicitta.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 09 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Lama Alan begins the session by returning to the theme of siddhis in the context of the Shravakayana, Bodhisattvayana, and Mahayana. He explains that siddhis are viewed ambivalently, or as distractions, in Theravadan Buddhism, where the emphasis is on self-liberation. The arhat’s job is to preserve the teachings; it is the Buddha’s job to liberate sentient beings. Despite this, siddhis are discussed in the Pali canon, and the Buddha and his disciples displayed siddhis. In the Mahayana and Bodhisattva paths, the purpose of achieving enlightenment is to serve others. One way such service can be performed is through displaying siddhis. Lama Alan then briefly clarified his comments from Session 16 regarding whether Bodhisattvas on the path can engage in non-virtuous activities. He commented that this is a grey area, as the karma from a single act can have complex karmic repercussions. The four kinds of enlightened activity are then enumerated: pacifying, enriching, overpowering, and overcoming with ferocity (wrathfulness). These activities are expanded upon in the text, where a 5th enlightened activity is added: spontaneous actualization. Alan elaborates on the important role that ferocity (including violence) plays in liberating activities. This importance is highlighted by the 10th root Vajrayana vow: failing to liberate and instead showing love to those who are evil in 10 ways. Lama Alan again emphasizes that such liberating activities can only be done by highly accomplished Vajrayana practitioners. Lama Alan gives a transmission of, and commentary on, the text from the first full paragraph on p149 through the first line on p152 (00:59:13 – 01:21:26). All types of enlightened activities can be accomplished by resting in Rigpa. For those who are not able to rest in Rigpa, the first four enlightened activities can be performed through the burnt offering with the full power of your samadhi. Details of the burnt offering ritual are provided for the activities of pacification, enrichment, power, and ferocity. There is no meditation with this teaching.
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 14 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
Day Two, Session Two Q&A To maintain the privacy of the attendees some of the questions may not be heard, but in the video version of the Q&A the questions are shown on the screen. We apologize for this inconvenience.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 24 May 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan begins by making some important clarifications on the meaning of vipashyana in the Buddhist tradition. He uses the analogy of stargazing to explain that if we simply rest in "choiceless awareness" without shamatha, vipashyana, and the Dzogchen/Mahamudra view, then it is like an amateur astronomer merely lying on the ground and gazing up at the stars with the naked eye. We are without a telescope (shamatha), and we are without any of the theoretical understanding necessary to ask meaningful and incisive questions (vipashyana) that could lead to profound conclusions from our observation of the stars. The main point regarding vipashyana is that it always has to do critical inquiry, with asking questions and piercing into the nature of reality, not merely being aware of whatever arises. Lama Alan then draws some comparisons between the way the Christian contemplative tradition has traditionally sought out the mind of God through a process of going inwards, whereas the later scientific tradition sought the mind of God by way of God's creation in the form of the outer physical world. Lama then compares this to the two approaches used to fathom the absolute nature of reality in Buddhism, the first being the inward approach of Dzoghcen and Mahamudra, and the second being the outward approach of classical Madhyamika analysis. In the Dzogchen/Mahamudra approach one begins with stabilizing the mind and then conducting an ontological probe into the nature of the mind and consciousness, which then allows one to turn outwards to the physical world and see its emptiness by the power of the inner realization that has taken place. Whereas in the traditional Madhyamika approach, one deeply analyzes objects in the outer world and by way of ascertaining the emptiness of all phenomena, one comes to realize the true nature of emptiness, the absolute nature of reality. Lama Alan then turns to some quotations from modern psychologists about the nature of the relationship between the observer and so-called external reality. He then turns to the idea of the black box and relates it to the nature of the universes beyond appearances, explaining that the world beyond our appearances is on principle unknowable. Further, if it unknowable on principle, then we have no business claiming it exists. Meditation on "All Encompassing Inquiry" begins at 39:45 After the meditation, Lama Alan returns to the text to cover the questions posed to the Lake-Born Vajra by Bodhisattva Faculty Displaying All Appearances. This sections deals primarily with resolving doubts about the emptiness of the so-called external world and its relationship to dream experience.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 19 May 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
There are 4 questions posed to Lama-la today and he answers them with extensive commentaries. 1. A student asks for guidance regarding how best to engage with Dudjom Lingpa’s teachings in his future planned solitary retreats. The key for enjoying and progressing on the path of Dharma is to adopt a balanced ‘diet’, with a personalised approach, in order to acquire confidence with sustainability. While shamatha is indispensable, one should moisten it with the practice of preliminaries, the four immeasurables and bodhicitta as a sutrayana foundation. Regarding the Dzogchen 5 treatises, one may choose one’s ‘repertoire’ like a musician who plays as his spirit moves him. 2. There is a question asked regarding the practice of looking for the agent during meditation. We are advised to just savor it, like chocolate, and not to step back into conceptualisation and reasonings which have limitations. The whole point of meditation is to transcend thinking and allow experiences to arise. It is only the practice that purifies the mind. 3. In a comment of Gyatrul Rinpoche on Padmasambhava’s pith instructions, there is a correlation made between ‘free of bias and lack of partiality’ and no extension or dimension in space / the transcendence of space and time, which is not readily obvious. This is due to translation limitation. It refers to the perfect symmetry of pristine awareness, its internal freedom from the eight extremes. 4. A question refers to toppling out of concentration while meditating, due to thoughts arising regarding its unfolding. There is nothing that does not become easier with familiarisation. We shouldn’t take our thoughts seriously, just keep on practicing. The whole point is the experience and not the thinking about it. The student feels that the teachings are shattering her scientific background, and she experiences insecurity. Lama-la advises that we should relax, let our mind settle in its natural state and stop looking for cognitive answers and engaging in fruitless ruminations. Feeling at ease with uncertainty and letting go of one’s past assumptions is a sign of progress in practice.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 07 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
This entire teaching is a crescendo culminating in the presentation of the view by the Lake Born Vajra. Lama Alan starts the session by observing that the entire text up to this point could be considered to be preliminary practice, including the teachings on shamatha, vipashyana, stage of generation, stage of completion, and the four revolutions in outlook. Lama Alan explains that one can enter the path in one of two ways: by way of the view, or by way of meditation. In the Discourse of Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dhamma, Kondanna comes to the meditation by way of the view. In contrast, Bahiya is introduced to the view by way of the meditation. Similarly, in the book Natural Liberation, Padmasambhava first introduces the meditation; the view emerges from the meditation. In the Vajra Essence, the view is presented first. However, Lama Alan comments that these pointing out instructions on the view come after extensive teachings on shamatha, vipashyana, stage of generation, and stage of completion. Those who are suitable vessels to receive these pointing out instructions are not individuals who still view themselves as sentient beings, and who are still entrenched in dualistic grasping. The presentation of the view by the Lake Born Vajra is very brief. Lama Alan states that there is nothing new in these two sentences, and that their very familiarity may hinder us from absorbing their meaning. He enjoins us to listen to these pointing out instructions with our pristine awareness. We should make ourselves facsimilies of Vidyadharas when we listen to these instructions, drawing on whatever understanding, experience, or realization we have of emptiness. We should view ourselves, the teacher, and our environment with pure vision. We then invoke Padmasambhava by reciting the 7-line prayer. Lama Alan transmits Padmasambhava’s instructions on the view at 00:53:50. Lama Alan supplements this explanation of view with a passage from Dudjom Rinpoche on Identifying the Nature of Awareness. As he has commented before, Lama Alan states that this yana may not be the best yana for everyone. In our own practice, Lama Alan encourages us to focus on and emphasize those practices that are best for us right now. We should investigate whether the practices we are engaging in are effective by determining whether they are alleviating our suffering, diminishing our mental afflictions, and bringing forth virtues. If we are not yet a suitable vessel for highly advanced practices, we should be patient, and consider that we are planting seeds. Today’s meditation is a mind class teaching, in which Padmasambhava gives pith instructions on identifying pristine awareness in which we come to the view by way of the meditation. The mediation starts at 01:13:18.
