2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 03 May 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan starts with a correction of a sentence in the chapter that describes the difference of buddhas and sentient beings: “Far surpassing sentient beings, it is like a rotten seed for mundane existence.“ Here „it“ refers, in a very uncommon metaphor, to pristine awareness –it's rottenness makes it impossible for samsara to arise. (page 94 of pdf) Coming back to where we left of, Lama Alan repeats the last paragraph, which is a quintessential description of the view of Dzogchen: “If you fail to recognize and understand saṃsāra and nirvāṇa as displays of your own appearances, what is the point of identifying pristine awareness? Realization entails establishing that ultimately saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are of the nature of great emptiness, and then recognizing and ascertaining everything to be of the nature of one space.” The Lake-Born Vajra continues with describing how meditation is the basis for realization. Even if one has attained samatha, fathomed emptiness and cut through to pristine awareness, one has to apply oneself diligently to meditation until all, even the most subtle, obscurations are purified; just as is shown to us by the examples of the great mahāsiddhas of the past. This is the only way to attain Buddhahood. Aware of the fact that nowadays there are often claims of practitioners of having reached high states of accomplishment, Lama Alan expresses his dedication to preserving the Dharma in the highest possible way, the way it has been passed on to him by his teachers, who are and were truly accomplished masters. In order to hinder the Dharma to degenerate, Lama Alan's vision is to establish a vital contemplative science in Western society. In a metaphor the Lake-born Vajra shows how the identification of pristine awareness leads one from being a beggar to being a king, just as Padmasambhava describes it in the parable of the beggar-prince. Lama Alan shows the two ways a wise minister could guide the prince, after having shaken his beggar-identity, back to his royalty – introducing us to the two different approaches in Dzogchen and Vajrayana. Coming back to the claims of achievements of practitioners, Lama Alan asks – as an indicator of their authenticity – what impacts accompanied those insights, especially in regard to the decrease of mental afflictions and the arising of bodhicitta. Even authentic breakthroughs to pristine awareness may very likely fade away, becoming only memories, if one does not make their stabilisation the foremost priority in one's life. The Lake-Born Vajra finds again a haunting metaphor for this: „Even though you may have gold in hand, if you do not trade it for food and clothing, but instead use it as a pillow, you will die of starvation and exposure to the elements.“ In this case one then becomes an ordinary person again, not different to someone who did not have any insight at all. Finally, the Lake-Born Vajra summarizes the unique characteristics of this swift path, the ninth yana. On that basis Lama Alan raises the question if this uniqueness might imply that Dzogchen is confined to Buddhism alone. The achievements of the Bön tradition, including highest achievements like rainbow body, prove that this is not so. So, Lama comes once again back to the question if there might be a Great Perfection not only in different religious traditions but also in modern science? Finally, Lama shares his vision of meetings of highly accomplished contemplatives of different traditions: Through coming together and sharing their insights they could create a body of shared knowledge of contemplative science. In the meditation starting at 1:05:00 we are arousing bodhicitta, the view of emptiness, and the view of the Great Perfection, then alternately releasing our awareness into space with no object and then inverting it into the mind with no subject. Finally, we are resting without activity in awareness beyond subject and object.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 25 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Yangchen begins the session with the 7 line prayer, refuge, bodhicitta and the 10 branches. Then she points out that the offering should be set higher than yourself sitting. Today’s teachings are the continuation from yesterday and pick up at “The Concluding Stage” last verse page 12 of very last version (22/05/23) of the long Lake-Born Vajra sadhana. Yangchen notes that interacting with material objects helps you feel more real the presence of the Jinas and see the celestial palace as something more concrete. P.13 First verse: ""Arali"" has a sense of ecstatic joy. The verse is conceived as a song and describes what is going on. (p.139 in Vajra Essence details the substances and object offered). Second and third verses are borrowed from a different sadhana (Guyasamaja). P.13 Second verse: The Samaya taken by the Buddhas need to be “activated” by us by practicing properly. The “rulu rulu hung” in the mantra awakes the feminine wrathful. P.13 Third verse: atonement literally means at-onement, as re-joining that which has been separated by ignorance. Yangchen underline the profundity of this verse. P.14 First verse: you can see all the substances offered emanating light rays P.14 Second verse: this is a confession. P.14 Third verse: practice of liberation extremely simplified. We should ask ourselves “What does it take to cut off the life force that is perpetrating the life force within us?” The term “maraya” means to kill, and negative life force is what we need to kill in so far as it’s the base of suffering. In the Vajra Essence p.143 Düdjom Lingpa explains the ultimate meaning of liberation, with the difference that in the ganacakra the residue of samsara instead to be dissolved into absolute space, is offered in the form of the food to be consumed, which we’ve already turned in the mountain of flesh and blood and other inner substances, so now it's the pure quintessence of the energy of samsara. Because we should imagine the food going through our subtle body and being burned by the inner/secret fire, this is a kind of food tummo. In solitary practice you could practice tummo here if you received the teaching. WE ARE NOT EATING THE OFFERING YET. P.14 Fourth verse: here we remember that when we eat the offering we are actually offering them to our three roots (guru, yidam and dakini). It’s Guru Rinpoche offering the ganacakra to dispel the maras. P.15 First verse: the appearances when awakened they disappear, they dissolve in the ground. Four visions refers to the “direct crossing over” [thögyal]. HERE WE PARTAKE THE TSOK OFFERINGS. P.15 Second verse: can be sung while partaking the Samaya substances. Dedicating the Leftover Torma: Even if all as been done properly, some residual appearance may still be there, so deceptively they are offered to the illusory guests. P.15 third Verse: Requesting protection. All these protectors dispel obscuring forces each in a unique way. We can think to redirect our materialistic superstitions about negative forces to a “different level” of superstition where protectors are powerful, even able to bound our materialistic world, our work, our technologies at the service of Dharma and of our Dharma activities. P15-16: Proclaiming the Command to Obey P.16 First verse: refer to p.149 of the Vajra Essence. P.16 Second verse: Nurturing the Female Tenma (sisters “earth mothers”) Protective Deities with Cleansing Water, you can have a clean water bowl to perform it. P.16 third verse: Stomping the Hayagriva Dance The Tibetan syllable È refers to the absolute space where demons are entrapped in the triangular incarceration box in the belly of Yama as described in the Vajra Essence. P.17 First verse: the mantra is repeated several times in the sadhana and here is repeat at the end of the ganacakra. P.17 Second verse: this concludes the ganacakra offering. After going through the whole ganacakra reciting the 100-syllables mantra three times rebalances the energies shaken up by this new world you’ve just been through. P.17 Third and fourth verses: they must be done even when you don’t perform the ganacakra, every time one ends a sadhana. P.18 First and last verses: Refer to the Vajra Essence (p.146-147). P.18 Mantra: very auspicious to recite it at the end of a sadhana. There is no meditation with this teaching.
Fall 2011 Shamatha Retreat, 10 Oct 2011, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
We come back to equanimity and Alan talks about it from 3 different levels:
Coarse mind - Shantideva: "If there is something you can do about it don't worry. If there's nothing you can do about it, don't worry"
Subtle mind - Everything arises as a manifestation of our own karma. "I will paint from my own mind. All I'm seeing/experiencing are appearances from my coarse mind" Consider what you've contributed but don't respond with craving or hostility.
Rigpa - Everything is an expression of the Buddha Mind. An all-pervasive display of compassion
Meditation starts at 10:47
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 04 May 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
Session 44 commences with an oral transmission of a revised passage from Phase 6. At 00.02.39 Lama la then returns to the text on page 216, last paragraph which expounds the futility of a life gathering virtuous and non-virtuous deeds, instructing this merely brings endless suffering. Lama shares how this teaching is poignant for him personally, referring to the friction with his father in the early years of leaving to go to India and how this further brings to mind Gautama’s experience of leaving his own family. Significantly Gautama later returned to his family and was able to be of exceptional benefit, unlike if he had stayed home and lived in accordance with his fathers wishes. Lama la then shared a beautiful story of his last memory with his 97 year old father. The text next provides what Lama suggests is akin to fatherly spiritual advice on how to devote oneself to Dharma and to not die an ordinary death. The term ‘no acquisitions’ is clarified as meaning to have no attachment, no expectations; don’t cling to others out of fear that they will let you down. Rather it is that things are there for you; you have them, but you don’t possess them or take control of them. Lama la speaks of Sukhavati, a pure land where we can practice Dharma intently and then, when we are ripe, make more progress in our spiritual evolution by returning to the human realm while also being of real benefit to others. Lama expands on the phrase “allow their life principles to be carried away”, explaining the life span can be used up as determined by previous karma, the life force is the energy that carries on from life to life and the life principle (‘la’) can be stolen by spirit beings; the la departs and the person diminishes and dies. A favourite story is related from the Pali Canon about an elephant and a cat, highlighting the distinction between those who are well prepared for immersing themselves in strict solitude in long term retreat and those who, despite wishing to be a great practitioner, haven’t done the groundwork and consequently sink into laxity and dullness etc. Lama then clarifies what is meant by ‘deceptive virtues’ ie deceptive reality versus ultimate reality. Know that physical and verbal virtues will never liberate you, rather they are virtues that keep you ‘contained within deceptive reality’, totally obscuring a deeper virtue. The deeper virtue is to transcend the mind. Lama la recalls experiences, particularly in Sri Lanka, where pure practice is valued, where one retreats from the world, devoting oneself single pointedly to cultivating the mind. The text outlines a number of warning signs of cultivating a relationship with an inappropriate guru which will result in the deterioration of the disciple’s personal spiritual practice. With reverence Lama la tells stories of Geshe Rabten whose personal motivation for his practice was that he could repay the kindness of his lamas, thereby devoting himself single pointedly to his practice and the teachings he had been given. The text councils one must take the necessary time to find authentic teachers by listening to the views of reputable, knowledgeable people and by observing for oneself; this is vital as the guru will show you the path of liberation. If the guru gives instructions that don’t feel appropriate it is important to discuss one’s concerns with the guru. Meditation starting at 01:04:15 continues with the sequence of pith instructions given by Padmasambhava. After the meditation Lama reads to us Gyatrul Rinpoche’s commentary to Padmasambhava’s pith instructions, highlighting the benefits of hearing Gyatrul Rinpoche’s speech especially at this auspicious time. The aural transmission begins at 00.02.39 and covers pages 216-219.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 19 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
We begin the session by returning to the practice of Taking the Mind as the Path. In the introductory comments to the meditation, Alan mentions the two-fold division of Buddha-nature (1. the naturally abiding Buddha-nature and 2. the evolving Buddha-nature). One is already present, while the other is evolving, transforming (the latter is a deliberate evolution or transformation towards enlightenment, this is the path). With this practice of taking the mind as the path, we rest in awareness, always luminous and cognisant, our closest approximation to resting in and being fully cognisant of our naturally abiding Buddha-nature. But we are observing our own mind, and we see that from month to month, from year to year, our mind is changing, is becoming saner, more gentle, compassionate thanks to diligent, continuous and intelligent practice. We can transform the mind with effort (through lojong training, lam-rim, stage of generation & completion) to make it a Buddha’s mind. And then we have the effortless approach of resting in rigpa (Dzogchen) and watching it happen by itself (stay home and watch the show, it turns out well!). The meditation is on Taking the Mind as the Path (silent, not recorded). After meditation, we go back to the astonishing statements of the Prajñāpāramitā sutra in hundred thousand verses. Is it possible to stroke the sun and the moon? Or is it just a joke? In the western, eurocentric world we have a common story coming from science (the universe started 13.8 billion years ago with the big bang etc.), but also in the US there are many people who are creationists. If we have been educated in science, basically we have been given one story, but there is also one story coming from the Abrahamic traditions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam). The creationist story is deeply rooted in metaphysical realism, and was believed without question by Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton. Darwin instead could not reconcile his Christian faith with what he discovered about evolution. It was a big schism. However, Darwin candidly said that he had no theory about the origin of life, and he acknowledged that God might have done it. Now we leap forward to Maxwell, who was also a very devout Christian. Then Einstein believed in a higher intelligence that created the entire universe, Spinoza’s God, and he spoke very respectfully of religion. Then in the same trajectory we arrive at Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître (1894 – 1966): Belgian priest, astronomer, and professor of physics at the Catholic University of Leuven, proposed the theory of the expansion of the universe, and he also proposed what became known as the Big Bang theory of the origin of the Universe, which he called his “hypothesis of the primeval atom” or the “Cosmic Egg.” Alan comments that basically all the history of science since Copernicus to Lemaître is judeo-christian science, rooted in a worldview where God started it, it was already there, it is absolutely real, and scientists are “representing” or approximating a God’s eye view. The point is that, if one is Christian or Muslim etc., God created this universe, God imbued the universe with meaning. The universe is meaningful because God made it meaningful. God is a source of eudaimonia, there is hedonia, and there is a path to salvation. But what happens if we take God out of the equation? To explain this, among others Alan quotes Stephen Hawking (1990): “The human race is just a chemical scum on a moderate-sized planet, orbiting around a very average star in the outer suburb of one among a hundred billion galaxies. We are so insignificant that I can't believe the whole universe exists for our benefit. That would be like saying that you would disappear if I closed my eyes.” However, modern science, to this day, has no answers nor a scientific testable theory to the questions about the origin of the universe, the origin of life on earth and the origin of consciousness. But scientific materialists give the public the impression that they already know that the universe originated from purely physical causes, as did life and consciousness in the universe. They don’t know this, they simply assume it and falsely claim their metaphysical beliefs to be scientific truths. This is a charade. You pretend to know something that you don’t know. We finally arrive at what Alan calls “The General Theory of Ontological Relativity”: it pertains not just to the relation between the desire realm (including the physical universe) and the form realm, but rather points to the relativity of all phenomena in relation to the methods of inquiry and the role of conceptual designation. Whether you live as an animal, a hell-being, a preta, a human or a deva, whether you live in the form or formless realms you are making measurements, and the reality that rises to you is relative to your observations. This applies everywhere, and this gives rise to the Madhyamaka constant—the emptiness of inherent existence of all phenomena—which is invariable across all cognitive frames of reference. The conclusion is that there is no one definitive description of the universe anywhere (not in Modern Science, not in Kalachakra, not in Abhidhamma, not in Dzogchen, not in Hinduism or Christianity, not in string theory or quantum theory). There is no one actually true, truly right, account of an objective universe out there, because there is no objective universe out there existing in and of itself. There is no one right story, and some stories are false - people make up stuff. Then Alan returns to Buddhism, especially Buddhist cosmology. What to do with the Buddha’s statements about Mount Meru and the four continents? Devas influencing the weather? The fact that previous Buddhas lived for thousands of years before Gautama came along? The Buddha states that what he said comes from his direct experience. If we take the perspective of metaphysical realism, we cannot have incompatible - and true - descriptions of the real objective universe. Finally Alan quotes Yangthang Rinpoche, a great Vidyādhara, who gave teachings on Mount Meru, the four continents and multiple world-systems last year. In that occasion Alan asked this great master: “Who sees this? What realisation do you need to have to see this?” Rinpoche’s response was “first dhyana.” This is what you see if you are viewing from the form realm. Different set of questions, different measurement system - different reality that rises to meet you from that different set of questions and different measurement system. In the form realm you have purely mental consciousness, but you are seeing form. In the form realm there is a sun and a moon. In the form realm you can see Mount Meru and all the four continents. The Buddha saw this from the perspective of achieving the dhyanas. He never said we can see this from an ordinary perspective. Other people can check this out by achieving the first dhyana and putting it to the test of experience. Shift your perspective, shift your system of measurement and you see a different reality. From the form realm you can reach out and touch the sun and moon. Meditation is silent and not recorded. CORRECTION in the recording: Alan said that the region of south Asia lies in the spatial region of the Southern Continent; North America corresponds to the space of the Northern Continent; Europe corresponds to the Eastern Continent, and the Pacific region to the Western continent. Instead Europe corresponds to the Western Continent, and the Pacific region to the Eastern continent. ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 06 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Lama Alan begins by commenting that the format of Phase 5 is classic: it starts with the preliminary practices (focusing only on the common preliminaries such as the four revolutions in outlook) and proceeds to the view, meditation and conduct of Dzogchen. Lama-la comments on the logic of the sequence of the preliminaries starting with that of the precious human rebirth that we owe to the merit of our “predecessor” in a previous life (from whom we are neither entirely different nor the same). This first revolution is uplifting, showing us possibilities we had never dreamt of but it’s up to us to make the best use of it. The second revolution reminds us that we’ll lose everything we have and all we will be able to take with us when we die is our karma. This brings a “gentle intensity” that we are carving our future and the question of how we can best prepare for this. The third revolution has a sobering effect, reminding us that every moment we engage in any deliberate action we’re sowing seeds that will give rise to the karma that will propel us to the next lifetime. The fourth revolution of Dukkha takes all the wind out of the sails of thinking that samsara can turn out well and is the last nail in the coffin to our addiction to perpetuating the causes of samsara. As we return to the text at 00:47:09, pages 177-178: "Upon considering the nature of suffering in saṃsāra,...This is the unsurpassed crown jewel of all Dharma practitioners..“, Lama Alan elaborates on the three types of suffering and the fact that the majority of people is only aware of the first type of blatant suffering rather than the second one of the suffering of change, let alone the all-pervasive suffering of conditioned existence, our fundamental vulnerability to suffering. Understanding these will ensure our irreversible disenchantment with the whole of samsara. Lama-la stresses the importance of “bottoming out” of samsara analogous to an alcoholic who decides to give up drinking altogether. Before we engage in Dzogchen we need a thorough disillusionment with samsara. We need to realise that “there’s nothing else to do” than to dedicate oneself to practising Dzogchen. As we go into the meditation on Great Mudita, Lama-la reminds us of Empathetic Joy and that within the Immeasurables in a Mahayana context this is not an emotion but an aspiration, the aspiration that all beings never be parted from sublime happiness free of suffering. This is a good time to arouse this aspiration in the context of realising that samsara is all permeated by suffering. We are wishing for everyone to find their way out of samsara. Lama-la reminds us of the liturgy: 1. Why couldn’t all sentient beings never be parted from sublime wellbeing free from suffering – given that we’re all imbued with Buddha nature and all we need are the contributing conditions. 2. May they never be parted from sublime wellbeing. We see that it’s possible. 3. Speaking from our own pristine awareness we affirm: I shall do it! 4. May all Buddhas and spiritual friends bless me to carry through with my resolve. In the meditation which begins at 01:24:29 we will express this aspiration by way of tonglen as the immediate response to this fourth point.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 17 May 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan continues his explanation of this part of the sadhana of stage of generation practice, taking refuge, and comes back on how to view one’s gurus in relationship to one’s root guru. In Vajrayana and Dzogchen the only suitable way to view all of one’s lamas is to see them of ‘one taste’, all of them being equally expressions of one’s own pristine awareness, regardless of what stages of realization they might or might not have accomplished. Viewed with pure vision, all of one’s lamas are buddhas. The stream of blessings through a Vajrayana empowerment depends on both sides: the depth of realization of the guru who is granting the empowerment and the depth of devotion from the student’s side. To highlight the power of devotion Lama Alan shares the story of an old woman who asks her merchant son to bring her a relic from the Buddha: although the son’s gift is not a true relic, the mother’s devotion transforms it into a Nirmanakaya, from which rays of light appear and blessings stream. In historical Tibet, it was common that a highly realized lama would bestow an empowerment to a crowd of thousands of students. Only very few of them trained under this guru, the majority relied on a local lama or yogi as their guru, who would give further explanations, guide them personally, monitoring the student’s progress, and keeping her or him from going astray. Reflecting on this, one’s personal guide can be viewed as even kinder to us than the historical Buddha. Lama Alan continues with the text, where the gravity of abandoning one’s Vajrayana guru is described: „Do not abandon this being even at the cost of your life.... If you abandon the vajra guru, this is tantamount to abandoning the Three Jewels, Three Roots, three kāyas, buddhas, and bodhisattvas.“ If it happens that one indulges in false views regarding one’s guru, this is committing a root downfall and should be purified as quickly as possible. The practice of the four remedial powers or the practice of Vajrasattva, done with sincere regret, leads to purification. Otherwise, even if one finds another guru and practices a lot, the connection to one’s own Buddha-nature has been cut off and nothing will be accomplished. This is because one’s vajra guru „is like the root of the tree of the secret mantra;... like the seed and the field of the harvest of omniscience.“ While there are different ngöndro practices, and while stage of generation practice is optional, guru yoga is not – guru yoga is the one indispensable ngöndro practice, which we must engage in continuously until we have reached Buddhahood. This concludes the pith instructions on guru yoga. Then Lama Alan follows the text into the next phase of stage of generation practice, the cultivation of bodhicitta. Here the Lake-Born Vajra continues his mode of teaching, first introducing us to ultimate bodhicitta, and then „for those who lack the fortune to sustain the direct perception of authentic bodhicitta“, elaborates on the two aspects of relative bodhicitta: aspirational bodhicitta, wishing to free all sentient beings from samsara and practicing the four greats, and engaged bodhicitta, practicing stage of generation diligently. Ultimate bodhicitta is only accomplished when all self-centered concepts and all forms of delusive dualistic grasping have been forcefully abandoned; from this state, relative bodhicitta flows forth spontaneously and unimpededly. But we must be careful and not delude ourselves: Only when we have cut through to rigpa and when we are able to rest in pristine awareness, can we manifest ultimate bodhicitta. Until then the skillful means of relative bodhicitta are our path of practice. Meditation starts at 1:04:50 with the cultivation of relative aspirational bodhicitta by way of the “four greats,”, and then we cultivate relative engaged bodhicitta with the intention to engage in stage of generation practice. Then, while viewing all phenomena as empty of inherent nature and as being appearances of your own pristine awareness, we cultivate ultimate aspirational and engaged bodhicitta.
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 16 Sep 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
In today’s meditation Alan went on with the pointing-out instructions from Natural Liberation. In the teachings Alan discussed the different levels of teacher-student relationship and how we can bring the Indo-Tibetan understanding of it into our modern world. In a way the relationship between teacher and student is completely symmetrical, and that regards the courtesy and respect between both sides. Where it is not symmetrical is on the level of knowledge, the student comes to the teachings to learn, the teacher to be of service, and the relationship is established totally for the sake of the student. In the Indian tradition the teacher is called guru, and that could be translated for us as spiritual mentor, somebody who has a great knowledge and leads us to true insight. The Tibetan understanding of lama is different from that, it is more a spiritual guide, somebody who is leading you along a path, so that you don’t fall into pitfalls or have to take detours or the like. But that means that you need trust in your spiritual guide, that he will actually be able to help you along the path. Then Alan gave some commentary to the pointing-out instructions from today’s meditation, and finally he ended on his rationale why he keeps giving us all these citations from philosophy, science and the like, in order to help us to respond to our non-Buddhist environment when we are asked what we actually do and why we are doing this. Meditation starts at 03:00 min
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 27 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
After the opening prayers Yangchen-la offers explanations on the guru yoga that Lama Alan transmitted yesterday, specifically about how and when to use one's vajra and bell during the sadhana. The vajra is always taken up with the right hand, the bell with the left hand, at times crossed, and she explains and shows how to hold them in one's hand. She then explains how to purchase a vajra and bell, how to then keep them secret, how to bless them, and why to take them on travels. The vajra in general symbolizes the male energy, and the bell the female energy. She ends this discussion with clarifications on specific lines of this sadhana. Yangchen then answers questions around the topic of visualizations. Since there are big differences in the ability to visualize from person to person, she explains that it is connected to certain propensities, and not necessarily a measure of how well one’s practice is developed. Also our expectations as to how clear the mental images should arise might not be adequate. She emphasizes the importance of learning and knowing the visualizations, so invoking their meaning, and to be patient, maybe for many years, until clear images arise. Regarding the visualization of seed syllables, Yangchen instructs us to train in drawing them stroke by stroke, and as if seen from behind. On our level of practice it is fine to work with the conceptual mind. Yangchen continues with an elaboration of the mantra with which we seal the dedication in the Lake-Born Vajra sadhana. She offers a translation, and the story behind it, a dialogue between Shariputra and the monk Ashvajit, known as the Essence of Dependent Origination dharani. Yangchen-la then points us to the blog of the Christian mystic Father Silouan, who has also studied Dzogchen and has been in dialogue with Lama Alan and Yangchen. She will also share a link to the 50 Verses of Guru Devotion, which she encourages us to explore. She then points us to visualizations in context with the verse of auspiciousness at the end of the sadhana. We find these in Phase 4 of the Vajra Essence, Tibetan page [266 - 267]. They are meant to express our joy at the end of the sadhana. Finally Yangchen explains two different ways on how to dissolve the mandala - gradual from the out in, or in a single instant, which both have different effects on the subtle body. The meditation begins at 31:15 and is on the sadhana with the recitation in Tibetan and the guided meditation in English.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 28 Apr 2020, Online-only
Meditation "Mindfulness of Breathing and Feelings as a Gateway" begins at 17:55
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 07 Apr 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan starts by clearing out that the “Eight Verses of Training the Mind” were composed by Langri Tangpa, and he quotes one particular verse: “Whenever I associate with others / May I regard myself as the lowest among all / And respectfully hold others to be supreme / From the very depths of my heart.”
Lama Alan elaborates on how this is a skillful strategy, since it enables us to learn something from everyone we meet. After this, Lama Alan talks about a couple of prophecies received by Dudjom Lingpa in a dream. The first one of them announces that a century from then all Dharma will be reduced to "not even a murmur" by "barbarian border people", which is precisely what happened at Tibet during the Chinese cultural revolution. Dudjom Lingpa is instructed in this dream to transcribe the innermost pith of his sacred teachings to guide all of the disciples who have a karmic connection with him. The second prophecy is also in a dream scenery, there, appears a beautiful couple of a young man and a woman, they instruct him to turn to the four cardinal directions. To the west he sees various cities filled with Chinese and Tibetan people, and hears a loud roar. He is told that this is a sign that his knowledge will be specially spread in this direction, every sunbeam as one of his disciples. Lama Alan further comments on the meaning of this prophecy. Lama Alan is directly serving this prophecy by translating and transmitting these teachings; with this introduction he inspires us to look into ourselves for our most meaningful calling: What is our greatest aspiration? How do we envision our life to be of most value for us and others? This introduction motivates the coming meditation: Lama Alan's "Four fold vision quest".
We are guided by our Lama to draw from our imagination the greatest of all visions, imbued with loving kindness. The Lama encourages us to do this meditation within the context of this particular retreat in this particular situation in the world, the decay of the environment driven by humanity.
Meditation starts at 20:54.
After meditation we turn back to the text. We continue on a Q&A session between Bodhisattva Boundless Great Emptiness and the Teacher, Samantabhadra. The Bodhisattva inquires if it is really possible to achieve enlightenment in one lifetime, and what happens with "small-minded beings" which are not up to encompassing all beings in their compassion for liberation.
Samantabhadra responds that when arriving at the gateway of secret mantra, firm faith and strong enthusiasm are enough to proceed along the path until its perfection. Furthermore, "being ordinary" is not a quality that should drag us away from the path. If we have the three types of faith, we should proceed! This is the time, since when will we encounter again such a precious opportunity? The Lama shares with us how things in India have changed throughout the years, from cabins filled with Yogis onto abandoned huts with surrounding karaoke bars. We can't be optimistic about the future days, we have to actualize the teachings now.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 29 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Using the analogy of a jet, Lama Alan begins by stressing that to maintain a “cruising altitude” for a sustained vipasyana practice one needs the three shamatha engines of relaxation, stability, vividness as well as to maintain cognizance which emerges as a result of the practice. He then goes on to highlight the difficulty of cultivating relaxation when a conceptual turbulence arises and shares his intention to guide us through the familiar “tricycle” practice of shamatha in 3 stages over the next three days, focusing on relaxation first, then augmenting that with stability and then with vigilance. Lama-la stresses the importance of having these prerequisites for vipasyana to liberate – not only the 3 prerequisites for shamatha but also the cognizance as it’s the knowing of the nature of reality that liberates. As we enter into the meditation, Lama reminds us that to get “lift-off” we need to relax without losing clarity. The meditation „The Shamatha Trilogy - Part 1 Relaxation“ begins at 00:09:47 At 00:34:29 Lama Alan then returns to the text on page 168. He makes the point that whatever benefits different worldviews and the different yanas have, you can get all of them by realising just one thing: the Great Perfection. This entails seven types of wisdom outlined in the text. 1. With regard to the first wisdom of “discerning wisdom”, Lama-la comments that in order to overcome dualistic grasping one doesn’t need to take a leap of faith but to investigate and analyse with discerning intelligence the phenomena we do know, not just how they appear but how they exist. By so doing, one finds the “objectless openness”, a field of infinite possibilities, which realises that each phenomenon is emptiness from its own side. 2. The “wisdom of realizing identitylessness” occurs when the insight into emptiness is stabilised through the fusion of shamatha and vipashyana and confidence is reached. In this stage, which is realised by Aryas, grasping at the reality of appearances is dissolved. 3. The third type of wisdom, which goes beyond that of an Arya, is “wisdom that knows reality as it is”; here, one knows not only emptiness but that “all the phenomena of the path and fruition are naturally perfect and complete in the ground itself” (the non-duality of primordial consciousness and emptiness). This is the wisdom of a Vidhyadhara. 4. With regard to “pervasive, all-seeing great wisdom” Lama-la suggests that this refers to the primordial consciousness that perceives the full range of phenomena which follows from the third type. 5. The fifth is the “wisdom of release” which Lama-la suggests is the total release from thinking you’re a sentient being. This is “sealed” by disengaging from any activities of the body, speech and mind of a sentient being. 6. The “wisdom of union” is achieved when you apply the antidotes to that clinging so the clinging vanishes and what is left is the realisation of the great equal purity. What ensues is naturally pure vision which sees everything equally as of one taste. 7. The “wisdom of vanquishing” is reminiscent of the fourth vision in the practice of togal where all impure appearances, karma, mental afflictions irreversibly vanish into the dharmata. Once you’ve become a buddha and you have not only the primordial consciousness to see reality as it is but can perceive the full range of phenomena you have the basis for ultimate empathy, ultimate compassion, ultimate bodhicitta because you’re non-dually aware of every samsara of every sentient being. This is achieving Buddhahood itself. Lama Alan continues with the text and comments that the seven types of energy of primordial consciousness (deceptive) listed now each correspond to the seven types of wisdom (ultimate): 1. “Propulsive energy” is the energy which sets things into motion. The very fact that there is motion, causality, impermanence points to the absence of inherent nature – if it were inherently existent it would be frozen. This corresponds to “discerning wisdom”. 2. “Pervasive energy” permeates the ground by not doing. This corresponds to the “wisdom realising identitylessness”. 3. The “binding energy of wisdom” binds the avenues of the impure mind to emptiness, which would entail knowing reality as it is. 4. The “apprehending energy of skilful means” could correspond to the primordial consciousness that perceives the full range of phenomena. 5. The “energy that destroys the cosmos” could correspond to the wisdom of release. 6. The “merciless karmic energy of the eon” could correspond to realising the “one taste” of all phenomena, corresponding to the wisdom of union. 7. The “energy equal to fire” corresponds to the fourth vision where all appearances of samsara are forever vanquished. Lama Alan concludes by giving the aural transmission of the rest of Phase 4.
Fall 2011 Shamatha Retreat, 12 Sep 2011, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
This is the most used method in the Dzogchen tradition. Allowing thoughts, images, perceptions to arise in the space of the mind without labeling, categorizing, preference. Watch them arise from the space of the mind and return into it. The object of meditation is the space of the mind. If nothing seems to be arising in the mind, try generating a discursive thought such as “What is mind?” and don’t try to answer it, just watch it.
Meditation starts at 9:08
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 05 May 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan begins the session by frontloading the meditation, indicating what sort of inquiry we will find later when we return to the Panchen Lama’s text, by reflecting on three questions: (i) how do we exist?, (ii) how do we appear? and (iii) how do we apprehend ourselves? Before moving on to the actual meditation, Alan made some additional comments about the importance of, in our dharma path, actually gaining experiential realization in each section of the path, before moving on to the next one (as a way to prevent accumulating a lot of knowledge, but having no realization). The guided meditation is on vipashyana, based on the three questions mentioned above. After the meditation, Alan continues the oral transmission of the Panchen Lama text (Stanza 29), where we continue in vipashyana territory, exploring how do we actually exist. Meditation starts at 27:40 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2017 8-Week Retreat, 16 Apr 2017, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Tuscany, Italy
Alan ventures today into the highly important topic of investigating the nature of the so-called mind. Dudjom Lingpa raises the point in Mud and Feathers that we should determine with certainty whether the mind exists or doesn't exist at all. One needs to investigate closely, and once one has reached a conclusion with certainty, one has entered the path. The guided meditation Alan takes us through is a vipashyana inquiry into the nature of mind, and is hence planted in the second turning of the wheel of Dharma. The focus here is to realize the emptiness of the mind. We don't need to see the whole of the mind to know we are indeed viewing it. Observing a thought is a sufficient and valid basis of designation for the mind. We are here investigating the nature of the mind as the agent. Is the mind really there? Does it exist? If yes, what are its characteristics? What is the nature of the mind? And if the mind doesn’t exist at all, what came to that conclusion? After the meditation, Alan concludes today's morning session by advising us to integrate this practice into our daily life. Guided Med starts at 26:01
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 17 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
As we enter the third week of the retreat, we are now ready for Lama la to begin his aural transmission and commentary on Phase 6 of the Vajra Essence. He reminds us that the complete stages of the path revealed in this text are like a Dzogchen lam rim, from the common preliminaries to culminating in achieving great transference rainbow body. Lama la also reminds us that to enter and practice this path, one must have belief in the Dharma and in one’s guru, and unwavering trust in the path, not through blind faith, but rather through investigating and testing the teachings for ourselves. Having laid out the view, mediation and conduct of Dzogchen in Phase 5, now in Phase 6 we’re entering the grand finale of the Lake Born Vajra’s presentation of tekchö, cutting through to pristine awareness. These Teachings on the Essential Points of Practice and Their Key Distinctions begin with the Lake Born Vajra responding to the following scenario and subsequent questions - If you have achieved shamatha, have a realisation of emptiness, and have established the view of reality from the perspective of pristine awareness, are there still “… pitfalls and obstacles that lead one astray”? If so, “ … how [do] they come about”? Three distinct pitfalls or obstacles are identified and elaborated on, including … - “… the danger of mistaking hearing for realization”, because hearing teachings does not necessarily mean you understand them; - the fact that there are gradations in realization, from understanding, to experience, to irreversible conviction, therefore, “… at first you may understand only a fraction”; - failing to “…distinguish between realization and gaining confidence”. Therefore, having gained some realization, you must “… apply yourself to practice” so that it completely permeates your whole being. In this way, you gain confidence in your realization, and radical, irreversible transformation takes place. Without this, “… you will die as an ordinary person, and you must continue to wander in saṃsāra” Lama la provides extensive commentary on each of these, and in particular he stresses how critically important it is to fully understand what realization is, and that it has two sequential steps: - first make your mind serviceable, otherwise any realisation that you gain will not be sustainable; then, - on that foundation, you can have pointing-out instructions to cut through from the conditioned to the unconditioned consciousness. Then, from this perspective of pristine awareness, you see that not only are all phenomena empty of inherent nature, but all phenomena, from the sublime to the most horrendous, are of one taste, they are all equally creative expressions of dharmakaya—divine. Lama la concludes with encouraging us to infuse whatever practice we are doing with the Dzogchen view, assimilating as much as we can. The guided meditation, Releasing All Doing and Resting in Effortless Silence, starts at 01:05:52.
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 18 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
The Science of Mind - Day Six, Session Two, Meditation Only Observe the movements of the mind with and without identifying with them, and examine the consequences in your mind and behavior of “appropriated” and “unappropriated” mental processes.
2019 8-Week Retreat, 05 Apr 2019, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Tuscany, Italy
Brief comments regarding silence as default mode. As much as possible don’t get caught in the grid of conceptualization. All day practice, see all appearances as just that empty appearances. In addition, cultivate pure vision and guru yoga. Meditation will be the infirmary. Know how to settle the breath in its natural state the same as it is during sleep. Importance of releasing the out breath effortlessly without any control – not pushing our or holding in. At the end of the breath, wait for the gift of the next breath. The first balance is to relax without losing clarity. Keep releasing thoughts with every out breath until only awareness remains. Meditation is on Mindfulness of Breathing Focusing on the Whole Body After meditation Alan discusses the Shower of Blessings practice by Mipham Rinpoche. In the beginning the visualization is of one's Root Lama and then it changes to the Yidam (for this retreat - Töthreng Tsäl with consort). Eva will guide this practice on Mondays and Thursdays. Alan also mentioned that during discussion and interviews it is important to talk about both what is working well in practice and what is not working well so proper advice can be given. The meditation begins at 22:31
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 07 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
A short history of disenchantment, tracing the pivotal historical moments and philosophies that led Eurocentric civilisation from the superstition and violence of the witch-hunts, via Galileo, Newton, Liebniz, and Einstein, to the radical materialism of today. The transmission of the text [260] - [266], runs from 34:30-68:30. Afterwards, Lama Alan recommends a reading from Santikaro (translator/disciple of Ajahn Buddhadasa), and speaksat length of the view of radical non-violence in Theravada, its roots in great impartiality, and how that root gives rise to a different flower in the bodhisattvayana, and the vajrayana teachings we are currently exploring. There is no meditation with this teaching but Lama Alan suggested practicing Immeasurable Impartiality.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 13 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
This is an introduction to Stage of Completion with red Vajrayogini, starting with specifics about how to visualize oneself as Vajrayogini. We are first walked through the meditation with explanations to help us set the stage and much is unpacked during this preparation for the actual guided meditation. Details are given regarding the meaning and visualization of the channels, cakras and how they relate to the three kayas and nine yanas, as well as about how to see the all the colors in this practice. Descriptions of the symbolisms are given for the guided meditation in the text, as well. Some background explanation is given for the effects of the visualization of the channels and that these visualizations can actually affect ones prana system. So we are first walked through the meditation with explanations to help us set the stage and much is unpacked during this preparation. Further details are given regarding the meaning and visualization of the channels, cakras and how they relate to the three kayas and nine yanas. With this detailed explanation we are then guided through the beginning of this Stage of Completion and additional commentary and explanation is also given during. It was noted that different practices can have differing sets of channels. Practicing the Vajrayogini you are most familiar with is recommended. Beginning of the guided meditation which starts at 1:01:00 is directly from the text for the Stage of Completion with red Vajrayogini starting on page 153/278 which describes the visualization of Vajrayogini and describes the channels starting with the rasana, lalana, and avadhuti channels, cakra descriptions and how they relate to compassion, primordial consciousness, emptiness, etc.
The 4 Yogas of Mahamudra 2019 Retreat, 16 Jun 2019, Shambhala Mountain Center
In this session we'll start exploring the practice of observing the mind. Lama comments on the way we usually relate to all the mental events arising within the space of our mind, and how we can gradually become less and less a "mind haver". After the meditation we go back to "The Path of Shamatha" and cover: * 3 Resurgent attention * 4 Close attention * Coarse laxity * Medium excitation **Meditation** Shamatha: Settling the mind in its natural state, starting with the physical senses and culminating in the mind. Meditation starts at 17:50
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 07 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
As we continue in our preparation for the Lake Born Vajra empowerment next week, Yangchen leads us in the Long Mandala Offering to Request the Teachings and other preliminary practices. Given that we are chanting in Tibetan, as part of our preparation, Yangchen begins today with enhancing our understanding of what we are chanting, starting with going through the Seven-Line Prayer to Guru Rinpoché. Then we return to where we left off in Session 62, Phase 4 of the Vajra Essence, starting p. 117, “Determining the nature of all impure, deluded mental states and appearances,..”. Today we focus on the 'descent of blessings', which is not only an important preliminary practice for the empowerment, but also for our ongoing sadhana practices. Guiding us through a detailed review of the text, Yangchen’s commentary enhances our understanding of what the ‘descent of blessings’ is, and how to practice it. Whilst the Lake Born Vajra affirms that “first gaining knowledge and realization constitutes the actual descent of blessings”, Yangchen points out that the meaning here is not that if you haven’t realised everything yet you shouldn’t continue, but it is saying to first understand the teachings and realise the meaning of what is taught. In terms of how to go about this practice, when it comes to the empowerment, we are reminded that we need to let go of all conceptualisation, and be settled in a state that is free of effort as Lama performs the ritual. Yangchen points out that no longer seeing oneself as ordinary, we begin to see ourselves as the deity that we will become, and with one’s pristine awareness we invoke the Buddhas to manifest in actualisation. Then the Lake Born Vajra beckons us “…with the force of your great faith, admiration, and reverence, emanate rays of light from your heart, invoking the samayas in the minds of the jinas and jinaputras”. As a result of our beckoning, we imagine that “… they arise from the absolute space of phenomena as rūpakāyas, and all empowerments, blessings, and siddhis dissolve into you, your environment, your place of practice, and your practice substances”, making them all “… worthy of being established as deities and the maṇḍala”. We then return to an inner fire practice of Meditation on the Four Empowerments as Arising from Caṇḍālī, which starts at 00:49:24. Yangchen further points out that following the introduction to subtle body practices that we have had, which make the vessel more open, if we approach the empowerment from this level of subtlety, the visualisations that we will be asked to do by our Guru in the course of the empowerment will go deeper.
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 25 Sep 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
In this talk Alan weaves everything that we had a look at in the past weeks together: From Shamatha, Vipashyana, the 4 immeasurables to the Dzogchen perspective. The guiding topic is equanimity and how it manifests in different types. These are: 1) In your Shamatha practice equanimity can be understood as the releasing of action. So when you achieve the 8th stage on the way to Shamatha you can drop introspection altogether, because there no longer is anything to be monitored. In that sense, when you finally achieve Shamatha you release all action. 2) When you achieve the fourth dhyana you experience equanimity in terms of feeling: no pleasure, no pain, no indifference, just flat-out evenness that is peaceful but not pleasant. 3) The equanimity that is cultivated when practicing the 4 immeasurables is again different in that it is imperturbability or even-heartedness. 4) As you continue on your path you will have to back up your samadhi with wisdom and as you develop that you finally slip into meditative equipoise. That is again a type of equanimity as it is absolutely free of conceptuality. 5) Finally, when you reach enlightenment you reach perfect equanimity: You are simultaneously aware of everything and you do not prefer either nirvana to samsara or vice versa. Alan then continues to elaborate on the two ways of walking towards that goal. Path A: You look outside at the effulgences of rigpa and thereby realize rigpa. This is analog to the situation of being in a dream and becoming lucid by looking at the dream phenomena, seeing an anomaly and thereupon seeing the dream for what it is. What is more, this seems to be the path that Western science chose and e. g. quantum mechanics went astonishingly far and deep - so deep maybe that soon, through being able to explain the role of the observer, even more wisdom can be drawn from it. Path B: You look within and you realize rigpa by cutting through the emptiness of your own self and all phenomena. This is of course the Dzogchen perspective in which you develop that type of equanimity which lets you view reality from the perspective of rigpa. That approach is comparable to falling asleep lucidly and then being able to watch the dream come into “being”. Alan ends before the meditation on the note that science as well as contemplative science at their best both look for objectivity. After the meditation Alan just quickly touches upon Night-Time Dream Yoga as we ran out of time. Meditation starts at 55:24
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 15 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
We return to the radically empirical observation of that we're immediate aware of - appearances and the awareness of them. To understand the Dzogchen interpretation of where these appearances are coming from, we can start from scratch. Imagine you're in a lucid dreamless sleep, resting in the substrate -alaya- and you're aware of it, with the substrate consciousness, which is not even human. Then somebody wakes you up, and suddenly all these appearances arise - the person, your room, tactile sensations, mental appearances, and so forth. Where did all these appearances and your human mind come from? In Dzogchen, straight from Düdjom Lingpa, these appearances arise from the substrate, this pregnant vacuity, filled with potentiality; and your human mind with all its configurations, which was dormant when you were in the dreamless sleep, emerges from the substrate consciousness. When you fall asleep again, all appearances withdraw into the mental domain and all the configurations of your human mind withdraw into the substrate consciousness. As Padmasambhava said, 'all appearances do not exist outside the space of your own awareness'. They are all in your own substrate, illuminated by your own mind - we're all in our own bubble, a very large one, and yet, individual space. But people outside seems to be more than mere appearances. What is really outside of our bubbles? Galileo, Descartes, and other Christians, tried to understand God's vision of the absolute reality, of what was really there, outside our skin. So that was the trajectory for Modern Science for the last 400 years - from God's eye perspective to a purely objective perspective to what Thomas Nagel calls a "view from nowhere". Alan quotes David Gross, Nobel laureate, "nature speaks in only one language, and that is the language of mathematics." They are all seeking reality outwards, whereas all contemplatives are seeking reality inwards. The Buddhist way of getting out the bubble, out of the Alano-centric view, out of the eachoneofus-centric view, is not by leaping outside to non-human concepts or to third person observations. Buddhists didn't make any contribution to society in terms of technology - no iPhones, no telescopes, no chronometers and so forth; but they've contributed a lot in terms of technology for refining attention and metacognitive skills. Alan ends with this first part of his talk with this question: is there a way of transcending the bubble to see reality beyond the scope of our limited anthropocentric perspective? Yes! Shamatha. Let's practice! The meditation is on Shamatha. After meditation we return to Karma Chagmé’s text on Shamatha, page 3. Alan starts comparing mental perception with visual perception - just like the eyes are only able to see within the "visible spectrum", the mind also operates within a limited bandwidth. We can transcend the limitations of human bandwidth of mental perception through the one technology of shamatha practice, achieving up to the fourth dhyana and displaying many siddhis although still tainted by delusion. When shamatha is imbued with vipashyana, these paranormal abilities become untainted. After commenting on Śatasahasrikāprajñāpāramitā, Alan presents Buddha's description of how, with the achievement of the fourth dhyāna, he recollected the specific circumstances of many thousands of his own former lives over the course of many ages of world contraction and expansion. Alan elaborates on the issue: is Buddhism a religion, considering the Eurocentric point of view? Where does Buddha fit? He is not a prophet, he never claimed to be the son of God, nor unique! Why do we call Buddhism a religion? Or, as people can't stand religion, for some good reasons, why don't we take all religious elements out and come up with a secular Buddhism? Alan says that, when he travels for teachings, he is told again and again: don't mention religion, give a secular approach. And he wants to say: "Buddhism was not a religion in the first place! What part do you want me to leave out?" So who was Buddha? Does Buddha look more like Moses or Galileo? For Moses, his power came from God, he didn't achieve it. Buddha didn't say that he has been divinely inspired. He said, "No, I actually took this pre-existing technology called samadhi, refined, and used it in an unprecedented way and corroborated discoveries that earlier contemplatives had made." He sounds more like Galileo, than like Moses or Jesus. Alan then comments on the Chapter 12 on "Supernormal Powers" in Buddhaghosa's classic Visuddhimagga - The Path of Purification - as being pure and the most sophisticated science (Please refer to Alan's notes - Friday 15th). Alan ends citing Arthur C. Clarke's Three Laws. Clarke's first law: “When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. Clarke's second law: The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. Clarke's third law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” The four dhyanas and the powers coming out of them are magic, if you don't understand them. But for those following Buddha's path, there is no magic. Let's discover our minds and blow our minds. Shamatha meditation starts at 21:08. ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
Fall 2011 Shamatha Retreat, 15 Sep 2011, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Talk
Comparison of breathing meditation and settling the mind in its natural state. Breathing meditation is best done in a quiet environment – settling the mind can be done in a noisy active environment. Much like the difference between a monk in a monastic environment and a Bodhisattva engaged in life.
Meditation (18:20)
In settling the mind in its natural state one can focus on the foreground – what thoughts etc. are going on in the space of the mind or the background – the space of the mind between thoughts – this way you are never left without an object. The ongoing flow of knowing both when there are contents and when there aren’t. Enhance vividness and may detect murmurings of the mind that you might not otherwise be aware of.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 20 May 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan continues the oral transmission of the text (from the last full paragraph on p. 117 to the 2nd full paragraph on p. 122) and gives related commentary. Unusually, the meditation is interspersed with that several in parts. In doing so, we continue to be led step by step through the preliminaries of the stage of generation practice (via essentially generic instructions for any sadhana, with a Dzogchen perspective). Phases include “the blessings of the offering”, “the descent of blessings” and “creating a peaceful mandala” (the beginning of the main practice). Prerequisites for effective stage of generation practice are realisation of emptiness and recognition of the nature of the ground (the indivisible union of dharmadhatu and dharmakaya – our own appearances as displays of pristine awareness). A “substitute” is the practice of the visualisation described. The seven outer enjoyments may be offered in the form of water in seven bowls placed on the altar, each bowl representing in turn drinking water, bathing water, flowers, incense, light, perfume and food. They are blessed (transmuted from ordinary objects to blessed offerings) by the five kayas/facets of primordial consciousness when saying the mantra “Om Ah Hung”. That is through the mind via visualization and intention aroused by faith, reverence and admiration. Offerings may be made to the three jewels and the yidam/guru throughout the day when beauty and preciousness are sensed. In the main practice, we dissolve all impure appearances and objects into emptiness to create the pure foundational buddha field and palace for the deities residing there. This is followed by a discussion of modern cosmology. Lama la says it is ok to visualise the Latin syllable for “Om”. The “Om” is positioned in the centre of right where you are. From the seed syllables emerge pure forms (e.g. the crossed vajra), which are empty self-appearances of facets of primordial consciousness. All phenomena dissolve into the ultimate ground. A buddha field is generated with a palace in which deities/inhabitants manifest – for their sake. They arise from space and the four elements by the power of sentient beings. From that, sentient being’s vital essence manifests. Many short meditations are interspersed throughout this recording. Meditation 1 from 00:05:08 - 00:09:00, meditation 2 from 00:12:40 – 00:15:50 and meditation 3 from 00:49:00 – 01:31:00
Spring 2012 Shamatha Retreat, 21 May 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
In settling the mind in its natural state, by observing mental events without taking interest in their contents we develop a familiarity with their essential nature. By this we receive the benefit of gaining a nonconceptual certainty that nothing in the mind can inflict harm on us, and if strong emotions arise they do not elicit a refractory period. It has also said knowing the essential nature of mental events is the basis for all samadhis.
Before the meditation Alan also gives an introduction to the technique of gentle vase breathing.
Q&A
* How to analyze the nature of mind.
* Insights in settling the mind in its natural state.
* The mind is not a polygon.
* Maintaining cognizance of awareness in settling the mind in its natural state.
* Having preferences in settling the mind in its natural state.
* Finding the origins of somatic correlates.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 17 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
We begin today by arousing ‘enhanced bodhicitta’, refreshing the pure vision of the guru as the Lake-born Vajra, Padmasambhava. There is great urgency to achieve enlightenment in this very lifetime, which is the supreme service to all sentient beings. Lama-la returns to the text on pages 182-183 (Tib 327, 330) with two corrections regarding yesterday’s transmission, after which he proceeds with answering the question: How to determine what is right from wrong?, with commentary on the Kalama sutta, Buddha’s unique and scientific approach to ethics. ‘Know for yourself’ whether the teachings are true or not, with pragmatic and radical empiricism approach to the law of cause and effect, karma, rather than acceptance on authority. In this sense, Buddhism is closer to science than religion. Three qualities are required: intelligence, open-mindedness and a real desire to know. We must be prepared to do the hard work and follow Buddha’s advice: “Come and see”. Further in the text, we are told that ‘fearless confidence’ may only be achieved with meditation as the essential practice, rather than only acquisition of knowledge, erudition. It is actually ‘taking the medication’ for which the teachings were intended. Experiencing emptiness, by letting all that arises in meditation be without grasping, will undoubtedly allow primordial consciousness to arise. The meditation on resting in awareness and observing the knots of the mind release themselves begins at 1:26:23.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 09 May 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
This mediation continues Padmasambhava’s instructions on the cultivation of vipaśyanā from Natural Liberation, and centers on: Engaging in the Search for the Mind. Perform the adhisāra and the gaze as before. Steadily place your mind in the space in front of you, and let it be present there. Examine well: what is this thing of yours that you have placed here today? Look to see if the one who is placing and the mind that is being placed are one or two. If they were two, there would have to be two minds, so one must be in buddhahood, while the other roams about in the cycle of existence. So carefully, decisively observe whether they exist as two. If there is not more than one, is that one the mind? Observe: what is the reality of the so-called “mind?” It is impossible to find it by searching among external objects. Following Padmasambhava’s instructions, Lama la shares with us Gyatrul Rinpoche’s commentary on this passage.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 15 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
First starting with settling the mind in its natural state, it then turns to looking right at the mind. The reality can consist of two dimensions, the realm of the actual which is what we have been attending to, and possibilities are also real - the realm of possibility and that can turn into actuality, just as the physicists know. This is a very direct route to shamatha. Seeking the authentic path that actually liberates, there are two routes. One was alluded to in the first phase, releasing all preferences, including bliss, luminosity and non-conceptually. Utterly let go and rest in the open expanse of awareness. Go into free fall and that may be enough to break through to pristine awareness. And/or, while resting in the flow of the experience of the substrate consciousness turn even more inwards from the subtrate into the substrate consciousness with the question, "What is this mind that is experiencing bliss, etc. What is the nature of the mind that has been meditating..." and discovering that there is no mind to be found. Recognizing the sheer unfindability of the mind. By cutting through the actual nature of the mind, you see it is indeterminate. Cutting through the reification of the mind you may discover the mind's emptiness and unborn luminosity - pristine awareness - and rest there.
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 16 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
The Science of Mind - Day Four, Session Two, Meditation Only Having settled your body, speech, and mind in their natural states, continue to rest without wavering in awareness, while inverting the light of your awareness in upon your awareness to the space of the mind.
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 09 Sep 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Alan first comments on the text once again and explains some of the symbolism involved. He then continues to explain how the formless realm, the form realm and the desire realm are connected: That out of the formless realm emerges the form realm, and out of the form realm emerges the desire realm. He adds that once one is dwelling in the form realm one can see the desire realm that acts almost like a holographic display. You can then manipulate the five elements in the form realm and thereby their displays in the desire realm. However, once you practice the Thodgal phase of Dzogchen, visualizations of the Buddhas come up - whether you are Buddhist or not, that does not matter. After the meditation Alan explains three terms that are central to Dzogchen practice: What they all come down to is giving up everything and thereby “winning” everything. In such an approach you thus take the fruition as the path. After the meditation, Alan answers two questions: 1. Concerning the pointing-out instructions: What does it mean when “mental appearances” merge? And are they sense objects or not? 2. If Daniel Dennett were to go to the valley of rainbows, what would he see? Meditation starts at 38:05
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 13 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
As always we begin this session with taking refuge and invoking Guru Rinpoche with the seven line prayer. Before going back to the Lakeborn Vajra Sadhana Yangchen-la encourages us to find our own way to do the lineage prayers explored yesterday. Visualizations might help us to acquire a sense of whom we are calling to, but once we have established a deeply felt connection we might skip the visualizations and dwell in there. Then Yangchen introduces us to a newly added interlinear note to the sadhana: “All the objects of refuge, including the jinas and their children are displayed as the mandala circle as the Vidyadhara Guru Tötreng Tsal Vajra Samaya Jah“ and explains the meaning of different ways of taking refuge according to the stage of one's practice. Then we move on to the actual preliminaries, which are very concise yet nurturing and transforming, and from Yangchens experience are very suitable for a shamatha retreat. Yangchen reads them out alternating between Tibetan and English. The first part is taking refuge in the absolute nature of reality, our own pristine awareness, the indwelling deity, who has always been within us throughout beginningless lifetimes. Yangchen translates word by word and sheds light to the meaning from different angles, connecting them to the essential, manifest and divinely compassionate nature in which we regularly take refuge in the beginning of the session. The second part is arousing bodhicitta. Yangchen translates and describes how first the whole process of becoming deluded in samsara through dualistic grasping is creating the realm of sentient beings and this is recognized as the real problem. Then she lays out how making manifest pristine awareness, the core of Dzogchen practice, is an expression of ultimate bodhicitta and does actually save sentient beings. The third part is called Ten Branches of Devotion, and Yangchen-la first reads them in Tibetan, and then explains: It is invoking the absolute Guru beyond transition and change, bowing down to him/her, and offering to him/her the ground of becoming. We then confess to the Guru our ignorance regarding our own true nature, utterly entrusting ourselves to her/him to guide us further. We learn in the next line an absolute perspective towards rejoicing, followed by us requesting the Guru to turn the wheel of dharma in our heart, and asking her/him to remain there. Yangchen finishes todays teaching by explaining the meaning of the last two lines, the dedication of merit into the absolute space, from which we may arise as Great Transference Rainbow bodies. There is no meditation today other than this meditative exploration of the absolute meaning of these preliminary practices.
2018 8-week retreat- The Essence of Clear Meaning, 16 May 2018, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute in Pomaia (Pisa), Italy
The guided meditation begins with taking the mind as the path (with 80% interest on the appearances arising in the space of the mind). As you rest in the stillness of awareness, you may note the occurrence of hostility, delusion, craving: if they arise they probably have a referent. When they arise, instead of fixating on the object (the referent), invert your awareness right upon the mind that is angry, craving, or delusional. Pierce through your mind to its relative ground, the underlying features of the substrate consciousness.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 07 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
We begin by exploring the third in the sequence of “Four Greats”, which is Great Joy or Maha Mudita. For Great Joy, as for the other great qualities we’ve analyzed so far (Great Compassion and Great Loving Kindness), we start with one question, “Why couldn’t all sentient beings never be parted from sublime happiness, free of suffering? Alan explores the underlying assumption in this line of the liturgy, which is that it is only because we all already have a Buddha nature, that the question even makes sense. And if that is the case, then we continue with the aspiration: “May we never be parted from that sublime happiness”, generate the corresponding intention, and finally do the supplication, that allows us to carry through with our intention. All four questions are explored in the meditation, which is on Great Joy. After the meditation, we return to the the Mahamudra root text “Lamp So Bright”, and Alan continues the oral transmission and commentary for the Preparation section (stanzas 3-5), which elaborates on this theme from the perspective of great beings like Sakya Pandita, Dampa Sangyé, Shantideva, Atisha and Milarepa. Alan finishes the session making the reference that, due to time restrictions, we won’t analyze Chapter’s 2 and 3 of Naked Awareness. These chapters deal, respectively, with narratives around karma (Chapter 2), and also an exploration of the laws and intricacies of karma (Chapter 3). He ends the session with the reference that, for such complex topics, there’s a distinction between the most common perspective of practitioners like ourselves, that understand this topic only through knowledge-based inferences, and that of the great adepts, for whom some of these very subtle realities of karma are seen through direct perception. The meditation starts at 14:04. ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 11 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
After settling body, speech, and mind in their natural state, see if you can distinguish between the stillness of your awareness and the movements of the mind. Once you can experientially distinguish between these two, familiarize yourself with this practice until you become simultaneously aware of the stillness of your awareness and the movements of the mind. Then proceed into vipashyana to explore the origin, location, and destination of the mind as agent. Lama Alan exhorts us not to think that this practice is beyond us. This practice if for us, here and now.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 09 Apr 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan begins by explaining that rather than meditation, this session will be devoted to a discussion on the way these Dzogchen practices fit into our particular cultural and historical moment. He mentions that while this pandemic is very severe and has created great adversity for many people, most broadly in terms of financial pressure, just like everything else, it will eventually pass. What will not pass, however, is the trajectory we have set as a species in terms of our destruction and pollution of the environment, the effects of which are projected to be catastrophic. Therefore, beyond the current pandemic, we must consider what would be of most benefit for humanity and the planet as a whole moving forward. Lama Alan explains that scientists have already given us the necessary knowledge about the nature of climate change, and that we have already developed the necessary technology to move towards lasting sustainability, but we simply are not taking the action. So, he asks, what is needed to turn things around? The solution he presents is one of a radical inner transformation that causes us to change the way we view reality, and from that, the way we live our lives and the way we look for happiness. It is a shift from materialism, hedonism, and consumerism, to a view that takes into consideration the whole of reality and the true nature of consciousness, and on that basis develops a way of life that aligns with the true nature of authentic wellbeing.
Lama Alan then refers to another prophesy that Dudjom Lingpa received from a dakini saying that if they cultivate the essential practice of Great Transference, one hundred of his disciples will achieve Great Transference Rainbow Body. Lama Alan explains that this is different from the Rainbow Body achieved after death when the body dissolves, which is quite common in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. In the manifestation of Great Transference Rainbow Body, it takes place during one’s life, one’s ordinary form dissolves into the absolute ground of reality, one becomes a completely awakened Buddha, and one is then able to manifest innumerable sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya forms, including one that appears exactly as you appeared to those around you just before you dissolved.
Lama Alan sees only something as powerful as this being capable of truly creating the revolution of perspective and priorities that we need as a species. He then muses on whether or not people of other religious, philosophical, and scientific traditions could potentially achieve this state without “converting” to Buddhism. He cites the examples of this in the Bon tradition of Tibet, and then references other compelling examples of Dzogchen-esque practices and possible manifestations of Rainbow Body in other religious traditions, citing particularly Francis Tiso’s book, Rainbow Body and Resurrection. He explains that the essential Dzogchen practices of shamatha, vipashyana, tekchod, and togyal, are radically empirical and do not explicitly have any cultural or religious trappings, such than someone from any background could in theory take the mind as the path, attain shamatha, and realize the nature of consciousness and the truth of reincarnation. And so on for the rest of the path. Finally, he says that while Dzogchen is certainly imbedded within the context of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, there is no reason why people from other traditions could not have their own preliminary purification practices, their own devotional practices, and then engage in the main Dzogchen practices and achieve all the same realizations as a Buddhist Dzogchen practitioner. And he mentions how wonderful it would be if among these one hundred Great Transference Rainbow Bodies, there were practitioners from many different traditions. This, he suggests, could be something that could actually turn us around. Therefore, he urges those who can commit fully to such a path to do so, and those who at the moment cannot, to support those pursuing this sublime state of realization.
Spring 2011 Shamatha Retreat, 25 Apr 2011, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
In this 24-minute guided meditation, Alan Wallace teaches us to view our own minds, including the whole space of the mind and all of the events that arise within that, from the perspective of the substrate consciousness, as opposed to observing the conceptual mind from the perspective of the conceptual mind.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 03 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
This session begins with an analogy. The microscope is to physical perception (the visual faculty) what shamatha is to our mental perception. The microscope allows us to see things (the bacteria of the Bubonic plague) that we cannot see with the naked eye. Achieving shamatha allows us to perceive mental phenomena that we cannot perceive mentally with our human mental consciousness. Shamatha increases the bandwidth of what can be perceived mentally, including recalling past lives that weren’t human and opening up the possibility in the post meditative state of mentally perceiving a broader bandwidth of phenomena, including a wider array of sentient beings. The aural transmission begins at 24:43 on Tibetan pg. [313] “When one encounters...”and ends just after the start of Tibetan pg. [315]. Lama Alan imagines that in the first part of this Phase 5 Vajra of Pristine Awareness is reporting to the Lake-Born Vajra, as a student would report to their teacher. He is saying, “Here is where I am and what I’ve understood.” Lama Alan touches on several larger themes during this session, beginning by drawing a parallel in the text to shamatha. He reminds us that we cannot be harmed or benefited by our own appearances, whether it is Buddhas appearing or demons. They appear but are empty and there is no causal efficacy, if you don’t reify them. Lucidly present, in mental events you just see mental events. Lama Alan then moves on to discussing Pristine Awareness as super natural. The triad of dharmadhatu, primordial consciousness and the energy of primordial consciousness are inextricably bound together and of the same taste/same nature, transcending time and space and arising independent of causes and conditions. Pristine awareness is always shining, ever present! Take a cloudy day, when the sun eventually breaks through the clouds, we don’t cause the sun to shine but because of causes down here it can be obscured. Ethics, Samadhi, and wisdom help to remove the obscurations. No minds of sentient beings have any other origin than primordial consciousness. Taken a step further, it is a reasonable hypothesis that all kind of energy and matter are emerging from the energy of primordial consciousness. Then we look at this “ha, ha business.” What is it about? This is Vajra laughter. Until you have tasted nirvana all you can experience is hope that sentient beings can be freed. But once you’ve tasted nirvana you know with certainty that everyone around you is naturally free. You see there is a total, irreversible cure. Thus, it is a maniacal laughter. A laughter of relief. We then move onto the next section of the text, which opens with a question from the Vajra of Pristine Awareness. The Lake-Born Vajra’s response invites us to contemplate the true prerequisites for this path. By looking at how the preliminaries are addressed in many of the Dudjom Lingpa texts (not much detail or delineation, leaving the door open), Lama Alan enters into an exploration of the assertion that we don’t need to be Buddhist or take refuge in the Buddha to follow this path. By leaving out detail, the notion that there is only one certain way to purify obscurations and accrue merit is called into question. When truths are truths, they are truths. They are not Buddhist or Christian or Taoist truths. They are simply true. Lama Alan dissects every part of the path, showing that no part of the path laid out here is Buddhist, from the impure mind all the way up to pristine awareness. These teachings are core Buddhism and it strikes Lama Alan that they are open to anyone. The final paragraph of text covered leads us into the prelude for our meditation. It begins at 1:31:04 inviting us to discover the depths of this precious human life. The one we each have right here, right now. Once you recognize this, you must “apply your Dharma to the path.” We are invited to make this meditation personal. We begin by investigating, for ourselves, the meaning and manifestation of a precious human life, in our experience right now. After seeing all of the qualities and conditions that have come together we realize that THIS, right now, is the lifetime we have this opportunity. How can we prioritize (or are we prioritizing) this above all other priorities? Give up all attachment to this life. Allow this recognition to assimilate and sink all the way down so that we are seeing with 20:20 vision. From this starting place we cultivate lovingkindness for ourselves, devote ourselves to the causes of genuine well-being and then asking what is our vision quest? What do each of us aspire for? What is the greatest gift we can give ourselves, the greatest kindness? Then we turn our awareness outward to all those near and far, human and non-human, and arouse the loving aspiration for all. Pray for each one to be so fortunate soon! The silent meditation on "Taking Full Advantage of this Rare and Precious Human Life, Cultivate Loving Kindness for Self and Others" starts at 1:37:33
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 29 Sep 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Teaching: Alan continues with his commentary on Ch. 13 of Shantideva’s Compendium of Practices on the 4 applications of mindfulness. The body is filled with impurities, fragile by nature, and subject to destruction. One who sees this body as impermanent takes the essence of life, serving all sentient beings, avoiding faulty behavior, no craving or clinging to enjoyments, etc... One views the body as a the body, nothing that is mine. One designates the body of all sentient beings as my body, wishing to bring this body to buddhahood. The ultimate nature of this body is undefiled. In sum, Shantideva uses impurity of the body to dispel craving as in the Shravakayana, but then on that basis, builds the Mahayana practices of compassion, emptiness, and pure vision which provide the framework for Vajrayana.
Meditation: practice of your choice.
Q1. What is the connection between Mahasi Sayadaw and Pa Auk Sayadaw?
Q2. You mentioned that phenomena come into existence with conceptual designation, but a person doesn’t become a fool merely through being designated as such, etc... It appears that phenomena come into existence with conceptual designation but not really.
Q3. I’ve had lucid sleep without dreams whereby the only awareness I have is akin to awareness of awareness. Am I doing this practice correctly?
Q4. We’ve established that a baby needs secure attachment for survival. Secure attachment appears to be biologically inbuilt for humans, being defined as a lasting psychological bond between beings. Is it possible to have healthy human relationships without attachment?
Q5. From the time of the agricultural revolution (human population of 5 million) through the present day (human population of 7 billion), there has been a population explosion. Where are the reincarnated human consciousnesses coming from? Are lesser consciousnesses being promoted before their time, leading to chaos and degeneration?
Q6. I’m finally starting to enjoy meditation, see changes in the quality of awareness, and detect a certain calmness in mind. I find that I’m worrying about leaving in a few weeks and losing all these gains made. How can we best make use of the time in the final weeks?
Meditation starts at 33:10
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 25 May 2021, Online-only
This session begins with the meditation which starts at 00:02:14 and is about Padmasambhava’s pointing out instructions on pristine awareness. Continuing with the visualization of the wrathful mandala, Lama Alan returns to the text of the sentence: “The natural radiance of mirror-like primordial consciousness arises in the east as the white Vajra of Hatred.” He comments on the visualization of the three syllables as preparatory practices for the stage of completion. The text then makes a parallel between the relative and the ultimate meaning of different aspects of the practice. Lama Alan highlights the importance, stated in the text, of achieving stability in divine pride, comments on the different degrees of realization and reviews the crucial point of recognizing that every wrathful appearance is an enlightened display of Samantabhadra. The text continues with pith instructions on the visualization and advise on practices for different times of the day. It ends by coming back to the idea, that the ultimate practice is stabilizing in the nature of pristine awareness. This concludes Lama Alan´s oral transmission and comments on phase four.
2019 8-Week Retreat, 16 Apr 2019, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Tuscany, Italy
Lama begins by continuing to answer a question from Morgan, regarding in what sense our minds are ours and in what sense they are not. Then, he continues with a question from the people following by way of podcast, where they asked if Lama could clarify the differences between settling body speech and mind, resting the mind in its natural state, taking appearances as the path and merging mind into space. When answering this Lama also explains the 10 kasinas and how the kasina of consciousness was lost in the text of Buddhaghosa but how Padmasambhava is the one who took on the torch of this teaching. We followed with a meditation from Padmasambhava on merging mind with space. Meditation is on merging the mind with space The meditation start at 32:22
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 18 May 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
Lama la initially commences todays teaching by attending to the words missed in the text on Dream Yoga (page 260), those being “outer grasped objects”. Lingering there, he enlarges on the wording in this section which describes how we got ‘into this mess’, the buddhist view being that the world we experience comes about due to causes and conditions. The primary cause being the inner grasping mind, the internal reification that starts with ‘I am’, thereby reifying everything else. The theme of causality being pivotal with no supernatural interventions. The general principle is that nothing ever happens due to one cause alone. This brings buddhism into contrast with other world views, namely the theistic view of having one cause, that being God. Lama la expands on how theists have contemplated this view, questioning how could God allow tragedies to occur. Buddhists however, see causality as central, as being naturalistic; nothing ever happens due to one cause, there is something primary and then there are contributing conditions; the simple reason we are suffering is ignorance/self-grasping; we can be free due to one primary cause, our buddha nature. Then we go to the next missing word, still on page 260, in the sentence “In terms of the causes and conditions of both daytime appearances….”, “appearances” being the word missed. The days teaching commences on page 260, Dream Yoga at 00.17.49. Lama la then takes a step back, emphasizing the sequence of the six transitional phases, asserting that, by way of listening and investigation of the teachings we need to gain a thorough understanding of the overall context, the world view, of the practice. Part of our world view is innate; we are born in (grow up in) with a grasping of self and reification of others, whereas our mental afflictions are connate, we are born with them. We have all acquired a world view. Chances are we will find the Buddhadharma is at odds with what we have been used to; the long-term world view of buddhism is in contrast to theistic traditions. Lama further discusses the importance of context; context lays the correct foundation to whatever we do. He refers to Stephen LaBerge’s personal experiences with lucid dreaming and his subsequent teaching to students; Lama saw no evidence of impact on people’s lives in regard to ethics, world views, values etc, therefore having no transformative power; without context we have no path. Returning to the text at 00.36.01 “Taking your understanding of this as the basis…..”, we find everything in the one sentence; we are given the context, the view, the causality of how it is that we dream and the relationship between daytime and dream appearances; the minimalist approach to dream yoga. At 00.37.15 we pause in the text to hear Rinpoche’s 1990 teaching from the great meditation master Lochen Dharmashri on daytime dream yoga. Lama asserts the importance of implementing day time dream yoga as many times as possible throughout the day, using whatever understanding, experience and insight we have into emptiness. When qualms arise, investigate until one confidently sees the 2000-year teachings of Nāgārjuna stand firmly. Until now, most have not supported the unique Madhyamaka view however quantum mechanics is now saying ‘that sounds good to me’. When daytime dream yoga isn’t embedded in the emptiness of all phenomena there will be no transformative effect. Next is Lochen Dharmashri’s teachings on nighttime dream yoga. Lama la suggests we develop the ability to recall dreams, giving instruction for the transitional phase of sleep to wakefulness. The meditation commences at 01.06.01 and consists of concise instruction from Padmasambhava on “Identifying Pristine Awareness” (Natural Liberation), picking up from where we left off. The remainder of the meditation is in silence. After the meditation, at 01.26.48, Lama la shares Gyatrul Rinpoche’s commentary on Padmasambhava’s paragraph, thus providing an aural transmission. Prior to the commentary Lama gives us a ‘morsel’ by way of saying that when we are seeking to identify primordial consciousness/primordial awareness distinct from conditioned consciousness, take the analogy of sky and space, noting that the sky is always in transition whereas space never is; space doesn’t move. So as you’re aware of awareness you’ll be aware that its forever changing as in the sky, but primordial consciousness never changes, never moves, its inconceivable that it ever moves.
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 19 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
The Science of Mind - Day Seven, Session One, Meditation Only Experiencing the apprehending mind and that of apprehending the apprehender. When you become aware in this way, you will begin to realize that the apprehender and apprehending mind are non-dual.”
2017 8-Week Retreat, 14 May 2017, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Tuscany, Italy
Questions include: 1. Why do we always do 24 minute meditation sessions? If we have more time to meditate, would it be better to split it into 24 minute practices or to do just a single one? 2. I think that I misunderstand something about the idea of "reincarnation" from a Buddhist point of view. Could you help me to understand it better? It is difficult for me to join together my understanding/perception of emptiness and my idea of "reincarnation"(my idea of "reincarnation" is highly influenced by the Christian point of view). 3. What is the difference between the Vipashyana practice of looking at the mind with mind and the Trekcho practice of looking at the mind with mind?
Fall 2010 Shamatha Retreat, 18 Nov 2010, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Alan’s introduction to today’s practice aimed to differentiate Awareness of Awareness from Settling the Mind in its Natural State. The culmination of any Shamatha method is the dissolution of the mind in substrate consciousness. In Settling the Mind, the object of meditation is the space of the mind and whatever mental events arise within it, and the practice consists in letting these events be. In Awareness of Awareness, the interest is the nature of awareness itself. The practice consists in letting go any mental event, in releasing the thoughts. Alan explains that this is like “taking the fruit as the path” because you are releasing your mind as if you were ready to transcend the mind immediately. By being aware of being aware, you can indeed have a taste of the three characteristics of the substrate consciousness: bliss, luminosity (not to be equated to brightness, but rather to a sense of being awake) and non-conceptuality.
Fall 2010 Shamatha Retreat, 19 Nov 2010, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Good Morning to All Shamatha Minded Sentient Beings,
This morning Alan went into more detail on settling the mind in its natural state. He opened with a quote from Dujom Rinpoche. “Whatever comes up in the mind don’t apply any antidote.” ( while doing Settling the Mind in its Natural State). He also talked about having confidence in oneself and having a balanced mind. We reviewed the 5 Obscurations and the antidotes for them. And then, how being present, relaxation, and looseness are essential for a sense of well being during meditation. At the end, he cleared up an analogy he had told about the maras that he was concerned was misleading.
Alan’s closing is “Enjoy Your Day”!
Darlene
2019 8-Week Retreat, 07 May 2019, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Tuscany, Italy
Lama begins by welcoming Jeanne, who is joining the retreat and will act as the Chöpön (ritual/shrine master) for the empowerment on Sunday. Then Lama goes into explaining that although we have had a mind for an incalculable amount of time, that doesn't mean that we know it; we have been using it to look outwards and not inwards. We can investigate this mind with shamatha and with the 4 applications of mindfulness and we can also, not phenomenologically but ontologically, seek out the referent of that which is imputed as the mind. For the latter Lama indicates that we need to make it personal when looking for the referent of the word mind, and that for this approach we should investigate with a beginners mind, without thinking that you know the answers, since knowing the right answers doesn't really change anything. Then Lama lays out the different steps in the method to realize the emptiness of the mind by reading instructions from Padmasambhava, and his investigation about shape and form of that which we call the mind. The meditation practice starts with settling body, speech, and mind and then awareness of awareness moving into vipashyana and probing the nature of that that we call the mind. After the meditation Lama continues reading the text on page 192 and he explains how His Holiness commented that up to and including the 8th yana we are taking the mind as the path; while the 9th yana is the only one that takes Rigpa as the path. Lama ends by recalling Yangthang Rinpoche's advice on conduct. As much as possible be present and recognize every thought that comes by, not allowing yourself to be snared by, to be fused with these thoughts. Let them release, very lightly. The meditation starts at 34:26
Fall 2013 Shamatha and the Seven-Point Mind Training, 12 Sep 2013, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Observer participance: In the practice of settling the mind in its natural state, awareness is in the space of the mind entangled with what we are observing, so it is bound to have an affect. The act of observing events seems to make them go away.
Some objects appear simultaneously - in real time - if we generate an image of a walnut and focus on the image, for example. Some only retrospectively, like being sad when it is raining, "the rain makes me feel so sad", then once we are aware of the sadness, it gone. Anger/aversion arise as long as being fed but as soon as focus on the emotion, it disappears. Interesting! Welcome to your mind.
Post meditation: Alan addresses questions on 1) the difference between the space of the mind and sense consciousness and 2) observing events in the space of the mind vs going with them. He also dispels a misunderstanding about 'open awareness' being Shamatha (or Vippassana).
Meditation starts at: 14:20
The 4 Yogas of Mahamudra 2019 Retreat, 17 Jun 2019, Shambhala Mountain Center
Shamatha: Settling the mind in its natural state, focusing on the space of the mind and its characteristics
