Spring 2011 Shamatha Retreat, 29 Apr 2011, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Alan Wallace guides a 24-minute meditation on awareness of awareness, teaching us to invert the awareness deeply, attending closely to the evidence of someone - an agent - in one's mind that stands apart from and somehow controls the body and mind.
Guided meditation begins at 5:20 in the recording.
Editor's Note: Due to a recording error, this session may be difficult to for some to hear clearly. Our sincere apologies.
Spring 2012 Shamatha Retreat, 16 May 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
With a new cycle we return to settling the body, speech, and mind in their natural states. In the Vajra Essence, Düdjom Lingpa intimates shamatha can be achieved simply by fully releasing the body, speech, and mind. When we remove all activity, our mind naturally gravitates into alignment, the pranas equalizing into the central channel. But in order to allow this a solid dharma practice alone is not sufficient; we must have a conducive environment, lifestyle, and community. This is especially true when going into a solitary shamatha retreat, which requires having few activities, pure ethics, a release of rumination, and importantly, having few desires and being content (to avoid living the parable of the elephant and the cat).
Q&A
* The four jhanas and the experiences to expect after attaining shamatha.
* Comparing the bliss of shamatha with that of tummo.
Meditation begins at 30:07
Q&A Begins at 1:09:01
The Wisdom of Atisha and Knowing Our Own Minds, 15 Sep 2021, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, CO
After taking refuge arousing bodhicitta and he short mandala offering to request teachings, Lama-la explained that we will focus on and spend the three meditation sessions today on the method called shamatha focused on the mind. He highlights its importance for all other fields of science and for understanding our own mind. A way not to study the mind is to be totally ensnared in it, because one would lose any sense of scientific objectivity. He refers to the two meanings of objectivity and emphasizes that contemplative scientific aspires to both of these ideals. The method, which is actually called „shamatha by focusing on vikalpa (conceptualization)“ traces back to Mahasiddha Maitripa in the 11th century. It is described in "The Spacious Path to Freedom". He received this method in 1976 from Geshe Rabten and is the root text by Panchen Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen, tutor of the 5th Dalai Lama. In this method one focuses on whatever type of movements of the mind arise. It is not just thoughts and images, but also emotions and desires, in short all objective appearances and subjective impulses. Lama brings the analogy of the navigator and the raven, because our task is to watch all mental events like the navigator (symbolizing our mindfulness) who watches the raven (symbolizing mental events). As this method is a direct route to shamatha, it is important to focus single-pointedly on the space of the mind but without contraction, which doesn't come naturally. The Meditation begins at minute 26.59. After the mediation Lama-la goes back to the passage of the text where Atisha asks whether the mind could possibly be physical. If so, it should be located in the domains of the physical senses. Quoting the first verse in the Pali Canon, he stress the important of understanding the mind, i.e. mentation. Everything we know about reality consists of appearances and what we conceptually designate upon them. If there are no appearances there is nothing to designate, and without mentation there are no appearances. So everything is the mind. This understanding is also support by western science as the works of John Wheeler show. Lama-la then continues with the text and explains that as we observe our mind stream we will see our faults. Since the mind seems to appear as the self, the question arises where it actually is and how it exists. This lead us to the understanding that what connects our past and future live is the subtle mind stream and the importance of karma. However the subtle mind is not who we are, but just a mind stream."I" is just a label and we exist merely by conceptual designation. "I" is just a word, a concept.
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 28 Aug 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
After the meditation Alan elaborates on the practice of awareness of awareness, which is unique in the sense that the first phase does not require any effort - quite the contrary! Instead of trying to fix an unbalanced body or mind, you simply give both, body and mind, up. Thus, the path lies in the non-doing, which is simple but not easy. This technique then shows its full strength whenever the body or the mind seem just too messed up to be healed: If it seems that they can’t be healed, simply release them. So whereas with other practices there can be obstacles in your way that keep you from achieving your goals or of mastering the practice, this can’t be the case with awareness of awareness due to the fact that there is no striving. And if there is no striving, there can be no obstacle. After all, where would that obstacle be? Between you and your awareness? What kind of a “you” would that be if it were without awareness? Thus, it is a practice that everybody who has practiced mindfulness of breathing or settling the mind in its natural state has always already been doing - only now you just do this and you drop the focus on the body or the mind. The second phase then requires a bit of effort in that you are asked to oscillate your awareness between intensification and releasing. While doing so you observe who it is that is doing the intensifying and releasing. That way you get a sense of being the agent. But at the very same time you might question the very essence of that agent. Towards the end of the talk Alan explains the differences between Shamatha without a sign and Dzogchen by showing how the same practice can be different if your perspective on the practice shifts. Finally, Alan addresses the question whether you should first get the right view and study and then meditate or the other way around. The “answer” to this question, however, will remain hidden from you, dear reader, unless you listen to the podcast… Meditation starts at 1:17
The Wisdom of Atisha and Knowing Our Own Minds, 18 Sep 2021, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, CO
Content: - Theoretical aspects of the 51 mental processes are provided by the writing of Asanga and Vasubandhu - 51 mental processes, 7 modes of cognition, theme of epistemology are all designed to fathom the nature of the mind. - Non-duality between cognitive and therapeutic psychology. Understand your mind to heal it. After healing ones mind, heal the mind of others. - Five omnipresent mental processes, are subjective impulses or cognitive functions that are arising from the stream of mental consciousness, the primary mind. - Relationship between resting in awareness and fathoming the nature of awareness, by Padmasambhava, Maitripa or Yangthang Rinpoche and the practices today, which is the fathoming of our minds. - Parable of the duel of the swordsman and the archer. - Discussion of the preliminary sign, the acquired sign and the counterpart sign. Sign of the mind, cittassa nimittam, substrate consciousness or alaya vijnana. - Short discussion of the various dimensions or domains of the form and formless realms as a possibility of avoiding suffering. - Account of how the Buddha investigated and achieving the form and formless realm, concluded that this is not a solution to suffering and eventually found the path to achieve enlightenment. - Instead of running away from suffering use shamatha and vipashyana and probe into and fathom the nature, the origins and the process of dissolution of suffering. - Discussion of the mental process of feelings The meditation is on mindfulness of the body in combination with mindfulness of feelings. It begins at minute 39:05
2018 8-week retreat- The Essence of Clear Meaning, 05 Apr 2018, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute in Pomaia (Pisa), Italy
Alan starts the afternoon session by pointing out the symmetry between the morning practice and settling body, speech and mind in their natural states, which will be the afternoon practice. They are like yin and yang and the latter practice is only perfected in Buddhahood. He further highlights the importance of the preliminary practices before we then venture into the afternoon meditation. Meditation is on Settling body, speech and mind in their natural states After the meditation, Alan continues with the topic of our tendencies and that we have to create good habits for our practice. This means that we should sustain a good posture without fidgeting, moving about, and mind wandering, so that our practice is of high quality. He recalls Lama Tsongkhapa's advice of keeping the duration of each meditation session quite short for beginners (e.g. 15 minutes each), emphasising quality over quantity. Alan is then coming back to the theme of settling body, speech and mind in the natural state and relates this to rigpa. He then emphasises the importance of trying to settle the mind in its natural state constantly, that is during formal sessions and the time in between sessions. Finally he begins the oral commentary of the text for this retreat and mentions that this is the most condensed of Düdjom Lingpa's five treatises on Dzogchen. The meditation starts at 5:00 Text p.41.
2019 8-Week Retreat, 21 Apr 2019, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Tuscany, Italy
In today’s afternoon session we return to a section of phase IV that highlights that all the qualities of the Buddha, the Buddha fields, etc. are already complete in our own pristine awareness. There is nothing to develop. All these qualities only need to be unveiled. What stands in the way is the reification of our own mind. As a strong analogy, Lama-la mentions a non-lucid dream. As long as we are reifying the objects and people in the dream we will not become lucid. But as soon as we stop reifying, we are very close to becoming lucid. The approach we are taking in the waking state is that we are crashing the walls of reification by oscillating between the existence and non-existence of our mind. To open this door, however, we have to go back to Vipashyana which is sustained by Shamatha and for it to be sustainable we need the preliminaries. Lama-la then mentions different approaches or launching pads for realizing the emptiness of the mind and relates those to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd turning of the wheel of Dharma, the Sutrayana vs Mahamudra and Dzogchen and a perceptual vs a conceptual mode of investigation. As a prelude to the following meditation Lama-la gives explanations to the pith instruction on the nature of the mind by Yangthang Rinpoche. Meditation is on the pith instructions from Yangthang Rinpoche on the nature of the mind After the meditation Lama Alan continues with the text where we are in phase IV at the beginning of the last paragraph on page 174 “O Son of the family,...” up to the second paragraph in the middle of page 176. The meditation starts at 49:56
The 4 Yogas of Mahamudra 2019 Retreat, 17 Jun 2019, Shambhala Mountain Center
For this session we jump right into the meditation. After the meditation we go back to "Core Meditations on the Path of Mahamudra": * The Lake-Born Vajra, Padmasambhava (The Enlightened View of Samantabhadra) This presents the whole path of shamatha from the perspective of this practice, divided into 4 stages. **Meditation** Shamatha: Settling the mind in its natural state, focusing on the space of the mind and its characteristics Meditation starts at 1:02
Fall 2011 Shamatha Retreat, 03 Sep 2011, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Teaching:
Alan introduces the 3rd immeasurable: empathetic joy, defined as taking delight in virtues of oneself and others. While an antidote to grief and general negativity in life, beware of pride which elevates oneself above others.
Meditation (31:09):
From your early childhood through the present, bring to mind those who have treated you well and enriched your life. Invoke a feeling of gratitude and gladness as you recall others’ virtue.
From your early childhood through the present, bring to mind what you have brought to others. Take delight in your own virtue, without slipping into pride.
Q&A (55:47):
Q1) Are bursts of creativity during meditation nyams? And if so, should we not follow through on them?
Q2) During awareness of awareness, can I remind myself with „knowing“ and „aware“?
Q3) Can we be in one stage in one method and another stage in another method?
Q4) Should we release inner guidance when it comes up?
Q5) Is it possible to be at different stages at different times?
Q6) In the Vajrayana, one brings the energies into the central channel in order to realize the dharmakaya. What’s the relationship to settling the body, speech, and mind in their natural state?
Q7) In settling the mind in its natural state, I felt happy that images were appearing and wanted to manipulate them.
Fall 2013 Shamatha and the Seven-Point Mind Training, 14 Sep 2013, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Before the final (silent) meditation session on settling the mind in its natural state, Alan compares this mode of Shamatha with Vipassana (four applications of mindfulness). While settling the mind in its natural state has some resemblance of the Vipassana’s close application to the mind and both give rise to insight, what differentiates Vipassana from Shamtha is the degree of inquiry. In Shamatha, the main mode of meditation is simply placing attention on the chosen object (non-judgmentally). In Vipassana, on the other hand, it is close examination of the object. Hence, settling the mind in its natural state is a perfect preamble to Vipassana and a natural Segway toward it.
After the meditation, Alan gives his second commentary to the Atisha’s aphorism: “Examine the unborn nature of awareness.” Alan starts with a quote from Padmasabhava, who said that there is something called mind and different schools of thought point into the common reality, while calling it by different names and starting from a different conceptual framework and modes of investigation. Also, while all the schools have a different degree of insight into this reality, there is a degree of convergence as to the nature of reality they talk about. After that, Alan moves onto explaining the difference between the space of the mind, substrate consciousness, and pristine awareness (Rigpa, primordial consciousness, the ground of being). He also presents an overview of the modern science’s perspective on primordial consciousness, which is equated to the vacuum the universe is made of and shares similarities between Dzogchen teachings and the findings of quantum mechanics.
Meditation starts at: 10:11
Fall 2013 Shamatha and the Seven-Point Mind Training, 12 Oct 2013, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
This morning we start with the last session in the second cycle of settling the mind in its natural state. Alan gives a short preamble before we go into a silent meditation emphasizing the utter simplicity of the practice and its very nature of presence and stillness. Alan also talks about how this stillness and presence can be applied to a more engaged way of living once we come out of the retreat. After the meditation, we go onto discussing the post-meditative effects of achieving Shamatha, from its impact on one's mind, body, and prana to its enabling one to enter the path of Vipassana and other higher realizations. Alan stresses that achieving Shamatha creates a deep state shift in once's body-mind (shift in the entire way of being), which is a state of profound well-being and functionality.
Meditation starts at: 8:23 (silent, not recorded)
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 24 Sep 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Alan guides a meditation on the fourth immeasurable of equanimity practiced with still awareness and within the context of taking the mind as the path. The practice begins with allowing someone to arrive in awareness unbidden and joining compassion for their suffering to the in-breath and the wish for their genuine happiness to the out-breath. This tonglen practice can be done between sessions with all beings who make an appearance within the space of the mind. Meditation starts at 5:48
The 4 Yogas of Mahamudra 2019 Retreat, 17 Jun 2019, Shambhala Mountain Center
Note: We had to combine recordings since we lost the main microphone for brief periods, so you may hear some echo. Sorry about that. Lama Alan reminds us that today we're commemorating the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and parinirvana (i.e. Saga Dawa). He comments on the life of Gautama and everything he had to do to be forever free of suffering and achieve enlightenment. Besides everything he had to give up, the Buddha had to learn that it was pointless to try to get as far away as possible from the body and mind, but rather understand the body and mind by way of vipashyana, on the basis of shamatha. Lama quotes Geshe Ngawang Dhargye on how if you achieve shamatha, vipashyana is not that difficult, it could even be a matter of days instead of years or decades. He mentions an anecdote from a woman who is very gifted at lucid dreaming. In her dream she was able to disarm a man by thrusting his knife into her abdomen, all the while knowing that that was a dream knife and a dream body, so there was nothing to be harmed. In the same way, an arya bodhisattva can give away limbs like we can away vegetables. In the practice we're doing right now we aim to be totally present with the mind and all its junk, and yet not suffer by way of it. After the meditation, Lama Alan draws a parallel between this practice and the non-abiding nirvana of a buddha. We then continue with "Core Meditations on the Path of Mahamudra": * Śamatha Focused on the Mind * Maitrīpa (The Essential Instructions of the Mahāsiddha Maitrīpa) **Meditation** Shamatha: Settling the mind in its natural state Meditation starts at 28:28
Fall 2013 Shamatha and the Seven-Point Mind Training, 12 Sep 2013, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
What is the object of mindfulness in the practice of settling the mind in it's natural state? Most people don't get it, it's good to know what you are attending to because your words are guiding your practice. The answer is the space of the mind and whatever arises within it. You still have an object even if nothing arises. Previously we have emphasised the events in the space of the mind but here we shift the emphasis to the space of the mind itself.
Post meditation: "Regard all phenomena as if they we dreams". Alan talks at length on this line from the seven point mind training text, analysing the assumption that the world is really out there. Here is a brief summary-extract:
It's important to see where out feet are, we are not in Tibet thousands of years ago, but living in modernity and carrying this massive metaphysical baggage: that the world is really out there, everything was there and then we arrived. Even with the instruments of technology, what we are getting is information, which is not physical and yet we think metaphysical realism, but the physical we never actually see. As Werner Heisenberg said: "What we observe is not nature itself but nature exposed to our nature of inquiry". John Wheeler calls it the strange loop, the entire physical universe as we understand it arises in dependance on information, it does not exist prior to or independent of that information, but information depends on human beings which are physical gathering that information. What Wheeler doesn't say but what has to follow is that there is no information without someone who is informed or something about which you are informed. Those three things. You can't have one without the other two. If you take one away, the other two vanish into thin air, that implies the other two are not really there by their own nature. In other words, we are really really really participants in this universe.
Meditation starts at: 12:14
The Wisdom of Atisha and Knowing Our Own Minds, 16 Sep 2021, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, CO
Generate bodhicitta to inspire and motivate this practice Settle body, speech and mind in the natural state With the eyes softly open, the gaze vacant, rest your awareness right where it is, relaxed, knowing the it is relaxed, still, knowing that it is still, wide awake, vigilant and clear and knowing, the clarity of your own awareness From that vantage point, observe what is easy to observe: the appearances that arise objectively in the space of the mind as you rest in the immediacy of the present moment. Observe the space of the mind and whatever arises in that space. The objective appearances (1) arise from the alaya—the space of the mind. But this space is permeated by awareness, the subjective awareness, at root the substrate consciousness and all the subjective impulses (2) arise from that stream of mental consciousness („mind emergences“) Let the space of your awareness be large, with no boundaries and from that stillness observe any kind of movement within that space: moments of feelings, desire, but also continue to note the arising of objective appearances. The essence of this practice: Do not be distracted away by appearances, the objective appearances. Don’t be drawn out. And be free of grasping, identification, appropriation of any of the subjective impulses that arise. Don’t be snarred, don’t be carried away Whenever you see your awareness has collapsed, it has been pulled away to the referent of a thought or image, or it has collapsed down to, fuses with some subjective impulse, let your first response be to relax, relate the contraction and return to the spaciousness of your awareness. It is also possible on occasion to become a bit bored, or listless, or unfocused. You are just kind of sitting there with a blank mind. So when you lose the clarity the acuity of your attention, the simply refresh. That might be enough
Fall 2010 Shamatha Retreat, 19 Nov 2010, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Today we take an excursion into our experienced sense of being the observer and probe inward to investigate.
The practice - awareness of awareness – deactivates the coarse mind, the mind with which we identify. We do our best to do the practice from the vantage point of the substrate. Practiced correctly, shamatha will rise up to meet us.
“Our practice here is softening [us] up for vipashyana.” Likewise with all the practices along the path, each prepares us for the next.
“Let Buddha-hood rise up to meet you.”
Fall 2010 Shamatha Retreat, 18 Nov 2010, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Here we go again! Alan turns the wheel of dharma from the beginning of the cycle emphasizing the great benefits of the infirmary practice and the supine position, which we can use to make a habit out of relaxing around everything and anything that comes up (yes, even bliss). With the understanding that all mental afflictions are carried over by the conceptual mind, we take every exhalation as an opportunity to silence the inner chatter. Quiet conceptual mind equals dormant mental afflictions, equals Shamatha. Thus Alan once again showed us how the beginning is the end. After a guided infirmary session Sean, who is directly involved with actualizing the PIA vision, kindly shared with us some of the details around the invitation of the King’s Brahmin to consecrate the building site. Today’s picture represents the Mind Centre Spirits House, which was built on that occasion as a gesture of courtesy and respect towards Thai traditions. Enjoy!
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 06 Sep 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
This session continues the pointing out instructions from Padmasambhava, to cut through the substrate to pristine awareness (rigpa). Alan gives a preface to the meditation, explaining the ‘eight extremes of conceptual elaboration’ that Padmasambhava uses, and that identifying rigpa is a process of elimination. He also touches on that for something ‘beyond speech and thought’ there is so much written about it, and how to approach the guidance. The later part of the session takes the idea of the mind as empty, and when you emerge from shamatha, appearances are illusory even while engaging in a physical world. Alan quotes suicide statistics, suggesting that many choose suicide due to being enmeshed with the mind. They are betting their lives on the belief that the appearances to the mind exist inherently. Let your awareness be still between sessions. We are on the move, that’s what it means to be a sentient being. Whereas rigpa is still: not because it is held still, it is still because it is beyond time. It is not still versus movement, it is stillness behind coming and going. Meditation starts at 16:41
The Wisdom of Atisha and Knowing Our Own Minds, 17 Sep 2021, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, CO
Content: - We will start with mediation on shamatha focused on the mind and shift over to vipashyana - Analogy with bird watches (or star gazers) who learn to distinguish and to know the neighborhood. Know the neighborhood of your mind—know the 51 mental processes. - Importance of recognizing the raw primal mental consciousness and the various mental processes. - 5 mental processes that accompany and enable the primary consciousness without them we would buzzing like in confusion. - The five omni-present mental processes make sense of the world. - In the following session we will do proto-vipashyana in the sense that we will do more than just star gazing or bird watching. - After settling body speech and mind our task is to find out what the characteristic of the raw, primal basic stream of mental consciousness are. It is the raw, sheer flow of luminosity and cognizance. - Come back to your last session where we took no interest in what’s happening in the mind. Now we turn it around and see what other guest come to the party. See what is primary and know it, and see what comes and couples with it. What are the additions and find this in your own language. - How interesting somethings is depends on the degree of brightness and clarity we bring to it. Pay close attention to your object of interest and it will be interesting. - Another factor that determines how interesting something is, is the degree of discernment and recognition of what is there. The more well informed, the more clear intelligence you bring to something, the more interesting somethings gets. - Book "The Embodied Mind." We are not only having human minds but our minds are embodied which are processing through our bodies. To understand the human mind you need to understand how it is embodied. - The meditation is on proto-vipashyana and begins at minute 12:10 - Satipatthana Sutta: Discussion of mindfulness of the body
Spring 2011 Shamatha Retreat, 25 May 2011, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
This afternoon, Alan Wallace sets up a meditation on equanimity, or uppekha, in two parts. First, bringing to mind situations in our lives that arouse aversion and craving, then imagining maintaining equanimity, and reflecting upon right action in those situations. Second, attending to a wide array of beings with equanimity, allowing the awareness to settle and seeing who comes to mind.
During the opening talk, Alan also reviews the four types of enlightened activity.
The unguided meditation is not included in the recording.
Question and answer begins at 38:14 in the recording.
1. I'm confused about your statement that we go to the substrate consciousness without baggage. Did you mean our baggage is dormant?
2. Can you offer any tips for a distracted mind during meditations on the four immeasurables?
3. I've been spending a lot of time practicing on my back, and I think I may need to do this on an ongoing basis. Are there any practices you've taught that can't be done on the back?
4. Can you talk briefly about one's root guru?
Fall 2015 Stage of Generation, 02 Sep 2015, Araluen Retreat Center, Queensland, Australia
The meditation is an investigation into the nature of the mind which Alan introduces as the prime strategy for fathoming the depths of our mind. To be effective this precise investigation should be preceded by settling the mind in its natural state and the realisation that by resting in non-conceptuality there emerges a certainty that nothing can harm the mind. However, the main side effects of this shamatha practice are the upheavals that occur as part of the process. These upheavals need to be dealt with by insight into the emptiness of self and phenomena. This is an important step to prevent reification being “countersunk” by further identifying closely with self and phenomena. That is, by not identifying with subjective impulses this leaves us less vulnerable. After the meditation, Alan expands on his previous teaching on the Madhyamaka approach to arriving at the Middle Way. He draws on the common ground between Western philosophy’s pragmatic realism and the Middle Way by providing interesting quotes by Ludwig Wittgenstein who had a major influence on the philosophy of Hilary Putnam. Alan leads an exercise based on Wittgenstein’s quote “So in the end when one is doing philosophy one gets to the point where one would like just to emit an inarticulate sound”. Alan then turns to the text (p.92-95) and provides commentary on the pith instructions of Kacho Wangpo and Orgyen Rinpoche in particular. He makes the point that the approach of the chapter is to focus deeply and non-conceptually on the existence of the mind, which is not a peaceful thing to do! Therefore we are on an expedition, not a retreat. The meditation starts at 24:21
Fall 2013 Shamatha and the Seven-Point Mind Training, 18 Sep 2013, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Alan goes straight into the practice. He reads Padmasambhava's instructions direct from text with a little commentary.
Alan gives Padmasambhava's concluding paragraph, 'summing it up'. He explains that next the text goes directly into Vipassana, dream yoga and Dzogchen (not discussed in this session). He reiterates the importance of Shamatha as a foundation to give stability to 'breakthrough' experiences one may have when receiving teachings from great masters.
Question re: the use of the eye mask for this practice.
Question re: inverting the mind back, as described in the 3rd Mindfulness - absence of mindfulness, in being similar to this practice.
Alan discusses how he submitted notes on 'the illusions of knowledge in the mind sciences' to a particular editor (not named), showing there is no compelling evidence at all of the materialistic equations of mind with brain, or compelling reason. An unfavourable response to it being published was received.
Meditation starts at: 00:34
Fall 2013 Shamatha and the Seven-Point Mind Training, 05 Oct 2013, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
We begin the evening session with a silent Tong Len meditation by focusing on a person, group of people, or other sentient beings - those who come to mind. The session is briefly introduced by Alan right before. After the meditation, we go back to the explanation of the sixth stage of Shamatha path and the wide range of experiences that might occur as a result of dredging up the psyche and the importance of seeing them simply as appearances to the mind: see them for what they are. After that, we move onto the last of the four practices to purify karma of the Seven Point Mind Training, which is: make offerings to Dharma Protectors. Alan explains that if one is not sure who his/her Dharma protector is, the best method is to see Buddha Shakyamuni as the Dharma protector and make offerings to him, as suggested by His Holiness The Dalai Lama. We end the session by Alan answering three questions from the retreatants.
Meditation starts at: 5:20 (silent meditation; not recorded)
Spring 2012 Shamatha Retreat, 23 Apr 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Today we proceed deeper into the practice of settling the mind in its natural state. We are given the second of five benchmarks as described in the Sharp Vajra Tantra by Dudjom Lingpa : the ability to discern between the movement and stillness of awareness itself. We will attempt in this practice to be simultaneously aware of the movement or stillness of both the space of the mind and our point of awareness. We hope to accomplish this in the moment using single pointed mindfulness (the first of the four types of mindfulness, as noted in the Vajra Essence).
The meditation leverages the technique revealed in Bāhiya's teaching ("In the seen, let there be only the seen...") to "spiral in" on the space of the mind.
Q&A:
* Deepest fear of shamatha: loosing one's sense of self.
* Clarifying Tenzin Choegyal Rinpoche, and a tangent into splitting photons as a metaphor for bifurcating mindstreams.
* Meanings of mindfulness.
* When events from home destabilize one's retreat.
Meditation starts at 23:02
Fall 2013 Shamatha and the Seven-Point Mind Training, 12 Sep 2013, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Note: We had a problem with the computer while recording and could only recover the session from a weaker source. Hence we kindly ask you to bear with us. Thank you.
Alan prefaced the meditation with several analogies for the practice of settling the mind in its natural state.
Alan discussed what happens if you were to immerse yourself in the practice of settling the mind in its natural state. He said that whatever comes up in the space of the mind, you know directly that whatever arises can't possibly harm you. You are free. The analogy is that of being in a lucid dream. When you come off the cushion, when witnessing the world around, everything appears empty. Not to say you have realised emptiness, (but the way you see reality is different) Attending to without grasping becomes a habit.
Text - 'View all phoneme as if they were dreams'. This is superb preparation to become thoroughly lucid and practice the remainder of the text. Ready for vipassana. Alan discusses this Dzogchen approach of 'outside in' as opposed to the Lam Rim approach of 'inside out'.
Question re: karma.
Meditation starts at: 12:56
2018 8-week retreat- The Essence of Clear Meaning, 20 Apr 2018, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute in Pomaia (Pisa), Italy
Alan begins by addressing the so-called preliminary practice of settling body, speech, and mind, and highlights its importance. He points out that many of us have gotten sloppy and mentally chat through this process at the beginning of our meditation sessions, yet when combined with the view, this is already a Trekchö practice. He also points out that when doing the practice correctly (resting in the nine types of inactivity: coarse, medium and subtle), the mind may continue talking and be very active, but "you" are not. Also the breathing continues, and that doesn't mean that your practice is half-baked. The body continues to breathe and the mind continues to talk. Thoughts are still arising, but you are not thinking them. The same applies for desires: they still come up, but you are not desiring them. Then Alan invites the audience to debate with him by posing this question: "Is awareness a quality of a sentient being?" The meditation is on Taking Aspects of the Mind as the Path, with Alan guiding the beginning of the session as we settle Body, Speech, and Mind in Their Natural States. After the meditation, Alan continues with the transmission and commentary on the text (on p.55), covering the sections on "How Never To Be Separated From the Experience of the Pith Instructions" and "The Synthesis". Among other things, Alan highlights the importance of having both a genuine, compassionate spiritual mentor and clear, proven instructions to enter the path such as the ones offered by Dudjom Lingpa in this text (thirteen of his disciples achieved rainbow body and a thousand became vidyadharas). The meditation starts at 9:42 Text p.55-57
Fall 2011 Shamatha Retreat, 09 Sep 2011, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Observing the rise and fall of the abdomen is the most effective method for the subsiding of compulsive thoughts and to help quiet the mind. Coarse excitation is the primary imbalance in Stages 1-4 and observing breathing at the abdomen is helpful all the way to Stage 4. The first phase involves a gently caring approach. In this second phase, one begins to bring some discipline and effort to the practice. This is when one begins to train the mind, to calm it and to develop stability.
Meditation starts at 12:41
Spring 2010 Shamatha Retreat, 14 May 2010, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Today we practiced settling the mind in its natural state with an emphasis on observing the background, the "stage" of the mind. As Alan mentions, this acts as a whetstone (knife-sharpening stone) for our vividness, increasing the resolution and sharpness of our mind.
The mind can also be viewed in HD!
The outro was unexpected and mind-blowing. It will be part of Sunday's bonus but I won't cut it out, it came out very spontaneously and it will leave you longing for it to be Sunday.
Some of you might recognize the picture of Galileo’s telescope... It is relevant both for the analogy of sharpening what we perceive and for the outro of this podcast!
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 08 May 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
In this vipashyana practice, Padmasambhava first outlines the view which is the context for this practice, and then he gives pith instructions on revealing the nature of awareness. Padmasambhava on the cultivation of vipaśyanā (Natural Liberation): “Revealing the Nature of Awareness In that way, until genuine śamatha arises in your mind-stream, use numerous techniques to settle your mind in its natural state. As an analogy, if you wish to look at reflections and the planets and stars in a pool of water, you will not see them if the water is disturbed by waves and ripples. But you will clearly see them by looking into a pool in which the water is limpid and unmoving. Likewise, when the mind is jolted around by the wind of objects, like a rider on a bucking bronco, even if you are introduced to pristine awareness, you will not identify it; for once the mind is helplessly manipulated by conceptualization, it does not see its own nature. According to the custom of some teaching traditions, you are first introduced to the view, and upon that basis you seek the meditative state. This makes it difficult to identify awareness. In the tradition presented here, you first establish the meditative state, then on that basis you are introduced to the view. This profound point makes it impossible for you not to identify awareness. Therefore, first settle your mind in its natural state, then bring forth genuine śamatha in your mind-stream, and reveal the nature of awareness... Steadily fix your gaze in the space in front of you, into the vacuity at the level of the tip of your nose, without any disorderliness or duplicity... Thus, while steadily maintaining the gaze, place the awareness unwaveringly, steadily, clearly, nakedly, and fixedly, without having anything on which to meditate, in the sphere of space. When stability increases, examine the consciousness that is stable. Then gently release and relax. Again place it steadily, and steadfastly observe the consciousness of that moment. What is the nature of that mind? Let it steadfastly observe itself. Is it something clear and steady, or is it an emptiness that is nothing? Is there something there to recognize? Look again and again, and report your experience to me! Thus engage in observing its nature. Do that for one day.”
The Wisdom of Atisha and Knowing Our Own Minds, 20 Sep 2021, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, CO
- For the sake of all beings we settle body, speech and mind. - As we come to the pinnacle of this initial settling, with the awareness utterly at ease, we release all effort, are relaxed and loose and hover hover effortlessly in the immediate present moment, free of grasping. - As awareness it is already luminous, there is nothing to be done, except that we don’t veil it by appropriating mental states of dullness and so on. - We let it be free of the mind, hold its own ground and simply rest - We let your eyes be open and open all six doors of our senses.
Fall 2015 Stage of Generation, 01 Sep 2015, Araluen Retreat Center, Queensland, Australia
Alan referred back to the two routes to enlightenment outlined by Kagyu master Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, who recommended meditation first, then the view for those with dull minds. For those with sharp faculties, studying the views of the various schools, in particular the pinnacle view of the Prasangika school works well. Just by presenting consequences, the Prasangikas allow the opponent’s views to self destruct. Nothing withstands Nagarjuna’s analysis. The only thing left standing is the middle way. On the other hand the Mahamudra tradition targets just the mind. Like Luke Skywalker in Death Star, Alan suggests we search for the weak spot and nuke the ‘all creating sovereign’, implicity nuking everything that mind creates. But first you have to find your own mind, working from where you are. If we follow the route for the dull-minded, by first settling the mind in its natural state and achieving shamatha, then with a naked mind, luminous and cognisant, we can probe and investigate the true nature of consciousness. Meditation is on identifying the mind. After the meditation, Alan returned to the text on p. 91, likening the process of alternately analysing and meditating on the mind to a skater who has to work the legs hard but then can glide. He emphasised that this is a radically empirical method, briefly comparing it to the work of well-known physicists John Wheeler and David Finkelstein, both theoreticians who gained insight into physics by following implications. The meditation starts at 44:14. ___ Course notes, other episodes and resources for this retreat are available here The text for this retreat can be purchased via the SBI Store. Finally, Please contribute to help us afford the audio equipment we rent to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
Spring 2011 Shamatha Retreat, 11 May 2011, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
In this session, Alan Wallace guides a meditation on mudita, or empathetic joy. He first speaks for some time about the opportunity of a precious human birth, and the power contemplating this opportunity has to shift the mind towards gratitude and delight.
The guided meditation begins at 21:55 in the recording.
Alan then answers these questions from the group:
1. When we are practicing settling the mind in its natural state, thoughts always come. Do them come from the substrate consciousness or the space of the mind?
and
In awareness of awareness, is this awareness from rigpa or substrate?
2. Is awareness of awareness equivalent to the skandha of consciousness?
Is it essentially rigpa?
If so, do other phenomena manifest rigpa differently?
Is that which concentrates equivalent to or associated with volition?
3. In awareness of awareness, I find it difficult to divorce the physical from what I'm doing. When releasing, I feel my body relaxing, and then when withdrawing, I feel my body tensing up. I don't know how to separate from these physical feelings.
The 4 Yogas of Mahamudra 2019 Retreat, 19 Jun 2019, Shambhala Mountain Center
**Victoria** Today in the inquiry on the nature of mind, two things arose that seemed not consistent with emptiness. One was in relation to the translation that you just gave, it felt like the mind felt intentional, because there's effort. And so that felt intentional, and therefore that feels like somewhat of an agent. And then the second and final one was that it felt like the mind, rather than the mind feeling like it didn't exist, it felt like the mind would arise or come into being based on conditions, such as waking, being aware, contact with an object. **Mark** I have a very basic, simple question. I wondered for a long time, and you referenced Shantideva in the teachings this week. You also referenced beings that were adept and academic, and the balance of the two. Shantideva is a bit of an enigma, to me anyway. How did he fit into this question? There isn't very much known about him I think, but I know you and your wife wrote a translation. My question is where does he fall in the equation of adepts and academics? **Alex** I was wondering about something you spoke about earlier, the 12 links of dependent origination, and also in a more Mahayana context the idea of dependent arising. And I've read that the cause or origin of suffering is understood differently in the context of the Theravada and in the Mahayana, and I'm wondering if you might speak about, is there some explanation there in these sort of philosophical or conceptual explanations, could you talk about that? Just very quickly I wanted to say that I've heard explanations that according to the explanation of the 12 links of dependent origination, the link or stage of vedana or feeling, of not being able to tolerate or sit with pleasant or unpleasant or neutral feelings, and then acting on that with craving, that that's where the suffering arises. **Alberto** In Cittamatra if nothing exists out there independent of the observer, how can others influence me, or more specifically, are the teachings residing in my mind? I mean if everything is a product of my mind and arises out of my own consciousness... **Holly** Today you talked about you how were practicing, the children were playing, and you turned right in upon, so you're going towards it, is one technique. But then was it yesterday or the day before? You said: "my dance card is full", going right back to the nostrils. So my question is, when to turn towards it and when to say "my dance card is full"? **Lexie** I'd really like to know the question that you asked the Dalai Lama when you first met him.
Fall 2010 Shamatha Retreat, 18 Nov 2010, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Good Morning, This Mediation is settling the Mind in Its Natural State. Alan said that because he didn’t answer two questions last night he would answer them this morning. The first question was about the elements. The second question was about grasping. After the meditation, Alan said a couple of more sentences about the prerequisites before starting the practice of settling the Mind in Its Natural State. Darlene
Spring 2011 Shamatha Retreat, 12 Apr 2011, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
In this afternoon session, Alan Wallace teaches a guided meditation of loving-kindness, beginning first with one's self, then moving outwards to others. He reminds us that loving-kindness is not an emotion, but rather the aspiration for others to have happiness and the causes of happiness. This is followed by question and answer. Alan answers the questions, "From a Buddhist perspective, what is the effect of the use of hallucinogenic drugs during the teenage years, can it harm the mind, and can meditation help heal the mind, and if so, how?" and, "How does one cultivate joyful effort, especially during mundane tasks?"
Fall 2011 Shamatha Retreat, 07 Oct 2011, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Alan goes into greater detail about ascertaining the space of the mind between mental events in settling the mind. He explains the danger of complacency at Stages 4 and 7 and the importance of overcoming remaining faults by sharpening the blade of introspection in order to progress further.
Guided meditation on settling the mind in its natural state (36:23)
Questions (71:34)
Q1) If it takes 2 years to achieve shamatha, how long does it take to achieve vipashyana, trekchö, and thodgyal?
Q2) If the Buddha could see all his past lives at enlightenment, why not the first?
Q3) In a personal interview, Alan mentioned that grief was a wholesome emotion. How can we learn about the range of wholesome emotions?
Q4) If labeling is not part of the shamatha practice and may be counter-productive, how can we know if we’re on track?
Note: For a series of free online recordings of Tenzin Palmo on shamatha and the 4 immeasurables, check: http://www.tushita.info/resources/audio-downloads/287-jetsunma-audio
Fall 2010 Shamatha Retreat, 18 Nov 2010, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
This can be a challenging practice. In today’s approach, drawing from the teachings of the Buddha to Bahia “In the seen let it just be the seen”, we applied it to the visual field, then the auditory, the tactile and finally to the mental. The main instruction for this practice is “without distraction and without grasping”. Distraction refers to the tendency to follow a chain of associations. For example, when we see an attribute of an object, like a color, we start superimposing concepts based on memories of past experiences. In this practice we try to see the visual appearances without the association, without the labeling. Just aware of what is presented to our senses; we then apply it to the mind by being aware of mental events. On the other hand, grasping refers to the tendency of reifying the mind and the five obscurations by thinking for example “my mind is tormenting me” or “my thoughts are so disturbing”. We’re getting caught in the drama, and creating a mini-samsara of the movie that is projected in our minds. In this practice we attend to the movie trying to perceive the emptiness of the audio and visual input.
Fall 2013 Shamatha and the Seven-Point Mind Training, 26 Sep 2013, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Straight into meditation and then unpacking "Blame everything on one culprit" aphorism from the seven point mind training.
Here the one culprit is self grasping. There are two reasons we suffer, self cherishing and self centeredness (sometimes translated as self cherishing). Although we may overcome self grasping, self centeredness may come into one's spiritual practice. The developmental approach to overcoming self centeredness is through being selective about which qualities of mind to cultivate and which to reject (not just foolishly accepting it all). Another approach, such as in settling the mind in its natural state, where we sustain an ongoing intelligent, discerning and alert flow of mindfulness and, not applying antidotes, thoughts release themselves.
So Lama Atisha is calling for a deepening of introspection beyond what we use in Shamatha (to detect laxity and excitement) to note when the impulse arises "me first". Observe, recognise and investigate the toxicity of this impulse, and not to act on it.
Alan also answers a question on whether or not to continue an unhealthy relationship and how this relates to loving kindness and compassion.
Meditation starts at: immediately
Spring 2012 Shamatha Retreat, 20 Apr 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
We return to mindfulness of breathing with a focus on finding continuity and stability. Alan invokes the Buddha's teachings which begin: "While breathing in long, he knows 'I am breathing in long.'"
As we progress we'll begin to notice times when the mind drops into serenity, and breathing becomes shallow. With less activity in the mind and body, there is less demand for air, and the whole body becomes calm. This can be very peaceful, we can see why it's called an ambrosial dwelling.
Alan speaks to those who may experience variability in the quality of their practice, and emphasizes the importance of developing an authentic way of evaluating one's practice. He then gives guidelines on how best to use our time in retreat when off the meditation cushion, finding activities that are conducive to shamatha practice: being grounded, present, aware and mindful while walking, eating, discussing dharma or reading meaningful books.
Question and answer 59.40
* Questions on anatomy: posture that influences the belly, a jaw that drops, and which nostril sensations to attend to.
* While in the supine posture should one exert effort to return to the body if the mind is agitated?
* In settling the mind, when emotions relating to mental events arise in the space of the body, should these be attended to at the expense of bifurcating one's attention?
Meditation starts 9.37 Meditation ends 34.30
2017 8-Week Retreat, 17 Apr 2017, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Tuscany, Italy
This morning Alan is returning to the Shower of Blessings practice. As an introduction he highlights two principal ways to get to the nature of our mind and to our Buddha nature which is buried beneath the ground of our obscuration (an allusion to the simile of the Buddha statue that is wrapped in dirty rags and buried in the ground). One way is to crush the earth with the sword (hoe) of Manjushri in order to cut through the conditioned mind. Another method is to use the water of guru yoga which helps us to see ourselves as a Buddha. If we decide to take a person as our guru, this decision is based on our own intuition and inner wisdom. This guru should be someone to whom we can relate and who is at least a step ahead of us on the path to enlightenment. As we purity our vision the guru appears to us to be more and more a Buddha because we chose a different basis of designation. The changing perception of the guru primes us for having a pure vision of ourselves and our own mind as the Dharmakaya. Alan then turns to the practice of Shower of Blessings. Guided meditation starts at 15:44
Spring 2011 Shamatha Retreat, 26 May 2011, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
This morning's session is an unguided open practice, followed by brief Q&A. The meditation period is not included.
Alan answers these questions:
1. In awareness of awareness, how can I most effectively release medium excitation other than relaxing more?
2. In settling the mind in its natural state, during the period of "in the seen, let there be just the seen," I'm still aware of my breath as well as thoughts arising. What to do?
3. In settling the mind in its natural state, there are now longer and longer intervals between thoughts. What should I be doing in these gaps? Think? Let it be?
2017 8-Week Retreat, 16 Apr 2017, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Tuscany, Italy
Questions include: 1. Is it essential to have a living guru? - practice before finding a guru - confident belief in the guru - premature commitment to an unsuitable guru - premature commitment to tantra and daily recitation practices 2. Many times I'm able to observe the space of the mind and thoughts during my meditations...Is this a kind of observation of the movement of consciousness as Alan described? 3. I found merging the mind with space fascinating but when I tried it I didn’t really know what I was doing. Is there any form of instruction/description of this practice anywhere?
Spring 2012 Shamatha Retreat, 18 May 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Like an old friend, mindfulness of the sensations of the breath at the apertures of the nostrils, with its gentle undulations, makes us feel at home and flush with well-being. It is a marvelous compliment to the more stirring effects of settling the mind and awareness of awareness. Little is said about the practice before we begin.
Q&A
* In a beginningless universe, shouldn't all beings be enlightened?
* Settling the mind in its natural state and multiple lucid dreamers.
* Classic yidam practices, balancing with shamatha, and three-year retreats.
* Maintaining shamatha.
* A reality where Padmasambhava is born from a lotus.
Public Teachings from Lama Alan, 25 Nov 2024, Online
Lama Alan emerged from retreat silence for a few hours on Dakini Day, November 25th, to offer his final installment of his lecture series entitled "Believers, Contemplatives, and the Future of Human Civilization: A Buddhist Response to the Current Metacrisis." In this final lecture in the series, focusing on the cultivation of spiritual intelligence, Lama Alan gave a commentary on Atiśa’s pith instructions on Mahāmudrā. The core of these instructions is realizing the actual nature of one’s mind—here and now—as the dharmakāya, and all appearances to one’s mind as the light of the dharmakāya. To fathom this, one must comprehend the mind’s essential nature, manifest nature, and defining characteristics. With this view, one meditatively rests the mind in its natural state, observing how thoughts arise from and dissolve back into the dharmakāya. Atiśa then goes on to present a concise description of the four yogas of Mahāmudrā, culminating in the perfect enlightenment of a buddha. He concludes his pith instructions with guidance on one’s conduct between formal meditation sessions. By fathoming the actual nature of one’s mind, one comprehends the nature of all phenomena and the ultimate ground from which they arise. To actually realize this would be the culmination of spiritual intelligence, which transcends the limits of cognition and the divisions among the great philosophical and contemplative traditions of the world. To provide context for this lecture, we encourage you to listen to Parts 1–6 of this series, although as Lama Alan explains in this talk it can also be a stand-alone talk.
2018 8-week retreat- The Essence of Clear Meaning, 20 May 2018, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute in Pomaia (Pisa), Italy
The guided meditation begins with taking the mind as the path, giving special interest to the interval between thoughts, to the domain in which these mental events arise and pass. This space is tridimensional, it has no center or periphery, and it has no shape or color, but it is something that can become a referent of your awareness. You can focus on it, you can observe it closely, you can identify its salient characteristics. Based on such close observation, you can describe the space of the mind phenomenologically - its relative nature. Whether it is around you, behind you, inside your head, whether it has a centre - is that centre you? If so, where are you? Is that centre awareness? If so, where is it? It's quite evident that the space of the mind is ethically neutral. And as you simply rest your awareness, simply attending to this space, also your awareness is ethically neutral. If you are viewing this space in such a way that your awareness of it is imbued with klishtamanas (afflictive mentation), then you will have a sense of you being over 'here' and the space being over 'there'. Can you sense that? If so, then the split (nama rupa) has been made. Samsara is ready to roll. Now let's go beyond appearances and let's arouse our prajna. If there is really a distinction between your own awareness (or you as the observer) and the space (the observed), where is the border? When does subject & object begin? Where is your awareness and where is the space of which you are aware? If something inherently exists, there must be borders, the demarcation. Where is the demarcation between the space of the mind and that which is not the space of the mind? Is awareness local? Where exactly is 'here'? If the space is 'there', what's the referent of that phrase, what does that mean? Where does it start, where does it end? Space appears, and yet it's not really there - it's nowhere to be found. Space is an appearance, a totally obscuring truth, obscuring a deeper reality that is right there, mysteriously hidden from sight, obscured by space itself. By identifying the unfindability of space existing in and of itself, you may cut through the misleading appearance of space - the emptiness of inherent nature of space. Rest there, in empty awareness, ascertaining empty space, non-dually.
The 4 Yogas of Mahamudra 2019 Retreat, 19 Jun 2019, Shambhala Mountain Center
For this session we will be moving on to vipashyana on the nature of the mind, following the second turning of the wheel of Dharma, and focusing on the nature of that which observes or knows. We will now be doing an ontological investigation, as opposed to the phenomenological investigation done earlier. After the meditation Lama Alan reminds us that phenomena are not out there, independently, from their own side. They arise relative to our conceptual designations of them. If you can observe the act of reification, you can see it happening, then it's like catching a thief in the act. **Meditation** Vipashyana: ontological investigation on the nature of the mind Meditation starts at 4:30
Fall 2010 Shamatha Retreat, 18 Nov 2010, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
With this morning’s practice of Settling the Mind in its Natural State, we shift attention to the background of the events of the mind – the space of the mind. This space is none other than the substrate seen, as one views the moon on a cloudy night, through veils of afflictions.
Using a metaphor for this practice Alan asks why anyone would want to look at a blank screen on the TV when the third obscuration, laxity and dullness, is the habitual response. As Shamatha “always entails a flow of knowing,” the “beauty of the system” is that maintaining stability and vividness while attending to something as un-scintillating “is a great accomplishment.” To top it off, this practice is the best way to enter into lucid dreaming and relaxing the grip onto “I am”, especially “I am in charge.”
You won’t want to miss the rest of the discussion. Here’s a taste of the topics: life force (Srog lung [TIB], jīva [SAN]), “Just being dead and loving it,” Stephen Hawking’s new book - The Grand Design, and rainbow body. Finally, if the EU can support a $6 billion supercollider on the border of Switzerland and France, can the Buddhist community support a contemplative science laboratory?
Fall 2011 Shamatha Retreat, 20 Oct 2011, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
There are three strategies to protect from the tornado of thoughts in the mind. The first is to go to a shelter which is mindfulness of breathing – releasing and releasing the thoughts. The second is the tornado chasers who learn a great deal about tornadoes without getting caught in them – that is settling the mind in its natural state. The third is to go up into the tornado and come out on the other side in the expanse of blue sky – that is awareness of awareness. Silent meditation starts at 04:18
Questions (29:02)
Were the four immeasurable taught as a part of the year of shamatha practice with Gen Lamrimpa?
Could you discuss further the role of the observer participant related to frozen time.
Fall 2015 Stage of Generation, 15 Aug 2015, Araluen Retreat Center, Queensland, Australia
Alan begins by addressing the differences between a complex negation and a simple negation. He also makes further comments on the qualities of the space of the mind, inviting us to look into our own experiences to see whether the qualities he proposes for investigation are true or not. The space of the mind is three-dimensional, transparent, devoid of shape. He also comments that we can see what appears in between, i.e. space. The intervening space between subjects and objects, and also between objects is nothing other than the Dharmadhatu. Space doesn’t move, but experientially, does it seem to you that sometimes the space of the mind is very open and spacious like an ocean, while at other times the space of the mind is very small, like a teacup? What is contracting it? Grasping. Alan also elaborates on the Gelugpa’s approach to realising emptiness, the crucial importance of distinguishing between substrate consciousness and rigpa, an arya’s realisation of emptiness and a vidyadhara’s realisation of rigpa. In terms of meditation instructions, Alan suggests the following: within the space of the mind, when it seems there are no perturbations, look closer, keep sharpening the clarity of awareness, don’t be content. Alan also touches on the potential dangers of getting stuck when achieving shamatha, because the three qualities of bliss, luminosity and nonconceptuality can block us as if being stuck in a pool of wet cement. This occurs because we identify and grasp at these three qualities. In order to move beyond the substrate consciousness, we need to cut through the substrate by releasing identification and grasping. Meditation is on taking the mind as the path The meditation starts at 39:46 ___ Course notes, other episodes and resources for this retreat are available here The text for this retreat can be purchased via the SBI Store. Finally, Please contribute to help us afford the audio equipment we rent to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2018 8-week retreat- The Essence of Clear Meaning, 03 May 2018, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute in Pomaia (Pisa), Italy
In this session, we turn our focus to the appearances that arise to our awareness and the fact that these are our own appearances. Depending on the perspective, however the referent of the word "I" is different. This is important when taking the mind as the path, because viewed from the coarse mind "I" refers to the person that we think we are, whereas seen from the subtle mind the word "I" refers to something else. However, where awareness is located, there is also pristine awareness, so we don't have to look outside and we don't need to surrender to a divine authority outside of ourselves. On this deepest level, samsara and nirvana are our own appearances and the referent of "I" is rigpa. When we think of people, we should be aware that our thoughts are empty of these people. Whatever arises is instead an effulgence of your own awareness. We are drawing from the palate of our own awareness. So whenever we become upset with someone, we are dealing with our own appearances and it is usually the part about ourselves that we don't like. In the meditation, Alan invites us to bring to mind three types of people (agreeable, disagreeable, neutral) in order to show us that they are created, crafted by our own palate, our psyche, and that they are indeed empty of any person existing by way of his or her own characteristics. Alan invites us to see this clearly. We continue by observing the mind's movements from the stillness of our own awareness, then we see appearances arising in the substrate (they are indeed our own appearances, empty of inherent existence), and finally we observe appearances from the perspective of rigpa. The meditation is on observing appearances from the perspectives of the coarse mind, the substrate, and from rigpa. After the meditation, Alan briefly turns to the previous section of the text (page 68) and makes some corrections to the root text as well as the commentary. He then mentions the crucial importance of valid and invalid cognition within the context of conventional truth, and that both shamatha and vipashyana are improved as we move from a less to a more sophisticated philosophical background (Vaibhashika, Sautrantika, Cittamatra and Madhyamika). After this Alan moves to the next section on page 69, paragraph iii" Combating the Faults of Benefit and Harm. The meditation starts at 11:08 Text p.69
