2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 15 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
Rounding off the review of the 3 salient points or highlights of Phase 1 as it manifests upon achieving shamatha. These are the classic bliss, luminosity and non-conceptuality and they manifest together when shamatha is achieved. This is a state that is inconceivable unless one has achieved it. Otherwise, we experience them individually. If we reflect back on our lives, we can see we have been primarily driven and motivated by the hedonic pleasures, which are temporary, seeking pleasure or security or wellbeing. Once achieved however the three modes of bliss, etc. are not fleeting or temporary but rather constant. However Lake Born Vajra warns us that these too can become objects of attachment where one may not be able to bear being parted from them because they are never stale or boring. When the three afflictive states of craving, hostility and delusion appear (the three poisons), there is an effective remedy. These three states are then examined past the object of what has captured you and if one can see through these, so to speak, one will find a deeper view. Craving reveals itself to be bliss. Anger pulled back is intensity or vividness. Ignorance, delusion or stupor, looking deeper is luminosity. If one can, when experiencing these afflictive emotions, look deeper, they can reveal these qualities which are not afflictive. This is a pointing out that Lama la was given by Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche. These three sublime states, once shamatha is achieved, if clung to, the karma of that can also lead to rebirth in the deva, form or formless realms respectively, and can keep one still in samsara at death rather than using the platform of shamatha to fully understand emptiness and be able to break free of the gravitational pull of samsara to be able to fully get onto the path. Once you are able to break through bliss, you will see nirmanakaya, luminosity becomes sambhogakaya, and non-conceptuality dharmakaya. Getting stuck in this bliss, luminosity, non-conceptuality, you can end up in the desire, form or formless realms on death, but if you have cultivated bodhicitta, that will kick you out of the attachments to this shamatha and continue on the path for the sake of all beings. There is a relative truth and an ultimate truth. The relative veils the ultimate as illustrated with the technique of looking through the delusion of anger, craving, etc. So the dharmakaya is already there, imbued in the relative. Who is your guru? A discussion on root guru then takes place. The sentient being that presents as ones guru is totally obscuring the Buddha that is there. It is a reality, but the guru is Samantabhadra. Authentic guru yoga is seeing through to Samantabhadra. There is a discussion on artificial intelligence with the thought that it should be named simulated intelligence. There is an in-depth discussion of achieving shamatha, the experience of first losing, as an illustration, ones onboard operating system and the interlude before the new one comes on board. At minutes 20:34 Lama la discusses the text on page 27. “Finally, a state of unstructured consciousness becomes manifest, devoid of anything on which to meditate. Then, when they come upon pristine awareness, the state of great nonmeditation, and their guru points this out, they will not go astray. For this to occur, first you undergo great struggles in seeking the path; you take the movements of thoughts as the path; and finally, when consciousness settles upon itself, this is identified as the path. Until path pristine awareness, or unstructured consciousness, manifests and rests in itself, due to the arousal of afflictive mentation, you must gradually go through rough experiences like the ones discussed earlier…” There is a deep discussion of how and why upheavals occur and how do deal with them. Do not reify them or they will usurp your practice. Lama la then quotes Düdjom Rinpoche (Extracting the Vital Essence of Accomplishment): “Because of the profundity and intense power of the Great Perfection, there will also be obstacles, just as great profit often comes with great risk. This is because all the negative karma you have accumulated in the past is catalyzed due to the power of these practical instructions… Various outer and inner undesirable circumstances may well arise. Oh, these are indications of upheavals, so recognize them! Here is the demarcation between profit and loss: If you embrace those obstacles by means of the crucial points of practice, they will turn into siddhis. If you fall under their influence, they will become hindrances. With pure samayas, admiration, reverence, and unfaltering courage, entrust your heart and mind to your guru, and earnestly pray to him with confidence in whatever he may do. By regarding unfavorable circumstances as something desirable, and by striving diligently in your practice, eventually the substantiality of those circumstances will naturally dissolve, and they will instead empower your practice.” Then we are pointed to the following on view, meditation and conduct in the retreat notes: Excerpt from B. Alan Wallace, “A Lamp for Dispelling the Five Obscurations: Pith Instructions for Achieving Śamatha in the Dzogchen Tradition with Alacrity” Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) (“On Diversions”): “When I have set myself now and then to consider the various distractions of men, the toils and dangers to which they expose themselves in the court or the camp, whence arise so many quarrels and passions, such daring and often such evil exploits, etc., I have discovered that all the misfortunes of men arise from one thing only, that they are unable to stay quietly in their own chamber.” Śāntideva (Bodhicaryāvatāra VIII: 1): “…one should stabilize the mind in meditative concentration, since a person whose mind is distracted lives between the fangs of mental afflictions.” The meditation that begins at 1:07:00 is on bridging shamatha and vipasyana, taking the mind as the path. After the meditation Lama la emphasizes that for one is of sharp faculties and you have really absorbed everything that was taught in Phase 1, shamatha is there, vipasyana is there and the pointing out instructions to pristine awareness are there, as well so that may be enough to leap over Phase 2-5.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 10 May 2021, Online-only
Having settled the mind in its natural state, view all appearances and objects as empty in inherent existence, and release them all into emptiness, indivisible from the dharmakāya. Out of emptiness, view all sentient beings, all teachers, all created representations of the Buddha’s body, speech, and mind, and all material requisites as the four kinds of nirmāṇakāyas.
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 14 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
The Science of Mind - Day Two, Session One, Meditation Only Mindfulness of breathing while experiencing the whole body
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 05 Apr 2021, Online-only
Investigating the Essential Nature of Outer Demons
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 19 May 2020, Online-only
Gradations of Lucidity
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 15 Sep 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Teaching: Alan reminds us that all the shamatha practices have been attending to the mind in that there is mindfulness placed on an object and introspection to the mind. In settling the mind, the object of mindfulness is the javana of the psyche. In awareness of awareness, the object of mindfulness is the bhavanga. In mindfulness of the mind, we attend to both the javana and the bhavanga with probing and inquiry vis-à-vis the 3 marks of existence. We see first-hand how mental afflictions are unpleasant, how they come and go, and how they have no substantial nature.
Meditation: silent session with practice of your choice.
Q1a. In mindfulness of the mind, are feelings of desire and curiosity mental afflictions? Desire leads to craving and attachment, so would desire to achieve shamatha also be wrong? Curiosity can lead to anxiety. In my practice, both mental states can trigger unpleasant feelings, but can’t they also be positive states leading us to liberation?
Q2. Why aren’t you teaching settling body, speech, and mind with 3 breaths as explained in your book?
Q1b. Following up on the question on desire and curiosity, do they fall on a continuum with other mental afflictions, or are they in a category of their own? How about attachment as something positive as what a baby develops towards his/her mother?
Q3. In awareness of awareness, does the oscillation serve a purpose other than being an antidote to laxity and excitation?
Q4. In awareness of awareness, is it referring to one awareness that is different from all the other awarenesses? In my practice, my awareness jumps to different objects rather than staying on awareness itself. I let go, and it becomes like open awareness.
Meditation starts at 23:00
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 13 May 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan continues with the Satipatthana Sutra and the third of the four close applications of mindfulness. In particular he refers to: 1. Buddha’s descriptions of a mind that is contracted versus distracted, great versus small, surpassable versus unsurpassable and liberated versus unliberated; 2. Verse 48 of Shantideva’s “A Guide to the Bodhisattva way of Life” – that for attached/repulsed mind it is best not to speak but to remain like a piece of wood. Lama la says that people whom encourage the expression of emotion when under the influence of mental affliction don’t understand mental health. If we have a toxic (poisoned) mind and/or no control over its direction (dysfunctional mind) – it is best to know it is dysfunctional and potentially contagious and to disengage action and expression (e.g. by meditating or sleeping). Meditation starts at 00:36:30. Observe How the Mental Events the Buddha Highlighted in his Pith Instructions Have an Impermanent, Unsatisfying, and Impersonal Nature
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 03 May 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan’s morning presentation leads to this conclusion: it’s time to take a truly scientific approach to the study of the mind, its origins, its nature, what happens at death, how it relates to the body, what consciousness is, and if there are there multiple dimensions of consciousness. He talks about this Buddhist path being one of knowledge from start to finish, starting with the Buddha’s skillful means to impart among all his realizations, the ones most relevant to our situation, i.e., the four noble truths (see the Simsapa Sutta or the Simsapa Leaves Discourse). This provided the context for the Satipatthana Sutta where we are taught how to make the mind serviceable via mindfulness of breathing. The Kalama Sutta then provides us with an ethical foundation via the four immeasurables which heal us by overcoming the five obscurations and allowing the five dhyana factors to emerge. Using crystal clear luminous water as representative of our brightly shining mind, Lama Alan provides us with a metaphor for each of the five obscurations. The working hypothesis in Buddhism is that the obscurations are not there all the way down. There are deeper and deeper layers of obscurations that will be removed until we reach the non-dual mind of dharmadhatu and dharmakaya, but we are not intrinsically neurotic all the way down as, for example, Freudian psychology would assume. Introspection which is such a centerpiece of Buddhist practice is completely ignored in the mind sciences. Starting with Watson in 1910 the mind sciences became dominated by behavioristic theories that attributed all thought and behavior to conditioning. That lost credibility by the mid-1950s when the cognitive neuroscientists asserted that the chemical processes of the brain are responsible for all behavior and therefore must, also, be responsible for consciousness. Despite massive investments in brain research, suicide rates, hospitalizations due to mental illness, and mental disorders have not declined. The field continues to remain committed to material reductionism and insist that, despite there being no evidence to support what is a metaphysical, not scientific, assertion, consciousness must be a function of the brain. The field ignores evidence of the existence of consciousness prior to brain formation. Despite claiming to be a science, modern health care scientists are practicing a pseudo-science. This is where Lama Alan’s conclusion stated at the beginning of this synopsis comes in. Since modern science insists on ignoring our experience and discounting the value of introspection, it is up to us to ask those questions and apply the Buddhist path of knowledge to address our most fundamental concern - our suffering. We want to know the causes of suffering and how to free ourselves from those causes. Applying the Buddhist approach, we have a chance to free ourselves from suffering and to know who we really are. Meditation begins at 00:36:30. From inner stillness, we refine the instrument of your awareness, and don’t let it become obscured by appropriating or reifying any of the obscurations or afflictions of the mind.
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 04 Oct 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Teaching pt1: In buddhist epistemology, valid perception depends on an object, sense faculty, and continuum of consciousness. While the Shravakayana takes all three as real, Madhyamaka asserts their emptiness. Alan continues with verses 93-103 of Ch. 9 of the Bodhicaryavatara which addresses the origination of feelings. In buddhist epistemology, feelings arise from contact, so Shantideva deconstructs contact. If there’s an interval, there can be no actual contact between an object and sense faculty. If there’s no interval, the object and sense faculty would be one. Consciousness is immaterial, so how can it have any contact with a material object? Without contact, how can feelings arise? If the experiencer doesn’t truly exist nor feelings truly exist, why does craving arise when looking at an object? Feelings don’t arise to the mind like objects of perception. Feelings arise together with the mind as a mode of apprehending the object. Mind itself has illusion-like nature, so feelings too lack inherent existence.
Meditation: mindfulness of feelings preceded by mindfulness of the body.
1) mindfulness of the body. Settle the mind in the stillness of the present moment. Rest in the stillness of awareness by releasing all grasping. From that stillness, let awareness illuminate the space of the body. With naked awareness (no concepts!), observe sensations in the field of the body, and perceive each of the 5 elements via those sensations.
2) mindfulness of feelings. Can you distinguish between sensations and feelings? Closely apply mindfulness to feeling, and examine its nature. Probe the feelings. Probe the sensations. Now turn awareness on the experiencer. When some insight into empty nature arises, stop investigating, and just rest in that knowing.
Teaching pt2: Geshe Rabten’s advice on dealing with klesas: 1) the best way is to observe them directly, sharply, without entering into cognitive fusion, 2) if that fails, apply other antidotes, and 3) if that fails, move attention away from the object. Fighting klesas is like guerilla warfare.
Q1. How can I increase the resolution of images in the mind? At times, I find it helpful to hold onto blurry images, but this may not be good practice.
Q2. Please elaborate on the 4 types of mindfulness in settling the mind. Are there signposts in awareness of awareness?
Meditation starts at 50:04
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 18 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Eva starts the teaching by answering questions she has received. Since normally we are advised to meditate with eyes open a question was posed about eyes open or shut during visualization. During visualization, particularly in the beginning it is good to have the eyes closed. The next question was regarding prana as the basis of breath and speech. Eva discussed the five types of winds of which prana is the life sustaining wind and the subtle form of prana is that which passes from life to life. Another question was regarding breathing during the meditations. If the breath is settled in its natural rhythm at 15 cycles per minute, this is too short for these practices. Eva discusses options for breathing during these meditations. The next question was regarding the ninefold expulsion of breath and where is the dark blue energy of ignorance expelled. Eva then returns to the text on page 158. This meditation is a summary of prior meditations and begins at 53:23. It repeats the entire content in a simpler way. You won't understand and it will be too vague if you just do this meditation, but once you become accustomed to the more detailed meditations, this one is sufficient. Follow the instructions literally, but then discover for yourself if there are some differences in your body; there may be some differences between men and women. Eva then provides an explanation of why you need to repeat these practices many times despite the thought that now all the knots have been loosened.
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 16 Sep 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
In this meditation session, we expand the field of loving-kindness, starting from the sangha listening by podcast into the boundlessness of space. Guided meditation starts at 05:20 min
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 21 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
In today's session Yangchen discusses a commentary by Je Tsongkhapa (Ultimate Private Advice: Blessing Oneself) on stage three of "The Five Stages" (Pañcakrama) by Nagarjuna. These verses relate to the practice of stage of completion, in which the complete dissolution of the karmic energies that appropriate a sentient being's body is achieved, and a pure body of mind and winds emerges. The verses describe how this dissolution into the clear light conventionally happens, and how the cycle of samsara is perpetuated when appropriation and grasping move the mind towards a next body for "wandering beings". If one is, on the other hand, an Arya (who has full realisation of emptiness) this cycle can be terminated, and the body further appropriated (that which one relates to the self) is a pure holy body of winds and mind. Within the explanations, Yangchen la clarifies what it means for the mind to move, given that the mind itself does not have a spatial location. So a moving mind is therefore not something going from a place in space to another, as one would think of in the case of winds, but rather there is movement in the sense of intentionality. This movement catalyses, for example, the emergence of the impure body in the case of wondering beings. Yangchen la further compares the practice of the dissolution of the elements into the white, red and black near attainment, to the dying process (either conventional or tukdam) and how the yogi has acquired mastery over this dissolution process. Once the sentient being's body being appropriated has dissolved, the yogi is ready to emerge as a pure manifestation of primordial consciousness, which is the basis for the practice of completion stage. Furthermore some kind of pure vision arises in the yogi who has attained a holy body of illusion, as they see all wandering beings as possessing illusory bodies purely composed of winds and mind. This last point needs subtle clarification, as this does not refer to the conventional body of body-havers, but a primordially indwelling body at the core of the existence of every being. The meditation is on the peaceful mandala, with self generation as Akshobhya as an object of shamatha and begins at 1:03:30.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 05 May 2020, Online-only
Meditation begins at 24:10 and is on "Stepping into the Coach of Taking the Mind as the Path"
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 03 May 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
As we begin to venture into the next section of Panchen Rinpoche’s text, in this session Alan starts the inquiry into the object of negation. The object of refutation is a self that exists prior to and independent of any conceptual designation. This is connate ignorance, but with prajna, the sharp sword of intelligence, we can apprehend the absence of that self. This applies also to all phenomena. In order to expand the discussion of this topic, Alan brings in quantum physics, questions about how the sun, the moon, the earth exist - is the moon really there? Is the earth really spherical? Is Mount Meru existing from its own side? Is there only one approach to exploring reality? Alan highlights the need to bring in contemplative inquiry in the 21st century, as another avenue to understand reality. Before the meditation Alan illustrates Tsongkhapa’s assertion that we apprehend reality in three ways: (1) We attend to appearances (of ourselves, of others, of all phenomena), and all the appearances suggest that they appear as existing from their own side, and we grasp onto them as such, we reify them, we take them as face value. It is connate, it is a root delusion. Whenever any mental affliction operates, in the madhyamaka view, it is always operating from this basis of reifying whatever is the target of our craving, hostility, pride etc. Reified first, and then compounded with mental afflictions. (2) Then there is the way of an arya bodhisattva who knows through incisive research that no phenomena exist by its own inherent nature. When he/she comes out of meditation, the bodhisattva apprehends appearances as being empty appearances. That’s another way of viewing the same phenomena. The phenomena arise, but you see them as empty of inherent existence. (3) Undifferentiated. The way we apprehend phenomena doesn’t crystallize itself to affirm reification nor does it have the insight into seeing the emptiness. It kind of floats without drawing that distinction. The meditation is on vipashyana. After meditation, Alan proposes a very interesting thought experiment and then we return to Panchen Rinpoche’s text. Meditation starts at 36:00 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 17 May 2020, Online-only
The Murmuring Glowering Presence of Me
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 05 Apr 2020, Online-only
After the customary Refuge, Bodhicitta, and 7-line Prayer recitations, Lama Alan comments that as we recite the Refuge and Bodhicitta verse three times, we can take refuge first in the fashion of Mahayana, then Vajrayana, and finally Dzogchen. Further, in terms of the 7-Line prayer, the first time we can “approach” Guru Rinpoche, seeing his form in front of us, then secondly, we can receive the Guru’s blessing in the form of the four empowerments, and finally we can merge nondually as the Guru comes to the crown of the head and dissolves into the heart.
Lama Alan then comments on the true meaning of “paramita” as meaning “the transcendence of” or the “going beyond of,” as in the “transcendence of wisdom” (prajnaparamita). Similarly, he comments that we must also transcend - that is, go beyond the idea or concept of - each of the paramitas. This takes place when we have cut through the relative mind and are resting in primordial consciousness.
He then returns to settling body, speech, and mind, and offers the reading transmission and oral commentary on this practice from Padmasambhava’s “Natural Liberation.” According to the text, the purpose of settling body, speech, and mind is establishing the substrate consciousness. This does away with the misconception that all we are is what we conceive ourselves to be at the level of coarse mind and personal identity, which perishes at death. This leads Lama Alan into a commentary on this view vs. scientific materialism. He then turns to the proper posture for meditation (7-point ideally, though half lotus, bodhisattva pose, and supine are fine). He then reads Padmasambhava’s breakdown of the three-part settling in each category of body, speech, and mind.
Lama Alan then explains that in as much as the instructions on settling are essentially non- activity of the body speech and mind of a sentient being which is the same instruction given for Dzogchen non-meditation once one is resting in rigpa, this initial settling practice can be seen as taking the fruition as the path. Further Lama says that we can therefore know that we are actually already practicing Dzogchen (or Mahamudra) at this stage of settling. Moreover, as Garchen Rinpoche and the Lake-Born Vajra say: shamatha, vipashyana, tekchod, or the 4 Yogas of Mahamudra are sufficient for total enlightenment, even though some choose to augment these practices with Vajrayana practices
Finally, Lama Alan comments based on the text that the Mind is the root of samsara and nirvana, and that all samsaras arise from the substrate, and nirvana is nothing other than primordial consciousness. Further he comments that positive or enjoyable experiences actually all arise from the three qualities of the substrate consciousness: bliss, luminosity, and non- conceptuality. Therefore, if one realizes this, then one has no desire to search for pleasure in the outer world. Moreover, this realization leads to the comment by Lama Alan that the most important thing to understand in this life before we die is the mind.
The meditation is on our own time, and is on the instructions given in the text.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 19 May 2020, Online-only
Dzogchen Practice of Great Impartiality
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 07 Sep 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Alan elaborates on settling the mind in its natural state. While developing the 3 qualities of shamatha, we are observing external appearances and the (relative) dharmadhatu dissolve into the substrate and our mind (subjective mental events) dissolve into substrate consciousness from the perspective of the substrate or our best approximation thereof. The substrate is the repository of our karma and travels from lifetime to lifetime. Shamatha is sufficient to give us access to the substrate.
Meditation: mindfulness of feelings. Let your eyes be open, and rest your gaze vacantly in the space before you. Single-pointedly direct your mindfulness to the space of the mind, resting awareness without distraction and without grasping. If necessary, identify the space of the mind by giving yourself a target—e.g., a discursive thought or a mental image. Introspection checks for rumination, but rather than banishing thoughts, release grasping at the referent. Also, be aware of feelings, including neutral (e.g., feeling calm). Experiment by generating a pleasant feeling with a thought or an image. Is it static or changing?
Q1. You’ve discussed the relationship between quantum physics and the number zero. Is there a relationship between the number zero and emptiness?
Q2. Are buddhist philosophers like Nagarjuna akin to quantum physicists of the mind? How does the Dalai Lama debate with quantum physicists? Are there any areas of agreement?
Q3. Is observing sensations at the chest/heart a supplementary shamatha practice? It appears to calm the system just like watching the breath.
Q4. While I can understand teachings cognitively, I don’t appear to be able to translate this understanding into realization because the ego is too strong.
Q5. Is music running through my mind rumination?
Q6. In settling the mind, nothing happens there, so what should I do?
Meditation starts at: 21:09
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 19 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Today Lama-la picks up the theme of upheavals that can be catalyzed through intense practice, like the nyams of shamatha practice, the purification through intense Vajrasattva practice, or, where we are now in the text, through familiarizing ourselves with resting in rigpa. There can arise outer upheavals in the environment, inner upheavals related to the body (all kinds of illnesses), and secret upheavals in one's mind. We are reminded by Lama that they are natural occurrences along the path, and that all religious traditions provide skillful means to handle them. Also people with no spiritual practice will face difficult circumstances in their lives, so Lama-la kindly offers four kinds of refuge related to practices we are already familiar with, which are all based on the awareness that is naturally present within us: 1. shamatha without a sign, where one renounces all interest in the six sense domains and rests in the natural luminosity and cognisance of consciousness 2. taking the mind as the path, where one, while resting in awareness, observes the space of one's mind and the appearances arising and disappearing in it 3. probing into the nature of phenomena and into the nature of one's mind with vipashyana, thereby realizing their emptiness, 4. cutting through to and resting in pristine awareness Lama Alan describes in detail how the strength of our samadhi supports all four practices, and how they each build on the other, and so progress in relation to their depth and their sturdiness, culminating in taking ultimate refuge in the Dharmakaya. We then explore with Lama Alans guidance all four methods in meditation which begins at 43:23 After the meditation Lama-la elaborates on the advantages of these practices and their enlightening potential regarding the nature of consciousness, the nature of the mind, and the ultimate nature of reality, and how they support us in dealing with the challenges of life, as well as the challenges related to upheavals arising from our practice. Then Lama Alan continues the transmission starting at 1:29:03 on page 183 last paragraph “With respect to objects of the mind…” until page 184 end of second paragraph “...or it might lead to your own death.” Different kinds of secret upheavals are described. Their arising is unpredictable, and they can be joyful or sorrowful. The text and Lama-la urgently instruct us to let them release themselves, because by reifying them we might endanger our mental and physical health. As for physical illnesses, Lama-la reminds us to always seek medical examination first.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 08 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
This teaching is the last day for addressing the most important thing Lama-la wanted to address in this preliminary phase. The enormous importance, significance, transformative power of settling body, speech, and mind in the natural state. “Because if you fail to do that, you don’t know about it, or just gloss over quickly, or marginalize it, or forget about it, then almost certainly, especially for us living in this modern era, again, not just Westerners, whether you’re living in Asia or Africa or anywhere else…but almost certainly then, if one doesn’t take time out…and just leaps right into any other practice… the body and mind you’re bringing to the event that could be, lead you to liberation, could purify your mind, bring about an enduring sense of well-being, probably won’t happen, because the body-mind you’re bringing to the show is not serviceable.” Lama Alan then concludes these preliminary teachings with questions from the book „Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great Perfection“ chronicling the multiple times His Holiness taught Dzogchen. Lama Alan selected three relevant questions that were posed to him and the answers His Holiness gave. We are given a tour of the history of Lama Alan and the history of his relationship to Dzogchen, starting in 1970 and how it interfaced with his main Guru, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. There is explanation of the two approaches to studying Dzogchen, along with insights into how His Holiness personally practices. - Question One: What is the best way to practice, or what techniques or attitude can be used to deepen the heart connection with Padmasambhava? Answer: With meditation. With an amazing background of how the refugees in McLeod Ganj honored Padmasambhava and a bit of the background of Padmasambhava’s influence, we learn that Buddha Shakyamuni, Avalokiteshvara, and Padmasambhava were the first three statues in the first temple, so the reverence was inherited from birth in Tibetans. But what about those of us who weren’t born into the culture and raised with reverence for Padmasambhava and meditation which is absolutely crucial on the Dzogchen path? Moreover meditation in Dzogchen is unlike any other meditation, where you’re using the mind as a „sem chen“, a mind haver. Another question that Lama la raised is why our brains are much larger than needed for survival and procreation. According to Buddhism the answer is for Dharma practice. The full explanation is fascinating and clear. Do not look outside yourself for the Buddha, as opposed to praying to a being “out there” or using the mind in a dualistic way. The examples given are clear in delineating Dzogchen meditation vs the vast other techniques in Buddhism. - Question Two: How does an understanding of emptiness help you to realize compassion and loving-kindness? Answer: His Holiness gave a detailed explanation of how understanding the empty nature of our mind, which is nirvana, lets us perceive of a possibility of the cessation of suffering and delusion and therefore that freedom from suffering which comes from that realization is also possible for others to reveal for themselves. The compassion goes supernova as one realizes the possibility of the cessation of suffering, that they don’t have to suffer, that there is a path. Wisdom balances out the awareness of suffering. - Question Three: How can Dzogchen help us in our daily jobs and careers? Answer: Once you have that experience, it can be extremely beneficial in dealing with your day-to-day life. Lots of commentary about this answer! This answer is followed by a deep discussion of Taking the Mind as the Path and how it is a thorough view and dredging of all of what comes up and how to view it, how reifying it all is where the struggles can come and advice for it all. Don’t drive away back to samsara, is the message. A complete description of what is actually going on, and it is all about concepts and reifying. After the Q&A session Lama la guides another meditation on settling the mind in its natural state. Following the meditation, Lama la gives us advice on how to use the day off following this teaching.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 29 Apr 2020, Online-only
Resting Awareness at the Mouth of the Stream
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 08 Oct 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Teaching pt1: Alan revisits the 3rd application of mindfulness to the mind. Mindfulness means recollection. Here, we are taking the impure mind as the object of investigation. Specifically, we are examining the reified sense of “my mind”. Alan continues with verses 102-103 of Ch. 9 of Shantideva’s Bodhicaryavatara. The mind is not located in the sense faculties, sense objects, nor in between. It is nowhere to be found. Therefore, it is non-existent. As this impure mind which keeps us in samsara is actually non-existent, we sentient beings are by nature liberated. Realizing the empty nature of your own mind is realizing nirvana.
Alan gives instructions on gentle vase breathing which is an optional accompaniment to settling the mind. Practice this only in the upright position. Keeping your respiration natural, use a teaspoon of effort to maintain the roundness of the belly during both in and out breaths. Eventually, you will be able to do this on auto-pilot and direct your full attention to the space of the mind.
Meditation: Mindfulnes of the mind preceded by settling the mind.
1) settling the mind. Let the breath flow naturally, and experiment with gentle vase breathing. When the belly expands with the in breath, hold the roundness, and let the breath flow out naturally. Open your eyes, and direct the full force of mindfulness to the space of the mind and its contents.
2) mindfulness of the mind. Hold in mind that which you grasp onto as your mind. Can you find it in the body, in objects, in the space of the mind, or in mental events? If the mind is still, do you still have a mind? Investigate the mind as a whole and parts. How does the mind arise? Do mental events have inherent nature? Do the most elemental components of the mind has their own attributes? The mind is empty. The appearances are empty. Emptiness is nirvana waiting to be unveiled.
Q1. What are the 2 kinds of composites?
Q2. When the counterpart sign arises, initially it is difficult to sustain. Is this due to absence of mindfulness? Should we invert consciousness upon itself to access the counterpart sign, or should we dwell in the substrate and wait for it to reappear?
Q3. How does the acquired sign appear?
Meditation starts at 40:00
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 07 Apr 2021, Online-only
Rest Your Awareness in External, Objectless Space
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 14 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
The Science of Mind - Day Two, Session Two, Meditation Only The Dzogchen (Great Perfection) approach to mindfulness of breathing
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 05 May 2020, Online-only
Reminding that, on the path to shamata, laxity and dulness are amongst the obstacles, Lama Alan says that, among the four immeasurables, one type of counterpart is the cultivation of (empathetic) joy. To cultivate empathetic joy, a way to start is the focus on joyful sentient beings and take delight in their virtues, joys, and so forth. In the liturgy of the Tibetan tradition, empathetic joy is transformed from an emotion into an aspiration: “May all sentient beings never be parted from sublime well being free from suffering.” Sublime well being doesn’t start with the top of the mountain, but with the well-bring ethics, contentment, then, with samadhi and wisdom, which is transcended with the realization of primordial consciousness. Lama Alan then shares several reflections on the relevance of joy and well-being on the path. First, with Atisha, he says that one of the indications that one has proficiency in the seven- point mind-training is that one devotes oneself solely to a sense of mental well-being. Lerab Lingpa says that constantly maintaining a sense of well-being creates a sound basis to developing all samadhis of the stages of generation and completion. And Lama Alan complements mentioning that the same applies to vipashyana, trekchö and tögal. Then, Lama Alan quotes the Third Dodrupchen Rinpoche saying that felicity and adversity come from the mind. Also, the lama says that every one of us doing the retreat are very fortunate, hedonically and eudaimonically, but is easy, as Rinpoche says, not to recognize what we already have. But without this recognition, you won’t “devote yourself to the nectar of contentent”. Lama Alan introduces the practice in the context of a statement of Tsongkhapa: “To rejoice in good deeds of oneself and others is the best way to create good karma with the least effort.” Meditation starts at 34:45. Keywords: joy, four immeasurables, Atisha, Lerab Lingpa, the Third Dodrupchen Rinpoche, Tsongkhapa.
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 02 Oct 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Teaching pt1. Alan recounts 2 parables from Karma Chagme’s Naked Awareness. 1) foolish prince who likes horses but develops renunciation and 2) foolish prince who becomes a beggar due to amnesia but rediscovers his true identity. Remain in the castle of your own awareness while beholding the kingdom of your own body. Take satisfaction in awareness resting in its own place. After rumination, take satisfaction in recovering awareness and coming home.
Meditation: empathetic joy preceded by shamatha method of choice.
1) shamatha method of choice. Let awareness come to rest, releasing all grasping and effort.
2) empathetic joy. Take satisfaction in awareness holding it s own ground—still, relaxed, luminous, content. As you gain experiential insight into your own consciousness, take delight those sowing the seeds for the renaissance of contemplative traditions and a revolution in the mind sciences. Take delight in those identifying the true causes of suffering and pursuing the true causes of happiness. With each out breath, shine light of gratitude and appreciation.
Teaching pt2. Who’s there according to the 3 turnings of the wheel of dharma? In the 1st turning, the autonomous agent is not there. In the 2nd turning, there is no sentient being to be found. In the 3rd turning, 1) where you are, there’s buddha mind, rigpa, or dharmakaya, 2) the ultimate nature of your mind and buddha mind is no different, and 3) all sentient beings belong to the same buddha family. We can either adopt and identify with mind and body arisen through karma and mental afflications or buddha mind. We need insight into emptiness of self and the guru in order to practice guru yoga which leads us to buddha mind. Guru yoga isn’t blind faith idolatry. Even in the 1st turning, we are advised to check the guru carefully before viewing him/her as an emissary of the Buddha.
Apologies, there has been a cut in the recording at: 57:28
Meditation starts at: 18:45
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 25 Apr 2021, Online-only
Rest in the awareness of all that you have understood
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 26 Sep 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Teaching: When you understand the causality of how others contribute to your well-being, a sense of happy indebtedness can arise. “How can I do more to repay their kindness?” We can contribute to others’ well-being hedonically and/or eudaimonically. Most altruism in the world is focused on hedonic happiness/suffering, yet eudaimonia is real and can be cultivated. Following Atisha’s advice, we need to achieve shamatha in order to help others find genuine happiness. Genuine happiness is a symptom of a meaningful way of life, a balanced mind, and knowing reality as it is. Someone who acts in accord with genuine happiness—as the center of his/her own mandala—is living in a utopia.
Meditation: loving-kindness. Motivated by loving-kindness, settling body, speech, and mind in the natural state. Envision your own well-being, both hedonic and eudaimonic, and attend to its causes. In eudaimonia, your potential is limitless, its very source being primordial consciousness. Imagine it as an orb of white light at your heart chakra. With every out breath, “May I be happy and find the causes of happiness.” Light fills your body, dispelling all obstacles. Light entirely consumes the materiality of your body as it settles in its natural state, becoming the pure energy of primordial consciousness. Only a body of light, luminous but empty, remains. Now, with every out breath, extend the light in all directions until it embraces all sentient beings on the planet. “May we find happiness and the causes of happiness.” Expand exponentially in all directions, stretching the mind to 100 billion galaxies and all the beings who dwell there, each one realizing full awakening.
Meditation starts at 21:55
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 10 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan explains that as we go deeper into the practice of shamatha, it appears more clearly that the three qualities of relaxation, stability and vividness are not only sequential, but they also reinforce each other in a reciprocal manner. In a similar fashion we have also the three higher trainings of ethics, samadhi and wisdom and among them ethics is the foundation: you can develop samadhi and wisdom, but if you do not have ethics you have nothing. The Buddha clearly said that the stronger your samadhi is, then the more powerful your wisdom can be, but if your samadhi is weak then your wisdom can be very sporadic, it cannot be sustained. The stronger your ethical foundation, the stronger your samadhi and the stronger the wisdom that can arise. If the Buddha gave us just one interview, he may offer the instructions he gave to Bahya, which allowed him to achieve arhathood right after he listened to this: “Bahiya, you should train yourself thus: In reference to the seen, there will be only the seen. In reference to the heard, only the heard. In reference to the sensed, only the sensed. In reference to the cognized, only the cognized. That is how you should train yourself. When for you there will be only the seen in reference to the seen, only the heard in reference to the heard, only the sensed in reference to the sensed, only the cognized in reference to the cognized, then, Bahiya, there is no you in terms of that. When there is no you in terms of that, there is no you there. When there is no you there, you are neither here nor yonder nor between the two. This, just this, is the end of suffering.” If I attend to another person, and while I do that my awareness is still, clear, bright, discerning and attentive to the person coming in, If I can sustain that quality of stillness, which is intelligent but still, then I might actually see and hear that person from the heart. You can sense them at a deeper level. The practice is simple: we settle body, speech and mind in their natural state to the point of stillness, and then we direct our awareness to a nonconceptual space, where there is no conversation within the somatic field (there are no thoughts, no mental images there) and then we simply attend to what is arising there. We sustain the stillness in the midst of the fluctuations of the coming and going of the breath. And then when we come off the cushion, we sustain that stillness as we go about all our tasks, and in the seen let there be just the seen, in the heard just the heard, in the tactilely sensed just the tactilely sensed, in the mentally perceived or cognised just being aware of what is coming up. And we might drop a question: in all these appearances, am I anywhere to be found, including the appearances of what is up close and personal (thoughts, images, desires, memories, emotions)? When I observe them, do I observe them as something that is me? The awareness that is observing them, is that me? Am I to be found anywhere among these appearances and the awareness of the appearances? The meditation is on shamatha as a support for vipashyana (silent, not recorded). ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
Fall 2015 Stage of Generation, 04 Aug 2015, Araluen Retreat Center, Queensland, Australia
A classic approach to mindfulness of breathing. Alan expands on the frequency of breathing when the body settles into the second phase... Attending to the breath I breathe in and out short. He discusses the frequency of the cycles of breathing and the volume in this phase and the scientifically demonstrated benefits to health and longevity. He also explains the visualisation for the devotional practice at the beginning. The meditation practice is mindfulness of the sensation of the breath at the nostrils. Meditation starts at 20:15 ___ 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.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 22 Apr 2020, Online-only
Placing the Sentry of Mindfulness at the Nostrils
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 23 Apr 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan comments on the practice of taking appearances and awareness as the path, also called settling the mind in its natural state, as the foundation for all other practices. This practice draws forth the subconscious into the light of awareness.
The practice has two aspects: Observing the mind, resting in the stillness of awareness and simply witnessing whatever is coming up in the mind, in this way getting to know the mind.
Bringing this quality of relaxed and still awareness, healing the mind, bringing calm and well-being.
Meditation starts at 9:56. Distinguishing Space of the Mind from Appearances
Lama Alan returns to the text where it explains that although the experiences of bliss, luminosity and nonconceptuality, are indispensable signs of progress for individuals entering the path, it is a mistake to get caught up in them indefinitely.
He then comments on the theme of stability and the different meditative experiences each individual might have.
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 29 Aug 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
We continue with yesterdays practice of Awareness of Awareness enriched with the probing into the agent of that which is inverting and releasing the awareness. The theme of todays teaching was the question of whether we have free will or not, which kept Christian theologians busy with quarreling for centuries, and then also philosophers and more recently cognitive scientists. In order to answer this question, “Have I free will?”, we must define what “will” is, what “free” is, what it means to “have”, and all this finally leads us to the question of todays meditation, what this “I” really is. When we ourselves in this experimental philosophy probe into the referent of this word, we first find our own mind, the psyche, that’s limited in its freedom by mental afflictions. When we completely release our own body and mind, we then come down to the substrate consciousness, which is full of karmic propensities and therefore also not really free. So if we release even this, we finally come to realize our own buddha-mind. And that is in its own nature completely free, and at the same time without any choice as it is helplessly manifesting within this world out of boundless compassion. So, that just leaves you with the question: What’s that all got to do with the rainbow bending? Well, go off and get your own rainbow and find out for yourself… Meditation starts at 05:48 min
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 19 May 2020, Online-only
Ultimate Bodhicitta: the Primordial Indivisibility of Emptiness & Luminosity
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 27 Apr 2020, Online-only
Looking ahead, in the coming morning session Lama Alan will continue to focus on practices which will sustain and sweeten the core practice of the afternoon (Taking the Mind as the Path). We can become 1 out of the 100 who realize Shamatha by bringing a strong, robust, well-balanced foundation. The 5 Obscurations prevent us from cutting through the constricted, limited human mind which veils a deeper more vast layer of consciousness. Lama Alan reviews the first two Obscurations: “the pursuit of hedonic pleasure” and “hatred/ill-will”. He speaks to how these mental afflictions hurt, and addresses the core insights, the antidotes, to these two. Lama Alan returns to the relationship between these first two mental afflictions, delving deeper into “hatred/ill-will”, presenting the counter-acting virtuous mental factor of “non-hatred”. He then talks about “non-hatred” as principally being Loving-kindness, which can be a powerful antidote for both of these first two mental afflictions. After the meditation, Lama Alan introduced the mental affliction of “pride”, which causes the mind to “puff up”, experience itself as being “elevated above others”. These ways of experiencing oneself as being “better than” are based on the fundamental misapprehension of “I” as self-existent. Lama Alan describes the 7 specific flavors of pride. He ends the morning by sharing one of the most meaningful events in his whole life: his first meeting with HH Dalai Lama in the fall of 1971. Meditation is “The Metta Sutta” and starts at 21:38
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 12 Apr 2021, Online-only
Practice the First Phase of Shamatha without a Sign as Taught by Padmasambhava in Natural Liberation
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 26 Apr 2020, Online-only
Loving Kindness as an Antidote to Attachment-Craving
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 08 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan begins the lecture by presenting the fourth of the Greats: Great Equanimity. Then Alan introduces Martin Buber’s explanation of an “I-you” relationship as opposed to an “I-it” relationship. In the latter case, if someone gives me pleasure then I like you, otherwise I don’t, as if the sentient being is no more sentient than a cellphone. To treat a sentient being as an “it” is utterly tragic, it’s dehumanising. This also happened towards animals. Descartes believed that animals had no consciousness, no emotions, and this had quite an impact on the trajectory the world took. This is a massive cognitive deficit disorder. Then Alan briefly mentions the consequences of holding a materialistic worldview. After that, Alan underlines the importance of developing equanimity as a basis for bodhicitta. Immeasurable equanimity is foundational for Great Compassion and the other greats, so that they can come to full fruition. Finally before the meditation Alan offers a wonderful way of mapping the Four Greats onto the five Mahayana paths and the path of Dzogchen, which is embedded in the Mahayana. The meditation is on Great Equanimity. After meditation, Alan resumes the oral transmission and commentary of the Panchen Lama’s text “Lamp So Bright”. During the commentary, Alan emphasises the point of practicing Dharma, and poses the question whether one’s Dharma practice is arising as the path. Is it going to the path or is it just an array of nice practices? Are you reaching the path? This is beyond the mere step of practicing Dharma. As you are on the path, is it really working? Are you irreversibly on a path of full healing? Among other points, Alan comments on the lines in the text which highlight the importance of doing Vajrasattva practice for purification (it is recommended to do at least 20 repetitions a day). Meditation starts at 26:36 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 25 Apr 2021, Online-only
While resting in awareness, view your body as a body, feelings as feeling, mental processes as mental processes, and phenomena as phenomena.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 13 May 2021, Online-only
Dissolving all appearances into emptiness, arise in the simple form of Samantabhadra and assume the identity of Samantabhadra. Sustain that pure vision and divine identity with relaxation, stability, and vividness. When you rise from meditation with your ordinary appearances and accustomed sense of identity, know that you may again shift your identity to that of a nirmāṇakāya as living being nirmāṇakāya or teacher nirmāṇakāya in the form of your own personal deity (yidam).
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 10 Apr 2020, Online-only
“O Boundless Great Emptiness, among your body, speech, and mind, which is most important? Which is the main agent?”
Bringing these questions, we set on the path of taking the mind as the path and entering into the Great Perfection.
Meditation starts at 3:4.
The practice begins with refuge, bodhicitta, invoking blessings and then letting awareness rest, knowing itself. Then we pose a question: between body, speech and mind which is most important, which is the agent? It is here where the investigations starts…
Lama Alan returns to the answer in the text: among body, speech and mind; mind is the most important, mind is the agent. Then elucidates on the relationship between body and mind, explaining the Buddhist view: body is created by the mind.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 12 May 2020, Online-only
Great Compassion
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 05 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
Before the Q&A session began, in line with the teachings of Atiśa, Lama Alan encourages us to honour the beginning and end of each session by setting our motivation and dedicating merit accordingly. This keeps us on our course, seals what we began and ensures our practice is ethically meaningful. - First Question: ‘You mention not to wear a mask, including mind mask. A few years ago you encouraged us to use one. however, although it’s dark, when I wear these I appreciate my awareness is in space so is it ok to wear one?’ A mind mask allows us to blacken out our surroundings while keeping our eyes open. Because the person who asked this question does not feel like their awareness is restricted to the point where the mask ends (like they are enclosed behind the mask or in the darkness) then this is perfectly OK to use to prevent distractions and embrace vacuity. Lama Alan encouraged this person to alternate between meditating with a mind mask and without to ensure they do not develop dependence. By having an awareness of the space in front of us with the clarity of awareness, we become more grounded in the present moment. With our eyes closed, it’s far easier to get swept up in appearances. - Second Question: ‘Can you comment on the history of the ghatika and why this specific figure of 24 minutes is the choice for meditation?’ This literally means water-measure, referring to water clocks. For beginners, sessions shouldn’t be so short that they don’t get in the flow of meditation but not so long that they become restless. Prior to the advent of clocks, one Ghatika is one 60th of a 24 hour period which was easy to measure. As such, this is optimal for those just starting out, though this can always be cut back. The most important part of practice is that there isn’t a sense of fatigue or relief when the bell chimes. Much like how we should end a conversation or meal on a high-point, we should end practice before we feel like we are exhausted or bored. For the duration of session, we should always be offering our best - our motivation, our commitment and our intention to achieve an appropriate and sustained quality of mindfulness throughout. - Third question: 'When I practice mindfulness of breathing intensely for many months, I eventually get to a place where this sense doesn’t become dull which is a pleasant feeling that makes it even easier to sustain. Sometimes, however, I do slip into a state where I hear voices or see images. Is this a normal meditative state? Will it go away?’ Lama Alan expressed an aversion to the word, ’normal’ - ‘commonplace’ is the correct terminology, as per the page and a half of njam summarised in the Vajra Essence. These aren’t ’normal’ as they differ from one person to the next, but it is extremely common to experience psychological upheavals during practice. Addressing this is up to the meditator themselves. It depends on whether they view these mental objects as mild peripheral entertainment - if they are entertained, then these images will always come up. Otherwise they should be released and attention returned to the meditative object. Lama Alan then elaborates on the difference in handling intrusive mental objects between Mindfulness of Breathing and Taking Mind as Path approaches. For the first, a ‘Let them go’ mindset should be taken, a gentle releasing of those that are not conducive to concentration on the meditative object, much like a benevolent mother releasing her children off to school. Here, release and internal silence is the preference. This compares to the Taking Mind as Path approach to these objects, where ‘Let them be’ is the prerogative - each object of mind is worthy of enquiry with no preference whether they stay or go in awareness. The metaphor here would be an old man or woman watching each object non-preferentially on the porch: pleasant or unpleasant, long or short, virtuous or non virtuous - whatever comes up, is to be attended to without preference as it arises and fades in the space of awareness. In either respect, care must be taken to ensure that laxity does not arise to create sloppy practice or simple ‘open awareness’ that a marmot or a frog could achieve. Only clarity and non-suppression can heal the mind. That said, such non-preference and non-suppression can open a Pandora’s box of outer, inner and secret upheavals - the origination point of deep dredging of the mind. It is only by resting in awareness we discover that the appearances that arise cannot help us or harm us. - Fourth question: ‘I struggle a bit with gazing in the space in front compared to meditating with eyes closed, which I hardly do. I find this approach exacerbates the difference between me in my body and what’s ‘out there’. It feels more natural to release my awareness to space’. Lama Alan first clears up the relationship between neurological response and mental awareness: Visual perception is dependent on the interaction between photons and the visual cortex. However, the visual cortex does not think, conceptualise, remember or do anything other than detect or apprehend. However, when piggybacked with mental consciousness, awareness constructs the holistic and conceptual construct of ‘personhood’. Mental events can be perceptual, but almost instantaneously crosses over into conceptualisation. E.g. Colours and patterns become ‘rug’ with mental awareness occuring in parallel with visual apprehension. Lama Alan then encourages the meditator to challenge the illusion of this body-sense and subject-object dualism. This approach shouldn’t reinforce this illusion - especially as the instruction does not state ‘place awareness in front of me’, but just ‘in front’ without a personal pronoun. We must do this without embellishment of selfhood. It shouldn’t reinforce me, mine or my. Releasing awareness to space is perfectly correct, but we should do so with what we can see (ie what is in front, rather than behind or to the right). We should think of this process as stepping through the front door to get outside of the ‘house’ of corporeal existence - rather than the window or the roof - to look out at the panoramic in front of us. We don’t want to practice in any sense of enclosure, like being stuck in our room. - Fifth question: ‘As I cannot sit too long cross-legged I often do so kneeling. Is there any reason you aren’t mentioning this possibility?’ This approach is not mentioned in any Buddhist text, but this is not uncommon in Zen. If it’s comfortable and stable then it’s fine to take this approach, though be aware that achieving Shamatha is not emphasised within Zen - at some stage in Shamatha, when bodily awareness is completely released, there’s a real chance of us tumbling off! - Sixth question: ‘I’m really wanting to focus on high-quality meditation. My inclination is to do shorter sessions for now and lengthen before I can sustain quality. But I’m still making space fo a balanced diet - any specific suggestions on strategies for building a strong foundation are most welcome’ Completely in line with Lerab Lingpa's ‘Resting Mind in Natural State’. 15 minute sessions are perfectly good, the priority is ensuring that we don’t burn out. If we make sloppy practice our norm, then that is what will become our habit. Again - it’s always better to quit while we’re ahead and enjoying the practice. It’s so important to create a new default state away from the ‘blah blah blah’ of the mind. In this line, Lama Alan reminds us while on retreat to not partake in idle gossip or empty talk. Likewise, we must try not to obsessively evaluate practice but be contented with the fact that practice is in itself virtuous. - Seventh question: 'As phase one showed us, mental breakthroughs and the act of self-deconstruction can elicit a great deal of tension and some pretty unhappy nyam. However, being overbearing or self-flagellatory can cause real psychological damage. Are there any red flags that differentiate between the two?' Lama Alan recounts the few times he’s seen meditators develop mental illness out of practicing improperly. This generally happens due to the parallel use of drugs, the absence of an authentic teacher or an overly constrictive/ ambitious mindset that burns the meditator out very quikly. Those who get into trouble generally have too much ego, too much striving, too much frustration and too much self-denigration or self-worth. However, when the practice is authentic and lead by an authentic teacher, this should never happen. Meditation is not incepting something dangerous - it is not invasive - it is only revealing what was already there. What comes up could be psychological but could also be energetic, Kundalini or blockages in the prana system made manifest. Meditation enables the self-release that can make this very uncomfortable - and this is where spiritual friends and a guru are so important. Most importantly: we must not appropriate or reify what comes up, or get absorbed in it. However, if we feel tense, uptight, frustrated or irritated with ourselves then we must back right off. We must not push ourselves too hard - this will make the practice inauthentic. There is no meditation with this session.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 09 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
By way of preamble, Yangchen points out that she recognises that there is a gap in her commentary on the text in relation to mantra recitations and torma offerings, however, she is saving this until we go through the Lake Born Vajra sadhana in May. She then begins her commentary on the text transmitted by Lama Alan in Session 16 yesterday (from the second paragraph on page 147, until the end of the first paragraph on page 149, in the English version). She notes that this section brings us full circle to the dissolution of the mandala. The opening line of this section prompts Yangchen to remind us of the difference between dedication and prayer in Tibetan Buddhism. She then continues, making specific commentary on the essential nature of auspiciousness, and the nāda, being the subtle sound (Sanskrit) at the end of a sadhana, which vibrates until it vanishes, having been reabsorbed into emptiness. The text then goes into the reasons for twice emanating and dissolving the mandala, as a preamble to dissolving the entire mandala. Regarding how to visualise this dissolving, she suggests recalling how the fog of the breath on a mirror dissolves; or by recognising that just as light creates the appearance of a rainbow, so too it creates its dissolution. Following the dissolution of the mandala, Yangchen emphasises the importance of maintaining the divine identity of the deity, both on and off the cushion. As the text indicates, this is enabled by our donning the “vajra armour”, a protection circle which seals us as the body, speech and mind of the deity, and thereby protecting our practice as we engage in daily life. Yangchen then provides us with a word of caution about doing a dissolution practice too quickly. Not only can this be overwhelming, but taking it slowly and gently is very important for the authenticity of the practice. She advises that with any sadhana practice, if you have it memorised, take it slowly enough to let each image actually arise, otherwise the whole practice becomes too much for the prana system. Furthermore, she suggests that rather than reciting a sadhana while looking at a paper, or doing it from memory without really doing the visualisations, it is more powerful simply to do the meditations. Noting Lama Alan’s words that stage of generation practices require a lot of effort, Yangchen adds that the practices are exhausting in so far as they are overcoming the inertia of normality, overcoming the heaviness of a mind that is habituated to being ordinary and being limited. By way of encouragement, Yangchen reminds us that at the same time, these practices produce a lot of light and enormously virtuous thoughts out of our body and mind. Just as we strive to overcome the five obscurations through shamatha practice, these practices are primarily aimed at overcoming our obstacles in a visualised, meditative form. As we know, Yangchen concludes, if we wish to address our obstacles, we need to act at the level of mind. Before going to the meditation, Yangchen emphasises that to avoid any harm to ourselves when doing sadhana practice, we must take care to thoroughly externalise our mental afflictions, so that no visualised violence is directed towards ourselves during the practice. The session concludes with meditating on the full wrathful mandala, in a slightly more conceptual way, and begins at 1:04:20.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 23 May 2021, Online-only
Returning to the Vajra Essence and the stage of generation practices, today we begin the section on Generating the Wrathful Mandala. But first, Lama invites us to the Dzogchen practice of non-meditation, our best approximation of resting in pristine awareness. He gives some preamble on the importance of remaining aware of what the pre-requisites for sustainable stage of generation practice are, whilst also encouraging us to dive into the practice with a confident commitment to do our best. Lama suggests that the key to this practice is seeing how fully and completely one can release the mind entirely. The meditation begins at 00:10:56. Then Lama Alan presents an extensive preface about the practice of generating the wrathful mandala before beginning this section in the text. He begins with asking - ‘How do we become free of the mental afflictions – especially the three root poisons of craving, hostility and delusion?’ He explores this question from the different perspectives of Śrāvakayāna and then Mahayana, where Shantideva refers to ‘recruiting’ and transmuting the mental afflictions of anger and ego-grasping to annihilate the other afflictions. From the Vajrayana perspective, where we take the fruition as the path, Lama explains that the generation of the peaceful mandala is designed to arouse imagery that would usually trigger the mental affliction of craving and attachment, but then one sublimates that, by transmuting it into the primordial consciousness of discernment. Similarly, with the generation of the wrathful mandala and arising as a wrathful deity, the deity’s ferocity targets our mental afflictions of anger, hatred, violence, and aggression, which then transmute into mirror-like primordial consciousness. Lama warns us that the imagery of the wrathful mandala is quite horrific, but he stresses that it is crucial to remember that the target of this ferocity is our own mental afflictions, the diseases of our minds that are the root of all suffering. He emphasises that this practice is as powerful as it is ferocious, and he asserts that here the power of enlightenment subdues the power of delusion; and the ferocity of enlightenment overwhelms the evil and hatred rooted in delusion. Lama highlights that, as with generating the peaceful mandala, the common denominator here is that of dissolving our ordinary sense of identity, and out of that primordial purity of the ground, one arises as a peaceful deity, or as a wrathful deity, an enlightened Buddha, and in so doing we are sublimating the mental affliction of ‘I am’ into divine pride, which helps us transmute this self-grasping into the primordial consciousness of the absolute space of phenomena. As Lama underscores, in these ways, we transfer the great power of the three poisons into fuel to propel us along the path to awakening. Returning to the text we cover the first three paragraphs in this section. As before, it begins with dissolving everything into emptiness, and resting in rigpa. Manifesting as luminous primordial consciousness, you “…visualize your pristine awareness as the blue- black flaming seed syllable Hūṃ which is an apparition of the primordial consciousness of great, all-pervasive compassion”. Lama Alan comments here that it is very important to remember that the wrathful appearances are manifested out of compassion, and that the wrath, is directed not at sentient beings, but at the afflictions that bring them so much suffering. Then the Lake-Born Vajra begins to elaborate on the dying process and how to transmute it into the path by dying lucidly. Lama Alan suggests that here, the text is giving the rationale for what is to follow in generating the wrathful mandala. Lama concludes his commentary with pointing out that if we train our minds to be lucid, it is possible to pass through the dying process being fearlessly lucid every step of the way, not identifying with people, the environment, or the mind, not overwhelmed by remorse or fear. Therefore, Lama suggests that it is also important to have a clear idea of what to expect when you die, so given that it has been well detailed in Vajrayana, he indicated that we will explore this more tomorrow.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 23 Apr 2020, Online-only
Dzogchen Mindfulness of Breathing on Rhythm of the Breath
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 25 Sep 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
As opposed to meditations on suffering and impermanence, loving-kindness offers a gentle remedy for attachment, the near enemy of empathetic joy. The basis is seeing loveable qualities in oneself and others. Where low self-esteem is prevalent, we must start with loving-kindness for ourselves as this practice cannot be done meaningfully by skipping ourselves.
Meditation: loving-kindness. There are two methods for cultivating loving-kindness: 1) meditation and 2) kind and loving actions. Start each meditation with settling body, speech, and mind in the natural state as an act of loving-kindness for yourself. Direct your attention inwards to yourself as someone worthy of finding genuine happiness. If you can, attend to the lumunious nature of awareness. Seeing yourself from this perspective, what is your vision of truly fluorishing, your heart’s desire, your greatest happiness? With each out breath, 1) arouse the aspiration, may I be truly well and happy, 2) light from an orb at your heart chakra fills your body and mind, dispelling all obscurations, and 3) experience that very well-being here and now. Now bring someone close clearly to mind, and repeat the practice with the out breath. Now move on to another person, gradually moving outwards to those who are more distant. Finally, release all appearances and rest in that awareness.
Q1. These practices have been bringing out a lot of memories and emotions I wasn’t even aware of.
Meditation starts at: 5:31
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 16 May 2021, Online-only
Take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, in the Lama, Yidam, and Khandro, and in your root Lama as the synthesis of all objects of refuge and the source of emanation of all your other lamas. Then dissolve your root Lama into yourself and take ultimate refuge in your own pristine awareness
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 13 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
The Science of Mind - Day One, Session Two
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 15 Oct 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Teaching: All the teachings are included in settling body, speech, and mind in their natural state. According to Asanga, sensations of the breath become increasingly subtle until prana dissolves into space. Conceptualizations diminish further and further until mind slips into non-conceptuality. Keep it simple. It’s the nature of the practice.
Meditation: Mindfulness of breathing preceded by settling body, speech, and mind.
1) settling body, speech, and mind. Let your awareness illuminate the non-conceptual space of the body. Settle the body in ease and comfort. Settle the speech in silence. Let the breath flow in its natural rhythm. With every out breath, relax more and more deeply without losing clarity, utterly release the breath and let go of rumination, so your are especially silent and present at the end of each out breath. The in breath comes of its own accord. Release all thoughts of the past and future, and settle awareness in stillness in the present.
2) mindfulness of breathing. When the in breath is long, know that it is long. When the out breath is long, know that it is long. When the in breath is short, know that it is short. When the out breath is short, know that it is short. Let your awareness illuminate the space of the body and whatever tactile sensations arise therein, without distraction, without grasping. Awareness is not fused with the space of the body and its contents. Mindfully breath in and out, attending to the whole body.
Q1. In equanimity, does it mean we should react with satisfaction and contentment with things as they are?
Q2. In formal and semi-formal shamatha retreat, should we hold the view between sessions by visualizing oneself as the deity and the environment as a pure land? If so, should we recite the mantra as well?
Q3. As for the dying process, how can we help? How can non-buddhists prepare?
Q4. How is remote viewing possible without dependence on the visual cortex?
Q5. Returning to a socially engaged way of life, the qualities of relaxation, stability, and vividness will decline. Should we do intermittent short/long retreats for upkeep?
Q6. According to the Madhyamaka, rigpa and buddhanature are also empty, suggesting nihilism. Rigpa and ultimate reality are in some sense real, but if we say they are real, that may be construed as eternalism. Nihilism is more prevalent in the modern world, and of the two, eternalism appears less dangerous.
Q7. How should we plan practice at home? Should we maintain a weekly structure as we have here, or do whatever we feel like? Practice shouldn’t be just limited to shamatha.
Meditation starts at 5: 35
