2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 14 May 2021, Online-only
By recognizing the need to take refuge in the Three Jewels, do so by arousing admiring faith, aspiring faith, and invincible faith in the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, ultimately taking refuge in your own pristine awareness.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 21 May 2021, Online-only
While Resting in Awareness, Review each of the Five Aggregates as Aggregates
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 16 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
The Science of Mind - Day Four, Session One, Meditation Only Having settled your body, speech, and mind in their natural states, continue to rest without wavering in awareness, while turning the light of you attention to the space of the mind
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 19 May 2021, Online-only
Meditate on the actual nature of the wheel of protection and then on the visualized wheel of protection
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 20 Apr 2021, Online-only
Buddha: “Here, monks, a disciple dwells pervading one direction with one’s heart filled with loving-kindness, likewise the second, the third, and the fourth direction; so above, below and around; one dwells pervading the entire world everywhere and equally with one’s heart filled with loving-kindness, abundant, grown great, measureless, free from enmity and free from distress.” (Dīgha Nikāya 13)
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 10 Apr 2020, Online-only
Investigation of Mind as Agent
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 24 May 2020, Online-only
Je Atisha's Ultimate Bodhicitta Lojong
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 05 Apr 2021, Online-only
Investigating the Essential Nature of Outer Demons
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
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).
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 22 Apr 2021, Online-only
Focus on those who have shown you kindness, on your own good fortune and virtues, and on everyone’s virtues and joys
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
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 15 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
The Science of Mind - Day Three, Session Two, Meditation Only Simultaneously distinguishing the stillness of awareness and the movements of the mind
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.
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 14 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
Day Two, Session One Q&A To maintain the privacy of the attendees some of the questions may not be heard, but in the video version of the Q&A the questions are shown on the screen. We apologize for this inconvenience.
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 13 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
The Science of Mind - Day One, Session Two, Meditation Only Fourfold Vision Quest
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 19 Apr 2021, Online-only
Buddha's Discourse on Loving-Kindness
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, 19 Apr 2021, Online-only
Fourfold Vision Quest
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 13 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
The Science of Mind - Day One, Session One, Meditation Only Settling the body, speech, and mind in their natural states
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 01 Apr 2021, Online-only
Settling the Body, Speech and Mind for the First Time Ever
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 29 Apr 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan begins the session by drawing parallels between the experience of being lucid, or non-lucid, in a dream with the practice of taking the mind as the path. He explains that when we are resting in awareness in the waking state and seeing the appearances arising to the mind for what they really are, then we are not fooled and we can regard ourselves as "lucid with respect to the waking state," in much the same way that we would regard ourselves as lucid dreaming when we are seeing dream appearances for the empty appearances they really are. Lama describes this lucidity as a form of freedom. However, when we are fooled by unawareness (avidya) and delusion (moha), whether when coming out of deep dreamless sleep into a dreamscape, or coming into an experience in the waking state, then we will likely be caught up in appearances and experience suffering. Meditation on taking the mind as the path begins at 20 mins. After the meditation, Lama Alan returns to the text on the bottom of page 22 and discusses the list of possible meditative experiences that can arise when we are progressing along this path of taking the mind as the path. Overall, the message from Lama Alan and the Lake-Born Vajra is to bring awareness to these experiences without identifying with them or reifying them. In doing so, as Lama Alan describes, we can progress along the path of fully dredging our psyche and reaching the calm clarity of shamatha. He compares this difficult inner journey into the wilderness of the mind to the expedition undertaken by Lewis and Clark.
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 15 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
The Science of Mind - Day Three, Session One, Meditation Only Sequentially distinguishing between the stillness of awareness and the movements of the mind
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 26 Apr 2021, Online-only
While resting in awareness, cultivate empathetic joy in the myriad paths leading to liberation and perfect awakening.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 19 May 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Note: this is the only lecture for today, 19th May, because Alan will give a public talk at the University of Pisa. Alan starts with reading “The analogy of seeing a rope as a snake” from “Naked Awareness”, on page 91. Here a man mistook a rope for a poisonous snake and got frightened until a friend showed him that it was just a rope. Alan comments that there was no eye dysfunction. While the visual perception is always non-conceptual, in a very short time, the conceptual mind takes over, reconfigures, colorizes, dominates and reifies the experience. In the case of the snake this was clearly a false conceptual designation stemming from ignorance and delusion. “Out of Avidyā comes Moha”. Out of lack of awareness in the visual field comes the delusion of misapprehending the rope as a snake. In Dzogchen it is strongly emphasized that the rope has never been a snake and therefore the fear is not based in reality. Likewise, when we ask ourselves why our own mind is tormenting us with mental afflictions, a spiritual friend will point out that we are not a sentient being. We have to shift our perspective. Alan recalls what he learnt when he was in Dharamsala long ago: It is never too soon to cultivate Bodhicitta. Likewise, it is never too soon to be introduced to the Dzogchen view. Alan continues elaborating on the four reliances from the Kadampa tradition. 1. Don’t rely on the person, rely on the Dharma. Some people are having faith in the Dharma because the Dalai Lama is such a great being. For having faith in Dharma there are two entrances. People with dull faculties have faith into the Dharma by way of an individual. People with sharp faculties have faith in the individual by way of the Dharma. There is a great danger of reifying individuals which results in taking refuge outside our own mind streams and outside rigpa. 2. With respect to Dharma, don’t rely upon the words, rely upon their meaning. This means taking refuge in what the words are referring to, without clinging to the words themselves. 3. Do not rely upon the provisional meaning, rely upon the definitive meaning. The provisional meaning refers to a specific context and perspective. The Kalachakra Tantra states that there is no definitive description of the world. This is in line with the statements of Stephen Hawking and John Wheeler. All the teachings of the Dharma, like the four noble truths and the twelve links of dependent origination are provisional, except the teachings on emptiness. 4. Don’t rely upon conditioned consciousness, rely on primordial consciousness. Conditioned consciousness refers to the fifth aggregate, consciousness, which arises upon cause and conditions. It also refers to the substrate consciousness. Primordial consciousness refers to rigpa, which is always present and active. We also can use the term intuition, which is a way of knowing that is not simply an observation of a phenomena or deferred by logical reason. It’s a type of knowing which is primal, deeper and mysterious. Alan continues reading a passage from the “Vajra Essence” which explains the difference between conditioned consciousness and primordial consciousness. It will be in the notes of today. Alan put special emphasis on the last sentence: “What arises is closely held by conceptual consciousness; it is bound by reification, and you thereby become deluded. Knowledge of the reasons for this brings you to primordial consciousness”. The question on the origin of samsara can now be answered. It’s every moment. From the perspective of rigpa we don’t have a history of a sentient being. The meditation is on cultivating Great Equanimity. After the meditation, Alan recommends to shift our perspective from the hedonic aspects of life to the cultivation of eudaemonia, which isn’t binary, but rather a smooth spectrum, and culminates in the development of Bodhicitta. Alan reminds us of the verse from Atisha’s seven-point mind training: “Be always of good cheer” and recommends to welcome whatever arises to us. It can be a challenge for doing very constructive things that will bring about a meaningful change in the world. Alan concludes with the statement that reality rises up to meet us. Instead of simply experiencing the results of previous karma, which is merciless and without compassion, we could rise up to meet reality with equanimity. From the center of our own mandala and with respect to our own well being, we shouldn’t reify our own suffering and watching it from the perspective a sentient being, but instead shift our perspective. Meditation starts at 48:00 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 14 Apr 2020, Online-only
The Infirmary
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 27 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan comments on the Satipatthana Sutta as the secular and empirical śrāvakayāna approach to the Great Perfection. He explains that the first turning of the wheel of Dharma is totally scientific, the second turning of the wheel of Dharma is philosophical; focusing on the actual nature of reality, and the third turning of wheel is intuitive. He talks about the structure that can be found in Buddhism as a contemplative science, as well as in the Satipatthana Sutta: ethics, samadhi and wisdom. He then comments on phenomena and causality in accordance with Sautrāntika philosophy and it´s relation to the empirical methods presented in the Satipatthana Sutta. The meditation starts at 00:40:40 with mindfulness of breathing simply noting the rhythm of the respiration.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 21 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan encourages us to take to heart the cultivation of loving-kindness as a central theme of our spiritual practice and he explains how its healing powers are a natural remedy for the five poisons. He draws on the teachings and meditations of the Buddha in the ‘Dhammapada’ and ‘Mettanisamsa Sutta’, as well as Buddhaghosa’s ‘Path of Purification’ and writings from Longchenpa on the Four Immeasurables, to guide us in our understanding of this ancient truth. When we first come to Buddhadharma we come with a whole array of mental afflictions and the advice is to identify which is the most virulent affliction and to apply the antidotes to this first. Lama Alan likens this approach to Tibetan medicine, which treats the underlying causes and helps us heal by balancing the body. Dharma heals by balancing the mind. The root poison or affliction is delusion, giving rise to the misapprehension of reality, and so leading to craving, hostility, envy and pride. There are specific antidotes to remedy each poison, but loving-kindness has a special position amongst the virtues. Loving-kindness is a direct antidote to animosity, as well as arising as a natural antibody to fixation on hedonia, which is one of the five obscurations and also the false facsimile of empathetic joy. Lama Alan warns about attachment to hedonia and encourages us to develop intelligent loving-kindness for ourselves. He advises that to be hedonically well is a preparation for the cultivation of eudaimonia, and this is by way of ethics, samadhi and wisdom. He reminds us that few people have this opportunity. The Meditation starts at 00:19:54 and is about to attend to yourself and see yourself as lovable. Then see this lovability in a loved one, a stranger, and an enemy. Lama Alan provides guidance on the Buddha’s advice on loving-kindness in the Pali Canon, focusing on the eleven benefits, and also methods for countering resentment from the Theravada tradition. He ends by ‘joining earth and sky’ and comments on the Dzogchen master Longchenpa’s teachings on loving-kindness, which culminate in the practice of ‘uniting loving-kindness and emptiness, viewing everyone as being insubstantial like space’. A practice which starts with the aspiration that all sentient beings might experience happiness and the causes of happiness, and transcends to become the intention to pledge to all sentient beings, “I shall bring us all to happiness and the causes of happiness.” - Great Loving-Kindness.
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 23 Aug 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
This morning Alan: - asked for volunteers in an experiment over the retreat period - gave the oral transmission of the 7 line prayer of Padmasambhava (that will become part of the practice from tomorrow) - gave a guided meditation on settling the body speech and mind in its natural state, with an emphasis on being aware of the rhythm of the breath Following the meditation, the discussion was on maintaining practice between sessions (listen out for the impressions of a young girl riding her plastic tricycle on the asphalt while screaming - and as soon as you are confronted with such distractions while meditating, simply follow Gyatrul Rinpoche’s advice: “View it!”). Meditation starts at 12:09
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 24 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan begins the session with a brief introduction to meditation that will follow, instructing us to meditate on the Shamatha method that we find most useful, and not to be worried if the method is advanced or not. We then move to a silent meditation. After meditation, Alan concludes the commentary and the oral transmission of the text 'The Cultivation of Śamatha', by Karma Chagmé (page 23). This section explores the highest stages of Shamatha, including the Form realm and the Formless realm. Alan adds that for a long time, the Indians thought this more rarefied states were the pinnacle, the irreversible freedom. But then came Gautama Buddha and discovered that these high levels of Samadhi were not enough, you were still left in samsara. Later on Alan again warns about the perils of people thinking that they have achieved dhyana, having being told by their “teachers”, without even showing the basic signs and characteristics of each level of dhyana. Alan thinks that this is like giving false medicine and leads people to not move forward on the path. He further comments on Buddhadharma becoming global and not falling on the view of being in a degenerate era that nobody can achieve shamatha or liberation anymore. Those who think that way will naturally be poised not to move in the high stages of the path and, on the other hand, the only people who will reach the path are those who believe that it is possible. On the last ten minutes of the session, we move back to Panchen Rinpoche Text (page 19), on the serenity (shamatha) section. Alan also gives a short comment on the role of beauty in Dharma and being in a pleasant environment and finishes listing the Six Preparatory Practices and conditions that give rise to serenity (available as supplementary resource and listed below). Meditation is silent and not recorded. Note: Six Preparatory Practices
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 10 May 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan begins this session by introducing us to the way Tibetans approach a sacred text, which is that they "encounter" it rather than just "read" it. This shows the relational character towards the text and its author. The text can be understood as the speech emanation of the author, here as the speech emanation of the Padmasambhava, talking to us through Dudjom Lingpa. Lama Alan then completes the reading transmission form yesterday with the sentence „Likewise, at the time of Buddhahood as well, purification, liberation, and all displays of the kayas and facets of primordial consciousness are not created by activities or accomplished by effort.“ (bottom of page 103) Then Lama shows us how a momentum was built up from the beginning of this text until now, all steps guiding us towards reaching the path and progressing along the path towards perfect Enlightenment: • Through the preliminaries, we are learning to cultivate conative intelligence, based on bodhicitta. • Through the practice of vipashyana on our own minds, we might gain some understanding and insight into its empty nature. • Through practicing "taking the impure mind as the path" we learn that our sense of a self as an independent entity is a delusion and • Through extending this practice to the outer world, we see that all possible appearances in all possible worlds of samsara are equally empty. • Extending further we conclude that even the Buddha and Buddhahood are empty of inherent existence. • Based on the emptiness of all phenomena, we are introduced to an enchanted world that is populated by all kinds of mundane and supermundane beings such as spirits, nagas, gods, etc. All these steps have prepared us to now enter into stage of generation practices in an authentical way. Lama Alan then reads to us and gives commentary on a famous verse by Asanga from the Uttaratantra: “The perfect Buddhakaya is all-embracing, suchness cannot be differentiated, and all beings have the disposition. Thus, they always have Buddha-nature.“: 1. The buddhakaya / dharmakaya is all-pervasive – if we intuitively affirm this to be true, this is our own buddha-nature resonating with dharmakaya 2. The suchness/emptiness of all things is the basis for the non-separability of our own awareness and of pristine awareness – the wisdom of emptiness of all phenomena can be gained through logic and reasoning which leads to the transcendence of wisdom 3. All sentient beings without exception have buddha-nature – this is our relative view as sentient beings on other sentient beings, acknowledging our own and everyone’s else’s highest potential On this basis, we are now ready to move to stage of generation practice, a skillful means to make the unfathomable nature of the sugatagarbha apparent to us. While in traditional Tibetan texts guru yoga is introduced to students in an early stage of practice, we, who did not grow up in Tibetan culture, may now be ripe to gain an authentic understanding of the indispensable practice of seeing one´s own guru as Samantabhadra. Lama Alan continues in the text, where we are introduced to four kinds of nirmanakayas. • Living beings nirmanakayas are all sentient beings, they are viewed as manifestations of the Buddha, through which we can develop the four immeasurables: Only if there are sentient beings are we able to view them as our objects of loving-kindness, of compassion, can we rejoice in their virtues and we can develop equanimity towards all of them. In their kindness the Buddhas manifest as sentient beings; we can choose to view each and every sentient being that we encounter as a Buddha who is giving us an opportunity to develop our capacities. • Teacher nirmanakayas appear according to our abilities, our dispositions, and our conduct in various forms to guide us step by step. Lama introduces us to some of his early Tibetan teachers and expresses his gratitude towards all the many authentic teachers that he had in his life. From the many teachers we encounter in our lives, with some we may enter into a guru-disciple relationship. • Created nirmanakayas are representations of the Buddha’s body, speech, and mind, such as statues, sacred texts, and stupas. • Material nirmanakayas are the things that sustain us as sentient beings, making it possible for us to pursue the path towards enlightenment, such as food, clothing and shelter; and also all four elements and our whole inanimate environment. We only can view reality with pure vision if we can affirm the teachings of the Uttaratantra explained above. Then we have the choice – right now - to view everybody and everything as an expression of the divine, as an ongoing flow of blessings. Meditation starts at 01:07:32: After having settled body, speech and mind in their natural states we are invited to view all appearances and objects as empty in inherent existence, and to release them all into emptiness, indivisible from the dharmakaya. Out of emptiness, we 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 nirmanakayas.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 24 May 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan tells us we will once again have two meditation sessions, one on ultimate bodhicitta and one on relative bodhicitta. The first will draw from Atisha's instructions on ultimate bodhicitta from his 7-point mind training, and the second will return to Shantideva's instructions. Lama Alan gives a brief history and description of the 7-point mind training, explaining that it was meant for practitioners of sharp faculties who wished to truly dive into the deep end of practice. Lama Alan also returns to the relationship between emptiness and compassion by referring to HH The Dalai Lama's comments on the way in which great compassion arises spontaneously from the realization of the emptiness of one's own mind, which itself is nirvana. For it is when we realize this that we see the real possibility, the reality that all beings could in fact be free of suffering. This combines, as Lama says, an open heart, sadness for the suffering of the world, and knowledge, based in direct experience, of the fact that we actually can all be free of suffering. Lama Alan then guides us through the steps of reasoning we can use as we work through the process of deconstructing our habitual identification with our own body and mind, and reconstructing a vision of reality in which we identify with the body and mind of every sentient being, experiencing their suffering as our suffering, and their joy and liberation as our joy and liberation. From the perspective of pristine awareness, of the dharmakaya, which pervades the minds and bodies of all sentient beings, this is actually true. He compares this new relationship to other sentient beings as like a mother's relationship with her child. In this example, it is seen that the mother deeply identifies with her child's body and mind as part of her own being, experiencing the child's suffering and joy as her own. This is how the great beings experience all sentient beings. This then leads to Maha Dukkha, great suffering. But, as Lama reminds us, there is also Great Liberation, Maha Sukha, the realization of emptiness and primordial consciousness. In this, then, Maha Dukkha fuses with Maha Sukha, transcending the duality of samsara and nirvana. Meditation #1 is "Je Atisha's Ultimate Bodhicitta Lonjong" @ 15:35 In between the first and second meditation sessions, Lama Alan reads His Eminence Garchen Rinpoche's instructions on Tong-Len. Meditation #2 is "Embracing Shantideva's Guidance" @ 42: 35
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 12 Oct 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Teaching. Alan continues the series on the 4 greats with great empathetic joy. When you become lucid in a dream, happiness arises from knowing reality as it is. As long as you remain lucid, nothing in the dream can cause suffering. Therefore, the instruction is to stay lucid by not losing the recognition of the dream as a dream. Shamatha helps you sustain lucidity. Vipasyana counters our ingrained tendency to reify everything. When you break through the substrate consciousness to primordial consciousness, the instruction is similar: don’t lose the recognition by sustaining the view of rigpa. There is nothing else to do.
Meditation. Great empathetic joy. Let your awareness permeate the space of the body and come to rest in the immediacy of the present moment. In the space before you, visualize Samantabhadra, the personification of your own primordial awareness, deep blue in color and radiating a sapphire light. Take refuge in the primordial buddha Samantabhadra, the dharma of all the buddhas, and the sangha of vidyadharas. Samantabhadra comes to the crown of your head, dissolves into indigo light, flows the your central channel, and reforms at your heart chakra. Your own body, speech, and mind become indivisible with Samantabhadra. Light permeates the space of your body and your empty mind. From this perspective, inquire 1) why couldn’t all sentient beings never be parted from happiness free of suffering? Arouse the aspiration 2) may we never be parted from such well-being. Arouse the intention 3) as long as space remains, as long as time remains, I shall do whatever is needed to bring this about. 4) May I receive blessings from the guru Samantabhadra and all the enlightened ones to carry through. With every in breath, light from all the buddhas flow in from all directions, saturating your being and purifying all negativities. With every out breath, light flows out in all directions, dispelling all negativities and doing whatever is needed to bring all sentient beings to lasting happiness without suffering.
Meditation starts at 13:21
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 04 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
Lama Alan continues with his commentary on Padmasambhava’s teachings on the practice of settling the body, speech and mind in their natural states. This practice is a foot-ladder that can enable you to reach the bottom rung of the teachings in the Vajra Essence. These practices are sequential, with each one being essential. You must first establish the foundation, in which your body is settled in its natural state. This is followed by settling the speech in its natural state. Only on this basis can you settle the mind. Settling the body, speech and mind in their natural states makes the mind serviceable for the practice of shamatha. Lama Alan emphasizes that special attention needs to be given to settling of the speech-respiration. He notes that although the Buddha taught mindfulness of breathing in the Satipatthana Sutta, the Anapanasati Sutta, and in the Discourse on Mindfulness of Breathing, he did not teach pranayama. However, Lama Alan comments that the Buddha’s teachings on mindfulness of breathing are a natural pranayama. Lama Alan next returns to the topic of the importance of posture and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the sitting and shavasana postures. Lama Alan encourages us to master the shavasana even if we are able to sit cross-legged. The shavasana posture is extremely useful for promoting relaxation and stability. Given that most people in the modern world are prone to prana disorders, and are very strong in vikalpa (conceptualization), the shavasana posture can be very helpful. When you have settled the body and speech in their natural state, and are comfortable resting in stillness you are “ready to meditate,” for example, by practicing taking the mind as the path. Since your mind has been stilled, you won’t be hijacked by mental arisings, and you won’t be frustrated or bored. Through this practice you can become lucid in the waking state. Yangthang Rinpoche encouraged us to spend as much time as needed to master this. Padmasambhava instructs us to continue this practice until we have achieved it. The mediation is on Settling Body, Speech, and Mind in their Natural States, and begins at 01:03:55. After the meditation, Lama Alan provides a preview of tomorrow’s talk. The same topic of settling body, speech, and mind in their natural states will be discussed, but will focus on the writings of Terton Lerab Lingpa (which stem from teachings of Vimalamitra). These teachings provide a skillful means approach to settling body, speech, and mind in their natural states, in contrast to the teachings of Padmasambhava, which provide a wisdom approach.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 31 Mar 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan explains that the theme of "Stillness and Motion" contains a simultaneous awareness of the stillness of the awareness and the movements of everything else. According to the vision of the shravakayana, the nirvana that an arhat experiences is still, so here "stillness meets stillness". Ordinary sentient beings experience moving awareness that is aware of moving events, so here "motion meets motion". In contrast a Buddha realises "non abiding nirvana" and is neither immersed in samsara nor in nirvana. He rather is resting in the stillness of nirvana while simultaneously being aware of the myriad activities and movements of samsara. Meditation is on Mindfulness of Breathing combined with the theme of stillness and motion. After the Meditation Alan emphasizes the importance of the continuity of the practice, especially for shamatha. In between sessions, he encourages us to keep our awareness grounded in the body and being conscious of the flow of the breath. It is also important to develop a healthy breathing habit with a relaxed belly that expands freely. Meditation starts at 7:37 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 09 Apr 2020, Online-only
Rare and Precious Human Rebirth
Outer preliminaries for Dzogchen from Lama Alan, 09 Apr 2020, Online - Originally part of 2020 8-week retreat
Mediation on Rare and Precious Human Rebirth
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 16 Oct 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Meditation: Settling the mind preceded by settling body, speech, and mind.
1) settling body, speech, and mind. Let your awareness come to rest in its own place. There may be knowing of knowing. Let your unmoving awareness illuminate the space of the body and the objective/subjective experiences. Observe them like an out-of-body experience.
2) settling the mind. Let your eyes be open, gaze vacant. Direct mindfulness single-pointedly to the space of the mind and its contents. Begin with mental images and discursive thoughts. Awareness in stillness illuminates the movements of the mind without distraction, without grasping. Monitor with introspection. If distracted, relax, release, and return. If spaced out, refresh, refocus, and retain. Let mindfulness include subjective impulses like feelings and desires. Take special note of the intervals between thoughts. Can the space of the mind be ascertained? The space where appearances of the mind arise from, remain, and dissolve into. With the mentally perceived, let there be just the mentally perceived.
Teaching: Alan speaks about how to make the teachings on emptiness practical. These teachings are designed to cut the root of mental afflictions by critiquing our views of reality. According to the Prasangika Madhyamaka, all the phenomena we experience arise in dependence on conceptual designations. We can see this process happening in our experience. Mindfulness of breathing cleans the lab. In settling the mind, awareness stops being jerked around, and with discernment, comes to view mental events as mere empty appearances in both meditation and post-meditation. You come to non-conceptual certainty that nothing in your mind can harm you, whether or not thoughts have ceased. Upon achieving shamatha, the power of samadhi flows right into sleep. The dream yoga practice of emanation and transformation strengthens the conviction that there is nothing here from its own side, just a world of possibility waiting to be designated. Sentient beings reify everything they experience. In practicing the 4 applications, ask yourself, “Do I reify anything?” When you experience craving or hostility (arising from delusion rooted in reification), identify the referent and probe its existence.
Meditation starts at: 1:00
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 13 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
Day One, Session One Q&A To maintain the privacy of the attendees some of the questions may not be heard, but in the video version of the Q&A the questions are shown on the screen. We apologize for this inconvenience.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 02 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Yangchen began the session with two corrections. The first was from session 5, in which Lama Alan discussed the Buddha’s manifestation of a staircase in order to descend to our realm. The second was from session 4; Yangchen clarified that the Vajra Tent tantra is an explanatory tantra of the Hevajra cycle. Yangchen then drew parallels between Lama Alan’s discussion of siddhis that can be manifested on the basis of samadhi (e.g. the manifestation of one element, such as solidity, where there is another element, such as air) with the manifestation of the elements from seed syllables in the creation of a mandala. She commented that samsaric worlds are built from archetypes from the form realm based on the shared karma of beings who inhabit that world, while tantric systems are given to us by the Buddhas to build a pure world out of pristine awareness. There was then a discussion of purification, and the parallels between the terminology used in the Vajra Essence, with that used in Lama Tsongkhapa’s works on the stage of generation, especially in regards “that which is to be purified, the basis to be purified, and the agent of purification.” There are three main things to be purified: death, the bardo, and rebirth. Each of these elements is present in any complete sadhana. Grasping to ordinary appearances are purified through pure appearances and identification with the diety. Yangchen commented that even though Dudjom Lingpa had no human teacher, the terminology of his revelations is consistent with traditional Buddhist teachings on Madhyamaka and Stage of Generation. Further, the entire buddhist tradition is encapsulated within the Vajra Essence. Yangchen mentioned that the details that she is explaining concerning the Peaceful and Wrathful Mandalas in the Vajra Essence will lay the groundwork for how to practice the Lake Born Vajra Sadhana. The empowerment for the LBV sadhana will be given by Lama Alan in May. Yangchen went on to discuss the importance of seed syllables in creating a mandala. The syllable Om at the beginning of a peaceful mandala, and the syllable Hum at the beginning of a wrathful mandala are the seed syllables for the holy mind of the Buddha. This represents the sign of the Buddha’s mind. The syllable E, which manifests from the Om, represents absolute space manifesting as relative space. By meditating on the sign of space you start creating a world. These symbols come from the form realm, from the pure realm in which the elements are creative expressions of pristine awareness. Training in a sadhana is training to see a world that is generated entirely by pristine awareness. Finally, Yangchen discusses how creating a mandala can be of benefit to our world, and the inhabitants of our world. The meditation is on the peaceful and wrathful mandalas in sequence and starts at 1:00:00.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 18 May 2021, Online-only
Coming back to the four applications of mindfulness to the mind, Lama Alan expounds on the topic of mind; how does mind emerges and dissolves from the bhavanga. He comes back to the mind-body problem from the Madhyamika point of view; categories of “mind” and “matter” and “name” and form” are constructed by mentation based on appearances. He comments: to fathom the nature of the mind is to comprehend not only its relative origin, nature, and dissolution, but also its ultimate nature, which is nirvāna. Then Lama Alan talks about nirvana, following the Buddha´s teachings in the Pali canon. Meditation starts at 00:37:45 and is about observing the movements of javana with and without identifying with them, examining the consequences in our mind and behavior of “appropriated” and “unappropriated” mental processes and the impact of the observation on the observed.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 25 Apr 2021, Online-only
With the beginning of a new week, and stepping into Phase 4 of the text, Lama Alan begins by giving an overview of session plans for the remainder of the retreat. Acknowledging that Phase 4 will be more demanding, and therefore wanting to allow more time for assimilation, starting from today, the total hours per day will be two and a half, instead of three. The one-hour AM session will focus on the Four Applications of Mindfulness, as auxiliary teachings and practice; and the one-and-a-half-hour PM session, will continue to focus on the Vajra Essence, with guided meditation. Following on from the positive psychology of the Four Immeasurables and the Four Greats that we explored last week, Lama suggests that the Four Applications of Mindfulness are very fitting auxiliary teachings and practices alongside the Vajra Essence, because they directly serve as an antidote to our attachment to our bodies, feelings, minds and anything else, as ‘I’ or ‘mine’, which makes us so vulnerable to suffering. Moreover, Lama emphasizes that commitment to these practices is already a devotion to direct liberation; if such practices are imbued with Bodhicitta, they are a direct path to the enlightenment of a Buddha. Lama outlined that beginning with the teachings on the Four Applications of Mindfulness in the Theravada tradition, during the following morning sessions, we will explore the philosophical input from the Śrāvakayāna, as well as the Mahayana / Madhyamaka approach, which he suggests is a perfectly smooth segue into all the teachings on emptiness throughout the Vajra Essence. Beginning today with the Buddha’s discourse in the Satipatthāna Sutta, Lama underscores the pith instructions about what these Four Applications of Mindfulness are, namely, that one abides in a state of viewing the (i) ‘body as the body, diligent, introspective, and mindful, free from attachment and disappointment with regard to the world’; and so on, with (ii) feelings as feelings; (iii) the mind as the mind; and (iv) phenomena as phenomena. Reflecting that in the Vajra Essence Phase 3 we have seen a huge emphasis on cutting through reification and grasping to inherent existence of anything at all, Lama acknowledges that this is indeed ‘subtle, deep and difficult’. He suggests that to cut through in this way and realise Great Emptiness is profound, it means that you have come to know the actual nature of reality, but this is impossible if we are still operating at the coarse level of clinging to the body and mind as ‘I’ or ‘mine’. However, Lama emphasizes that it is exactly here, at this coarse level, that the Four Applications of Mindfulness can be so powerful. Without sophisticated reasonings (of Nagarjuna, Chandrakirti and so forth), we can cut through by simply closely applying well-informed, discerning mindfulness, and specifically investigating what IS the nature of the body as a body, feelings as feelings, mental processes as mental processes, and phenomena as phenomena. Lama concludes that this is enough to cut the root of appropriation of the body and mind as ‘I’ or ‘mine’, and that cuts the root of a very large band-width of suffering. The meditation starts at 00:36:00 and is about resting in qwareness, view your body, feelings, mental processes and phenomena as they are.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 12 May 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
We started the session with a quick review of the four types of mindfulness, with Alan mentioning that usually, for the untrained mind, there’s not even the capacity to distinguish between stillness and motion, with cognitive fusion with movements of mind occurring as a most common experience. Alan then did a review of the four types of mindfulness that we will experience as we embark on the practice of taking the mind as the path: (1) single-pointed mindfulness (which allows us to simultaneously be aware of stillness and motion of the movements of the mind, preventing cognitive fusion), (2) manifest mindfulness (where our practice gets simultaneously subtler, and implies less and less effort – stages 4 to 9 of the shamatha path), (3) absence of mindfulness (where we become aware of only the sheer vacuity of the mind, with both the mental factor of mindfulness and the five senses, going dormant) and lastly (4) self-illuminating mindfulness (where we focus awareness on the space of the mind itself, finally identifying the conventional nature of our mind). In the last point mentioned before the meditation, Alan returned to the familiar theme of the three higher trainings (ethics, samadhi and wisdom), with comments elaborating on the fact that each of these really manifests greater benefit when used for the purpose they were originally designed, and by the mentioned sequence. After the meditation, we returned to the Panchen Lama text, resuming the oral commentary, having covered material from stanza 43 of the follow up section of the text, to stanza 45. The meditation, which was a vipashyana practice on searching for the true nature of the mind, begins at 40:00 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 20 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan says we will now return to the central theme of balance, grounding our shamatha practice in relaxation and stability. We will later move to being aware of the sensations and movements of the body but attending to them from the perspective of stillness. Subsequently we will apply this to the practice of taking the mind as the path. In this method, our practice of attending to the mind can energise or arouse leading to tightness, and therefore we need to maintain a sense of looseness in the practice by returning to relaxation. Alan then describes several aspects of this shamatha practice, from coarse to subtle. The essential instructions of this practice are the following: “Attend to the space of the mind and whatever arises within it, without distraction and without grasping”. (1) The easiest thing to observe are the appearances that arise more objectively, which are primarily audio-visual to simplify a bit, like the face of your mother, a piece of fruit, discursive thoughts, etc. (like watching a movie in 3D, not flat-screen). If you are right there when they first arise, you rest in the stillness of your awareness, you are clear, you are still, and you are directed at the target such that if something comes up in that field you notice it immediately, in real-time. It is seeing a mental event as a mental event from the very beginning: in other words, when the mental event arises, in that moment you are lucid. (2) Secondly, thoughts at time come from within, and as they arise in that first moment we cognitively fuse with them (e.g. we think about chocolate - we want chocolate). In that first arising (as a subjective impulse maybe by way of an image of chocolate for example) there is already cognitive fusion. It is like entering in the first moment of a non-lucid dream. In the first moment of a non-lucid thought, we are attending to the referent of the thought, e.g. chocolate. Then hopefully I return to the present moment, and then retrospectively I recognise with introspection “I was thinking about chocolate, I wasn’t here and now”. As soon as you see this, let your first response be: Relax. Then release the grasping, the cognitive fusion that captured your attention and directed it to chocolate. (You are not releasing the thought of chocolate, nor the desire for chocolate - they may remain, look at them). Finally return to the present moment from a perspective of stillness, and if there is a thought of chocolate and a lingering desire, that’s fine - observe them. They are not going to stay forever, sooner or later they are going to fade. (3) Thirdly, during periods when there is no distinct content in the space of the mind, then the practice is sustaining the flow of cognisance - you are clearly knowing the space of the mind. (Alan says this is crucial and there will be more on this later in the retreat.) (4) Finally Alan asks if we left anything out. Yes, there is awareness of awareness, which is also taking place in the space of the mind. Meditation is silent (not recorded). Following the meditation, Alan resumes the transmission of Karma Chagme’s text “The Cultivation of Shamatha”. Alan makes a range of comments in response to the text covering: experiential breakthroughs cannot be sustained without shamatha; avoiding being too rigid in our practice; one could realise emptiness and not realise rigpa; the importance of teaching the Dharma with a wholesome mind. At the end of the text’s preamble, Alan says we should understand this part is designed to engender motivation, enthusiasm and inspiration. In the next section, “I. The Cultivation of Shamatha with Characteristics”, Alan comments that the posture for meditation practice should be taken seriously but not dogmatically. For this reason Alan quotes the following passages: ·Vimuttimagga (by Arhat Upatissa, 1st c. C.E.): The standing and walking postures are particularly suitable for lustful natured personalities, while sitting and reclining are more appropriate for anger-natured personalities. [Ehara, N.R.M. et al. tr.,The Path of Freedom (Vimuttimagga), Kandy: BPS, 1995, 61] ·Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga (430 C.E.): Whichever posture is effective for developing concentration is the one to be adopted. (128) Finally, as a foretaste of Dzogchen, he reads a quote from Dudjom Lingpa’s Vajra Essence and Essence of Clear Meaning. Meditation is silent and not recorded. ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 09 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan starts by addressing some omissions in the oral transmission from the previous day. He specifies that Manjushri, Avalokitesvara, Vajrapani etc are personifications of the qualities of great wisdom which is non-dual from pristine awareness. Great wisdom is not a person, not a deity, but using it as a basis of designation, as appearances arise from it, it is suitable to conceptually designate the 3 personifications of the 3 fundamental qualities of a buddha’s mind: wisdom, compassion, power. Lama-la introduces the practice of Taking the Mind as the Path; he emphasises that we don’t try to stop thoughts from arising or inhibit mental afflictions but cultivate complete impartiality. According to Lerab Lingpa, this practice is the foundation of all the subsequent samadhis of all the practices of the stage of generation and completion. In The Heart Essence of Vimalamitra it’s also presented as the foundation for the cutting through and crossing over of Dzogchen. In this practice we cultivate the ability to be aware of our thoughts without thinking them, resting in the stillness of awareness. This practice is invaluable for maintaining mental balance as it helps us become aware of the spark of the emotion before it manifests in behaviour, including mental action. Lama Alan defines free will as the freedom to make wise choices that are conducive to our own and others’ wellbeing. He quotes from Yangthang Rinpoche’s root text (View, Meditation, and Conduct) where he states in the context of this practice: “If you wish to look into the mirror of the actual nature of your mind, do not look outward. Rather, look inward.” Lama Alan adds that when we look outward we almost always reify. Lama introduces the term cognitive intelligence for the ability to recognise what reality is dishing up from moment to moment without projections or conceptual blockages. This is the foundation for developing emotional intelligence, enabling us to see emotions arising and recognising whether they’re constructive, neutral or destructive. Meditation starts at 00:37:00: Taking the Mind as the Path in which thoughts are not blocked, but one does not think them. Lama Alan returns to the text (“As for the pristine awareness that is present as the ground” p. 64), commenting that the preceding paragraph covers samatha where one settles in substrate consciousness, not activating one’s human body, speech or mind. On the basis of recognising all phenomena as dream-like we proceed to something that is not obvious to everyone who’s realised emptiness: not only are phenomena empty of inherent nature but they’re our own appearances, creative expressions of pristine awareness. This is an added insight. Lama Alan states that in these two paragraphs we have samatha, vipasyana and cutting through to pristine awareness. After explaining the etymologies of the Three Jewels, Lama, yidam and dakini Lama ends by saying that the objects of refuge are all displays of our own pristine awareness and the highest way to express our devotion to them is by resting in pristine awareness.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 08 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan corrected yesterday’s reading transmission by giving 2 passages that had been omitted and he also gave related commentary. That, for example, the pure lands and Preta’s exist in parallel worlds although they lack inherent existence. And that, those in the bardo see not with the eyes but with mental awareness. Lama Alan referred to the paths to enlightenment as set out in different traditions (e.g. Gelugpa and Dzogchen) emphasising differences in effort and the release of effort. References were made to the nature of space from a scientific perspective. Lama la also spoke about all appearances arising from the empty space of the substrate, that they were displays of space, emerging from space and dissolving back into space, having no existence apart from substrate consciousness. He concluded by saying that phenomena are not merely empty. They are creative expressions of primordial awareness. Moreover Dharmadhatu is not ethically neutral or a dead zone, but that it is replete with all of the qualities of enlightenment, and that this is the actual nature of our own mind. Meditation starts at 34.30 minutes and is on resting our awareness in space, without slipping into dualistic grasping.
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 16 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
Day Four, Session One Q&A To maintain the privacy of the attendees some of the questions may not be heard, but in the video version of the Q&A the questions are shown on the screen. We apologize for this inconvenience.
Alan gave a talk about the result of the US election , 09 Nov 2016, Sakya Foundation, Spain
This is the talk that Alan gave on 9th November 2016 after the results of the US election
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 05 May 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
Lama-la starts with an announcement regarding Khandro-la, who will be visiting to teach in California this summer, and he wishes to invite her to teach next year at our Hermitage. Arrangements will be made in due course. He lingers over the paragraph in the text discussed in the last session on page 219, regarding obeying one’s guru, with a detailed explanation of the hyperbole used by Lake Born Vajra, using examples of difficult situations and avoiding pitfalls. We have the obligation not to commit prematurely to an unsuitable guru, to examine him thoroughly first, but if we have failed to do so, to disengage respectfully, and follow His Holiness’ advice as previously explained. Once devoted to a guru, suitable disciples need to display a number of qualities as highlighted in the text. A discussion ensues on the meaning of ‘disillusion and disgust with the affairs of this life’, with the explanation that this refers to the eight mundane concerns, the spirit of emergence which is essential to proceed on the Path. If not present, the disciples themselves may become maras for the teacher. Students are not equal regarding their propensity to Dharma, in the sense that some are already born with strong karmic imprints from past lifetimes for virtue, others apply themselves to practice in this lifetime. Lama-la discusses each of such type of virtue, with examples, as well as emphasises the importance of encouraging and nurturing spiritual aptitude in children, along with attention skills, by comparing psychologist William James’s point of view (the Western approach) to the Buddhist perspective which opens unlimited possibilities for mind training and purification. The meditation that begins at 01:03:40 is on shamatha without a sign. The aural transmission starts at 00:02:35 and covers pages 219-220.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 20 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan comments that it is very common that practicing loving Kindness can be difficult at first, but he advises to continue with it and little by little it will get easier and start to flow. After time, it can become effortless and Shamata can be developed with this practice. For some people, this may be the most beneficial and transformative practice. He then touches on Buddhaghosa’s Path of Purification and his instructions on cultivating loving kindness and highlights Buddhaghosa’s instructions on developing loving kindness for people that are especially difficult for us. The meditation on loving kindness begins 00:44:50, finding the loving qualities of ourself and others and extending ones loving kindness. Then he discusses the false facsimile of loving kindness, self-centered attachment and its far enemy, malice. He closes by expounding on the difference between an “I-It” relationship and an “I-Thou” relationship, as defined by Martin Buber.
