2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 22 Apr 2020, Online-only
Meditation: Placing the Sentry of Mindfulness at the Nostrils Meditation begins at: 30 minutes
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 12 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Before taking refuge and reciting the 7 line prayer, Yangchen indicates that the whole class will be about refuge and bodhicitta. She reminds us that she gave a brief overview of the Lake Born Sadhana practice in 2019 but now we have time to give each word and verse as much time, reflection and meditation as it needs. Yangchen is offering it as if each of us were about to go into an approach and accomplishment retreat, planting the seed with the intention to complete the practice one day. Most importantly she reminds us that anyone listening to this class must have received the Lake Born Empowerment in this lineage, from Lama Alan Rinpoche in order to follow this particular set of teachings. We will receive a revised and updated version of the sadhana soon. Yangchen is using a commentary by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche and also sections taken from sadhanas from the Vajrayana foundation (founded by Lama Tharchin) and from Vimala Treasures - the direct lineage of Gyatrul Rinpoche. The aim is to include all the essential ingredients to receive the full benefit of the practice, which can be used as a support for a long term shamatha retreat. Yangchen then commences a word commentary of the title of this practice: Heart Essence of the Lake-Born Vajra: A Secret Sadhana of the Mahaguru. This includes a brief explanation of the 4 lama sadhanas in the Dudjom Tersar lineage, an explanation of the term 'sadhana', and a reminder that this was a mind terma revealed to Dudjom Rinpoche directly, the blessings being very powerful in such a short lineage. We then move on to the introductory verse and an explanation of 'The immortal Vidyadhara Totreng Tsel' and the association of this being a longevity practice, and the reference to the 'all pervasive lord' being Vajrdhara who synthesises all buddha families. Yangchen then reminds us of the importance of guru yoga in Vajrayana practice, looking at the incarnation lineage going all the back to Shariputra, reflecting on the inconceivable merit of each lifetime and then comparing that to where we are. Our awe develops our reverence but is also very humbling. We realise we won't achieve the result on our own merit but through the unification of our mind-stream with the guru as the body speech and mind of all buddhas. The devotional aspect is imperative. We then move on to the opening prayers, beginning with the 7 line invocation to Guru Rinpoche. Yangchen gives an explanation of the second prayer - an invocation to the dharmakaya, sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya - Amitayus, Lord of Potalaka and Totreng Tsel. Here Yangchen refers us to the images available on the media site. She also explains the symbol of skulls and what they represent. The third prayer is calling for blessings from Lady Kharchen (Yeshe Tsogyal), Drokben Je (Kyeuchen Lotsawa, a direct disciple of Guru Rinpoche) and Dudjom Drodul Ling (Dudjom Rinpoche). The blessings we can receive from saying these prayers if we have some understanding of the meaning, we connect to our guru in all these extraordinary forms, allows us to collect the merit quickly. If we do the deeds of an ordinary being and then a little bit of practice we won't get the full benefit compared to fully immersing ourselves in the practice in retreat and opening ourselves to the stream of blessings. The fourth prayer is in general to the root and lineage gurus but will be specific to each practitioner. This prayer refers to the three roots - the guru, yidam and khandro, with three different activities. The gurus amass and grant blessings, the yidam grants siddhis and then Yangchen explained the importance of the dakinis and dharma protectors who protect us in our practice of dharma. The fifth prayer is the final one Yangchen comments on today, with an explanation of how we have received the seeds of empowerment and now we need to ripen those seeds and keep our samayas purely, watching our actions of body, speech and minds in regard to our guru, vajra siblings and all sentient beings. Demons and maras can infiltrate so strongly so if our prayers are so ingrained in us, we'll know to turn to them and pray to our lama to overcome these problems. The meditation „Directly asking the Vidyadharas for blessings - in a very gentle, experiential way.“ begins at 1:14:12
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 30 Apr 2021, Online-only
We return to mindfulness of breathing in the context of the Four Applications of Mindfulness to the body. Lama Alan shares an image that came up in his morning meditation of a hermit crab that doesn’t have a shell of its own, which he introduces as a useful metaphor. Hermit crabs undergo a metamorphosis from a symmetric free-swimming larva to finding an empty shell in which to take up residence. In a similar way, we sentient beings appropriate a body that isn’t ours when we become embodied after floating in the bardo with only a mental body. Lama-la reminds us that this is the first lesson to fathom in the beginning of the Vajra Essence before we continue – amongst body, speech and mind, the mind is primary. Developing this metaphor of the crab finding a shell, Lama-la extends an invitation to all of us listening: if we haven’t already found a “shell” in which to go into fulltime practice, he encourages us to envision this and to create the leisure and take advantage of the opportunity to let this be the most important life we’ve ever lived. He urges us to do everything we can to reach the path and make this the lifetime in which irreversible change will take place. What’s in our way? Why haven’t we already found the path? Giving an analogy, Lama-la likens this to being stuck in our own individual and interrelated non-lucid dreams. We tend to have 5-7 dream cycles a night but keep being re-born as amnesiacs. He then draws again on the Buddhist parable of the prodigal son and invites us to consider, who do we feel ourselves to be, and then to explore, like the wise minister encourages the beggar to do, when did we first come into existence? How long have we, who are here right now, been here, when did we come into existence? Sharing his own experiences, Lama Alan illustrates this through the example of his own illness in January and explains that it now feels like this happened to a different person from who is here right now. Back to the metaphor of a non-lucid dream. From a Buddha’s perspective we’re in a non-lucid dream. Imagine an emanation of the Buddha appears (whose only task is to wake us up) and tells you you’re not the person you think you are, wake up! Just saying that won’t work. Instead, the emanation of the Buddha may ask us, “what are you already doing that’s depriving you from any chance of becoming lucid?” As long as you persist in this, you’ll never wake up! Five obscurations get in the way of becoming lucid in the midst of a non-lucid dream: 1. Hedonism/hedonic fixation. As long as we’re fixated on the allures of the dream/desire realm, we’ll never become lucid. 2. Malevolence arises from not getting what we want in the dream; 3. Laxity and dullness - we become dopey and this lack of clarity of mind will prevent us from becoming lucid. 4. Excitation and its shadow side of anxiety. 5. Afflictive, disabling doubt. This life is our non-lucid dream. The Buddha said that as long as these five obscurations are not abandoned we have to consider ourselves to be “indebted, sick, in bonds, enslaved and lost on a desert track”. You may think you’re doing well – take another look! Samsara is not a place of wellbeing. On that note let’s return to meditation to identify clearly in our own experience and not just be deluded that this is somebody else’s problem, let’s take it to heart and practise. And let’s see where there’s light at the end of the tunnel to find freedom and to wake up! Meditation begins at 00:44:09. With a primary emphasis on sustaining continuous mindfulness of the respiration, monitor as needed, the occurrence of any of the five obscurations. When they are relatively absent, relax; when they are present, arouse your awareness, watching them vanish of their own accord.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 25 May 2021, Online-only
This session begins with the meditation which starts at 00:02:14 and is about Padmasambhava’s pointing out instructions on pristine awareness. Continuing with the visualization of the wrathful mandala, Lama Alan returns to the text of the sentence: “The natural radiance of mirror-like primordial consciousness arises in the east as the white Vajra of Hatred.” He comments on the visualization of the three syllables as preparatory practices for the stage of completion. The text then makes a parallel between the relative and the ultimate meaning of different aspects of the practice. Lama Alan highlights the importance, stated in the text, of achieving stability in divine pride, comments on the different degrees of realization and reviews the crucial point of recognizing that every wrathful appearance is an enlightened display of Samantabhadra. The text continues with pith instructions on the visualization and advise on practices for different times of the day. It ends by coming back to the idea, that the ultimate practice is stabilizing in the nature of pristine awareness. This concludes Lama Alan´s oral transmission and comments on phase four.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 19 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan continues the teachings of the morning session on Jé Tsultrim Zangpos An Ornament of the Enlightened View of Samantabhadra, focusing on Guru Yoga in all three Yanas: The emphasize hereby lies on approaching ones Guru with reverence and devotion. When we understand that the object of this reverence is the Buddha himself, we will not get lost in false facsimiles of Guru Yoga like idolization or personality cult. Yet there are differences: in the Sravakayana, the teacher is viewed as the person “carrying the torch of the Dharma”, him- or herself being an ordinary human being, whereas in Mahayana the Guru is seen as a conduit of the Buddha's blessings and wisdom. The most demanding approach, of course, lies in the way we view our Guru in the context of Dzogchen: as Samantabhadra himself. This is only possible if, through strong devotion, reverence and faith, we try to actualize the Dharmakaya and see its display personified as our Guru, as Guru Rinpoche (being the primary Yidam in Dzogchen), and ultimately as ourselves - to see our own face as the Dharmakaya. In all of the three Yanas could it happen that the person we have accepted as our guide and Guru, strays away from the authenticity of the teachings or from a conduct in accordance with the teachings. In this - very sad - case, we should turn to find a new teacher, knowing that the Dharmakaya is the ultimate source of the teachings. Lama Alan describes that the way the Guru appears to us is the fruit of our own karma because all we can perceive are our own appearances. Then Lama Alan continues today's teachings with explanations on the Four Immeasurables: • Loving Kindness as a basis for a vision of how every sentient being could have met all their hedonic needs and also could find ultimate happiness. • Compassion that arises from observing the suffering of sentient beings, suffering that is incredibly vast in ways and numbers. • Empathetic Joy as fuel that eases our despair and nurtures our aspirations, when we rejoice in the countless acts of kindness displayed in the world. • Equanimity which breaks down all the barriers between those close to us, those neutral to us and those we regard as enemies, so that our Love may extend equally to all sentient beings. Lama Alan then lays out the two ways - that complement each other - of how to cultivate the Four Immeasurables: a socially engaged way and a contemplative way. Meditation starts at 01:06:48. We are invited to listen to the words of the Buddha in His Discourse on Loving-Kindness, where we embrace all sentient beings with Love and compassion.
The Shamatha Trilogy, 03 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
The Shamatha Trilogy - Part 3 - Shamatha Without a Sign
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 21 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan begins the session by frontloading the silent meditation session, and in the follow up of the morning session, asked us to investigate the distinctive qualities of space and awareness. To help us in that investigation, we brought forth the idea that space implies the quality of extension, unlike awareness. That being the case, these were the questions we were to contemplate: (i) is the space of the mind 2D or 3D?; (ii) has it got a colour, is it either black or transparent?; (iii) has it got a shape? Is it a sphere or a cube?; (iv) does the space of the mind has a center and/or a periphery? He proposed the meditation session to be divided into 2 parts, with the first being mindfulness of breathing, in full body awareness mode, and only the second part of the session being dedicated to Settling the Mind, as outlined above. The reason for doing mindfulness of breathing in the first part of the session is that by paying attention to the somatic field of the body, we attend to a space that is by nature non-conceptual. There, the presence of only physical senses and feelings, that do not have a referent, help us quiet the mind. After that, we can more effectively attend to the space of the mind, and specifically to the spaces between thoughts, where we were to remain single-pointedly focused on the space of the mind. After the meditation, we went back to chapter fifteen of Karma Chagmé’s “Great Commentary to Buddhahood in the Palm of Your Hand”, which is on shamatha. Alan continued the oral transmission, first on a section focused on The Cultivation of Shamatha With Characteristics, which included a succinct section on the path to shamatha (for more details, please see Alan’s book: “The Attention Revolution). He then proceeded to a section on The Cultivation of Shamatha Without Characteristics, a progression which is very typical in Mahamudra and Dzogchen. The meditation is silent (not recorded). ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 26 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
In this session we are looking into the root bases of where things come from, asking more deeply the question: What is the source for the creation of worlds? One of the main themes explored is the differentiation of impure appearances that are part of the mandala in contrast to the impure worlds created by karma and klesha. After exploring this juxtaposition through commentary on the excerpt from Jé Tsultrim Zangpo (see the end of yesterday’s notes), followed by commentary on a passage by Jé Tsongkhapa, Yangchen takes this foundation and connects it to guru yoga as a way to support a deeper understanding of guru yoga’s roots (how it can be true), ultimately leading us to a more authentic practice. The meditation is on arising as Vajrayogini and experiencing more deeply the subtle energies. It begins at 1:03:45.
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 01 Sep 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
aka: An insiders approach to understanding reality Alan continues teaching from the text, beginning with the preface before heading into the meditation and the gentle transition from shamatha to vipashana. Following the meditation, Alan discusses the contemplative laboratory concept, and the desire to bring His Holiness’ vision to fruition - breaking down the barriers between contemplative traditions (beyond Buddhism) in the name of research. Alan likens mundane vipashana to science in that it is asking questions. The subtitle of this podcast is explained through how Himalayan practitioners refer to themselves as ‘insiders’ (looking inwards for answers). He (Alan) asked us to strip down our consciousness and make a discovery, reminding us that we are on the ‘fast track’ and there is no time to waste. There was one question relating to being stuck inside the skull, in which Alan references a 1960’s TV show and a soap box in Hyde Park in his reply. Meditation starts at 19:42
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.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 29 Mar 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan begins the retreat by thanking all the staff at ILTK, starting from the Director Filippo, his wife and everyone else who has been helping to offer such a wonderfully conducive environment. We will have teachings from the Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra – Alan has received the oral transmission of this text from Geshe Rabten. Alan also received the oral transmission of the other text he will be teaching on from Gyatrul Rinpoche, which highlights the union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen (Naked Awareness). Alan also said that he will show how the various traditions are complementary. Before the meditation, Alan then gives some brief instructions about the retreat structure. The meditation is on Settling the Body, Speech and Mind in their natural states. Meditation starts at 31:00 After the meditation, Alan touches on the differences between practicing Dharma and reaching an irreversible path. When we reach the path, we have set out in such a way that we will never fall back. He also gives a brief update about the wonderful property nearby which could soon become a place where people can achieve shamatha. ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 17 Sep 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Teaching: Alan introduces the 4th application of mindfulness to phenomena (dharmas). Whereas the first 3 applications of mindfulness are microscopic, the mindfulness of phenomena takes a step back to understand how it all fits together and their inter-relationships—i.e., dependent origination. While dependent origination applies to all phenomena, the focus here is understanding causes and conditions leading to suffering and happiness. All the different lists of phenomena in this section are presented so that we can become free. Within the 5 obscurations, the first one is sensual craving which means fixating on an appearance and believing therein lies my happiness. Its antidote is single-pointed attention, and we can see how this can be in settling the mind. Lama Zöpa Rinpoche has said that renunciation is a prerequisite for shamatha. Renunciation itself can be cultivated by 1) discursive meditations of the lamrim, 2) devotion, or 3) shamatha.
Meditation: silent session on either mindfulness of the breath as this morning or open presence (without dzogchen). In this proto-shamatha practice, let your awareness settle in the present moment, lighting all the sense fields. Maintain flow of knowing. Keep either mindfulness of the breath or open presence as the baseline, and make forays into other practices from there.
Q1. In settling the mind, is the space of the mind for this practice the same as the substrate which is also referred to as the space of the mind? If so, how can we attend to the substrate as beginners?
Q2. I want to report a strange meditative experience. When I’m very relaxed in the supine position, there is prana pounding at the solarplexes like a heartbeat reverberating through the whole body. It’s not in sync with the heartbeat, and it doesn’t occur when I meditate in a seated posture.
Q3. In settling the mind, how can we recognize subtle excitation and apply the corresponding antidote?
Meditation starts at 41:25
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 03 May 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan returns in this session to the six primary mental afflictions, turning now to the mental affliction of ignorance-delusion. As an introduction to the new affliction, Lama Alan explains that we are working through the six mental afflictions, the five obscurations, and the four immeasurables in an interrelated way. That is, as we looked at the first obscuration of hedonic fixation, which is directly related to the first mental affliction of craving-attachment, we saw that loving-kindness imbued with conative intelligence (intelligence that actually understands the true causes of happiness) serves as a remedy. Further, we saw that for ill-will, compassion imbued with an understanding of the causes of mental afflictions can serve as a remedy. Now, in this session, Lama Alan turns to the mental affliction of ignorance-delusion (avidya-moha), explaining that when we see that all other mental afflictions come from ignorance-delusion, and that all "contemptible behavior" comes from mental afflictions, then the only reality-based response to "contemptible behavior" or any other behavior rooted in ignorance-delusion is not contempt or aversion, but compassion. The meditation on "Compassion for Our Ignorance and Delusion" begins at 37:47.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 22 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
The thrust of the discussion circles around intuition and its roots in primordial consciousness. The conversation starts out comparing and contrasting primordial consciousness (super-mundane) with substrate consciousness (mundane). The substrate consciousness is a microcosm of primordial awareness, and the explanations are given. “Primordial consciousness is the natural glow of the ground, and it is described in terms of five facets of primordial consciousness. Specifically, when the ground is made manifest, great primordial consciousness, which has been forever present, abides in the aspect of lucidity and luminosity, like the breaking of dawn or like the rising of the sun. It is not impeded, as in a blanked-out darkness that knows nothing. Rather, all appearances are present as self-knowing, but it is not as though it becomes something that arises or ceases, either.” We then are directed to the four reliances as a path to our ultimate teacher as extremely important as it culminates right where we are in the text. There were four reliances (Skt. catuḥpratisaraṇa; Tib. rton pa bzhi) taught by the Buddha shortly before his passing away, as taught in the Sūtra of the Teaching of Akṣayamati and the Sūtra of the Questions of the Nāga King Anavatapta. - Do not rely on the individual, but on the Dharma. (Why the guru/disciple relationship is transpersonal) - Do not rely on the words, but on their referents. (As in finger pointing to the moon – do not look at just the words, but their referent) - Do not rely on the provisional referent, but on the definitive referent. - Do not rely on conditioned consciousness, but on primordial consciousness. (This may be difficult to understand until one has a taste or experience of primordial consciousness) “Primordial consciousness is self-emergent, naturally luminous, and free of outer and inner obscuration; it is the all-pervasive, lucid, luminous infinity of space, free of contamination.” The discussion turns to the laws of karma and the contrast with, for example Christianity. In Buddhism there is no creator God with omnipotence like being sent to hell by this being, etc. Rather it is karma as the cause for experiences of either felicity or adversity. Karma is not a law that was created, but rather more accurately described as invariant or simply how things are/ how things work. To understand how to find an inroad into getting out of samsara, one can look at the 12 links of Dependent Origination to find an inroad into how to break out of samsara. If one follows the links, samsara is explained, but if one “rolls them back” then one can find a way out! Two entries into breaking the samsaric cycle are: - Cease craving “I want” - Not Knowing. The question of where genius comes from is explored and quotes from Einstein are also given. Accurate intuition comes from primordial consciousness (see the notes). “Conditioned consciousness is what makes an initial moment of consciousness emerge in the aspect of the object, just as various images of planets and stars emerge in the ocean.” It is for this reason that was previously stated, “When focusing outward through the sense doors, those external sensory appearances that appear to be seen, heard, felt, tasted and touched are called conditioned consciousness.” The meditation is on awareness of awareness and starts at 1:03:48 After the meditation Lama la recommends to rest in that silence (based on the meditation), to pose questions to that silence and listen to that silence. The best way to accomplish posing a question would be to settle your mind in its natural state, then turn towards awareness of awareness and rest in that silence. Pose the question prior to this and in that silence an answer might come up. This is where intuition and prajna (wisdom) will be needed to determine if it feels right. But be sure it is not coming from the chattering mind! He gives the example of how Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo asked her guru a question if one came up, as there were no cell phones at that time. She said she would pray to him.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 24 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Lama-la starts with a few new revisions to the translation of the recent paragraphs in the text, indicating that Wisdom Publications has already agreed to a second edition of The Vajra Essence which will be published probably after the end of next year’s 8 week retreat, with Eva Natanya as co-translator. He continues to polish and refining the sentences in the text. He acknowledges Glen Svensson’s amazing quiet role in this retreat. It is important that we are grateful to everyone who has helped us to get here, as we are so fortunate to have encountered the dharma and the path. Receiving these teachings is not by accident, we are coming with great merit accumulated, even if we are not aware of how. At 00:19:50 Lama-la proceeds along in the text on page 186-187 and discusses the difference between sentient beings and buddhas. While they are of the same nature, buddhas know who they are, while sentient beings are not. It is this unawareness (marigpa) with which samsara begins, along with the unawareness of being unaware (not knowing that we don’t know; avidya avidya). There is no beginning to samsara, because in fact it has never come into existence from buddhas’ perspective, who see samsara and nirvana as equally pure. There is no creator, and the answer to the question of ‘how did we get here’ remains a mystery for sentient beings. Until we become a buddha we will not know, and afterwards the question will either be answered, or become irrelevant. Lama-la reads and discusses an auxiliary teaching of Karma Chagme in Naked Awareness on the 4 yogas of Mahamudra regarding the apparent lack of qualities and characteristics in many of those who have reached the grounds and paths. There is a debate between the Kagyu masters and Sakya Pandita, which is still unresolved and remains a mystery. What is knowable and important? Our trust in the guru on the basis of his teachings and his conduct, not his title. Are the teachings beneficial and am I receiving blessings? With regards to us, we should not doubt ourselves, but have confidence and practice diligently. The meditation on practicing like a vidyadhara begins at 1:30:47
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 14 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
This morning Alan moves on to the four close applications of mindfulness, focusing on the body and feelings. The Pali word “Vedanā” refers to primal feelings like pleasure, displeasure and neutral. Feelings are not included into the mental factors of the close application of mindfulness to the mind. Instead they are examined separately, since these are the ones we care about most. We don’t want pain and we want pleasure. In the first of the four noble truths, the Buddha recommends to understand these feelings. Alan emphasizes that we normally don’t want to understand the feelings about pain, but rather just get rid of them. In modernity we have been very successful to get rid of the unpleasant feelings and pain by means of anesthesia, work, and entertainment. Analyzing the feelings in the way the Buddha taught in the Pāli canon is immensely important because it gives insight into the factors of origination and dissolution of feelings. Alan continues explaining that the five sensory consciousnesses (visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, and tactile) have their own separate and non-overlapping domain of experience. In contrast to these five, mental awareness has its exclusive domain of experience and moreover can poach into the sensory fields of awareness. Mental awareness piggybacks on the other five awarenesses. Alan emphasizes that during developing samadhi by attending to the body, tactile consciousness is the carrier whereas the the real work is done in the mental domain. Returning to feelings (pleasant, unpleasant, neutral), Alan states that they are always present in any experience. Its crucial to note that tactile sensation are always unpleasant if they are too intensive. Too much of the earth, wind, fire and air element is experienced as painful, like too hot or too cold or too much earth like bumping into things. Often we attribute feelings to the object: in the example of the fruit durian, there are people that experience smelling and eating this fruit as disgusting while others like it. This clearly shows that the feeling is not an attribute of the fruit. Feelings also exist in the mental domain. Alan elaborates that the mental awareness fuses with the various modes of sensual perceptions and in so doing can easily override the sensual feeling. Alan exemplifies this with a football player who painfully collides with an opponent while scoring a point on the touchdown line. Here the physical pain is overridden by a feeling of joy. This ability is the basis for “Lojong” practices like taking suffering, illness or death as the path. The mental experience can override the physical experience and even alter the somatic effects. For the meditation Alan invites us to take Mindfulness of Breathing as the baseline and then piggybacked on the somatic sensations, observe and analyze feelings. Are we able to modify the way we apprehend the object? The meditation is on the Close Application of Mindfulness to Feelings. Meditation starts at 37:15 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 06 May 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan completes his commentary regarding the Satipatthana Sutta relating to the body - it’s constituents and decay. He says that DNA doesn’t belong to anyone, the body is impersonal and that once deceased, after a while, the body is not even the basis for the designation of a body. He then refers to the Vaibhasika philosophical interpretation of the Buddha’s teachings – seeing (perceiving) reality externally (objects) not by way of subjective experience, but from the perspective of apprehender and apprehended. Lama la also refers to the Sautrantika view, seeing the primary qualities of physical entities as compared to the secondary qualities of subjective experience and similar views of some pioneers of modern science. Lama la speaks about Vajiranāna comments on the earth element (including as it relates to nimittas), a cognitive scientist’s view that perception equates to externally guided hallucination, a philosopher’s view that introspection and consciousness are unreliable and a neuroscientist’s denial of subjective impression. Lama Alan concludes by asking “What can we count on?” “Are we deluded all the time?” He invites us to throw off the blindfold of materialism and says there are the experiences of suffering, joy and pleasure. He invites us to be free of delusion and to observe the body as a body. Meditation starts at 00:45.35 with resting in awareness, maintaining mindfulness of breathing, observe the arising and passing of the four elements in the body and well as the conceptual images and labels projected onto qualia.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 18 May 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan first reads and discusses two of the parables and commentary in Karma Chagme’s text “Naked Awareness” on page 88 of the orphan son, and page 89 of an old man losing his cord. He comments on realising the nature of one’s own mind right down to the ground – the in-dwelling mind of clear light, Dharmakaya, Buddha-nature. Then Alan comments on the different approaches found in the Gelug and Dzogchen traditions. The meditation is a guided Avalokiteshvara practice based on Karma Chagme’s “Naked Awareness”. Following meditation practice, Alan resumes the oral transmission of Karma Chagme’s text from page 264. Meditation starts at 24:08 Note: tomorrow 19th May there will be only one lecture, in the morning, because Alan will give a public talk at the University of Pisa. ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 29 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama la refers to Buddha Shakyamuni’s teachings on Mindfulness of Breathing and says that this was the method most commonly taught by the Buddha. The Buddha taught that to develop and cultivate mindfulness of breathing disperses and quells on the spot unwholesome states whenever they arise. Lama la says that to experience sustainable well-being we need to turn off or turn down hedonia. The Buddha taught 16 steps for developing Mindfulness of Breathing. The first 4, Shamatha and the next 12, Vipasyana. The breath naturally (refined by prana) becomes shorter and finer because mental and physical calmness increases. Lama la says that the point of Shamatha is to purify the mind so as to engage in Vipasyana and that the first Dhyana is required to develop Vipasyana. Sampajanna (Clear Comprehension or Introspection (a derivative of Discerning Intelligence)) is a practice of reviewing the mind for the five obscurations (sensual pleasure through the senses, laxity/dullness, excitation/anxiety, afflictive uncertainty and malevolence/enmity). If found they have not been abandoned and there is introspection on them. If not found they have been abandoned. Lama Alan says that none of the obscurations is eradicated through Shamatha but they are reduced. Eradication occurs with the union of Shamatha and Vipasyana and the achievement of the First Dhyana (when the obscurations are cut at their root). According to Asanga mindfulness prevents attention straying from the meditative object and introspection recognises that the attention is straying. Shantideva states that introspection is the repeated examination of the state of one’s body and mind. Edward Titchener who devoted his life to the development of introspective techniques, observed that the main difficulties with Introspection are to maintain constant attention, to avoid bias and to know what to look for. Meditation starts at 00:41.21 and is about resting in awareness, observing the mind to note the presence and absence of the five obscurations.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 21 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
Alan explains that phenomena that arise to the mind can be affirmations or negations. The negations can be further divided into simple and complex negations. In the discourse of the Arhat Nagasena with the king, the discussion leads to the conclusion that a chariot is not to be found as an inherently existent object. This is an example of a simple negation. A treeless plane is an example of a complex negation: trees are negated but a plane is confirmed. Alan emphasizes that the object of the practice “Taking the Mind as the Path” is the space of the mind and everything that arises in it. This meditation instruction has to be very clear. Alan gives instructions for the meditations which was silent. During the session he wants us to closely apply attention to the interval between thoughts. Eventually he wants us to answer the question: Is the space of the mind a sheer absence of appearances? Or is the space of the mind something that has characteristics? What do you see? The Meditation is on “Taking the mind as the path” while analyzing the intervals between thoughts. A quick poll after the session revealed that no one is of the opinion that the space of the mind is a simple negation, meaning that it is a sheer absence of appearances. Everybody confirmed that it is instead a complex negation, with the space of the mind having its own attributes. When Alan asked about the attributes of this empty space, the participants were responding with simple negations only. One person mentions that it is clear, meaning having no color, no shape and no sound. Others mentioned the attributes boundlessness and unobstructedness which are still negative qualities. Alan encourages us to answer his questions quickly, directly and precisely, regardless whether it is right or wrong. The discussion then will resemble debates in Tibetan monasteries, which are fresh, light, and frisky and wake the mind up. Another attribute mentioned is potential, but here the subject, that is the observer, has a “sense of potential”. This is a quality of the observers’ discerning intelligence as he attends to the object. However, potential is not an attribute of the object but rather a conceptual imputation of the observer. Alan asks us to check out the attributes of the space of the mind again, without imputing anything on it. In the mentally perceived let there be only the mentally perceived. Then we should report what we have seen. Meditation is silent (not recorded). ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 16 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
The Science of Mind - Day Four, Session One
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 30 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Yangchen starts the session with a discussion of the last paragraph of phase 5 and the words of truth and recitation of mantras. Words of truth are invoking reality itself; invoking the fact the Dharmakaya is true. If your prayer is in alignment with reality, it must come true. Yangchen then answers a question regarding the six session yoga and the number of recitations needed in each section to meet the samaya of the five Buddha families. She continues with a discussion of the three roots; Guru, Yidam and Dakini. Yangchen goes through a prayer book from the Vajrayana Foundation, which is a Nyingma center in the Dudjom Tersar tradition, and shows how many of the practices we already have. She reads words from Padmasambhava regarding the value of reciting the seven line prayer. Discussion of an abbreviated ganachakra offering and use of that verse for blessing for food. The next topic is how to organize your daily practice. This depends greatly on your current life circumstances and what your goals are. Discussion of balance between recitation and meditation and how one can combine the different practices. Yangchen also gives some cautions regarding the completion stage practices. Importance of not pushing to experience bliss or to bring the prana into the heart chakra through mantra recitation. People have experienced long term problems resulting from this type of pushing. She finishes with comments about the aspiration for long term retreat. There is no meditation with this teaching!
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 26 Aug 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
As an introduction to approaching devotional practice and practicing with meaning, Alan talks of how faith in Buddhism differs from both western/Christian faith, and faith in science. He gives examples including Galileo’s role, based on his belief which he validated with empirical evidence, in overturning the physical sciences and Aristotle based thought of his time. Nothing similar has happened in the mind sciences. Buddhist faith has the depth and beauty of western traditions, but also has empiricism and the passion to ‘know’. Following the meditation, Alan picks up on the notion of ‘taboo’ and the idea that what you don’t look into keeps you blind. He talked of how understanding the body was advanced once the taboo of opening up the body with dissection was overcome. You know where this is heading … one of Alan’s favorite topics: the western taboo of not giving credence to introspection in the sciences. Introspection is still taboo, and if you don’t look, you don’t learn. The session ended with an exhortation from Alan the revolutionary to “burn down the city walls” where there is (scientific) faith without the balance of intelligence. Meditation starts at 34:48
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 29 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan provides commentary on the text from the first full paragraph of p. 94 to the first full paragraph of p. 95. He teaches that through cutting through to pristine awareness, we stop viewing displays of pristine awareness as the mind and its objects. Lama la refers to the first three turnings of the wheel of dharma and says that through vipasyana and the four applications of mindfulness we come to know who we are not. Through Dzogchen, we come to know who we are. If we view all phenomena from the perspective of a sentient being’s mind, even though we are looking right at pristine awareness, we only see the ordinary mental awareness of a sentient being, which is impure. When people witness impure appearances, they claim they are objectively real, as if there is no choice. Yet impure appearances are not intrinsically existent, they are not out there. Objective appearances are always relational. We can choose not to downgrade appearances from pure to impure by shifting perspective. By cutting through the dualistic mind, we can choose an alternate reality. We can recognise dualistic perception as a mistake and reject delusive clinging. We can realise identitylessness. Appearances and entities arise as creative expressions of our own pristine awareness and are of one taste. We are a Buddha from that perspective. At that moment we ascertain the ground as great objectless openness. This is the essential nature of meditation. From the perspective of pristine awareness, the omniscient mind is neither existent nor non-existent. But this mind conceived by sentient beings is an object of dualistic grasping – it exists but is empty of inherent nature. The meditation starts at 01:00:08 with closely applying mindfulness to your body and mind – they are not you or yours, probing deeply to cut through to your actual identity.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 04 May 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Yangchen keeps guiding us through Tsongkhapa’s text “the Ocean of Reasoning”, exploring the nature of the holy perception that sees phenomena in all their varieties. What does Buddha perceive of the phenomena appearing to our mistaken minds? To answer this Yangchen quotes Tsongkhapa: “If they are to appear to the primordial consciousness insofar as they do appear to those with ignorance, however, then they’re merely done as the appearance of being real that appears to those other persons” but of course the Buddha never becomes mistaken! Even before conceptualisation kicks in, objects appear to our perception to be “out there”, then the grasping for the “apparently external” object ignites conceptualisation, which produces the belief that duality is real. The karmic seed is one, but losing track of this original starting point, we wrongly see two plants growing out of it: subject and object. Why in a Vajrayana sadhana we let appearances disappear into empty space? Because this perception of emptiness corresponds to the understanding that phenomena have no intrinsic essence. But in a sutra context, when one perceives the emptiness of something, what appears? That’s the question we are going to address. Conceptually emptiness can be divided into 18 different kinds (6 senses + 6 consciousnesses + 6 objects) or in 4 different kinds or even in only 2 kinds. The there’s an actual ultimate reality and a concordant/harmonious ultimate reality. Yangchen quotes “The Two Truths”, a Svatantrika text: “Refutation of arising and the rest, moreover, since in accord with what is correct we assert to be an ultimate.” Then she explains that when you refute the dualistic reality ever coming into being, then your refutation is an ultimate reality. Yangchen quotes another text on the Middle Way “In this way since lack of arising is also on accord with the ultimate, it is called co-ultimate, although it is not actually so because the actual ultimate it is beyond every elaboration”. When you understand something about emptiness probably you still don't perceive what is free of elaboration, but for the followers of Tsongkhapa one does have to use reasoning to eventually get to the unelaborated perception. Tsongkhapa explains what elaboration means. Our superficial elaborations, our projections, etc. are relatively easy to detect and peel away, but there’s still a person who elaborated that. On the other hand, appearances don’t have to disappears to remove our cognitive hyperactivity. Peeling off this superficial layer is very important. In this quote Tsongkhapa relates “elaboration” to the layer subjacent the ordinary cognitive hyperactivity. Dual appearances vanish, but there’s still elaboration, so the remaining appearances are still polluted by our ordinary, dualistic view. Only once we get rid of this mode of viewing we will genuinely see the pure appearances of a mandala. So we’re going to be “wrong” until we actually dissolve the energy in the central cannel. Emptiness is not something out there by itself, free of phenomena that are empty of inherent nature. Emptiness and interdependent phenomena are inseparable: that’s Arya Nagarjuna core point about the Middle Way. Then Yangchen quotes Tsongkhapa: “The lack of identity of phenomena… is the meaning of what is found by the immaculate knowing (sherab) that knows how things exist”, which means that by cutting off what does not exist there still remains “an absence of”. Emptiness as a simple negation is a cornerstone of the Gelugpa approach to emptiness. But hereYangchen refers to Tsongkhapa’s explanation of the complex or affirming neagtion because it can really help to understand what’s going on in the generation stage: you negate the dual appearance that is not really there, but then the wisdom perceiving the emptiness of objects arises as the mandala and deities. For an ordinary being anything that appear will unavoidably appear as being dual and for that being it will not appear at all without appearing dualistically. Deceptive realities can be distinguished in wrong and right: seeing a snow mountain yellow is a wrong deceptive because It’s wrong even in an ordinary view, while seeing it white is, in this conventional context, right. Svatantrika thinkers appreciate this distinction and even the Prasangika view, according to which the only true perspective is the Arya view, admits the practical utility of the above distinction between wrong and right deceptive views. According to Gelugpa, although some people can follow the direct route of Mahamudra based on meditation experiences only, most people need to get through some reasoning in order to overcome the dualistic view afflicting us on a finer level. Now Yangchen comes to the key sentence by Tsongkhapa: “It is with this reasoning that you should understand as classifiable within the category of ultimate (a concordant ultimate) all the subjective fields encountered with the meaning of being like an illusion (which is an affirming negation) by the primordial wisdom of Buddhas that know things in their variety and by the aftermath wisdom of lower Aryas”. Because at that point of intellectual exercise you’re seeing things as illusory, you can also understand why and how Buddhas can see our delusions and also you can understand the wisdom of a “lower Arya” view after he/she comes out of his/her śamadhi. Tsongkhapa ironises about the Aryas bragging about having achieved the non-elaboration state, because in his view they only achieved the negation of elaboration, which still implies an “absence of”. Yangchen explains that “if nothing at all has been established you can’t negate anything. By knocking out appearances of reality you’re knocking out ultimately reality as well”. Then Yangchen compares Tsongkhapa’s distinction between a [relative] emptiness (affirming negation, an absence of) and the ultimate emptiness (simple negation, what is not), to Padmasambhava’s warnings about the radical difference between recognising the substrate consciousness (achieving śamathā) and recognising primordial consciousness (realising dharmakaya). Yangchen asks what is the difference between Tsongkhapa’s meditation on emptiness “sutrayana style” and the total pacification of dual appearances in vajrayana and then describes the vajrayana method. In Vajrayana sentient beings arise from the movements of the karmic winds/energies, and the practice to “abide in peace” is to dissolve the winds into the central channel: all dual phenomena will withdraw - then pure, subtle dual appearances will start manifesting progressively (from light to five colors, etc.) The stage of generation goes through this process by simulating what to be a Buddha is like. It’s still a meaningful experience and ultimately it is based on the luminosity of the clear light. This is what it means to take the result as the path. Engaging in these appearances the mind is over here as the central deity but the mind can also be in any of the tathagata present in the mandala assuming each one's point of view, and it can even encompass all of them at once and stabilise. Yangchen underlines the importance to constantly bridge the sutrayana and vajrayana methods in oder to avoid the practice to become “dry”. In the meditation which begins at 1h01’00’’, we release and settle the energies in the body and take the mind down into an open spacious simplicity of awareness. Energy based body scan. Imagine the lack of identity of you, your physical sensation and your body. Coming and going of appearances. Outer objects seen at all at once as interdependent phenomena, including our own self as a base for our bodhisattva vow. Cleansing of our view from the cataracts. No distinction between a Buddha and self, wishing to become the Buddha. Dissolution. Release conceptualisations and dualistic propensities… Let your guru release you into a body to help others…
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 14 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
The Science of Mind - Day Two, Session One
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 02 Oct 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Teaching pt1: Alan outlines the situation in the modern health system regarding mental disorders. There has been an explosion in brain research since the 1990s, and while knowledge of neuronal correlations has increased, drugs targeting psychiatric disorders haven’t become more effective. Although a multitude of anti-depressants have been produced for decades, a recent meta-analysis has shown that except for severe depression, most drugs work no better than placebo, albeit with worrisome side-effects, many of which are psychological. Neuroscientists work strictly within a materialistic paradigm of mind equals brain, yet have no actual proof that this is so, but are, nevertheless, determining the discourse around fundamental questions of mind, free choice, and human nature. The media just pass scientific findings to the general public without taking a critical stance. Pharmaceutical companies appear to function as drug cartels. Doctors deal the poisonous drugs to their patients. There is support from both government and insurance companies, who prefer to pay for drugs rather than psychotherapies. The consequences of this scenario are dire, and a new Protestant Revolution is needed.
Alan would like to elaborate on verses 88-92 of Ch. 9 of the Bodhicaryavatara. He covers verses 88-90. If suffering were inherently existent like a billiard ball, then you would only experience suffering and nothing else like joy. Like suffering, happiness is not inherent in places, people, or things.
Meditation: mindfulness of feelings. Rest in the luminous, clear nature of awareness, holding its own ground. Let awareness illuminate sensations and feelings in the space of the body. Examine feelings closely. Does pleasure/pain exist like an atom? Is feeling embedded in sensations? Is there a nucleus of feeling? Is it influenced by your observation? Is the feeling already there as pleasure/pain?
Teaching pt2: Meditation on emptiness leads to the Middle Way. For someone who is well prepared, realization of emptiness leads to compassion and bliss. For someone who is still self-centered, direct insight into emptiness can lead to grief and fear.
Meditation starts at: 01:06:08
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 15 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
The Science of Mind - Day Three, Session One
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.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 04 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Lama Alan continues building the foundation for a nine-story building by focusing on the Bodhisattva way of life and Bodhicitta. Bodhicitta is not a wish but a resolve. Discussion of HH the Dalai Lama's development of Bodhicitta. Need to focus on the practices which we can really benefit from now and the practices you emphasize will change over time. Discussion of precepts and how they protect your practice. Bodhisattva vows have 18 root downfalls and 46 secondary misdeeds. Highlighted those that relate to shamatha. #17 is abandoning shamatha and giving possessions of meditators to those who are just doing oral recitations. Among the 46 misconducts: Not seeking to attain samadhi; not purifying the five obscurations that obstruct samadhi and regarding the taste of shamatha (bliss etc) as being its primary advantage. Lama Alan gives a description of his translation process with Gyaltrul Rinpoche in the 1990's and the refinement process with Yangchen currently. Lama then returns to the text regarding the Ganachakra. Ganachakra is self-emergent, not accomplishing something new. Lama Alan goes through the visualization and gives the cultural context for the practice. Just like calculus, you don't need to know how it works just that it does. Every conditioned phenomenon is impure, all contaminated phenomena are unsatisfying and not I or mine. Buddha nature is pure, an unchanging source of well-being. Pages/sections covered from the text the Vajra Essence: Middle of page 138 (starting "in this regard") to near the bottom of page 139 (through Tibetan 252). The time at which the aural transmission starts is 52:50. There is no meditation with this teaching!
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 25 May 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan acknowledged that it is the last morning of this retreat, reminding him that his intuition is the teachings of Dzogchen are not confined solely to the Buddhist tradition. He spends some time speaking to the convergence of the deepest aspects of contemplative tradition, whatever its religious roots. Perhaps we’re now approaching the culmination of physics, which will also converge with the contemplative understandings, bring consciousness back into the equation. He then postulates that if glimmers of Dzogchen can be found in such a wide variety of traditions, perhaps this is because it’s true. And “truth” can be approached from a variety of perspectives. Of course Dzogchen is different from Pali Cannon, yet we can hear and interpret —through different lenses— passages from Buddha’s teachings. Lama Alan then reads a selection from the Digga Nikkaya and gives a brief unabashed Dzogchen interpretation: that the Buddha is speaking of Pristine Awareness, beyond all duality, when he speaks of the destruction of “name and form”. Coming to culmination of the Path of the Great Perfection, all phenomena disappear, the substrate is extinguished; all that remains is the unborn, unceasing, Dharmakaya. Lama Alan then quotes form Lord Atisha’s “Pith Instructions on the Middle Way”, beginning with the phrase, “The mind of the past has ceased, disappeared. The future mind has not yet arisen or appeared. The present mind is very difficult to attend……” As he reads the quote, Lama Alan gives an explanation of each phrase from Dzogchen view, pointing out again the convergence to one core message, “Wake Up!” We students have Lama Alan warn against the perils of attempting to go straight into open presence meditation: we can end up just sitting there like a marmot. He then says, maybe he has been underrating marmots, and may of upset them as there is a video clip. There may be great vidhyadharas who emanate as marmots here and there. So Lama Alan muses that perhaps he should soften his critique of marmot meditation. (Link in Notes) It does happen that some people venturing onto the Nyingma path are so daunted by the higher levels that they never go beyond the preliminaries, thinking “oh I’ve not really achieved the 4 Revolutions in Outlook yet”, “I haven’t finished the 100,000 yet”, and so forth, spending their whole lives practicing the preliminaries because they don’t feel ready to practice shamatha. But it is never too early to practice shamatha. Then others look at the 9 Stages of Shamatha and think, “I’ve not even achieved Shamatha yet, there is no way I’m ready to practice Vipashyana”. It is never too early to practice Vipashyana. Then finally, resting in open presence, in Rigpa. People may say, “I’m not ready for that, and you’ve said it isn’t even virtuous. I don’t want to be reborn as an animal.” We don’t have to achieve Shamatha and Vipashyana before venturing into Resting in Open Presence, our closest approximation of resting in Rigpa. As we go into this next session of meditation, Resting in Open Presence”, if we imbue it with refuge, Bodhicitta, with some degree of shamatha and with some degree of insight into the emptiness of your own mind, and some understanding of Dzogchen view, while resting in your best approximation of open presence, then it will take you closer on the path. Meditation session 1 is “Resting in Open Presence” at 16:06 Meditation session 2 is “Returning to Shantideva” at 40:40
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 22 Aug 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
The meditation was Mindfulness of Breathing with a literal interpretation on the theme from the Pali canon “When breathing in long one knows that one breathes in long”. Alan starts by reading from Dudjom Lingpa’s Vajra Essence, the beginning passage of the first three bardos or transitional phases. Alan stresses that in order to get the most benefit out of these teachings, we should recognize who is presenting the teachings to us. It is important that we don’t reify the teachers, but see through the lineage of teachers that passed this down to us right to Samantabhadra, who stands for our own pristine awareness. According to the Vajra Essence, we are in the transitional phases as long as we are not liberated. The essential nature of the transitional phases is pristine awareness. But since we don’t realize this, pristine awareness cristalyzes into the ethically neutral state of substrate consciousness, which itself doesn’t wander in samsara, but becomes the ground from which a sentient being within the six realms arises. Dudjom Lingpa then lays out the sequence in which the coarse mind of a sentient being manifests out of substrate consciousness. The substrate itself is of the nature of unknowing, and therefore as long as the substrate consciousness is dissolved in the substrate, like a sword being hidden in its sheath, it is in a state of only implicit awareness. Then due to the germination of karmic seeds, the substrate consciousness gets catalyzed and it becomes explicit. Then from the substrate consciousness afflicted mentation (klishta manas) arises, which is the primary root of self-grasping, the raw sense of “me” being over here and “not me” being over there. Then out of this, subtle and coarse mentation (manas) arises, with the subtle mentation being still non-conceptual, a simple differentiation of this versus that, and the coarse mentation being fully conceptual, enabling us to make sense of the world. Finally, the coarse mind (citta) arises in response to appearances. Questions: Q1: In the metaphor of the sword and the sheath, what is the sheath referring to again? Q2: Why does the Vajra Essence state that the substrate consciousness is being free throughout the three times? Meditation starts at 08:02 min
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 05 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
The meditation starts immediately and it is silent. The practice is the full-body awareness of mindfulness of breathing. Questions: (1) Is there a written account of Asanga’s specific technique of Mindfulness of Breathing? (2) A clarification of the meditation object in this specific practice of Mindfulness of Breathing (3) Since I’ve started the retreat, I’ve been experiencing lots of mental chatter & physical discomfort. I’ve shifted my practice to “Taking the Mind as the Path” now, is that a good approach for that? The meditation is silent (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 returns to the text (“The essential nature, great primordial emptiness, is unborn primordial consciousness, the dharmakaya,” p.65) and continues elucidating the etymologies, each highlighting a nuance of pristine awareness. There is a fusion of that which was never separate in the first place, the primordial non-duality of dharmakaya and emptiness (dharmata). Lama explains the etymology of dharmakaya, sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya. Lama Alan highlights the irony of the common view of religion as escapism, whereas it’s people caught up in dualistic grasping who cannot cope with reality. The first thing the Buddha talked about is the reality of suffering. Our ultimate refuge is cutting through and seeing reality as it is, resting in pristine awareness. The Lake-born Vajra addresses the core themes of Mahayana Buddhism: taking refuge, ascertaining the actual nature of each of the objects of refuge, then on that basis turning to the cultivation of bodhicitta. Within the context of Dzogchen, the ultimate way to arouse relative bodhicitta is to ascertain ultimate bodhicitta, from which it will emerge spontaneously, effortlessly. On this swift, direct path to enlightenment, where we take the fruition as the path, Lama encourages us to let all our practice be oriented around realising our own Buddha nature, cutting through to pristine awareness, which is sustainable only with the insight into great emptiness by way of vipasyana, which is sustainable only by way of samatha, the cultivation of which is sustainable only by way of motivation, renunciation, commitment, and an authentic Vajrayana relationship with a guru. Lama Alan asks, if you can’t see your guru, whom you’ve chosen on the basis of their greater realisation than your own, with pure vision, as a Buddha, empty of inherent nature, then what chance do you have of seeing yourself as a Buddha? The great samaya (pledge) is to cut through to pristine awareness and not to fall away from it back into samsara. All vows are to protect you from falling back into the unwholesome routines. Once we’ve taken a vow, this pledge is 24/7 and it takes ethical intelligence not to break them as this constitutes a great danger and harm. Lama Alan addresses the question of when samsara started. Look no further than the present moment. Right now, as we witness appearances, in the very instant of not being aware (avidya – unawareness) of the actual nature of appearances, we see them as being over there, then we enter into the delusion of grasping them as inherently existent (moha – delusion, actively getting it wrong). Samsara is starting every single moment when we view appearances as being other and apprehending objects as being inherently real. To break that cycle we need to understand how phenomena exist (appearing but not really there) to replace avidya with vidya (knowing, but also rigpa). Then we’ll be able to see all appearances as our own appearances, empty of inherent nature, all of equal purity, uncontaminated by dualistic grasping. In terms of the practice of Taking the Mind as the Path, aren’t we viewing thoughts as being over there? This is a phase in the path until the mind dissolves into its relative ground. Until then, what keeps samsara going is appropriating our thoughts as I or mine. Every time we think a thought, get caught in the grip of an emotion or carried away by a desire we are perpetuating samsara. When we’re not identifying with these appearances nothing can harm us. This practice is skilful means. Meditation starts at 1:03:58. While resting in awareness, as if you were lucidly falling asleep, observe the dualistic mind, caught up in discursive thoughts, dissolve back into coarse mentation, that dissolves back into subtle mentation, and so on, culminating in dissolving the coarse mind in the substrate consciousness.
2023 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 4, 28 Apr 2023, Crestone, Colorado and Online
There is only one question asked in this session today, albeit a long one, with 2 or 3 parts, pertaining to nyam. Do nyam ever stop arising once one achieves shamatha? The answer is no. Those arising dependent on dredging of the psyche will stop after achieving shamatha, but others may continue to occur, and Lama-la gives as an example the maras encountered by the Buddha on the night of his enlightenment. But nyam are not objectively obstacles, and many are in fact very useful on the path. Indeed, as Lerab Lingpa advised, in meditative equipoise one realises non-conceptionally that nothing can harm one anymore. But between sessions, karma-ripening events may still arise, albeit harming one much less, especially with an understanding of emptiness, as one has achieved an exceptional baseline mental balance. Upheavals are not produced by, but only catalyzed by external events, due to appropriation, the entanglement between subject and object. Lama-la continues the session with a thorough exposition on the distinction between eudaimonia and hedonia. The pursuit of hedonia has to be in the service of cultivating eudaimonia, as the eight mundane concerns never lead to authentic happiness. On the path of shamatha we cultivate eudaimonia, the sublime compassionate mental well-being which is not stimulus-driven. The definition of Dharma itself is a way of engaging with reality that gives rise to a sustainable, unwavering sense of well-being, sukha, the very meaning of life.
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 03 Apr 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan starts by welcoming all to this sacred time and space where we encounter the door to the Great Perfection. He recognizes the leisure and opportunity we have to listen and phantom the nature of our existence, this confluence of circumstances is like a wish fulfilling jewel. In this time of great distress, this arouses a sense of responsibility for all those that do not have leisure or the wealth of Dharma.
Through settling body speech and mind in its natural state, we have the opportunity to step on a path in which by drawing awareness on itself, we can release the identification with and reification of our body and mind.
Meditation starts at 19:17. Settling body speech and mind in its natural state. Starting the practice with establishing the motivation to follow this path to achieve Buddhahood for the welfare of others and then relax, release, and simply rest in awareness.
Lama Alan turns to a passage at the end of the Vajra Essence, covering the first transitional phase: being alive. This phase is compared with a little bird on a treetop. We are here for a short time, as human beings we can use this short period, using our intelligence to investigate and practice the teachings, until understanding nature of mind and achieving enlightenment.
Fall 2012 Shamatha and the Four Applications of Mindfulness, 17 Oct 2012, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
Teaching: Alan shares the conclusion of phase 1 of the Dudjom Lingpa’s Sharp Vajra of Conscious Awareness Tantra. Phase 1 covers taking the impure mind as the path aka settling the mind. You identify the impure mind that is dissolved into substrate consciousness. How never to be separated from the experience of the practical instructions when distant from sublime spiritual friends. A sublime spiritual friend reveals the path. It is important to distinguish between path and not path. We need to practice diligently in this phase, as shamatha is indispensable when we venture into practice. We know the taste of luminosity and cognizance of awareness. We know substrate and substrate consciousness. But shamatha is just a preliminary to the path. If we just stay put, we don’t actually get on the freeway to liberation. Whether or not we’ve recognized rigpa, if our mind still gets distracted or dull, we need to mount conceptual mind like a cripple onto the blind stallion of the breath. Tethering the mind with attention, uncontrived, primordially present consciousness will manifest, and it will be easy for the guru’s introduction to pristine awareness to strike home. Alan concludes with some suggestions for further reading/study/practice.
Q1. In awareness of awareness, I don’t understand the instruction to forcefully withdraw attention. Is it correct to contract back towards me when inverting?
Q2 What does o laso mean?
Q3. Can we still have emotions in a lucid dream?
Q4. When I practice emptiness of awareness, there’s an open feeling that’s not there when I practice awareness of awareness.
Fall 2014 Shamatha, Vipashyana, Dream Yoga, 10 Sep 2014, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand
This morning we were listening to Bob Newhart’s “Stop It” skit that Alan had talked about a while ago. So everybody out there with wandering minds, low self-esteem and all the like, take this advice to heart. As for today’s practice, Alan was front loading the session again with Padmasambhava’s pointing-out instructions, giving us the seeds for the silent, non-discursive meditation. Your own distinct awareness is pristine awareness, don’t look outside of yourself, but give up all attachment to and identification with your own body and mind. After the meditation Alan discussed the two strategies to deal with distractive thoughts, emotions etc. in shamatha practice. In Taking the Mind As the Path, you just let them self-release. The other strategy is that, when these distractions come up, to just cut them right off. You can do the same in lucid dreaming when something unpleasant happens. Finally Alan compared the images used by Dudjom Lingpa in his Vajra Essence when describing how sentient beings emerge from the ignorance of the ground with the way Roger Penrose describes light rays. Silent meditation cut out at 26:00 min
2020 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 1, 14 Apr 2020, Online-only
Lama Alan comments that the reason on covering the four revolutions in outlook is to strengthen our motivation to take this precious human life and make it as meaningful as possible. Once we have established authentic aspirations, the next step is achieving Shamata, then Vipassana.
Focusing on the cultivation on Shamata he comes back to its ground: relaxation.
Meditation starts at 26:03. Lama Alan suggests doing this practice lying down in Shavasana posture.
Returning to the basics: The Infirmary. Settling body, speech and mind in its natural state, with an emphasis on settling the respiration in its natural rhythm; releasing all control.
Lama Alan answers the question: Is it necessary to have an empowerment in order to practice Ngondro? And presents his two copilots on this journey, Glen and Eva.
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.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 22 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan compares looking outwards with looking inwards for happiness and suggests when looking inwards that we use our abilities to cultivate virtue to increase happiness. He refers to caring (experienced as a sentient being, stored in our substrate and as an aspect of Buddha nature) as a basis for cultivating compassion. He says that it is important not to be complacent regarding our mental afflictions and says that we can set about eradicating them insatiably. Lama la identifies the false facsimile of compassion as despair (when we see the world as a field of suffering). The opposite as cruelty. And its proximate cause as seeing the helplessness of those whom are overwhelmed by suffering (unable to free themselves) and understanding that it is possible for them to be free. Lama la refers to practices that tend to/contemplate the suffering of others. He refers to the practice of feeling compassion firstly, for those whom we love, secondly, for those for whom we feel neutral and thirdly, for those whom inflict suffering on others. He says that parents are often referred to in the first group and that in Tibetan culture they are typically objects of love (which is not necessarily so in other cultures). He says that this reference often inspires feelings of kinship and identification which is helpful to the practice. He invites us with the latter group to look deeply enough so that we find the common ground (feel a connection) between ourselves and the perpetrators. So that we recognise we have the same mental affliction/s as they do and that like them, we didn’t choose them. He alerts us also to understanding that people’s behaviours are not to be equated with the people themselves. He invites us to feel the sorrow that arises and then the desire within us that they be free of suffering. He says that it is this action that enables us not to fall into despair. Lama la notes that suffering can be unbearable and that it is wisdom that enables us to be happy while also feeling compassion. He says that empathetic joy balances compassion and that it is uplifting to delight in the qualities of joy and virtue in ourselves and others. He recommends that we seek those qualities out each day (but to avoid self and other aggrandisement). Lama Alan also says that if we err (in body, speech or mind), while we can’t undo those deeds we can decrease the karmic consequences of them by feeling remorse and/or by performing purifying practices (such as Vajrasattva). Meditation starts at 01:04:54 and focuses on those who have shown kindness, on your own good fortune and virtues, and on everyone’s virtues.
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 01 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Eva picks up on Lama Alan’s earlier talk that the longer one can dwell in the realisation of the clear light, this completely non-conceptual experience, one is purifying the mind stream not only of conceptual thoughts and habitual propensities but also of past karma because of the non-dual realisation of emptiness and pristine awareness. She draws a parallel to how the longer one stays in the experience of the mandala, dwelling in the perspective from which all things are pure, one is able to set aside one’s experience of things as ordinary. She refers to Dharmakirti who said that as long as the sense consciousnesses are withdrawn and mental consciousness is focused completely on the objects of the mandala, even if our eyes are open, one will not have visual appearances. Eva explains that the point of the sadhana is to stop engaging with appearances as ordinary. Immersing oneself in the meditation, visualising appearances of mandala, of oneself as the yidam, etc, actually stops one from even perceiving appearances as ordinary. The ideal in generation practice is to be able to meditate uninterruptedly on the mandala for four hours, as is the case in shamatha. The appearance of the mandala purifies us from experiencing appearances as ordinary and from grasping to them as ordinary; the clear light is purifying the mind of everything, including the propensities for things to appear as ordinary and real. The step of re-creating appearances out of emptiness is the direct antidote to grasping to things as real. There’s a subtle difference between grasping to appearances as ordinary and grasping to things as real, they’re not quite the same but closely interrelated. Eva la refers back to a short quotation from the Vajra Essence covered at the end of last year’s retreat regarding the three samadhis: the samadhi of suchness (dissolution into the indivisible union of dharmakaya and dharmadhatu), all-illuminating samadhi (the manifest nature of the luminosity of pristine awareness which causes all things to appear and of which Vairocana is the embodiment), causal samadhi (consists of apparitions involving both referential objects and visualisation): “The first two samādhis are primordial consciousness that is the pristine awareness of emptiness, transcending the conceptual objects of the intellect and mentation. [215] The latter [the causal samādhi] consists of apparitions involving both referential objects and visualization.” Eva then answers a common question: What if mental imagery does not come to mind? Her straightforward answer is that in Vajrayana, out of the two, pure appearances and the divine identification (pride of being the yidam), it’s the pride that’s more important. Both are direct antidotes to ordinary appearances and grasping to them as real but it’s the grasping we must cut through. She reassures us that it’s worth the effort to “dwell in a pure world” even if nothing appears because this is essential for the path of Dzogchen. Our expectations of visualisations might be false expectations for a long time. She advises to be content even with an unclear image and to rely on knowing the presence of it. If nothing appears to visual awareness, understanding still occurs and things can happen on a pranic or emotional level as stage of generation works on all levels of our being and not just via visualisation. Eva clarifies that realising emptiness in the sutra context doesn’t necessarily establish things as pure in the divine sense but merely as pure of mental afflictions. In Vajrayana because pristine awareness is inseparable from emptiness it establishes that the empty reality is not ethically neutral. She explains that the humility to let go of one’s ordinary identity is true reverence and devotion and that this is enough to start, which is why guru yoga is the essential prerequisite to all these practices. One first needs to imagine what divinity looks like as ‘not me’, in order to identify with divinity in an authentic way. Eva explains that this practice is directed to our self-grasping. If we want to be free of samsara and free of mental afflictions, if we want our consciousness to be united with pristine awareness, the energy of this mandala is to remind us what liberation looks like in relation to what we’re attached to. The meditation is on the ferocious mandala and starts at 1:04:40
2022 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 3, 20 Apr 2022, Online from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, USA
Eva starts the teaching by mentioning that she feels as if we are starting the retreat all over again since from now on we will review and familiarize ourselves with the great variety of meditations that we have been practicing so far. This is quite useful since ideally one would spend days, weeks or years in one single practice for the next practice to land well. Then Eva discusses the reason why she will not explain in more detail the vase breathing and if one feels attracted to it it is best to follow it from a teacher that can check whether one is doing it properly. Eva also explains how her approach of teaching to do these practices in a subtle way prevents one from creating obstacles for one’s own practice while when done properly with the proper samadhi they will still produce the desired effects. Then, Eva reads and explains to us some passages from Lama Tzong Khapa from the Great Book on the Steps of Mantra, chapter 11, on the distinction between the stage of generation and completion. From these passages Eva explains that the visualizations that we do at the stage of generation level are planting the seeds that when the mind of clear light is accessed, non conceptually, that mind will know how to manifest as that holy body in an instant. Just like the bodichita is what allows us to see the emptiness of reality and sets so that you would manifest as the rupakaya and the sambhogakaya. Finally Eva mentions that Lama Tzong Khapa indicates that to practice the completion stage incidentally, without abandoning the generation stage, is not wrong. It is okay. While abandoning the generation stage, without the proper basis, is wrong and it will not create the desired results even if there will be facsimiles. The meditation, on the generation stage, delves into the visualization of ourselves as Vairocana in a pure realm. The meditation emphasizes on seeing Vairocana’s pure empty body with its central channel. It starts at 1:08:09
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 06 May 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan gives previously omitted oral transmission of the text just prior to [180] and [182] and provides related commentary. He then continues with the text from part of the last paragraph on page 101 to part of the first full paragraph on p 102 of the text. Lama la refers to the meaning of the three kayas and to a teaching by Lerab Lingpa, that if one naturally rests in consciousness, mental afflictions will be subdued. He says that one identifies the ground Sugatagarbha by first ascertaining the view of emptiness and then either: 1. directly identifying the ground within one’s own body (Dzogchen); or 2. identifying the ground in dependence upon the path of skilful means through the practice of stage of generation (which is more elaborate). Lama Alan asks “How are we perceiving the world around us?” and “What’s out there prior to and independent of appearances - acting as contributing conditions?” He refers to: 1. somatic information and superimposing on that other than somatic information by way of conceptual elaboration/interpretation; 2. the Sautrantika view which posits that subjective impression is caused by the external world. The subjective aspect of appearances (qualia) corresponds to the apprehended/objective aspect, which is somehow correlated to substrate consciousness; 3. the Cittamatra view which posits that the objective aspect corresponds to the subjective experience and is indeterminate because subjective experience is in a “black box”; 4. the Materialist view which suppresses subjective experience; 5. the Madhyamika view which holds that inherently existent subjects are just as unknowable as inherently existent objects; 6. the Prasangika view which posits that the external world is experienced “nakedly”, not by way of subjective appearances. Perceptions of appearances are valid, but perceptions of “external entities” may be mistaken. All six modes of consciousness are not representations of something really out there in the physical objective world and nor are they really internal. They are just appearances. That’s all of reality. This does not mean naïve realism nor that all apprehensions of reality are correct. All perceptions of appearances without interpretation are valid. Valid Cognition is always provisional, recognised as accurate only internally and retrospectively (on review). It is driven by Vipasyana and supported by Shamatha. Through Vipasyana we come to know whom we are not and what the world is not. Following the implications of the view, we can’t ignore the role of the observer any longer. All that remains is awareness of appearances. Appearances and mind nominally exist and have causal efficacy but cannot be found (are empty of inherent nature). Cut through to the actual essential nature. Free yourself by understanding there is nothing out there upon which to designate “me” or “mine” and by taking pure appearances (based on pristine awareness) rather than impure appearances as the basis for those designations. This is not making believe, it is already there; 7. Stage of Generation practice where we are imputing your own divine identity on pristine awareness as the basis for the imputation “I am a Buddha”. This is possible without first having identified pristine awareness - by intuiting it as our fundamental nature (this is analogous to “blind sight” (visual consciousness derivative of mental consciousness)). It is common to augment Dzogchen with stage of generation practice. Meditation starts at 01:06:54 and is about resting in awareness, probing and then recognise that objective reality and the subjective mind that lies behind appearances are equally unknowable; viewing all appearances as arising from the substrate and recognising that it is impossible to peer beyond/behind appearances into the “black box” of objective reality and the subjective mind.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 23 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan returns to one final comment on Longchenpa’s writings on the Four Immeasurables. Within the sutrayana context the Four Immeasurables are already implicit in our Buddha-nature. It’s a reality of possibility, of potential, but we need to bring in the causes and conditions for them to manifest. From the perspective of a Buddha, in the mantrayana context, the Four Immeasurables are already present in all sentient beings in the ground (as actuality). On the path, skilful means and wisdom are non-dual, the Four Immeasurables arise through the complete unification of skilful means and wisdom. In the fruition, the 5 kayas (including the Vajra kaya) and the facets of primordial consciousness are one, non-dual. Insofar as we view the ground, path and fruition from the perspective of a sentient being, we have a Buddha-nature and the Four Immeasurables are implicit but not manifest within it. In the mantrayana, specifically from the perspective of Dzogchen, Buddha-nature is a reality. We’re deluded into thinking that we’re sentient beings because of our ignorance of the actual nature of reality and who we are - out of dualistic grasping we’re seeing appearances as “other” rather than spontaneous displays of primordial consciousness. So from one perspective, it’s a matter of cultivating the Four Immeasurables and from the other, it’s about unveiling them: releasing what obscures them. In the sravakayana, the highest aspiration is the spirit of definite emergence (renunciation) as well as the single-pointed focus to achieve liberation, “as if your hair is on fire”. According to the Buddha himself, the direct path to liberation is the four applications of mindfulness. But because one still has all the mental afflictions, to protect that resolve for virtue in the first turning of the wheel of Dharma, one will take vows, in order to have greater freedom to make wise choices. Lama Alan reminds us that to be fully participating in these teachings one needs to receive a corresponding empowerment. In the process of taking a Vajrayana empowerment, the prelude to the bestowal is arousing bodhicitta and re-affirming one’s Bodhisattva vows. There’s no Vajrayana without Bodhicitta, without Bodhisattvayana and without taking Bodhisattva vows. Lama Alan wants to make this explicit. Given the circumstances he will not be able to grant empowerment but in the upcoming meditation he wants to restore the Bodhisattva vows. These are taken from a liturgy of Patrul Rinpoche which brings the interlude to a close. Meditation starts at 00:19:22 and is about taking the Bodhisattva Vows After the meditation Lama Alan introduces Phase 4 of the text. He makes some prefatory comments: since we’ve all taken bodhisattva vows, we need to know the 18 root downfalls and the 46 secondary precepts to avoid infractions. We can find them in the auxiliary readings for this retreat. Lama-la exhorts us to know and keep these precepts for our own sakes in order to protect our practice. He reiterates that in Phase 1 we’ve received pith instructions on whether our minds have origin, location, destination, any physical properties and ascertained that they’re empty of materiality. We gained insight into the emptiness of the mind. It follows that if there’s nothing really “in here” there can be nothing “out there”. This precedes the instructions for those of dull faculties. We take the mind as the path, imbued with refuge, bodhicitta, whatever insight we have into the emptiness of the mind and all that appears to the mind, achieve samatha, attend closely to the pointing out instructions to pristine awareness in Phase 2, and cut through to pristine awareness, having had some taste of the emptiness of inherent nature of the mind. The teachings in Phase 3 on the emptiness of all phenomena are to protect the ongoing resting in the view, so that it doesn’t fall back into reification - seeing all phenomena spontaneously arising as our own appearances. If we had realised everything that was taught in Phases 1-3, we would have realised samatha, vipasyana and would be resting in pristine awareness. In phase 4 there’ll be more teachings on the nature of primordial consciousness, on the ground, path, fruition, to continue on that effortless path of the Great Perfection - trekchö. Having cut through to the original purity of pristine awareness, we simply rest there in complete inactivity of 9 kinds: coarse, medium and subtle, of body, speech and mind. The teachings in Phase 4 on trekchö are designed to lead us from having realised pristine awareness to gaining confidence, going deeper. Lama-la explains that one may wish to augment one’s continuing practice of resting in pristine awareness with the practice of the stage of generation. According to the Lake-Born Vajra, you don’t necessarily need to augment it but it may be very helpful. Similarly, in the path of Mahamudra, which corresponds to trekchö, one may wish to augment one’s practice with the stage of generation. It is possible to reach perfect enlightenment in this lifetime with samatha, vipasyana, taking dharmata as the path. Having already taken the impure mind as the path, one achieves the realisation of the emptiness of all phenomena and then takes rigpa as the path, cuts through and dwells in primordial consciousness. You can achieve perfect enlightenment in this lifetime by resting in pristine awareness but the majority of practitioners augment their practice with stages of generation and completion. We come to a fork in the road. Do we want to follow the effortless path of resting in pristine awareness, letting all the qualities of enlightenment manifest effortlessly and spontaneously from rigpa and achieve perfect awakening in that way or do we want to augment the practice of resting in rigpa with the stage of generation, possibly stage of completion and coming to the culmination of Dzogchen practice with the direct crossing over to spontaneous actualisation? One can rest in pristine awareness, receive pith instructions on direct crossing over by way of the four visions and manifest rainbow body (the highest being Great Transference rainbow body). Lama Alan ends by reading one of his favourite parables, written down by Karma Chagmé Rinpoché, but tracing back to Padmasambhava himself, published under the title Naked Awareness. This parable makes clear to us why one would go through the practice of imagining oneself as a Buddha before one has any Buddha qualities at all (as in stage of generation practice). Even before one has identified one’s pristine awareness, on the basis of preliminary practices and some samatha, an insight into emptiness as well as faith or intuition, we can receive pointing out instructions on who we are, dissolve all our impure appearances into emptiness. Out of emptiness we can adopt the identity of a Buddha, visualise the appearance of a pure land, a palace, our companions as being viras and dakinis and we can act like a Buddha. In so doing we cut through the mistaken notion of being a sentient being. Lama Alan concludes that with this parable we’ve gone deeper into the domain of the Great Perfection, and augment this with the view, meditation and conduct of the stage of generation.
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 14 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
Day Two, Session Two Q&A To maintain the privacy of the attendees some of the questions may not be heard, but in the video version of the Q&A the questions are shown on the screen. We apologize for this inconvenience.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 01 Apr 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan starts the retreat by saying that all sentient beings wish to be happy and free of suffering. The context of these teachings is what are the deepest causes that I can do something about to realise that longing. Lama Alan refers to the Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma which include the Four Noble Truths. He highlights the importance of answering the questions “Who am I?” and “What is my nature?” He says that we are Buddha nature and asks “how do we actualise that?” Fortunately, this text teaches us how to actualise Buddha nature. However, believing that we are Buddha nature can appear foolish. Lama Alan invites us to be a suitable vessel for the teachings – to hear them, retain them and never to be separate from them. To realise Buddha nature our body, speech and mind must be in a state of balance, that is, each settled in their natural state. The Meditation is about Settling Body Speech and Mind [in their natural states] for the first time ever. It starts at 1:03:55
THE SCIENCE OF MIND, 13 Nov 2021, Online Retreat
Day One, Session Two Q&A To maintain the privacy of the attendees some of the questions may not be heard, but in the video version of the Q&A the questions are shown on the screen. We apologize for this inconvenience.
Shamatha, Vipashyana, Mahamudra, and Dzogchen, 04 Apr 2016, Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Italy
This morning, Alan returns to the theme of parallels between the practice of settling the mind in its natural state and the mindfulness of breathing as taught by Asanga. He begins by making a crucial point: when the practice is going well, it is never smooth. Unpleasant bodily and mental sensations (nyam) are bound to arise. In fact, in the book “Stilling the Mind” (containing the shamatha part of Dudjom Lingpa’s Vajra Essence) there is a two-page long shortlist of the nyams. Even though some are truly awful (like paranoia), if they arise during authentic practice, they are actually signs of progress. However, one may ask why we have to go through all these meditative experiences. In response Alan reads a passage from “Stilling the Mind” where it is explained that even if people identify rigpa but do not continue practicing, they will succumb to spiritual sloth. In short: shamatha is indispensable for entering the path. Back to the topic of parallels between mindfulness of breathing and settling the mind in its natural state, Alan underlines the importance of the body (here: of the prana) which is often overlooked, but needs to be incorporated into the practice. In the method we follow, Asanga clearly indicates that the object of awareness is the prana (not the air, for example) circling from the nostrils down to the navel chakra. Some traditions recommend becoming one with the breath, fusing with it, but this is not the practice we follow. Alan stresses that in this tradition the awareness rests in stillness and does not fuse with the object of meditation. Alan draws a parallel with the substrate consciousness which illuminates the appearances but does not enter into them. So as in settling the mind in its natural state the mind attends to appearances but does not go after them, likewise in the practice of mindfulness of breathing we simply attend to the sensations in the somatic field without grasping at them (without cognitive fusion, without noting “this is my body, I’m breathing etc.”). Here Alan reminds us of the Buddha’s instructions: “In the mentally perceived let there just be the mentally perceived”. And accordingly: “In the felt let there just be the felt” etc. Going back to the topic of nyam, Alan stresses that if all we do is experience them, then we are back to our old habits. Instead, when resting in the stillness of our awareness, whatever comes up in the field of the body, we ought to try to attend to it without preference, without aversion, hope or expectation. In this way, we let the body take care of these sensations and heal itself. The meditation is on Mindfulness of Breathing as taught by Asanga. The meditation starts at 28:30 ___ Please contribute to make these, and future podcasts freely available.
2021 8-Week Retreat: The Vajra Essence – Part 2, 13 May 2021, Online-only
Lama Alan gives corrections for parts of the text just prior to footnotes 152 and 154. He then continues the oral transmission and his commentary at the first full paragraph of page 111 and ends at the first full paragraph on page 112 of the text. The text refers to the consorts of the five Buddha families. Another name for Mamanyasari-Dhatvisvari (the Queen, space) is White Tara. Vajradakini (the Vajra, water), Ratnadakini (the Jewel, earth), Padmadakini (Padma, fire), Karmadakini (Karma, air). All five Buddhas manifest in Sambhogakaya form in the practice of direct crossing over to spontaneous actualization. The phrase “in union” means in sexual union but that’s a superficial meaning. Being in union personifies the primordial union of wisdom and skilful means, the union of relative and ultimate bodhicitta, and in Dzogchen, the union of dharmadhatu and dharmakaya. Each element (e.g., fire) is a deceptive appearance, in that it is not inherently existent. The non-inherent nature of each is definitive and ultimate in that when it is directly realised, its mode of appearance accords with its mode of existence, and its non-inherent nature is invariant across all cognitive frames of reference. All Buddha’s are the five kayas, the five families and the five facets of primordial consciousness. They were always Buddhas (primordially aware) from the Dzogchen perspective, yet all are also sentient beings from a relative perspective. We can look at this part of the text like encountering a play – with a list of characters with descriptions of where they are. With insight into emptiness, we dissolve all impure appearances and actualise ourselves as Nirmanakaya. Meditation starts at 01:08:03 and is on dissolving all appearances into emptiness, and arising and assuming the identity of Samantabadhra. When you rise from meditation, know that you can shift your identity to that of a Nirmanakaya.
