Fall 2011 Shamatha Retreat

Informações:

Synopsis

Dharma talks and guided meditations given six days per week during the Fall, 2011 eight-week Shamatha retreat at the Thanyapura Mind Centre in Phuket, Thailand, with B. Alan Wallace. Podcasts will be posted daily during the retreat.

Episodes

  • 37 Empathetic Joy, part 2

    16/09/2011 Duration: 01h40min

    Alan continues his talk by emphasizing that hedonic pleasure cannot be the sole measure of something good/beneficial. Only through difficulties we encounter with others can we develop the paramitas. Whatever happens is also presenting an opportunity and helps us develop strength of mind in order to digest whatever the world dishes up. Guided meditation (33:08) focusing on the causes of happiness, starting with rejoicing in those who are doing something beneficial, those who are cultivating samadhi, those who are cultivating wisdom, and in one’s own positive factors both inner and outer. Questions (58:13): Q1) The events during the bardo of dying even when experienced cannot be reported upon because the has died. What are possible avenues of collaboration between buddhism and modern science to shed light on such questions?

  • 36 Awareness of Awareness, part 2

    16/09/2011 Duration: 44min

    Shamatha without a sign is a process of discovery and exploration rather than development. It involves experiencing and discovering, through one's own experience the natural states of mind of bliss, luminosity and non-conceptuality. In this practice, one looks deeply into cognition itself to discover the blockages, these being a sense of I am. So we look deeply into such questions as: Who is in charge? Who is the agent of action? Meditation starts at 10:11

  • 35 Empathetic Joy, part 1

    15/09/2011 Duration: 01h36min

    Alan discusses how to approach one’s shamatha practice in a wise way - not by focusing upon “how it went” but rather on one’s application and effort. One should see that in every moment, no matter how good or bad, one is “accomplishing shamatha”. Turning to empathetic joy (47:47), he urges us to attend to and draw out the goodness in others. He deals with questions (72:26) regarding the notion of attending to thought without grasping, how to induce lucid dreaming, distinctions between vipashanya and shamatha and discusses the Buddhist perspective of Carl Jung’s concept of the collective unconscious.

  • 33 Compassion focused on ubiquitous suffering

    15/09/2011 Duration: 01h37min

    Talk Last night’s discussion of pointing out instructions may have left some feeling hopeless as so many of the qualified teachers have died. Important to know that if receive authentic teachings that is enough don’t need the pointing out instructions. Referenced teachings on DVD from five years ago in which Yangthang Rinpoche said to rest in luminosity and emptiness and said don’t tell me you can’t do it. Discussion of the emptiness of the mind. Meditation (43:26) Meditate on compassion at the deepest level which is our essential vulnerability to suffering. Visualize your own suffering and the causes of suffering as darkness dissolving into the light orb at your heart. Then continue with the same meditation for others. Questions (68:25) 1) You talked today about the emptiness of the mind. When I attend to the space of the mind it ripples like Jello. 2) In Dzogchen you talk about clarity and emptiness. How does that relate to the awareness of awareness meditation? 3) As you said, everything in the wo

  • 32 Settling the Mind in its Natural State, part 3

    15/09/2011 Duration: 43min

    Talk Comparison of breathing meditation and settling the mind in its natural state. Breathing meditation is best done in a quiet environment – settling the mind can be done in a noisy active environment. Much like the difference between a monk in a monastic environment and a Bodhisattva engaged in life. Meditation (18:20) In settling the mind in its natural state one can focus on the foreground – what thoughts etc. are going on in the space of the mind or the background – the space of the mind between thoughts – this way you are never left without an object. The ongoing flow of knowing both when there are contents and when there aren’t. Enhance vividness and may detect murmurings of the mind that you might not otherwise be aware of.

  • 34 Awareness of Awareness, part 1

    15/09/2011 Duration: 39min

    “Not in a million years”. Alan discusses modern concepts of mindfulness and meditation practice, which involve mere non judgmental attention to the present moment and whatever arises in that moment. He discusses their origin, the similarity they have in name to the awareness of awareness/shamatha without a sign practice, their benefits, and the extent to which they provide a suitable vehicle for the attainment of shamatha and other types of meditative attainment. Meditation starts at 14:46

  • 31 Compassion focused on the suffering of change

    14/09/2011 Duration: 01h32min

    Dharma talk: Meditative cultivation of Compassion and the Suffering of Change On the “most wanted” list of mental afflictions is hatred. Craving/attachment is the #1 culprit in the suffering of change. Craving and attachment are always carried by a conceptual line (i.e. they are one step removed from reality). There is the sense of “If only……” (I had this or that, I would be happy). The object of desire seems static (it is an object), but everything is in flux. Arhats are free of suffering because they are free of attachment. They feel pain, but the experience is different because there is not grasping at “my body.” The pain just arises in space. The two parts of Buddhist ethics are (1) doing no harm and (2) being of benefit. If we were all ethical, 95 percent of the blatant suffering in the world would vanish. Shamatha is one level of Samadhi. You achieve a more balanced mind and have the experience of bliss, non-conceptuality, and luminosity (it is moment to moment, but the experience is there).

  • 30 Settling the Mind in its Natural State, part 2

    13/09/2011 Duration: 35min

    In this session Alan talks about the parallels of settling the mind in its natural state with rigpa. Nirvana and samsara are of one taste and without preference from the perspective of rigpa. Relationship of space/time, consciousness and energy to the different levels of the mind. Anger from the perspective of the substrate maps to the luminosity aspect. Craving from the perspective of the substrate maps to the bliss aspect. Delusion from the perspective of the substrate maps to the non-conceptuality aspect. Story of whole/half/no hamburger. Practice (9:38): Awareness of the body -> from whole body to abdominal breathing -> up to lip/nostrils -> to space of the mind and its contents

  • 29 Compassion focused on blatant suffering

    13/09/2011 Duration: 01h30min

    Vast and Profound, it’s the minimum we can say about this afternoon’s session. Alan gave us an exquisite exploration of the mechanics of the practice of Settling the mind in its natural state: how by one step it can heal our minds from mental afflictions developing an equanimity towards all kinds of mental events; this is through cutting their continuity by being aware of them and leading us to shamatha. But not only shamatha, even it can help us for the subsequent practice of Breaking Through. He also gave us a bright presentation of the workings of attachment and anger, especially the latter one putting the Iphone as a good example. How anger is rooted in delusion and how it prevents from imploding into the substrate consciousness. The meditation (50:28) was about compassion, at this time focusing on the most obvious suffering: the suffering of pain. Alan wanted to focus not only onto any kind of suffering of suffering but on the one that we can do something about it here and now: compassion for the menta

  • 28 Settling the Mind in its Natural State, part 1

    13/09/2011 Duration: 37min

    This is the most used method in the Dzogchen tradition. Allowing thoughts, images, perceptions to arise in the space of the mind without labeling, categorizing, preference. Watch them arise from the space of the mind and return into it. The object of meditation is the space of the mind. If nothing seems to be arising in the mind, try generating a discursive thought such as “What is mind?” and don’t try to answer it, just watch it. Meditation starts at 9:08

  • 27 Loving Kindness, part 3

    11/09/2011 Duration: 01h36min

    In this session we continue with the practice of loving-kindness. Alan starts by talking on the meaning of having a day off from a contemplative perspective. He then discusses the possibility that practicing loving kindness can have an effect on the other person Also, how the faults of others are a reflection of our own propensities, as referred to in the lo jong literature. Meditation starts at 34:20 Questions (59:21): 1) Advice on compulsive thoughts, with relation to the prerequisites for achieving shamatha 2) What does it mean to truly do nothing in meditation? 3) What is the dualistic mind? 4) Why haven't we been covering stage of generation and stage of completion?

  • 26 Mindfulness of Breathing, third phase

    11/09/2011 Duration: 32min

    Mindfulness of Breathing - focusing on the sensations at the apertures of the nostrils. Here we have the full synergy of relaxation, stability and vividness. As we relax the breathing slows down and the sensations get subtler, everything gets more interesting so one has to pay more attention. At the same time we deactivate the sense of self as a controller of the breath, we are only the agent who controls attention. Meditation starts at 7:42

  • 25 Loving kindness, part 2

    09/09/2011 Duration: 01h33min

    Alan discusses on developing loving-kindness for even disagreeable people by starting with oneself (as for myself, also for you). Beware to avoid its near enemy: self-centered attachment. The trigger of loving-kindness is this primal yearning for happiness within the continual flow of awareness. Traditional meditation by Buddhagosa starting with oneself, a close person, a neutral person, and an enemy. With the in-breath, may each find happiness and its causes, and with the out-breath, may it be so. NB: It is important to attend beyond sheer appearances, but we shouldn’t probe too deeply as to wind up at emptiness. Meditation starts at 42:00 Questions (67:10): Q1) In Chap. 3 of the Attention Revolution, it is said that in order to attain stage 3, one needs to take on practice as a serious advocation. Q2) If there is no cultivation of bodhicitta in the dzogchen path, what aspiration is necessary to avoid becoming an arhat? Q3) What are similarities and differences between the Theravada and Mahayan

  • 24 Mindfulness of Breathing, second phase

    09/09/2011 Duration: 38min

    Observing the rise and fall of the abdomen is the most effective method for the subsiding of compulsive thoughts and to help quiet the mind. Coarse excitation is the primary imbalance in Stages 1-4 and observing breathing at the abdomen is helpful all the way to Stage 4. The first phase involves a gently caring approach. In this second phase, one begins to bring some discipline and effort to the practice. This is when one begins to train the mind, to calm it and to develop stability. Meditation starts at 12:41

  • 23 Loving kindness for oneself

    08/09/2011 Duration: 01h30min

    Return to loving kindness and the world of possibility. In imagination and in dream, one can create one’s reality completely. Alan adds visualization to the loving kindness practice and explores the potential of accepting possibility and its impacts upon reality. Meditation starts at 26:38 Questions (59:00) about: Alan’s meditation practice, how to make the loving kindness practice more tangible, how to find the subtle breath, whether awareness of awareness extends to the sense fields and how to deal with vivid disturbing dreams. See how Harry Potter, Yangtang Rinpoche, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, The Matrix, Tarthang Tulku, Chairman Mao and pirates can help explain all of this.

  • 22 The infirmary

    08/09/2011 Duration: 38min

    What does the preparatory practice of settling the body, speech and mind have to do with rats, fleas and the Black Plague? Why are we in modernity actually still living in the Dark Ages? All is revealed in this edition of Alan’s shamatha expedition. Meditation starts at 13:58

  • 21 Equanimity, part 2

    08/09/2011 Duration: 01h30min

    Introduction Discussion of self cherishing and why it arises. Developing new habits – reconfiguring using the four immeasurable culminating in equanimity. Settling the mind in its natural state – not trying to transform the contents of the mind but the way we relate to the contents. The discovery approach versus the developmental approach of transforming the mind. Guided meditation (37:17) Settle the mind in its natural state. Instead of letting images of people go, this time when an appearance of a person comes to mind attend closely. Use tonglen to breath in the person’s sufferings and wish them to be free of suffering and breathe out may you be well and happy. Can also breathe in the blessings of the Buddha and then breathe them out to the person. Then open the door and wait for the next person to appear. Questions (64:24): What is the relationship between these terms: introspection, clear comprehension, contemplation and bare attention? What is the space of non conceptuality? In Awareness of A

  • 20 Awareness of Awarenesss, part 4

    08/09/2011 Duration: 33min

    Introduction Description of the difference between Awareness of Awareness practice and Open Presence/Open Awareness. Imagine you are in a sensory deprivation tank so have no sensory input and Merlin removes all activities of mind. You have just had three espressos, so you are awake. What are you aware of? All that is left is awareness of awareness. Guided meditation (9:15) Expanding the field of awareness. Awareness pulled out to right, left, up, down and then into the heart chakra.

  • 19 Equanimity

    06/09/2011 Duration: 01h32min

    Equanimity - the "crown jewel" of the Four Immeasurables In both Shamatha and the Four Immeasurables, we cultivate balance and a sense of "evenness of heart." The Four Immeasurables are immeasurable only if they flow out evenly, without partiality or bias. They cultivate “virtues of the heart” and an understanding of causality. They help us overcome the dehumanizing tendency to only see others as a means of fulfilling our hedonistic desires – it becomes an “I” v.s. “it” relationship. We often respond to people’s agreeable, disagreeable, or neutral appearances. The fusion of appearances with a person is a delusion. We also fuse ourselves with aspects of ourselves (e.g. behaviors, mental afflictions, etc.). Meditation(48:07): Cultivating equanimity by reviewing our own lives and working with positive and negative times. Then doing this with others (one we “like”, one we “don’t like,” and one to whom we have neutral feelings. False Facsimile of Equanimity is “Aloof Indifference” (sometimes called “

  • 18 Awareness of Awareness, part 3

    06/09/2011 Duration: 37min

    A discussion of substrate, substrate consciousness and pristine awareness. How klishtamanas comes out of the alayavijñana creating a sense of "I am" and subject and object. Also a discussion of the dying process. Practice(10:53): Awareness of awareness, oscillating between non-objectified knowing and reflecting on who is knowing (and who is knowing that person knowing) Final comment: Padmasambhava: awareness of awareness is a shamatha practice but you may slip into pristine awareness as well.

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