Alan Wallace Live from Phuket!

This morning we practiced Settling the Mind by coming in through the senses with the phrase "In the perceived, let there be only the perceived" as a preparation for observing the mind. After a short introduction on the practice in which we touched briefly on the very interesting fact that the appearances that we see are not of a material nature in themselves. Anyway, enjoy the practice!

On a side note, Alan is happy to announce that the videos are now available from the “Science and Buddhism” colloquium at the University of Oxford, sponsored by the Physiology Department and the Oriental Institute of the University of Oxford, the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies, and the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, March, 2010. The videos are accessible here:

http://www.voicesfromoxford.org/B-S-Introduction.html

The videos are on a menu to the right and they can be downloaded!

In this episode, we keep working more deeply with the Four Immeasurables. As always we have our introduction which includes an answer by HH. Dalai Lama from a Mind and Life conference saying that what moves us or motivates us to do anything at all is caring. Alan then breaks this down and shows how all of the 4I stem from this basic caring, and also shows how they are deeply entangled together. For example, empathetic joy is "built-into" compassion, as it arises when the suffering is alleviated.

After the meditation, we go into an open mic Q&A session which has several questions focused on Awareness of Awareness, and then Ilse shares an experience which spurs Alan into talking about conciousness in the bardo.

The last 60 seconds (literally) are a brilliant explanation of "information" and how it only stored/retrieved/exists with reference to the person storing it or accessing it. A computer analogy was obviously present and then related with conciousness in the bardo and from life to life.

This local photo is from Rosa!

This morning we had a brief followup on the concept of the loss of the sense of self. Afterwards we went directly into the practice, which you may notice was quite silent apart from the initial sets of instructions. This time it's about going deeper and using our own faculties of mindfulness and introspection without Alan reminding us to do so.

This also means fewer words from me (compared to my essays from yesterday)! So back to the cushion I go! Enjoy!

Ah, the Ngöndro (preliminary) practices. If you ask how many you have to do (without the proper context and preparation), you will probably be sorry to hear the answer: 100,000. Of ALL OF THEM.

With these good-humored words and other examples, Alan reproaches the "how much do I gotta do" approach to the preliminaries and sets off on a very enlightening explanation of the very valid reasons for the preliminaries and the context in which they are immensely beneficial and meaningful. He also points out when they are not yet of most benefit (especially to us modern people or to people just starting in the path of Dharma) and explains why.

In the end, Alan gives a short, concise, and brilliant personal answer (based on how the Buddha taught his disciples) to the preliminaries of Shamatha which left us all tremendously inspired. I won't ruin and pollute the surprise of what his answer is so it will suffice to say that if you have doubts, problems, and/or restlessness about the preliminaries or want to clear any misconceptions, this podcast is definitely for you. And if you really know the preliminaries and perhaps have even completed them, Alan's final points are still extremely valuable to anyone and can bring a rich, meaningful, and powerful drive to the practice.

For those interested, the picture is from a thangka of the Dudjom Tersar Ngöndro.

This podcast was spurred by a question from our philosopher Ilse asking about the difference of "Identitylessness" [or non self] and "Personhood" (as she put it).

There are many misconceptions about Buddhism and the theme of the "Non-Self," and here B. Alan Wallace breaks it down skillfully and with his characteristic [irony alarm went off], funny and good-humored but extremely wise and accurate examples. This is really recommended if you have any doubts (as many of us do) on this topic! It is explained extremely clearly.

As a bonus within a bonus, Ilse comments that the practice of Shamatha in this retreat so far is starting to weaken her sense of identity. Alan quickly says it’s a good thing then talks about how Shamatha can and does weaken the sense of identity (and the suffering it entails) and breaks down the "fortress" of ignorance and delusion, along with their derivative afflictions such as craving, aversion, anger, hostility, etc. At the end it gets very philosophical (and nicely so). All in all a great podcast for reflexion.

In the spirit of this podcast, do you know who is in the picture? You might say, “What kind of stupid question is that?... That's Alan!” But what is it that you call Alan? The pixels on the screen? Your appearance of Alan? The voice? A dharma teacher? A friend? Do you see the same Alan that I am seeing as I add the picture? How many Alans are there? Is there an Alan (I hope so!) ?

Have fun with that one!

In the introduction, Alan talks about Loving Kindness and how it is an aspiration and not a feeling (although it certainly comes with a feeling). He also talks about achieving Shamatha by method of non-discursive meditation on the apspiration of Loving Kindness (developing stability and vividness).

After the practice we had an explanation of moving loving kindness into "enemy territory," talked briefly about the concept of "enemy," and saw how Loving Kindness can (and needs to) grow ultimately.

Today I did something unusual in that I split the podcast into three. I won't be releasing them on Sunday this time (I am sending out the three at the same time), but I felt they were themes that a lot of people are interested in, and it would be handy to have them as stand-alone episodes. So don't be scared when you get 4 podcast updates today! It's actually the usual daily 2 with the afternoon one split into 3.

This local photo is from Daniela.

Today we had a quite silent and relaxing session on the sensations of the breath at the level of the abdomen.

The introduction talks about the several ways in which we can recognize progress in our practice, and the outro is a recap on the terms "mindfulness," "instrospection," and "conscientiousness."

This local photo is courtesy of Daniela.

Today we re-started the 4I cycle with Loving Kindness. Specifically, we focused on motivation and how it has the power to make things possible or impossible, achievable or not achievable.

The introduction was around this motivation and its power, while the outro contains a great several-part question by Malcom on the different methods of Shamatha, their pit falls, changing between methods, etc. It is a very concise explanation of the three methods we cover in this retreat, how they interrelate, and how it is possible to use them all cohesively. Also at the end there is a very precise explanation on how to correctly do the practice of Awareness of Awareness (spurred by a question from Noah). Alan utilizes his trusty sensory deprivation tank example and leaves the object of this practice quite clear. So if you like Awareness of Awareness but aren't sure if you are doing it correctly, the last 15 minutes or so of this podcast might clear many doubts!

I might add that today we had quite a few doses of uplifting and informative humor scattered throughout, so hopefully it will add some icing to your mood as it did to ours!

(As opposed to these Monkey-Deities' apparent mood in the photo of the local Chinese temple taken by Ivan)

Feliz día de las madres en Mexico! Las queremos mucho y las extrañamos!

This session was the first of the meditations with less spoken guidance. However, Alan made up for it with the great introduction and outro!

The talks are based on the importance of looking for genuine happiness, focusing on the more and more common condition of "General Anxiety," (or reality-based anxiety) its causes, and how society is depending on more and more brain drugs to band-aid the symptoms. The outro is particularly enriching; it details how a cooperation between the Pharmaceutical Industry (which can be absolutely necessary), Psychiatrists (talk treatment), and Dharma could work in synergy towards a real focus on healing the mind on all levels.

This local photo is courtesy of Daniela.

Last but certainly not least, happy mothers day weekend! We love you and miss you mothers!

In this juicy sunday Bonus, Alan answers a question from our friend Noah about why wait to kickstart the revolution in the mind sciences? Why not get an accomplished Yogi to demonstrate his paranormal abilities under scientific scrutiny? Maybe just a little bit of levitation, walking through walls, multiplying themselves, disappearing... The usual.

You can be sure that what follows is a a very thorough analysis of this subject, from several perspectives and with some possible outcomes. Very interesting for those of us who have sometimes asked that question ourselves!

Anyone want to guess who is depicted in this Thangka? Hint: I'm his fan.

View this episode on the site for a larger version of the pic!