Alan Wallace Live from Phuket!

Wow, I have to say that we ended this cycle of meditations perfectly. We had a very valuable practice (although, what practice has not been very valuable?) on Equanimity paired with wisdom. We started with a short and sweet introduction, and then went straight into the meditation.

After the meditation we had two delicious juicy questions. The first question by Nick I took out because it's perfect for a stand-alone bonus that I'll send out tomorrow. It entails an explanation of the Four Immeasurables, their faux facsimiles, and how they balance out.

The question which I did not edit out was Ana Lorena's, and she asked if it was possible to cultivate the Four Immeasurables without all the conceptualization and just bringing forth the aspirations. I won't pollute the podcast anymore with my description, but if you trust me by now then I'll tell you that it's really worth a listen!

This beautiful photo was taken by Daniela at one of the local temples!

Hello everyone!

Last week we had some internet trouble over here which caused the podcast XML to get corrupted. As a result, I have received many comments saying that you were having trouble downloading the podcast episodes from:

April 28 - May 1

The problem has now been fixed, so you may try downloading the episodes again. If the episodes do not show up in your iTunes, then follow the instructions in the video and they should work properly! Sorry for the trouble and enjoy your meditations!

May there be great benefit!

This morning we practiced the final phase of Awareness of Awareness, and quoting from Alan's great analogy in the introduction to this practice: "Putting it in the Oven."

The title comes from the succinct explanation of the practice as described by Tsongkhapa.

This time it was just a brief 5 minute introduction and then we went into the meditation (as taught by Padmasambhava), the most profound of all Shamatha practices.

With this method, the path and the fruit are similar in aspect.

Enjoy as we did!

(And if you were wondering if I really had to use another sky picture-- the answer is yes!)

This podcast starts with a microphone test; you may notice that this podcast has none of the annoying popping noises that went out in the previous episodes. And the sound quality will keep getting better as we tweak the system.

Ok, enough of that! Today's afternoon practice was on Equanimity, and it was a very valuable meditation. We start as always with an excellent introduction with illustrative examples before going into the practice.

After the practice we had some assorted Q&A, but before that Alan gave some great tips on Lucid Dreaming and Dream Yoga (with many references to Stephen LaBerge). The questions are on assorted topics, from practice to theory, and are very illustrative. Enjoy!

I included this cellphone photo of yesterday's sky to aid in reflecting about impermanence! I kept looking at the sky after taking the photo and in less than 30 seconds it was completely different!

This morning we had a practice of the third method of Awareness of Awareness. Alan starts with an introduction and explains some points on the practice, and after the practice he gives some tips on keeping a constant meditation even when having to do other things. The meditation session in this podcast is a very clearly explained and great practice of Awareness of Awareness.

As you can probably tell by now I like interesting skies, and especially so when talking about Awareness of Awareness! This is another typical sky here after dinner.

Today's practice was focused on taking delight both towards being of benefit in the world outwards but also of going into meditation and being apparently useless for a while, because it's a cultivation with which you can become immensely useful afterwards. There is a great introduction on this point, and after the practice we had some great, fluid assorted Q&A with answers from the crowd. The questions vary from how to balance quality and quantity in meditation and some sprinkles of dream yoga near the end.

Another great local photo from Sara's collection!

This morning we followed a second method of Shamatha without a Sign (Awareness of Awareness) as taught by Padmasambhava. This method included probing into the very nature of that which inverts and releases the attention and in so doing one may realize rigpa! Alan first explains in detail the confusion around this practice and its true potential, using a dream analogy. A greatly inspiring overview.

Afterwards we have the actual practice and a short outro about the parallels of this practice and Dzogchen.

A great way to start the day!

This afternoon was great. We started with an overview of four immeasurables as an extrordinarly wise system of emotional regulation, and although that sounds utilitarian (since the qualities of loving kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity are some of the most noble virtues to develop), they can be excellent for emotional balance.

Alan then talks about how to develop motivation, inspiration, enthusiasm, lightness, and hopefulness towards the practice, which is directly linked to the meditation we do afterwards.

After the session, we had some assorted Q&As on great subjects, including great tips and practices for maintaining the object of mindfulness between sessions and "seasoning" the day with the four immeasurables. There are also some great explanations on the 10 non-virtues and one of the great "path overviews" and bigger picture discussions that we know and love.

This photo is of Master Luang Phor Cham in the Chalong Temple of Phuket (another great one by Sara!)

This morning we started with a brief recap on some details about the breath in Settling the Mind in its Natural State, and some notes about the substrate conciousness and Awareness of Awareness.

Afterwards we had a very clearly explained practice, including some tips for people who are new to this type of meditation.

We are having some microphone adjustments so you might have to turn up the volume on this one! Sorry!

This photo was taken by Sara here at the mind centre... Very suitable photo for Awareness of Awareness!

We start with an introduction on the three different dimensions of suffering and pick up briefly on this morning's topic of becoming lucid in the waking state.

The deep practice that follows is indeed a Compassion practice but its focus is on this lucidity.

After the meditation we have some open questions focused on the practice, such as "how does vividness manifest in the practice of settling the mind in its natural state," and other general questions that might be good for all! We passed the microphone around so there are a lot people giving their experience and asking their own questions this time.

Another photo by Ale! As you can see she had quite a nice trip and gave me a bunch of awesome pictures. I know I already used this one but I had some technical problems!