Fall 2011 Shamatha Retreat

Alan leads the group, who has started talking now, through a shamatha session (02:13) designed to bring the mind down from agitation to calm. He speaks to a question (35:53) regarding the Dzogchen view of rigpa and the extent to which one can provide a reason as to why one who awakens from the dream of reality won’t fall asleep again.

Note: The first 5 or 10 seconds were missing because Alan started talking before the computer had finished loading. Sorry about that! We were coming back from our (hectic) group photo session so he was talking about that, and that's also why this session is shorter.

There are three strategies to protect from the tornado of thoughts in the mind. The first is to go to a shelter which is mindfulness of breathing – releasing and releasing the thoughts. The second is the tornado chasers who learn a great deal about tornadoes without getting caught in them – that is settling the mind in its natural state. The third is to go up into the tornado and come out on the other side in the expanse of blue sky – that is awareness of awareness. Silent meditation starts at 04:18

Questions (29:02)

Were the four immeasurable taught as a part of the year of shamatha practice with Gen Lamrimpa?

Could you discuss further the role of the observer participant related to frozen time.

Silent meditation (no introduction) starts at 0:18

Questions (25:28):

1. Comment on the concepts of time and space.

2. What role do the “Hidden Lands” play in the context of Buddhist practice?

3. In the Vajrayana, there is the practice of the illusory body. Is there anything like this in the Mahayana? What is the concept of “wilderness” in practice?

4. What is the role of devotion and reverence in practice?

5. Pondering the metaphor of the carriage and the Four Immeasurables being like four horses,

I have explored what the other parts of the metaphor are in my own practice. For example, the reins (which must be held not too tight or not too loose) are the discipline of my practice in the hands of the driver—who might be inattentive or alert, a good driver or not so good on any given day. The wheels and undercarriage are the Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind (Precious human existence, Death and Impermanence, the Law of Karma, and the Defects of Samsara). Who is inside the carriage (a passive passenger or a master who knows the destination and the route to it and can keep the driver going in the right direction). Are there other interpretations? A similar metaphor appears in the Upanishads. Is there an expanded metaphor in Buddhist text?

Relying on hedonic pleasure is like a town that relies on a coal-fired generator. We begin to realize how much pollution this represents and seek more environmental friendly energy sources. In the same way we can begin to gradually shift into the "solar panels" of genuine happiness, by way of simplicity and contentment.

Alan comments how even the Dalai Lama has stopped watching TV as he says it clouds his mind.

Silent meditation starts at 8:30

This last Monday afternoon’s session, which we can say that is indispensable to listen to, Alan offered a huge number of pieces of advice that are extremely useful for those that are going to do a long retreat, for those that are going to meet their daily activities and for all of us that want to keep practicing Dharma the rest of our lives: how can we deal and respond to the eroding of our Shamatha practice and the striking back of our OCDD? What is a balanced Dharma practice and the role of Shamatha within it? With the aspiration of undertaking a long retreat: how to avoid a waiting attitude and neglecting the practice in the present day? How to avoid being like the cat that is either flapping in the surface of a pond or sinking to its bottom, but rather become like the happy elephant in a long term retreat? Also, how to avoid expectations but keeping joy and gratitude during it? What to do when we have days during which we cannot even count until three? And most important: how is our Dharma practice affecting our way of viewing reality, others and our values?

And many many more jewels that you will find in this session with inspiring anecdotes.

So as you can see, Alan has been very generous again.

Then as it is usual for these last days, the session was in silence (51:24), followed by two questions(76:26): clarifications about the sequence of Shamatha methods taught in Padmasambhava’s Natural Liberation; and how to keep inspiration, faith and enthusiasm for our practice as Westerners?

So, please make yourself comfortable and enjoy… See you around

The root of all Buddhist teachings and practice is compassion. We start out with the reality of suffering – something that we have all experienced. The background radiation of anxiety has got to go. It is the result of grasping onto what is not – what is not is “I” and “me.”

We must discover who we really are. We are born with inborn ignorance then we learn some more fabricated ignorance. Go to that which I am before I reified all my human roles.

Shamata is not easy. There is nothing left of who you thought you were. The substrate consciousness is bare, raw being. Go in and observe the agent – who, who, who? Is there anything more than a concept?

Karma must ripen.

Silent meditation starts at 21:03

In this session Alan reminds us that shamatha is designed to dispel the 5 obscurations and as the imbalances are built-in, the remedies are also built-in. In the same way, among the 4 Immeasurables one naturally arises as the remedy for the near enemy of another one.

For Loving Kindness' facsimile which is self centered attachment, the remedy is Equanimity

For Compassion's facsimile which is depression, grief, despair, the remedy is Empathetic Joy

For Empathetic Joy's facsimile which is frivolous joy or hedonic fixation, the remedy is Loving Kindness

For Equanimity's facsimile, which is aloof indifference, the remedy is Compassion

Silent meditation starts at 4:08

Questions (29:10):

• How do the 4 immeasurables transform into bodhichitta and into the stages of a bodhisattva. Is there any text you would recommend?

• What happens when one realizes emptiness? Does it happen in meditation? Do your senses go dormant or the opposite? Can you lose it?

• If a being in the bardo chooses parents not only out of karma, but out of wisdom, why would we choose, for instance, to be born in Africa from parents who are starving?

• According to Tibetan culture, to have a few consorts at the same time as some lamas do, is not against ethical values?

• Can you tell a little bit about the range of ways of working with the fear that is holding us back from seeing things the way they are? There is much evidence right in front of us but it seems like our hearts and minds uncontrollably prefer to remain blind and ignorant to it.

• The Dharma has been described as the law of nature or as encompassing the nature of reality. If that is true, then sentient beings are involved in the dharma, whether they are formal students of it or not. For instance, I have met people who show an intuitive understanding of Buddhist concepts without any exposure to the teachings.

• In a sense that we are all bumbling through the universe of our experience, some more skillfully than others, perhaps, just like the early cosmologists bumbling their way through heavens, such reflections help me with humility, with connectedness and with devotion to wellsprings of life itself.

The Four Immeasurables unguided meditation. Alan reiterates how important it is to have a sense of direction, a path. You really need to have a vision in your heart of where you want to go. He mentions that on the Dzogchen path he has the sense that rigpa breaks through to our side, whereas on other paths one has to break through to rigpa.

Meditation starts at 7:44

For those of us returning to our ordinary lives, Alan suggests that we avail ourselves of all the shamatha practices depending on our body and mind at that moment. For those of us continuing in retreat, Alan suggests that we focus primarily on one practice and deepen that.

Non-guided meditation (7:18) on shamatha practice of our choice.

Questions (33:02)

Q1a) It takes one countless eon to achieve the Path of Seeing. Why not take the shravaka path of realizing selflessness and using that wisdom from the very start?

Q1b) Where are we after achieving shamatha and vipashyana?

Q2a) Please tell us about Sakya Dagmo-la

Q2b) What is Samantabhadra’s pure land of Akanishta?

Q3) Who are Alan’s 2 principal teachers?

Q4a) How can we practice shamatha during ngöndro?

Q4b) I haven’t had any success with lucid dreaming, so are there easier practices?

Q5) Please give advice on preparing for retreat.

Q6) In Settling the Mind, is there subtle preference in letting thoughts arise in free association?

Q7) Since dzogchen is less complex and possibly easier for realizing clear light mind, why did the New Translation Schools move away from this towards the stages of generation and completion practices?

Experienced meditators can move through a process of maturation where the Dharma and practices become ever more central to their lives. They come to practice without preference for good or bad meditations but continue regardless of their personal experiences - much like a veteran sailor has learned to ply the seas regardless of the weather.

Silent meditation starts at 7:05