Spring 2011 Shamatha Retreat

Spring 2011 Shamatha Retreat

By B. Alan WallaceReligion & SpiritualitySpiritualityBuddhism
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Spring 2011 Shamatha Retreat episodes

  • 64 Loving-Kindness and Q&A
    This afternoon we continue with unguided meditations. Alan first reviews the meditation on loving-kindness for others in the tradition of Buddhaghosa, first for oneself, then a dearly loved friend, then a neutral person, and finally a difficult person. Alan also invites us to hold space to see who else might arise and attend to them with loving-kindness.
    The unguided meditation begins at 17:40 in the recording, and Q&A begins at 45:30.
    This is followed by these practical questions from the group:
    1. We have been using the visualization of the orb of light at the heart center. I'm finding that my heart is becoming tender and actually physically sore. I'm wondering if this happens, and whether I might be trying too hard?
    2. When balancing earth and sky or earth and wind, do we have to use the infirmary for the earth element, or can we use breathing at the abdomen?
    3. Regarding attending to more than one thing at a time. I notice, during meditation, it seems like I am attending to two things at the same time, for example, the breath and a thought. However, I know that it isn't possible to attend to two things at the same time. So I am curious about the nature of attention, and how it is that I feel like I am both with the breath and with the thought.
    1 hr 33 min
  • 63 Mindfulness of Breathing, Phase Two
    This morning, Alan first reviews the practice of mindfulness of breathing, the second phase, with its emphasis on the somatic sensations of the breath in the abdomen, while maintaining relaxation and increasing stability. This is followed by an unguided 24-minute meditation, and then Alan reminds us to maintain our mindfulness between sessions by bringing our awareness to the breath and the tactile sensations of the body, releasing the flow of conceptual thinking associated with obsessive-compulsive-delusional-disorder.
    The unguided meditation begins at 8:40 in the recording.
    36 min
  • 62 Sleepitation, Loving-Kindness, and Q&A

    In this afternoon's session, Alan first gives advice on the sleep imbalances that can arise during retreat (or outside of retreat) and introduces us to the practice of "sleepitation" to ground oneself in the earth element and relax deeply when trying to sleep. He then reviews the instructions of loving-kindness for oneself in detail, after which we share an unguided 24-minute meditation on loving-kindness.

    The unguided meditation begins at 18:40.


    Q&A begins at 47:15.

    Alan then answers questions from this morning's practice of mindfulness of breathing, the first stage:

    1. In the part of the practice when you feel the breath where it is strongest, for me it is the abdomen. This means the practice feels just like stage two of mindfulness of breathing. Is this right?

    2. I've been getting headaches for a few days. I know they are being caused by tension, but I can't find the source of the tension, and meditating in the infirmary does not help.

    3. In "The Attention Revolution" you say you should notice if the breath is long or short. Is this like counting the breaths, something you drop after some time?

    4. When I do mindfulness of breathing, I usually keep my eyes closed. This morning, they kept opening -- I have no idea why -- but it was very distracting.

    5. When I experience medium excitation during mindfulness of breathing, usually the third stage (attending to the breath at the nostrils), and I am in the flow of the practice, and only medium excitation sets in, the thoughts still take me away, but in the background I am aware of the breath. When this happens, I feel that the experience of this medium excitation is the same as course excitation -- the volume and intensity of the thought is the same, although I still have some peripheral awareness of the breath.

    1 hr 33 min
  • 61 The Cultivation of Relaxation
    The next three morning sessions will be unguided meditations on the first three stages of mindfulness of breathing. This morning, Alan first speaks briefly about the importance of the cultivation of relaxation.
    The unguided meditation (included) begins at 8:00 in the recording. Recording quality improves significantly at 2:00.
    33 min
  • 60 Even-Heartedness for All Sentient Beings
    In this session, we approach the immeasurable of equanimity from a Mahayana perspective, using the practice of tonglen (sending and receiving) to attend to individual sentient beings.
    The guided meditation begins at 7:10 in the recording.
    Alan then answers these questions from the group:
    1. What is the relationship between the four immeasurable and bodhicitta?
    2. What about dedicating the merit? Do you have any special recommendations in the context of retreat? After each session? At the end of the day?
    3. Sometimes I fall asleep lucidly without dreams. Is there a difference between being in a lucid dream, and being asleep lucidly without dreams? Also, last night I became aware of being asleep -- I had my senses, could feel myself breathing, see myself sleeping in my mind's eye. What was happening?
    4. You mentioned earlier about how the four immeasurable can balance and complement each other. I love that weaving together. For example, during a meditation on equanimity, I saw indifference coming up, so I arose the immeasurable of compassion for some time before returning to equanimity. Can you say more about this balance, and how you work with segways between the four immeasurable, as well as the sources of these segways?
    5. Can you talk about the relativity of space and time? I know, for me, these last five weeks have gone by very quickly, while for others, they have not.
    1 hr 30 min
  • 59 Expanding One's Awareness of Awareness
    In this morning session, Alan Wallace guides a meditation on the awareness of awareness practice. Today, we intentionally send our awareness above, to the right, to the left, below, to the heart center, and then out into space.
    The guided meditation begins at 4:22 in the recording.
    30 min
  • 58 Emotional Equilibrium and Mental Imperturbability
    Alan Wallace begins this afternoon's session with the question, "When a desire arises, how does one know whether it is desire (wholesome) or craving (unwholesome)?" He explores practical answers to this question, then proceeds to a guided meditation on the immeasurable of uppekha, or equanimity, focusing on a Theravaden approach, cultivating an evenness of mental imperturbability, a mind unaffected by mental afflictions.
    The guided meditation begins at 14:37 in the recording.
    Afterwards, Alan gives an interesting and engaging answer to this question from the group:
    1. Any time I've heard the question, "How or why did ignorance-marigpa begin?" the answer given is that, "It never began; time is beginningless, and the dharmakaya and ignorance have just always existed, neither came first." And then, from the teacher, "And why do you want a beginning or first moment anyway?!"
    I can accept the notion of beginningless time - ie: present moment arising from the previous ad infinitum, and that from the perspective of Rigpa, its not really happening anyway - at least, that it IS a dream, but I still have difficulty with how marigpa ever happened at all, and if self-grasping is "prior" to the objectification of appearances, how did "karma's stirring" give rise to Substrate Consciousness?
    Do you have any insight, or is there insight from psychology perhaps as to why we "want" a beginning?
    PS: Do these questions really matter, or should I just sit down, shut up, and watch my breath?
    1 hr 33 min
  • 57 The Witness of Awareness (of Awareness)
    In this morning session, Alan Wallace guides a meditation of awareness of awareness, focusing on the lived sense, the actual sense one has, of being the witness, or observer, of all that is 'over there' while one feels oneself is 'over here.'
    The guided meditation begins at 7:26 in the recording.
    34 min
  • 56 Empathetic Joy for the Causes and Fruits of Happiness
    In this session, Alan Wallace guides a meditation on empathetic joy, emphasizing taking delight and joy in both the causes of genuine happiness and the material fruits of this happiness. In his introduction, he also speaks about the importance and meaning of path, and the question of how to develop a deep enough aspiration to clarify this path.
    The guided meditation begins at 22:45 in the recording.
    Alan then answers these questions from the group:
    1. In the awareness of awareness practice, you asked us questions this morning, such as, "who do you think you are?" Should I be taking these questions into a contemplation on the spot?
    2. When we meditate on an object for a while, and then after some time we fall away from it, should we use effort to bring the object back, or instead relax and trust that the object will return on its own?
    3. The Bodhisattva's commitment to stay in this world until all beings achieve enlightenment seems like a kamikaze mission… [This question becomes more of a dialogue.]
    4. In shamatha, with respect to vipassana, and particularly stream entry, for vipassana to be fully effective, shamatha is required. What does the first jhana bring for more benefit to stream entry, and can stream entry be accomplished without shamatha?
    5. At the point of achieving shamatha, what is the heaviness on the head?
    1 hr 32 min
  • 55 The Second Phase of Awareness of Awareness
    In this morning session, we follow Padmasambhava's teachings in this second phase of the awareness of awareness practice. Our quest is not to look and find nothing, but rather to look for something that does exist: the "lived sense" of "I am the agent." We then scrutinize this sense. Is it authentic or delusional? Does it correspond to an actual agent?
    The guided meditation begins at 26:10 in the recording.
    51 min

About Spring 2011 Shamatha Retreat

From the publisher's feed

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