Spring 2011 Shamatha Retreat

Alan Wallace guides a 24-minute meditation on mudita, or empathetic joy, focusing first on oneself, then spreading outwards to others.

During the following question and answer period, Alan answers these questions:

1. During shamatha, do we target the kind of focused attention that doesn't notice outside sensations such as sound, tactile sensations, etc.?

2. How do I know the difference between foreground and background when I am primarily attending to the breath, my attention is with the breath, and at the same time some other thought or feeling arises?

3. Is it okay to generate mental images while practicing in order to become familiar and mindful of these arisings?

4. Where is the place for labeling such as "thinking", "planning", "hearing" etc.?

5. Lama Yeshe says that reincarnation happens between a few moments and seven weeks after one's death. What say you?

6. If one is single pointedly focusing on tactile sensations while eating, can taste fade away?

7. How does one best practice awareness of awareness while in the supine position?

In this 24-minute guided meditation, Alan Wallace teaches the third method of shamatha, awareness of awareness, or shamatha without a sign.

After a brief introduction, Alan Wallace guides us in a 24-minute meditation on compassion, focusing on the suffering of conditioned existence and our fundamental vulnerability to suffering.

During the following question and answer period, Alan answers the questions:

1. While watching the breath, where should the attention be -- with the feeling and sensation of the breath, or with the observer who is watching the breath?

2. What is the power of thought in terms of the aspiration for all beings to be free from suffering during the meditation on compassion?

3. What is one-taste?

4. How do I know I am progressing with the practice of shamatha? Are there signs?

5. Why must the eyes be open during the practice of settling the mind in its natural state?

6. How do the five jhana factors arise -- linearly, or more organically? When do they reach culmination?

7. How are 'coarse examination' and 'precise investigation' related to shamatha?

In this morning session, Alan Wallace guides a 24-minute meditation on settling the mind in its natural state, highlighting the background of the space of the mind, paying attention to the intervals between thoughts.

This session is the continuation of "10A Compassion and the Suffering of Change" and includes the 24-minute guided meditation on compassion, focusing on the suffering of change.

During the following question and answer with the group, Alan answers the following questions.

1. What is the difference between desire without attachment and motivation?

2. In the context of the practice of settling the mind in its natural state, what is the mind?

3. What happens to an arhat after death?

4. What are the internal causes for shamatha?

This is a 20 minute introduction to the practice of compassion that follows in the next podcast, "10B Compassion and the Suffering of Change". Alan Wallace describes the second type of suffering, the suffering of change, including its source.

This morning session includes a guided meditation on the practice of settling the mind in its natural state, focusing on the foreground and the distinct events that are arising within the mind.

This afternoon session is a guided meditation on the second of the four immeasurables: compassion.

In following question and answer period, Alan answers the following questions:

1. What should one do with strong emotions that well up during shamatha practice?

2. What should one do with the natural arising of compassion or loving-kindness during shamatha practice?

3. Recognizing the importance placed on lights and signs from within the contemplative traditions, does neuroscience offer any insight into the biology underpinning these experiences?

4. What are the mechanisms and role of purification practices within the context of shamatha?

5. Knowing that consciousness and the self are both impermanent, is the observer also impermanent?

In this morning session, Alan Wallace guides us in a 24-minute meditation on 'settling the mind in its natural state' using the domain of phenomena, or the space of the mind, as the object of meditation.

In this afternoon session, Alan Wallace gives a 24-minute guided meditation on loving-kindness as it extends out in all directions: a wave of benevolence. He also describes the distinction between self-centeredness, or self-cherishing, and loving-kindness towards oneself. Finally, he touches on the importance of imagination while attending to the realm of possibility in addition to the realm of actuality.

During the question and answer period, Alan answers the following questions:

1. Is the substrate consciousness conditioned? Is it impermanent? What are its causes and conditions? Does an Arhat realize rigpa at the time of death, and if so, does that mean they attain Buddhahood?

2. What are pointing out instructions, and what is the distinction between different types of realization?

3. What is the source of sexual energy? How does one deal with sexual energy while in retreat?

4. What is the antidote for intoxication with hedonic pleasure?

5. What is the role of walking meditation in the practice of shamatha?