Fall 2011 Shamatha Retreat

97 Finishing with loving kindness (and a lovely ceremony)

We come to our very last session with a meditation on loving kindness and dedication of merit (0:50) Afterwards our group prepared such a lovely closing ceremony that we

96 For a moment, everything can be ok

We come to the last day of the retreat, where Alan invites us to reboot our mind by way of shamatha. Silent meditation starts at 01:16 Afterwards Alan shares a story an

95 From chaos to calm

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:

94 Infusing the day with shamatha

Alan briefly speaks on how to infuse a busier day with shamatha and mindfulness. He also announces that he will do 6 months retreat at the end of 2012, so there will be n

93 The tornado of OCDD

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 releasin

92 Whenever there's meeting, there's parting

We are beginning our final descent. The deva realm of Tushita and the pure land of Tushita sit side by side. In the deva realm when it is time for a deva to leave their f

91 Purifying our vision

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 cont

90 Moving from coal to solar energy

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 frien

89 A wellspring of good advice

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 th

88 Karma must ripen

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 radiati

87 The built-in antidotes

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

86 The Path

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 wh

85 Practicing after the retreat

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 th

84 Maturation

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 pref

83 Lucid dreaming and dream yoga

After a silent meditation (1:40) Alan gives an overview and brief ‘how to guide’ of lucid dreaming and dream yoga. Then questions (67:20) include eyes closing as we pro

82 Envision the novel of the rest of your life

“Shape your mind, shape your life.” Having completed the cycle of guided meditation, Alan speaks briefly about envisioning the transition from retreat into daily life, an

81 Shamatha without a sign, part 4

Reading from Vajra Essence regarding the difference between consciousness, substrate consciousness and Rigpa. Meditation on awareness of awareness expanding out to all d

80 Equanimity, part 2

Meditation on equanimity. Start with loving kindness for ourselves. Mental afflictions come to us just like the flu – don’t fuse your identity with the mental afflictions

79 Shamatha without a sign, part 3

Dharma talk and meditation on Awareness of Awareness with the focus on the observer: Is there someone in there? The Bahiya (of the Garment) Sutra. Bahiya received a shor

78 Equanimity, part 1

We come back to equanimity and Alan talks about it from 3 different levels: Coarse mind - Shantideva: "If there is something you can do about it don't worry. If there's