Alan Wallace Fall 2012 Retreat Podcast: Vipashyana, Four Applications of Mindfulness

Teaching pt1: As we revisit this section, Alan will present teachings from the shravakayana and dzogchen. 

According to the shravakayana, nama rupa should not be understood as two entities but as a…

Alan notes that we’re starting the second half of the retreat. Afterwards, when we return to an active way of life, while our shamatha practice may be maintained at best, other practices may indeed …

Teaching: Alan talks about the fifth of the five obscurations afflictive uncertainty. While it is appropriate to be uncertain about that which is uncertain, when we wonder about whether or not it i…

Teaching: Continuing from Asanga’s Shravakabhumi, Alan introduces the 4th thorough training by way of the 16 phases: 1) breathing in, 2) breathing out, 3) the whole body, 4) tranquilising the bodil…

Teaching: Alan talks about the fourth of the five obscurations excitation and anxiety. Excitation is associated with restlessness and agitation. Anxiety is also known as guilt, remorse, shame, or …

Teaching: Continuing from Asanga’s Shravakabhumi, Alan introduces the 3rd thorough training by way of dependent origination. Asanga begins by attending to the breath which is dependent upon the bod…

Teaching: Alan talks about the third of the five obscurations laxity and dullness. Dullness occurs when attention is no longer fully engaged with the object. It is experienced from stages 1-4, whe…

Teaching: Continuing from Asanga’s Shravakabhumi, Alan introduces the second thorough training by way of the aggregates. Asanga begins by explaining the characteristics of achieving shamatha—i.e., …

Teaching: Alan talks about the second of the five obscurations ill-will. As shamatha dredges the psyche, it is normal for ill-will to arise in response to memories, etc... The antidote is sukkha o…

Teaching: Alan elaborates on some points from his translation of Asanga’s explanations for mindfulness of breathing, as advice for people with heavy rumination. Asanga mentions 4 stages in mindfuln…

Teaching: Alan introduces some points from his translation of Asanga’s comprehensive explanations for mindfulness of breathing. While Asanga does not mentions following the breath at the tip of the…

Note: This recording is of minor quality since we had to recover it from another device. Thank you for understanding.

Teaching: This practice shines a bright light on feelings by attending to feeli…

Teaching: Alan introduces the 4th application of mindfulness to phenomena (dharmas). Whereas the first 3 applications of mindfulness are microscopic, the mindfulness of phenomena takes a step back …

Teaching: Alan draws parallels between settling the mind and mindfulness of breathing. 

In settling the mind, in principle, being present with all mental arisings sufficient for the mind to undo it…

Teaching: Alan reminds us that all the shamatha practices have been attending to the mind in that there is mindfulness placed on an object and introspection to the mind. In settling the mind, the o…

Teaching pt1: Empathetic joy is taking delight in others’ virtues. As the only one of the 4 immeasurables which involves cultivating an emotion, empathetic joy also serves as the antidote to the ne…

Teaching: Who do you think you are? Are you identified with your body, your mind, or yourself? How does the I fit with the body and mind? We need to find out by probing experientially, not by thi…

Teaching: Awareness of awareness is the most subtle and profound of all the shamatha practices. From the dzogchen perspective, we suffer because 1) we grasp onto that which is not I and mine as bei…

Alan recounts the story of how Shariputra and Maudgalyayana first encountered the teachings of the Buddha. “Those phenomena that are causally created, the Tathagatha has shown their causes and he ha…