Fall 2011 Shamatha Retreat
Dharma talks and guided meditations given six days per week during the Fall, 2011 eight-week Shamatha retreat at the Thanyapura Mind Centre in Phuket, Thailand, with B. Alan Wallace. Podcasts will be posted daily during the retreat.
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 65 minutes
- Episodes
- 97
- Years Active
- 2011
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 figured other people might li…
00:58:17 |
Fri 21 Oct 2011
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 and shows us how through shamatha…
00:38:33 |
Fri 21 Oct 2011
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 (35:53) regarding the Dzogchen v…
00:58:23 |
Fri 21 Oct 2011
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 no 8 week shamatha retreat in…
00:27:34 |
Thu 20 Oct 2011
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 releasing the thoughts. The second …
01:45:46 |
Thu 20 Oct 2011
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 flowers fade and they suffer…
00:47:26 |
Thu 20 Oct 2011
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 context of Buddhist practice?
3. In …
01:33:49 |
Wed 19 Oct 2011
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 friendly energy sources. In the sa…
00:32:56 |
Wed 19 Oct 2011
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 those that are going to do a lo…
01:41:01 |
Wed 19 Oct 2011
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 radiation of anxiety has got to go…
00:45:44 |
Wed 19 Oct 2011
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, among the 4 Immeasurables …
01:35:50 |
Sun 16 Oct 2011
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 where you want to go. He men…
00:34:45 |
Sun 16 Oct 2011
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 those of us continuing in retr…
01:40:20 |
Sat 15 Oct 2011
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 preference for good or bad medit…
00:31:30 |
Sat 15 Oct 2011
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 progress along the path of mindf…
01:42:57 |
Thu 13 Oct 2011
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, and in particular the differe…
00:32:20 |
Thu 13 Oct 2011
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 directions (26:30)
Questions (5…
01:40:03 |
Thu 13 Oct 2011
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. The more loving kindness…
00:40:48 |
Thu 13 Oct 2011
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 short discourse from the Buddha …
01:38:29 |
Wed 12 Oct 2011
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 nothing you can do about it, d…
00:35:16 |
Tue 11 Oct 2011
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