Spring 2012 Shamatha Retreat

Alan reviews the nature of mental suffering and the strategies for dealing with it in each of the three methods of Shamatha.

Silent meditation 23:17 — 48:30.

Also, a talk about the ease of retrievi…

Like an old friend, mindfulness of the sensations of the breath at the apertures of the nostrils, with its gentle undulations, makes us feel at home and flush with well-being. It is a marvelous compl…

Being mindful of the sensations of the breath at the abdomen can result in a eudaemonic contentment if we release craving for more stimulating pleasures, and simply enjoy watching our body unravel en…

The meditative cultivation of loving kindness as taught in the Visuddhimagga by Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa.

Silent meditation not included

With a new cycle we return to settling the body, speech, and mind in their natural states. In the Vajra Essence, Düdjom Lingpa intimates shamatha can be achieved simply by fully releasing the body, s…

Tonight we plunge right into the practice of awareness of awareness, with the variant of stretching in four directions. Then we discuss the value of familiarizing oneself with awareness, as a portal …

Mindfulness of breathing, a active developmental practice, produces skills such as attentional stability which can be said to have a high market value. Likewise, settling the mind in its natural stat…

Alan elaborates on the leading question: "Why couldn't we all be free of attachment and aversion for those who are near or far?" Because we are not free of the underlying delusion, that gives rise to…

Three methods of escape when the mind is agitated: send your awareness out into the somatic field, out further into the world of exterior senses, or penetrate inward, deep into our sense of awareness…

We are invited to ask ourselves a question... How does one integrate vastly deepening bliss, on one hand, with increasingly boundless awareness of all beings' suffering on the other hand...?

Medita…

With awareness of awareness, the body and speech are settled normally while the mind is given a complete reboot: all concerns are released, attention from all phenomenon is revoked, then that which r…

Maha-Mudita liturgy.

Why couldn't all sentient beings never be separated from happiness and its cause's ?
May we never be separated from genuine happiness and its causes.
I make this resolve that …

In mindfulness of breathing, the technique of arousing interest during inhalation and relaxing during exhalation is incredibly effective. We apply this technique tonight as we focus on the sensations…

For the cultivation of genuine happiness there are certain aspects of reality, the knowing of which does really liberate. Alan mentions the following 'game-changers':
To gain insight into impermanen…

Relax! You've heard it, you'll hear it again. We revisit the crucial technique of letting go—of tension in the body, controlling the breath, and attachment to rumination—as we sink deeply in today's …

Settling the body, speech, and mind in their natural state is fundamental to shamatha practice and though it so familiarly begins each session we mustn't relax our regard for it. So this evening we r…