Dr Alan Wallace, Meditation, stability, clarity: Experiencing the liberating power of full attention

[@Rob_132]

I appreciate the respect he shows for various religions and am encouraged by the prospect of a unification through contemplative practices and discussions with one another even while maintaining diverse, distinct religious (or possibly even non-religious) traditions.

[@geronimobuggiani492]

Alan here speaks from the highest or if you prefer deepest point of view. From which the obscurations of perception no longer affect the experience of life. The discovery of the base of the movement that is called mind is "the Truth that will make us free". He is speaking from the insight into the nature of reality that is so deep that lies at the very root of thought (be them classified as suffering [samsara] or enlightenment [nirvana]), beyond, or prior to thought. Discovering this deepest awareness and abiding in that realization makes the arising of appearances and misapprehensions of what is being experienced very obvious and by seeing them by what they are, completely diminishes it's power. To the point that they can no longer affect us. That is what is called Liberation. From there one sees the situation of all living being that go around the universe unaware of this process, and naturally Great Compassion arises. Now even though, if we have a well-aimed intention, we can all have glimpses of this deepest reality, which is after all our very own nature, devoid from any construct (samskara) that distorts the view of what is happening at any given moment, if we do not have a relatively stable mind, those glimpses will fade. We loose sight of them quickly, or they don't penetrate deep enough into us to make real lasting changes. Like in a windy, cloudy day when we sporadically get to see the sun but it very quickly gets covered by the clouds again. Or following the example of light filling a room so that there's no portion of the mind that is not saturated by it, not having a stable mind would be like having a window open in the room so that wind can come in and blow the light off. That's why the masters say it's tremendously important to develop calm abiding. And regarding the well-aimed intention, considering the enormous variety of propensities we have accumulated throughout existence, the auspicious momentum necessary to acutely direct awareness to itself, evaporating all illusions, needs to be very strong, thus the staggering importance of the notion of Path. Thank you Alan, please live long to continue spreading the enlightened wisdom with us, may your aims be accomplished, and may all transmigrating beings realize what you and all the buddhas have realized!

[@y9w1]

Love the vision of His Holiness to bring all the contemplatives together

[@rameshhansaravendra]

. I love this guy. I could listen to him everyday.

[@DharmaTime-is-now]

tnx for posting

[@JeannePilli]

Dear friends: I've bought the mp3 through your website but I didn't receive any password to download the files. Could you please help me? :-) Thank you

[@squamish4244]

Many less traditional teachers take the complete opposite tack to Dr. Wallace. They emphasize how much of a problem clinging to the idea of reincarnation is, as that seems to be a much bigger obstacle for those on the spiritual path than the belief that 'death means oblivion' is. Wallace also comes across as rather hypocritical and even arrogant here. As much as he constantly lambastes materialists for their 'blind faith' in oblivion after death, he is asserting that he is right in a manner that seems much the same. There is a lot of evidence for both sides' positions, and the debate is far from settled.

[@DTTaTa]

Continuity of consiousness does not imply the notion of a self, and alan has this very clear.You mis understood. On the other hand Alan does seem a little to dogmatic in this talk, he usually gives a lot of reasoning for establishing and evidence this "facts" but it seems that here he didnt bothered. At least not in the 15 minutes of the video. I guess we could call that skillfulll means

[@squamish4244]

I understand that continuity of consciousness does not imply a self. To clarify, I mean that many people in spiritual circles do the opposite of what Dr. Wallace is saying, and cling to the idea of continuity of consciousness as a support for their ego. In my experience, considerably more spiritual people (obviously, the kind of audience Wallace is talking to) do this than those who take the 'death as oblivion' view. I know that I did, early on in my practice. Wallace seems to assume that the opposite is true, in all the talks I have heard him give, to the point where he almost seems attached to the idea of reincarnation. He even says he wants to go to the Pure Land of Tara when he dies, which...well, I don't know, which is kind of the point. I guess I find the Zen approach of 'Don't Know Mind' personally more appealing, as it pulls me out of my endless conceptual loops. Also, people like Wallace are human. Maybe he's using skillful means, but more likely, he's being a little hypocritical. And that's okay, as long as we call him out on it. Zen master Hakuin had this famous dialogue with a student: Student: Master, what happens when you die? Hakuin: I don't know. Student: What?!? You're a Zen master! Hakuin: But not a dead one!

[@Rob_132]

I think he does believe that he is correct, otherwise he would not share his insights and knowledge. He fiercely debates materialists. He doesn’t have to be unsure of his position or somehow agnostic. From what I’ve gleaned he thinks that by practicing Dzogchen one can obtain perfect knowing and break out of Samsara.

[@squamish4244]

@@Rob_132 He certainly does believe he is correct. That does not mean it is the correct way to teach. I am also waiting to see him address the extremely rapid advance of artificial intelligence, which he has been dodging for a long time but can no longer. We might have AI smarter than us in a year or two. Come on, Alan, time to speak up.

[@MultiTooshy]

He looks drugged?

[@squamish4244]

+jeremy jet XD He's usually really calm in his talks. I think we're just not used to someone who is not at all agitated when they speak. But I must admit, his mannerisms are such that sometimes I wonder if he is actually trying to sound calm and 'advanced in meditation' though!

[@marcusorangeboomivnone7490]

jeremy jet I doubt that very much...can't say the same for you though

[@AndyJK45]

No not at all. Please forgive this little joke at your expense, but please don't take up a career in medicine, you have a lot to learn about physical examination. I actually do work as a doctor, and spend much time studying and considering body movement and expression (very important they tell you so much about a person's emotional state). Alan also works a lot with Paul Eckman, who discovered the constant and automatic facial expressions that are associated with particular emotions and are the same across all cultures. I have been fortunate to spend a couple of retreats with Alan ( I love spending time with people who are smarter than me- and they are hard to find (joke). However what I have seen, and what I see here is this amazing integration between speech and gesture. He uses his hands so precisely-- and the gestures do look very much like Buddhist Mudras. Yes, he is different-- but he is not drugged.

[@squamish4244]

Alan's interesting, and I used to find him a lot more appealing. His massive shadow side regarding resistance to the huge changes sweeping the dharma is staggering though. If you've spent 45 years training in one method of getting enlightened and one worldview you probably don't want to hear that your methods are probably going to be upended in your own lifetime and your worldview is being challenged by advances in physics and neuroscience.

[@yandynestorperez7501]

@jeremy jet Troll