These are newly available videos from Lama Alan’s past retreats.
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A Contemplative Science of Consciousness - November 2014 - Recorded November 9-16, 2014 in Santa Barbara, CA Modern science has discovered many important facts about the mind by studying it indirectly through the examination of the neural correlates and behavioral expressions of mental processes. The retreat is available via audio recording, video recording and DVD. -
A Contemplative Science of Mental Balance Recorded February 2-9, 2014 in Santa Barbara, CA
On the basis of an ethical way of life, mental balance is the key to achieving genuine happiness and to following the path to spiritual liberation and awakening. Genuine happiness, in contrast to hedonic pleasure, is a sense of well-being that arises from within, without dependence upon pleasant stimuli. The retreat is available via audio recording, video recording and DVD. -
The Four Noble Truths from the Perspective of Shravakayana, Mahayana and Dzogchen Nov 10-17, 2013 The Four Noble Truths comprise the basis and fundamental structure of all the Buddha’s teachings. More accurately translated as the “four realities for aryas” (those who have gained direct realization of nirvana), these are the four topics the Buddha taught when he first turned the Wheel of Dharma to his five close disciples in Sarnath, shortly after his enlightenment. During this week-long retreat, Lama Alan Wallace explains how these four realities are understood from the perspective of the Shravakayana, the Mahayana and the Vajrayana, or Buddhist tantra, culminating in the Great Perfection, or Dzogchen. Please read below for additional information and for the scholarship application. The retreat is available with streaming audio recordings, streaming video recordings or as a DVD. -
A meditation retreat on the second half of Düdjom Lingpa's, The Foolish Dharma of an Idiot Clothed in Mud and Feathers. Dzogchen, or the "Great Perfection," is regarded by many as the pinnacle of Buddhist teachings, for it presents the most direct path to realizing our true nature and to unveiling the deepest dimensions of consciousness. This retreat consists of lectures, guided meditations and discussions, and is intended for participants with a sound understanding and practice of the foundational Buddhist teachings of the Four Noble Truths, Bodhicitta, and the Six Perfections. This retreat was recorded in Santa Barbara, April 12-17, 2015. Please read more below about the retreat. This is offered via audio stream/download, video stream or DVD. -
A meditation retreat on the first half of Düdjom Lingpa's, The Foolish Dharma of an Idiot Clothed in Mud and Feathers. Dzogchen, or the "Great Perfection," is regarded by many as the pinnacle of Buddhist teachings, for it presents the most direct path to realizing our true nature and to unveiling the deepest dimensions of consciousness. This retreat consists of lectures, guided meditations and discussions, and is intended for participants with a sound understanding and practice of the foundational Buddhist teachings of the Four Noble Truths, Bodhicitta, and the Six Perfections. This retreat was recorded in Santa Barbara, May 11-18, 2014. Please read more below about the retreat. This is offered via audio stream/download, video stream or DVD. -
During this week-long retreat Lama Alan Wallace granted the oral transmission and commentary to the teachings on the root text of The Highway of the Jinas: A Root Text on the Precious Geluk-Kagyü Mahamudra Tradition and its auto-commentary by Panchen Lozang Chökyi Gyaltsen, tutor to the Fifth Dalai Lama. In addition, Lama Alan Wallace comments on excerpts from A Spacious Path to Freedom: Practical Instructions on the Union of Mahāmudrā and Atiyoga by the great 17th-century master Karma Chagmé. Recorded January 28- February 4, 2020 at Camp Ramah, Ojai, California 2020 Available via audio recording, video recording, or DVD. -
Buddhahood Without Meditation is the most renowned of the five principal Dzogchen texts revealed by the 19th century Mahasiddha Düdjom Lingpa, and it is unique in that it consists of an anthology of teachings he received by way of pure visions of many of the greatest Indian and Tibetan Buddhist adepts and other enlightened beings.This retreat consists of lectures, guided meditations, and question-and-answer sessions, and is intended for participants with a sound understanding and practice of the foundational Buddhist teachings of the Four Noble Truths, Bodhicitta, and the Six Perfections.See below for additional information. This is offered via audio stream/download, video stream or DVD.This 6 day meditation retreat was recorded in Santa Barbara, CA January 8-13, 2017 -
Buddhahood Without Meditation is the most renowned of the five principal Dzogchen texts revealed by the 19th century Mahasiddha Düdjom Lingpa, and it is unique in that it consists of an anthology of teachings he received by way of pure visions of many of the greatest India and Tibetan Buddhist adepts and other enlightened beingsBuddhahood Without Meditation Part 1, held in Jan. 2017 is a prerequisite to this retreat.This retreat consists of lectures, guided meditations, and question-and-answer sessions, and is intended for participants with a sound understanding and practice of the foundational Buddhist teachings of the Four Noble Truths, Bodhicitta, and the Six Perfections.See below for additional information.This is offered via audio stream/download, video stream or DVD. A 6 day meditation retreat recorded in Santa Barbara, CA from Jan 7-12, 2018. -
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has often commented that the essence of spiritual practice is cultivating a good heart. As important as meditative quiescence and insight meditation are within the Buddhist tradition, it is crucial to balance such practices with the cultivation of altruism. In this meditation seminar, Alan Wallace teaches a sequence of meditations for the cultivation of the “Four Immeasurables,” namely loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and impartiality. These are followed by teachings and practice of Buddhist Mind-Training, or “Lojong.” While many teachings on Buddhist meditation fill us with a longing to spend more time in quiet, solitary meditation, the practices presented here brings us back to life, to the active world of living with others. This seminar consists of teachings, guided meditations and discussions, but the emphasis is on meditation. Regardless of whether we hold to any religious beliefs, these practices can be of benefit to everyone seeking to explore their own capacity to experience unconditional love and compassion.The retreat is available with streaming audio recordings, streaming video recordings or as a DVD.
This audio stream/video/DVD chronicles the seven-day retreat recorded July 19-26, 2008 at the Old Mission in Santa Barbara, CA and includes teachings, guided meditations, and discussions. Please select your preferred media type, audio stream, or DVD disks. -
The Seven Point Mind Training of Tibetan Buddhism Retreat, widely taught in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism, stems from the teachings of the 11th-century Indian Buddhist scholar and contemplative Atisha and was first written down by the 12th-century Tibetan monk Chekawa. This training summarizes the Bodhisattva way of life by integrating theories and practices for the cultivation of ultimate and relative bodhichitta, or the mind of awakening. Beginning with a careful investigation of the nature of the mind and its relation to nature as a whole – resulting in a realization of emptiness and dependent origination – this training leads one to the experience of profound compassion and the transformation of all experiences into means of furthering one's spiritual growth. This retreat is available by streaming video, as well as DVD. The retreat was recorded March 21-28, 2010 at the Santa Barbara Mission. -
The 19th-century classic Dzogchen treatise, The Vajra Essence, by the eminent master Düdjom Lingpa concludes with a concise lucid account of the Six Bardos, namely the Bardos of Living, Dreaming, Meditative Stabilization, Dying, Reality itself, and Becoming. The teachings on these Bardos show how each of these transitional phases of cyclic existence can provide a platform for achieving enlightenment, particularly by way of the practices of shamatha, vipashyana, and Dzogchen. Lama Alan Wallace offers an explanation of Düdjom Lingpa's teachings, with guided meditations for putting them into practice. This seven-day retreat was recorded March 2011, at the Old Mission in Santa Barbara, CA The retreat is available via streaming video, streaming or downloadable audio recordings or DVD. -
During this retreat, Lama Alan Wallace introduces the theory and practice of three methods of developing meditative quiescence or shamatha. He begins with the practice of mindfulness of breathing as taught in the Theravada tradition, which is especially effective for soothing the body and calming the discursive mind. He then explores an approach to shamatha that is particularly pertinent for Dzogchen practice, called "settling the mind in its natural state," as taught by the 19th century Dzogchen master Lerab Lingpa in his commentary to the "Heart Essence of Vimalamitra." Finally, he engages the practices of "shamatha without a sign" as taught by Padmasambhava in his classic treatise Natural Liberation. Although this subtle practice is taught explicitly as a means of achieving shamatha, Padmasambhava comments that it may even result in a realization of rigpa, or pristine awareness. The achievement of shamatha is widely regarded in the Buddhist tradition as an indispensable foundation for the cultivation of contemplative insight (vipashyana). The retreat consists of lectures, guided meditations and discussions. The retreat was recorded in January 2010, in Santa Barbara, CA and is available via DVD, Audio or Video Recordings.
