This retreat is an opportunity to explore the interdenominational, inter-contemplative themes outlined by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his vision for the Center for Contemplative Research:
The Buddhist meditative practices of śamatha and vipaśyanā
Teachings on nonviolence and compassion from other revered Indian traditions
Instruction in the contemplative traditions of Christianity
The virtual retreat will be available with both audio and video recordings of each day's teachings.
All Q&A sessions, the teachings from Dr. Choudry and the final day panel discussion will be live. All other sessions will be recorded and made available within 24-36 hours.
We are offering multiple pricing options as you will see when you select 'Choose an option' from the drop-down menu below.
Read more about the retreat below.
Extracting the Vital Essence of Accomplishment: Concise and Clear Advice for Practice in a Mountain Retreat bytwentieth-century Nyingma master, Düdjom Rinpoché, Jigdral Yeshé Dorjé.
Lama Alan Wallace presents and comments on pith instructions of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection. Providing guidance on retreat, this course is based on the text Extracting the Vital Essence of Accomplishment: Concise and Clear Advice for Practice in a Mountain Retreat by twentieth-century Nyingma master, Düdjom Rinpoché, Jigdral Yeshé Dorjé.
Lama Alan translates and explores the short, powerful text on retreat in terms of the preliminaries, main practices, and post-meditative practices of the Great Perfection path.
This retreat consists of 10 one-hour lectures, each with a 30-minute guided meditation.
To allow time for contemplation and practice, starting on June 3 you will receive a new teaching weekly for ten weeks. Each session will include a one-hour lecture and a 30-minute guided meditation.
This will be a Virtual Retreat with Audio stream/download.
We are offering multiple pricing options as you will see below when you select Choose An Option.
If needed you are welcome to submit a scholarship application.Please see the description below for additional information.Si prega di vedere sotto per informazioni in italiano.
On November 18th, 2020 Lama Alan offered five hours of oral commentary to Drubpön Lama Karma’s experiential account of his own practice of shamatha and subsequent contemplative training. This is Lama Alan’s first teaching at The Center for Contemplative Research at Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, CO.
We are delighted to share with you these inspired teachings, in both audio and video form, and with a Spanish translation also available. Traducción al español disponible.
Please see below for additional information.
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.
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.
This audio stream and download contains 26 meditations from retreats with Alan Wallace in Santa Barbara, CA in 2009 . You will receive a Dropbox link to listen to these guided meditations.
An in-person and virtual retreat from Crestone, CO
The Vajra Essence - Part IV
March 31 – May 27, 2023
Co-sponsored by the Center for Contemplative Research
This registration is for the virtual, online retreat.
During this 8-week retreat, Lama Alan will grant an oral transmission and commentary to Düdjom Lingpa’s revealed treatise, The Vajra Essence, picking up where we left off last May.
Please read all of the details below for more information on the teachings and additional details about the retreat.
The most important prerequisite for participating in this retreat is that all applicants must have already listened to the oral transmission and commentary on the opening phases of The Vajra Essence by Lama Alan given during the first retreat in this series, offered during April – May, 2020 via either the SBI audio-stream or the Wisdom online retreat. You must have completed this before this retreat begins.
To request a scholarship please complete this scholarship application.
This year we are offering multiple pricing options as you will see below when you select Choose An Option.
A virtual retreat from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado
Sponsored by Santa Barbara Institute and the Center for Contemplative Research
The Vajra Essence – Part III
March 31 - May 30, 2022
Audio Stream/Download Registration
This online, 8-week retreat will focus on completing Phase 4: “Determining the Characteristics and Qualities of the Ground,” Phase 5: "Determining Secret Dualistic Grasping and Revealing the Way of Natural Liberation" and Phase 6: "Teaching on the Essential Points of Practice and Their Key Distinctions" from The Vajra Essence: From the Matrix of Pure Appearances and Primordial Consciousness, a Tantra Self-Emergent from the Nature of Existence.
Prerequisite Requirements to Purchase Program
By purchasing you acknowledge that you have satisfied the retreat prerequisites of listening to both the 2020 and 2021 8-week retreats on The Vajra Essence and will listen to Lama Alan’s oral commentary to TheVajra Essence in its entirety and have had an empowerment or will receive the recommended empowerment.
If you have not received the Lake-Born Vajra empowerment from Lama Alan, then you should not listen to Yangchen's teachings on the sadhana (which began after the empowerment was granted during the 2022 8-week retreat on May 11, 2022). We do hope that at a future date the empowerment will be available again.
This year we are offering multiple pricing options as you will see below when you select Choose An Option.
If you need a scholarship, you can apply here.
Please read all of the details below under description.
Phase 3: “Revealing the Ground Dharmakāya” and Phase 4: “Determining the Characteristics and Qualities of the Ground” in The Vajra Essence: From the Matrix of Pure Appearances and Primordial Consciousness, a Tantra Self-Emergent from the Nature of Existence.April 1 – May 26, 2021
Prerequisite Requirements to Purchase Program
By purchasing you acknowledge that you have satisfied the retreat prerequisites of listening to the 2020 8-week retreat and will listen to Lama Alan’s oral commentary to the Vajra Essence in its entirety and have had an empowerment or will receive the recommended empowerment.
If you need a scholarship, you can apply here.
Phase 1: “Taking the Impure Mind as the Path” and Phase 2: “Revealing Your Own Face as the Sharp Vajra of Vipaśyanā” in The Vajra Essence: From the Matrix of Pure Appearances and Primordial Consciousness, a Tantra Self-Emergent from the Nature of Existence with B. Alan Wallace.
Retreat Dates:April 1- May 26, 2020
Prerequisite Requirements to Purchase Program
One must have genuine interest in practicing the dharma and must have read the text, The Fine Path to Liberation.
If you need a scholarship, you can apply here.
