Description
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
During this eight-week retreat, Alan Wallace will begin his detailed oral commentary on one of the five classic Dzogchen treatises by Düdjom Lingpa, The Vajra Essence. This is the fourth in a series of 8-week retreats in which commentaries and oral transmissions will be offered for all five of these treatises: The Sharp Vajra of Conscious Awareness Tantra (2018), The Enlightened View of Samantabhadra (2019), and The Vajra Essence (2020-2023).
Participants should be familiar with the foundational teachings and practices of shamatha, the four applications of mindfulness, and the four immeasurables, and relative and ultimate bodhicitta. Such understanding and experience can be acquired by listening to, studying, and practicing any one of the following sets of teachings:
It is essential to learn the ethical training corresponding to each level of Buddhist practice: shravakayana, bodhisattvayana, and vajrayana. An excellent explanation of these different dimensions of Buddhist ethics can be found in: Perfect Conduct: Ascertaining the Three Vows, by Pema Wangyi Gyalpo (Author), Gyurme Samdrub (Translator), Sangye Khandro (Translator).
Anyone interested in applying for this online retreat should carefully study this short text: The Fine Path to Liberation and decide for themselves whether they are prepared to engage in these practices as they relate to the teacher of this retreat, to their fellow retreatants, and to sentient beings at large. This is an indispensable prerequisite for participating in this retreat and should be taken very seriously. Anyone who is willing to devote themselves to these preliminary practices and to apply themselves to the teachings in this text with faith and devotion is welcome to apply.
Please do not share the recording with those who are not registered for the retreat.
