The Wisdom of Atisha and Knowing Our Own Minds – September 13-20, 2021 Video stream & Audio stream/download

Description

“The Wisdom of Atisha
and
Knowing Our Own Minds”

September 13-20, 2021

Virtual retreat from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, CO

This retreat began with oral commentaries on Lama Alan’s two freshly translated dialogues between Atisha and his principal disciple Drom Tönpa, entitled, “Cutting the Root of Suffering and Equalizing Excitation and Laxity” and “Blaming Everything on a Single Culprit.” These two exchanges go right to the heart of meditation, while at the same time representing a lively guru-disciple exchange that is both reverent and critical at the same time. Then we turned to a close examination of the fifty-one mental processes according to classic Indian Buddhist psychology. These provide a meaningful framework in which to understand the workings of the mind, with a special emphasis on identifying those mental processes that afflict the mind and those that nurture mental health and well-being.

This theoretical presentation will be complemented with the experiential exploration of the mind by means of the Buddha’s own pith instructions of applying discerning mindfulness to feelings, the mind, and the mental processes that obscure the natural luminosity and purity of the mind and those that advance one along the path to enlightenment.

The retreat consisted of three sessions of lectures and guided meditations followed by a 1-hour discussion period, each day.

Scholarships are available for those who need assistance to cover the full amount of the retreat. Click here to apply for a scholarship prior to purchasing retreat.

The translations that Lama Alan was reading from for this retreat have now been revised and are available in the book, Śamatha and Vipaśyanā: An Anthology of Pith Instructions. 
The content of the teaching is not impacted with the revised translations.

Please contact retreats@sbinstitute.com if you have any questions.