Four Applications Of Mindfulness Retreat 2013 with B. Alan Wallace (part 42)

0:06 So I'll take you step by step again in this next session, which will be guided, to try to make this accessible. The practice is not complicated, just the opposite of that. Report an error in the passage at 0:06 Highlight the passage at 0:06

0:18 And so this is a distinct and a complete practice for achieving shamatha. It is simply the awareness of awareness, sometimes called shamatha without a sign, shamatha without a support, shamatha focused on the mind, but just awareness itself. And as Chris pointed out, it can be very frustrating in terms of certain methods just may not work very well. My wife, for example, has been a Buddhist for a long time. Report an error in the passage at 0:18 Highlight the passage at 0:18

0:41 She just doesn't take the mindfulness of breathing at all. She just doesn't like it and doesn't flourish in it at all. But she really likes settling the mind in its natural state and awareness of awareness. Some people just can't do awareness. They say, I can't do it. It's too intangible. I don't know what to do. But they really like mindfulness of breathing. But what I'd like to do for this session, for today, because we have this one day for awareness of awareness, Which is going right into the very heart of the mind. What makes the mind the mind is awareness. If there's no awareness, there's no mind. There's a body, but no mind. And what I like to do is make this as accessible as possible. Report an error in the passage at 0:41 Highlight the passage at 0:41

1:15 And a lot of that is just showing how simple it is. And such that when you're doing it correctly, you know you're doing it correctly. Because the easiest thing to do is keep on second guessing. There must be something more to it than this. I'm probably doing it wrong. And then, on you go. And so I'll make this point, and that is give the analogy of Russian dolls. So big doll, little doll, little doll. When we're practicing mindfulness of breathing, here's the overall trajectory of shamatha. Report an error in the passage at 1:15 Highlight the passage at 1:15

1:43 When we're practicing mindfulness of breathing, there is now a container, there are limits, borders to what we're deliberately attending to. So we're not deliberately attending to anything outside the body, not colors or shapes, not sounds, not smells. We're confining, like a horse within a corral, we're confining, doing our best to confine the deliberate or voluntary attention to the sensations within the skin. Report an error in the passage at 1:43 Highlight the passage at 1:43

2:10 On the skin, within the skin, and those sensations of the breathing. So that's a major withdrawal, a retreat from the surrounding environment and everything that's happening out there. It's a temporary retreat. But as we're doing that practice, and the object of mindfulness is the sensations of the respiration. Report an error in the passage at 2:10 Highlight the passage at 2:10

2:27 If you're doing the practice correctly, you must be monitoring your mind. Otherwise you have no quality control. You must recognize when rumination is coming up, when the mind is getting dull, you apply the remedies. So that's part of the package. Even though you're focusing on the body, you must be aware, this orthogonal coming in and monitoring process, of what's taking place in the mind. Report an error in the passage at 2:27 Highlight the passage at 2:27

2:47 Again, if you're not, you're not doing the practice. But as you're aware of your breath, aware of what's occurring in the mind, in terms of thoughts, dullness and so forth, There's something else you're aware of. You're aware of being aware. It's already there. And so that's one practice. It's a complete practice. And I haven't explained it completely, all the stages of it and so forth, but enough for now perhaps. But then when we go into settling the mind, there's a further withdrawal. Report an error in the passage at 2:47 Highlight the passage at 2:47

3:18 And that is we've already withdrawn from all of the senses outside of the body. And now we take one step backward, even from the body, we deliberately withdraw our attention from the entire somatic field and all the sensations in it, breathing and so forth, and withdrawing now purely into that kind of, let's say, the nuclear mental field, right? Report an error in the passage at 3:18 Highlight the passage at 3:18

3:40 That which is left over when you're dreaming. And that is, so there you are, and what you're seeking to do is focus your attention single-pointedly on that nuclear space of the mind, so not the five physical sense fields. And of course, whatever is arising within it. So now, again, it's a withdrawal because you're withdrawn from the body. So there you are in your own private cinema, attending things that only you can see, your thoughts, your images, the space of your mind. Report an error in the passage at 3:40 Highlight the passage at 3:40

4:07 And I'm using that personal pronoun, your, it's not anybody else's. And so, and we'll come back to that later, not now, but you're focusing there. But as you're attending to the space of the mind and attending to the thoughts coming and going, you're aware of something else too. You have to be. You're aware of being aware. You know you're meditating. You know you're doing the practice. You're aware of being aware. So now, of course, you can withdraw your attention from the contents of the mind and focus just on the intervals, just the space of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 4:07 Highlight the passage at 4:07

4:38 So now you've even withdrawn from the contents, just focusing on the space. But you're still aware that you're aware. So you're aware of two things, the space and your awareness. But now you can withdraw even from that. No longer having any interest, no longer deliberately giving any attention to the space of the mind. And you're coming back to what you knew all along. And you knew before you were meditating, before you ever heard about Buddhism or Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 4:38 Highlight the passage at 4:38

5:04 You already knew that you were aware. And so it's like a striptease. You're just taking off layer and layer of clothing until you're just naked and all that's left that you can't strip off without just falling asleep. That's the only way you can strip it off and it just goes dormant. It's that nuclear awareness of being aware. Report an error in the passage at 5:04 Highlight the passage at 5:04

5:22 It's not reasonable to say, but I can't do it. Because you've been doing it all along, but you've been clothing your awareness of awareness in awareness of, oh, there's Betty Rose, she's wearing a red pullover, there's Peter, he's got white hair, and so forth and so on, right? It's clothed, but it's always there. And all of that entails, I'm looking at Peter, I'm looking at my knee, I'm looking at my thoughts, I'm looking at the space of the mind. But in the midst of all that looking at, there's always an awareness of awareness. Report an error in the passage at 5:22 Highlight the passage at 5:22

5:52 And now this practice, it should be the easiest. In principle, conceptually, this should be the easiest. Now I'm saying, okay, now everybody, you get a break. Now you don't have to look at anything, no effort here. So looking at that and trying to maintain your awareness of that, you have to exert yourself. Okay, everybody, now it's milk and cookies time. Just relax and don't do anything at all and don't fall asleep. Report an error in the passage at 5:52 Highlight the passage at 5:52

6:17 And just now be aware of your most intimate knowing that you already had already. So it's not a process of addition. It's a process of subtraction. You're already aware of being aware and now just don't add anything onto it and just rest in that. And that is just a straight arrow to achieving shamatha. And it's not really a matter of developing shamatha. Report an error in the passage at 6:17 Highlight the passage at 6:17

6:43 If we think of developing shamatha as developing the stability and clarity of your attention, core, mission statement, right? Well, you're not developing stability because your awareness when it's free of grasping is by nature still. You're not developing clarity because your awareness when it's not shrouded with junk is by nature luminous. Report an error in the passage at 6:43 Highlight the passage at 6:43

7:04 So you're discovering the natural stillness and the natural luminosity of your own awareness. You're discovering shamatha rather than developing it. And you do it, you achieve it or you realize it by not doing anything else and letting shamatha rise up to meet you. So it's like you're a little fish swimming right towards the surface of the water and a big fish comes up and goes, swallows you. Report an error in the passage at 7:04 Highlight the passage at 7:04

7:30 And your coarse mind dissolves into the subtle mind and you realize Shantideva without achieving it. Because you didn't achieve anything. You just released everything that was obscuring. The natural stillness, natural luminosity of your own awareness. So how difficult can that be? Report an error in the passage at 7:30 Highlight the passage at 7:30

7:51 At least it's simple. If it's not easy, at least it's simple. So let's not make it complex with the conceptual mind trying to figure it out. In trying to figure out the taste of a banana without biting into it, that's going to be tough. It'll be really tough. You can write whole books about it. If I were to eat a banana, I think it would probably taste like this. Report an error in the passage at 7:51 Highlight the passage at 7:51

8:12 Once you've found a banana, just sit down and chow down. Once you've found your consciousness, chow down. Please find a comfortable position. We just have 24 minutes to do it. Report an error in the passage at 8:12 Highlight the passage at 8:12

8:26 After that, I'm going to take your consciousness away. If you can't use it, I'm going to take yours away from me. Report an error in the passage at 8:26 Highlight the passage at 8:26

· · · silence, 1 minute

9:08 Doing here is really inviting you on the greatest adventure of a lifetime and most likely many lifetimes. So approach it in that sense of something in the sense of a great adventure, an act of loving kindness, something to bring forth great benefit as you're led on this expedition to discover the inner resources of your own awareness which you already have. Report an error in the passage at 9:08 Highlight the passage at 9:08

9:33 So in this spirit set your body at ease, still and vigilant, respiration flowing effortlessly. Report an error in the passage at 9:33 Highlight the passage at 9:33

9:43 And set your mind at ease, still and clear. Report an error in the passage at 9:43 Highlight the passage at 9:43

· · · silence, 1 minute

10:43 Now as a warm-up, let's start from the shallow end of the pool. Do something we definitely can do, and that is focus your mindfulness on the space of the body and whatever tactile sensations are arising within that domain. Report an error in the passage at 10:43 Highlight the passage at 10:43

10:58 Sustain the flow of your mindfulness without distraction and without grasping. Simply illuminating the space of the body and whatever events arise or manifest within that space. Report an error in the passage at 10:58 Highlight the passage at 10:58

· · · silence, 2 minutes

13:00 And now is a good time to relax deeply. Everything that comes From this point onwards, it goes better the more relaxed, the softer, the more loose you are. So relax deeply with every out-breath, releasing thoughts, having Report an error in the passage at 13:00 Highlight the passage at 13:00

· · · silence, 1 minute

14:13 already withdrawn your interest and, to the best of your ability, your attention from the sensory stimuli outside your body. Report an error in the passage at 14:13 Highlight the passage at 14:13

14:25 Now withdraw further. Withdraw your interest and your attention away from the somatic field and direct it single-pointedly to the mental field. Report an error in the passage at 14:25 Highlight the passage at 14:25

14:39 And make it easy for yourself. Focus first upon the foreground, the thoughts, images. If you don't see any, you may generate them. Report an error in the passage at 14:39 Highlight the passage at 14:39

14:50 But focus on the events that arise within the space of the mind, sustaining the flow of your awareness without distraction and without grasping. Report an error in the passage at 14:50 Highlight the passage at 14:50

15:03 Let your awareness be still as the activities of the mind are in motion. Report an error in the passage at 15:03 Highlight the passage at 15:03

· · · silence, 3 minutes

17:49 Then shift the focus from the foreground, from the activities of the mind, to the space in which those activities occur. The space is always there, but it's most evident during the intervals between thoughts. So attend closely to the space of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 17:49 Highlight the passage at 17:49

18:10 You may do so with questions. Does it have any qualities, and if so, what are they? Observe closely. Report an error in the passage at 18:10 Highlight the passage at 18:10

· · · silence, 2 minutes

20:23 Observe also how thoughts and other mental events emerge from this space, are present within the space, and then dissolve back into that space. Report an error in the passage at 20:23 Highlight the passage at 20:23

20:46 The space may be empty, but it's filled with potential. As it demonstrates from moment to moment. Report an error in the passage at 20:46 Highlight the passage at 20:46

· · · silence, 2 minutes

22:49 And as you've been attending to the space of the mind and its contents, all along, there has been an awareness of being aware. Report an error in the passage at 22:49 Highlight the passage at 22:49

22:59 So now withdraw your attention from the space of the mind, as well as its contents, and utterly rest. Report an error in the passage at 22:59 Highlight the passage at 22:59

23:12 It doesn't take any effort to be aware. Just be aware. And rest with no object. Report an error in the passage at 23:12 Highlight the passage at 23:12

23:23 Not meditating on anything. Report an error in the passage at 23:23 Highlight the passage at 23:23

· · · silence, 1 minute

24:30 There's a crucial difference between this and simply sitting there with a blank mind or spacing out. Absolutely crucial. And that is that you are indeed sustaining a flow of cognizance, an ongoing flow of knowing. But all that you're really focusing on is the knowing of knowing, being aware of being aware. Report an error in the passage at 24:30 Highlight the passage at 24:30

24:51 And that's enough. Report an error in the passage at 24:51 Highlight the passage at 24:51

· · · silence, 1 minute

26:13 And now you may find it helpful to adopt the method taught by Padmasambhava, and that is the oscillation. If you can do it without dividing your attention and deliberately attending to the breath, that's all the better. Setting up your own rhythm. Of arousing your attention, focusing clearly in upon the experience of being aware. Then utterly relaxing, releasing without an object. Report an error in the passage at 26:13 Highlight the passage at 26:13

26:43 By sustaining the flow of awareness of awareness. Arousing and relaxing. If you find it helpful as a preliminary exercise to conjoin that rhythm with the breathing, then so be it. Do it as long as it's helpful. And then disengage your attention from the breath. And just continue with the oscillation. Report an error in the passage at 26:43 Highlight the passage at 26:43

27:06 With each arousal of the attention you award off laxity and dullness. Every time you relax deeply, you release the energy behind excitation. Report an error in the passage at 27:06 Highlight the passage at 27:06

27:18 In this way you balance your attention and reveal the nature of awareness itself. Then Report an error in the passage at 27:18 Highlight the passage at 27:18

· · · silence, 4 minutes

31:32 release the oscillation and simply rest doing nothing at all, letting awareness remain in its own place, holding its own ground, illuminating and knowing itself. Report an error in the passage at 31:32 Highlight the passage at 31:32