25 Compassion (1) - a podcast by B. Alan Wallace

Alan presents tips on dealing with subtlety in the shamatha practices.

1) mindfulness of breathing. The breath becomes increasingly subtle, and treat this an invitation to increase calm and clarity. Do not change the place you are attending to the breath. Rather, choose a baseline such as the nerve endings at the nostrils, and continue attending to the baseline and any fluctuations throughout the whole body of the breath.

2) settling the mind. When the space of the mind appears quiet, something is still there. It is just more subtle than your awareness. Again, choose a baseline such as the space of the mind, and attend to both the baseline and any fluctuations from there.

The second of the 4 immeasurables, compassion is also an aspiration, not an emotion.

Meditation: compassion. Visualize a white incandescent orb of light at your heart chakra filling the body with light. With each in breath, arouse the aspiration, “May I be free of all hedonic suffering—i.e., unpleasant.” Visualize all suffering as darkness which converges at and dissolves into the orb. “May I be free of all (internally generated) suffering and their causes—i.e., disturbing emotions.” Visualize all suffering as darkness which converges at and dissolves into the orb. Imagine that you are free from all that obscures pristine awareness. Repeat the sequence with another individual (or group) of your choice or who comes to mind.

Meditation starts at 4:10

Further episodes of Alan Wallace Fall 2012 Retreat Podcast: Vipashyana, Four Applications of Mindfulness

Further podcasts by B. Alan Wallace

Website of B. Alan Wallace