Podcasts by Alan Wallace
Welcome! This is now an archive page for Dr. Alan Wallace’s teachings from the Spring 2010 Shamatha Retreat in the wonderful Phuket International Academy Mind Centre!
Further podcasts by B. Alan Wallace
Podcast on the topic Buddhismus
All episodes
[Bonus] Alan’s Ideal (and possible) Vision of Buddhism and Contemplative Science in the next 10-15 years from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.641288
Listen[Video] A Message From Alan: Join the Mailing List! from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.638434
ListenSettling the Mind in its Natural State: Seeing and Hearing without using the Brain from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.635692
ListenSettling the Mind in its Natural State: Observing the Nature of the Space of the Mind from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.629351
ListenBack to Awareness of Awareness from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.579979
ListenAwareness of Awareness: On the edge of Vipassana from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.574606
ListenEmpathetic Joy: Taking delight in being of benefit and in contemplative cultivation from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.570775
ListenEquanimity: Focus on Impermanence from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.555343
ListenAwareness of Awareness: Resting in the Sheer Luminosity and Cognizance of Experience from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.552414
Listen[Video] Podcast Fix: Missing Episodes! from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.549817
Listen[Bonus] Discussion on Kickstarting the Mind Sciences Revolution through Paranormal Abilities from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.543788
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ListenOpening the floodgates of our inner virtues ( + Loving Kindness practice) from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.203403
ListenSettling the Mind In its Natural State: Exploring Conceptually Unmediated Experience from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.196399
ListenCompassion: Focusing on the Blatant Suffering from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.194038
Listen"The Tempest," Settling the Mind in its Natural State from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.191709
ListenCompassion: Freeing Ourselves from the Underlying Causes of Suffering (Attachment/Craving) from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.189557
Listen[Short Bonus]: How did ignorance and delusion arise in the first place? Will samsara end? from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.187184
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Listen[Extra Bonus] Culminating in the Great Perfection: The Dzogchen View (Addendum) from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.182771
ListenSettling the Mind in its Natural State: Sustaining a Continuity from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.180688
ListenAwareness of Awareness: A Smooth Transition from the Space of the Mind from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.175778
ListenEmpathetic Joy: Using our Mind as a Best Friend (+ great Q&A incl. a deep question about love and attachment). from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.173508
ListenAwareness of Awareness: Emerging through the Clouds of the Dense, Deluded, Compulsive Mind into Clear and Luminous Space from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.170944
ListenOf Trust, Devotion, or Lack Thereof (+ Awareness of Awareness Practice) from 2022-03-07T12:54:08.168132
ListenShamatha Without a Sign - As taught by Padmasambhava from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
A brief preface to the practice of Shamatha Without a Sign as taught by Padmasambhava, followed by a 24 minute practice and some commentary on the practice as well as some tips as to how to maintai...
ListenEnding Where We Began: Equanimity Permeated With Loving Kindness from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
This afternoon may be the last podcast episode of Alan's lectures for this retreat. He started by returning to the hypothesis of saying that if we align ourselves with reality, reality will rise up...
ListenCompassion: Investigating a Hypothesis about the Very Root of Suffering (and the importance of not taking Dharma out of context) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
This afternoon Alan started by pointing out the modern tendency of being very harsh and strict with ourselves, and the need for Compassion. He then proceeds by diving down to the very root of suffe...
ListenLoving Kindness: Weaving the Present into the Future (+ Bodhicitta Discussion) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
The introduction to today's practice was tailored to us here in Phuket in the sense that we are coming out of retreat soon, but it can be applied by everyone. Alan talks about including the people ...
ListenMindfulness of Breathing: Practicing with the "glass half full" attitude from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
In today's mindfulness of breathing practice, Alan started by talking about the causes and solutions for the all too popular phenomenon of the "energy going up to the head," and proceeded by applyi...
ListenFinding the balance between relaxation and effort (+ Breath Awareness practice) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
This morning, Alan started by reading two short verses from the Dhammapada, (freshly translated by him last night) which are a very strong metaphor with the mind training we are doing here. He then...
Listen[Short] The Expedition of Shamatha from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
This afternoon we went directly into meditation with no preamble, and had no outro directly pertaining to the meditation. So you can meditate for 24 minutes on your own and then press play! We bri...
ListenStarting a Two Week Retreat from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
This morning Alan suggested to adopt the attitute of starting a 2-week retreat. He humorously gave some very important points and tips about the practice in order to make the most out of the time w...
Listen"A Sacred Tension" that we might experience from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
In this episode, Alan talks about something that probably bothers many of us, and he calls it "A Sacred Tension." It is about our decision to either dedicate our time fully to contemplation, to mun...
Listen[Bonus] The Whole Shamatha Story in one Session from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
In this short and sweet sunday bonus, we synthesized the three main methods of Shamatha into one practice. There is an extremely short introduction and then the practice. A great way to combine the...
ListenEmpathetic Joy: Balancing some of the possible side effects of so much Shamatha practice! from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Alan starts this afternoon by detailing some of the possible "side effects" that could happen during intense practice of Shamatha, in the sense that when we are trying to make our mind so focused a...
ListenAwareness of Awareness: Understanding the Nature of Consciousness (Going against the Dogma!) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
This morning Alan promptly warned us that he was feeling a little bit feisty, which resulted in a great historical introduction with examples of how subjective experience has been mistreated and e...
Listen[Bonus] *Follow-up* Clearing up a few points and a profoundly encouraging ending from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
This is a short followup (I promise! It’s actually less than 15 minutes) clearing up some points from the previous episode. I took two fragments from the next day and mashed them together for this ...
Listen[Bonus] The nature of information, mind and matter, human existence as a flow of experience/information, quantum cosmology, etc. from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Ok, this is what a lot of you have been waiting for, and with very good reason! Get your thinking hats on, turn off your phones, get a nice cup of tea, clear your schedule, and bring forth your sci...
Listen[Bonus] The Four Immeasurables from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
In this request by Nick W, Alan breaks down the Four Immeasurables in an extremely clear synopsis of how they interrelate, their faux facsimiles (which may look very similar but they work in the op...
ListenCompassion: Freedom from the three levels of suffering from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Today we came back to the meditative cultivation of Compassion (to use the correct phrase) and had an introduction directly related to the practice in order to have less words interjected afterward...
ListenSettling the Mind in its Natural State: Sharpening the Vividness from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Today we practiced settling the mind in its natural state with an emphasis on observing the background, the "stage" of the mind. As Alan mentions, this acts as a whetstone (knife-sharpening stone) ...
ListenCompassion: Blowing the Dust of our Eyes from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Today we had a very deep practice on Compassion. The introduction contains great examples as always in order to turn our minds towards the cultivation of compassion, to make real the suffering of ...
ListenSettling the Mind in its Natural State: Coming in From the Senses from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
This morning we practiced Settling the Mind by coming in through the senses with the phrase "In the perceived, let there be only the perceived" as a preparation for observing the mind. After a shor...
Listen[Bonus] Clearing up misconceptions about the “Non-Self.” from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
This podcast was spurred by a question from our philosopher Ilse asking about the difference of "Identitylessness" [or non self] and "Personhood" (as she put it). There are many misconceptions abo...
ListenLoving Kindness: Ready to Launch from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
In the introduction, Alan talks about Loving Kindness and how it is an aspiration and not a feeling (although it certainly comes with a feeling). He also talks about achieving Shamatha by method of...
ListenLoving Kindness: Turning Possibility into Actuality / Shaping our own Future from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Today we re-started the 4I cycle with Loving Kindness. Specifically, we focused on motivation and how it has the power to make things possible or impossible, achievable or not achievable. The intr...
ListenFull Body Awareness: The Importance of Relaxation (and a reflection on anxiety its status quo in modern society) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
This session was the first of the meditations with less spoken guidance. However, Alan made up for it with the great introduction and outro! The talks are based on the importance of looking for ge...
ListenEquanimity: Bringing in the Sharp Wisdom (And a great juicy question on the 4I) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Wow, I have to say that we ended this cycle of meditations perfectly. We had a very valuable practice (although, what practice has not been very valuable?) on Equanimity paired with wisdom. We star...
ListenAwareness of Awareness: Approximating the Shamatha-Achieved Mind from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
This morning we had a practice of the third method of Awareness of Awareness. Alan starts with an introduction and explains some points on the practice, and after the practice he gives some tips on...
ListenEmpathetic Joy: How to repay the kindness of others by freeing ourselves of our own mental afflictions. from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
This afternoon was great. We started with an overview of four immeasurables as an extrordinarly wise system of emotional regulation, and although that sounds utilitarian (since the qualities of lov...
ListenCompassion: Lucidity in the Waking State from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
We start with an introduction on the three different dimensions of suffering and pick up briefly on this morning's topic of becoming lucid in the waking state. The deep practice that follows is ind...
ListenCompassion: Going into Deep Waters from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Alan starts with an introduction on "episodic compassion" and how easy it can be to feel contempt and superiority towards the people committing injustices according to us without looking at all of ...
ListenCompassion: Focusing on the Underlying Causes (and one more superb example for the Mind/Brain talk from yesterday!) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
We start with a very precise introduction of how mental afflictions are afflictions because they are rooted in delusion. Some feelings can be either very positive or afflictive depending on the ab...
ListenCompassion: Arousing the Heart (And a strong reflection on modern Dharma practice) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Tonight we had a 5 minute introduction to the practice of Compassion and how to do it properly, as well as a reflection on the effect of Tonglen. Afterwards we go straight to the practice. After ...
ListenSettling the Mind in its Natural State (setting the stage for a great discussion of modern scientific materialism and the mind) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Today got quite long for a morning practice, but it was very interesting! Alan immediately got going with a very sharp discussion of the current status of acceptance that cognitive sciences or even...
ListenEquanimity: Closing the Circle (with a spice of Tonglen) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Today we also finished the basic cycle of the Four Inmeasurables with another practice of equanimity. We first get an introduction to the sheer importance of the practices of Four Inmeasurables (a...
ListenEmpathetic Joy and Reflections on Guilt and Remorse from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
This afternoon we went straight into a practice of empathetic joy, followed by a reflection on guilt, remorse, and how empathetic joy (mudita) can affect our deeds. Afterwards there is just a short...
ListenThe Last Shamatha Practice from 2010-06-10T23:02:49
ListenEquanimity: Looking Ahead from 2010-06-10T12:36:06
ListenRevisiting the Infirmary for the Last Time! from 2010-05-31T23:18:10
Listen[Bonus] Psychology, attention, and the urgent need for contemplative science. from 2010-05-30T05:58:31
Listen[Bonus] Phuket Mind Observatory Plans / Neurofeedback Augmentation from 2010-05-30T05:28:36
ListenEntering the Great Path of the Bodhisattvas from 2010-05-29T08:21:11
Listen[Vesak] Special Meditation and the Story of The Buddha’s Enlightenment from 2010-05-28T09:56:08
ListenVesak Day Guided Meditation from 2010-05-27T22:59:28
Listen[Bonus] A Sublime Explanation of Awareness of Awareness [Short] from 2010-05-27T09:29:38
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ListenRetaining the benefits of practice from 2010-05-26T23:07:38
ListenFour Immeasurables / Four Best Friends from 2010-05-25T08:24:04
ListenFour Immeasurables: Using our anti-affliction arsenal correctly from 2010-05-24T07:35:11
ListenFlying Solo [Silent Practice] from 2010-05-23T22:50:21
ListenLoving Kindness: "Coming back to the Beginning for the First Time" from 2010-05-22T07:20:03
ListenEquanimity: Making the task cosmical; Awakening the deepest dimension of our existence. from 2010-05-21T08:02:21
ListenAwareness of Awareness: Probing into why we exist (the other side of the equation) from 2010-05-20T23:05:46
ListenEquanimity: Striking a balance between fluidity and structure from 2010-05-20T08:05:04
ListenAwareness of Awareness: Warming up for the long run from 2010-05-19T23:03:06
ListenEmpathetic Joy (Silent Meditation), Q&A from 2010-05-19T08:31:09
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ListenCombining Compassion and Loving Kindness: An Enriched Tonglen from 2010-05-17T08:01:46
ListenSettling the Mind in its Natural State: Allowing the mind to heal itself from 2010-05-16T23:10:45
ListenCompassion: Separating the Mental Affliction from the Person from 2010-05-14T08:58:10
ListenSettling the Mind in its Natural State: Coming into our HQ and releasing control from 2010-05-13T22:51:22
Listen[Message From Alan] Science and Buddhism Colloquium at University of Oxford from 2010-05-12T22:57:48
Alan is happy to announce that the videos are now available from the “Science and Buddhism” colloquium at the University of Oxford, sponsored by the Physiology Department and the Oriental Institute...
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