The 4 Yogas of Mahamudra 2019 Retreat

Jun 20 2019 58 ep. 43

This retreat will focus on the four yogas of Mahāmudrā as explained in Karma Chagme Rinpoche’s Practical Instructions on the Union of Mahāmudrā and Atiyoga, for which the main body of his text has been translated under the titles A Spacious Path to Freedom and Naked Awareness. These four yogas constitute a complete path to achieving the perfect enlightenment of a buddha in one lifetime by providing practical methods for fully realizing the luminous and empty nature of consciousness itself, which is our own buddha-nature. Oral commentaries on these four yogas will be complemented with guided meditations on Śamatha, Vipaśyanā, and Mahāmudrā, also based of Karma Chagme Rinpoche’s classic text. These teachings are made available to support your practice, please consider making a DONATION towards the [Center for Contemplative Research](http://www.centerforcontemplativeresearch.org/) [Click here to make a Donation to SBI.](https://www.sbinstitute.com/donation/) [Click here to Give a Gift (Dana) to Dr. Wallace for the teachings.](http://www.alanwallace.org/)

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1 - Introduction to the retreat

Note: Apologies, most of this session comes out of our backup recorder since we had some issues with the main microphone. Lama Alan begins by welcoming everyone and explaining how he received the transmission for these teachings himself, primarily from Gyatrul Rinpoche but also most recently from Garchen Rinpoche. He also comments on how some teachers may set restrictions and prer

2 - Mahamudra in Sutrayana and Vajrayana

This morning Lama Alan introduces the practice of settling body, speech, and mind in their natural state. After the meditation Lama Alan continues to comment on the practice and its benefits. This can be an excellent prelude to other practices and also help us with our everyday activities. Lama also introduces the concept of seasoning the day and the importance of learning how to

2.1 - Settling body, speech, and mind in their natural state

Shamatha: Settling body, speech, and mind in their natural state

3 - Cultivating relaxation without losing the clarity with which you began

We start with a preamble to the next meditation, with more comments from Lama Alan on the practice of mindfulness of breathing. We'll be covering 3 different interpretations of the Buddha's teachings on this practice. After the meditation we start going over the "The Four Yogas of Mahamudra" text, beginning with the first yoga: The Yoga of Single-pointedness (Rangjung Dorje's Grea

3.1 - Mindfulness of breathing following Asanga's method

Shamatha: Mindfulness of breathing based on Asanga's method

4 - Enhancing stability without losing the underlying relaxation

Note: Sorry, we got some noise and feedback while recording this session, we tried to improve it but the quality may not be as good as other sessions. Lama Alan starts by commenting on the importance of sleep, and how mindfulness of breathing can be very helpful to get a good night's sleep. For this session we will be practicing the Burmese method, where we focus on enhancing stab

4.1 - Mindfulness of breathing following the Burmese method

Shamatha: Mindfulness of breathing based on the Burmese method

5 - Enhancing clarity without losing the underlying stability

Lama Alan starts with an overview of the practice for this session: mindfulness of breathing following the Theravada method. This time the balance is to enhance clarity without losing the underlying stability. Just before the session Lama also introduces the concept of introspection and how it relates to mindfulness. After the session Lama further elaborates on the topic of relax

5.1 - Mindfulness of breathing following the Theravada method

Shamatha: Mindfulness of breathing following the Theravada method

6 - Q&A

Note: We’re really sorry, we had issues with one of the microphones and the questions are not so easy to hear, so they have been transcribed below. Lama Alan begins by commenting on the topic of silence before we move on to questions. **Rob** I noticed during the last practice session of kind of touching into the clarity aspect, that it almost seemed like the clarity brought u