Four Applications of Mindfulness

FOUR APPLICATIONS OF MINDFULNESS

In this course we investigate the nature of human identity and the possibility of freedom through the Buddha’s foundational instructions on the cultivation of vipashyana, or insight. Alan Wallace presents the four close applications of mindfulness — mindfulness on the body, feelings, the mind, and phenomena — through rich pith instruction on selections from the Pali canon, Mahayana sutras, and commentary from the Vajrayana and Dzogchen traditions. Alan’s unique presentation offers an integrative vision of the Buddhist path, and clarifies fundamental Buddhist truths such the nature of nirvana, the unique vision of the path of the arhat, as well as that of the bodhisattva. We learn that these paths share a common ultimate vision: the primordial and unborn nature of liberation. Alan offers step-by-step guidance through the four applications with clear instruction on the relationship between shamatha (calm-abiding) practice and vipashyana, making these timeless teachings applicable to daily life in the modern world.