In this video, Alan Wallace discusses the achievement of shamatha, and access to the first jhana, offering commentary and experiential instructions from masters within the Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions. Please click here for access to the Path of Purification, which Alan cites in his commentary on kasina meditation.

In this final lesson of the course, Lama Alan Wallace guides us through the completion of the root text, the visionary instructions of Sri Simha and Zurchung Sherap Drakpa to Düdjom Lingpa. Lama Alan’s commentary covers the scope of the nine yanas, how secrecy is understood in Dzogchen, and how the aspiration to be reborn in Sukhavati can serve us at the time of death. In addition, Lama Alan offers pith instructions and insights that will help us integrate this rich and extensive commentary on the root text into practice.

In this selection from Stilling the Mind, Alan Wallace offers commentary on Düdjom Lingpa’s Vajra Essence, which offers us practical guidance in navigating meditative experiences.

In this selection from the Heart of the Great Perfection, Pema Tashi presents Düdjom Lingpa’s commentary on The Sharp Vajra of Conscious Awareness Tantra. This reading includes material covered by Alan Wallace in lesson 4.

In the following video Alan Wallace discusses the Dzogchen approach to practice on the mindfulness of breathing, which emphasizes the importance of the preliminary practices of taking refuge, and cultivating the proper motivation of bodhicitta.  

In the following video Alan Wallace offers us a thumbnail sketch of all practices introduced thus far, and encourages us to integrate them as we choose. After watching, please practice along with the silent meditation below.

In this video, Alan Wallace completes his commentary on the first phase of the root text, discussing how the practice of shamatha is indispensable, but not in isolation of giving rise to bodhicitta, training in vipashyana, and guidance under a qualified teacher.

In this video, Alan Wallace continues his commentary on the root text, starting from page 53, and offers pith instructions to approach our practice, including advice on how to relate to meditative experiences, known in Tibetan as “nyams,” that arise along the path.

In this lesson, Lama Alan Wallace guides us through the completion of the first phase of the root text, The Sharp Vajra of Conscious Awareness Tantra. In this rich commentary, Lama Alan enlivens and makes clear Düdjom Lingpa’s presentation of path, emphasizing the importance of the preliminaries, especially the motivation of bodhicitta, and guides us in meditations that allow us to integrate our understandings of the root text in practice.

In the following selection from Stilling the Mind, Alan Wallace offers practical advice to support our practice, and underscores the importance of stability in the context of shamatha as well as Vajrayana practice.