THE WISDOM ACADEMY PRESENTS
Shamatha: Meditation for Balanced Living
An Online Course with Lama Alan Wallace
When you finish this course, we believe you’ll possess a sense of confidence that you understand the core of shamatha theory, and you’ll have experienced a taste of shamatha.
In the course, you’ll deeply explore shamatha practice and the theme of balance, or the middle way. This includes both balancing structure and fluidity, and balancing attention. You’ll also discover how to cultivate an existence of ease, relaxation, and concentration even in the midst of modern life’s sometimes hectic pace.
As you take this course, you’ll learn how to cultivate three key qualities of attention:
1) Relaxation
2) Stillness and stability of body and mind
3) Clarity
The course also will delve into what it means to live a “marvelously meaningful life,” as Lama Alan says. You’ll learn about the role that shamatha has to play in experiencing the kind of deeper, more meaningful happiness that is truly transformative.
Join this course to discover how to escape the cycle of tension and exhaustion, and instead cultivate a practice that can support you all the way from daily life to liberation.
Full Tuition: $247
After enrolling, check your email for a welcome email with instructions on how to take the course. When you enroll in any Wisdom Academy course, you agree to our terms of use. Enrolled students have lifetime access to course materials. Wisdom is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your tuition supports the creation of more courses like this one. Thank you! For more about our terms, please see the Wisdom Academy FAQ.
Benefits of Taking This Course
Clearly understand the path of shamatha so you can develop a deep practice in support of awakening.
Develop the practice foundation necessary for Dzogchen.
See clearly where true happiness comes from, and receive Lama Alan’s guidance on how to cultivate it.
Have the opportunity to learn from Lama Alan, who is one of the most renowned Vajrayana teachers of our time and whose articulate, inspiring way of teaching is rooted in decades of experience.
And much more!
The course also includes teachings on how to notice when you’re reifying something and highly effective ways to work with craving, as well as powerful meditations that have the potential to cause deeply helpful shifts in your practice.
Enroll today to begin your journey toward shamatha mastery.
Full Tuition: $247
Your Course Includes
HD videos
Guided practices
Curated readings
A forum for discussion and support
Lifetime access
Enroll today to begin your journey toward shamatha mastery.
Full Tuition: $247
In this course, you’ll learn:
• how to practice mindfulness of breathing;
• how to settle the mind in its natural state;
• the practice of “shamatha without signs;”
• how shamatha practice is a foundation for dzogchen and vipashyana practices;
• the theory of shamatha practice;
• how these practices can help you develop a more balanced life;
• and much more!
Enroll today to begin your journey toward shamatha mastery.
Full Tuition: $247
After enrolling, check your email for a welcome email with instructions on how to take the course. When you enroll in any Wisdom Academy course, you agree to our terms of use. Enrolled students have lifetime access to course materials. Wisdom is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your tuition supports the creation of more courses like this one. Thank you! For more about our terms, please see the Wisdom Academy FAQ.
Lesson 1: Shamatha and the Search for Happiness
Lama Alan Wallace gives an introduction to shamatha meditation and relates this to the two types of happiness—that which comes from within, and from the external world.
Lesson 2: Balancing the Mind
Lama Alan discusses how we can balance and quiet the mind, bringing up how to find equilibrium, the importance of our motivation, and the role of the Four Noble Truths.
Lesson 3: A Western Perspective on Attention
Lama Alan introduces us to nineteenth-century psychologist William James, sharing his insights on the significance of attention in our lives and explaining where his theory falls short in regard to Buddhist approaches to training attention.
Lesson 4: The Benefits of Mindfulness of Breathing
Lama Alan Wallace discusses the practice and benefits of mindfulness of breathing, showing us its ability to help us cultivate greater freedom and drawing on the Buddha’s teachings on the practice.
Lesson 5: Sati and Bhavanga in the Practice of Shamatha
In this lesson we learn more about the meaning of sati, the Pali term for mindfulness, and the role of introspection and bhavanga, the mind’s radiance, in Buddhist teachings on meditation.
Lesson 6: Five Hindrances and the Stages of Shamatha
We learn more about the five hindrances, or obscurations, to meditation practice and their antidotes, and explore the first four of nine stages to achieving shamatha.
Lesson 7: A Dzogchen Master's Shamatha Advice
Lama Alan guides us through shamatha advice from the great nineteenth-century Dzogchen master Lerab Lingpa.
Lesson 8: Shamatha Focused on the Mind
Lama Alan discusses advanced shamatha practices and the value of attentional vividness, and he further comments on advice for meditation practice from the great Dzogchen masters of the past.
Lesson 9: Padmasambhava's Shamatha Advice
In this lesson we learn about shamatha from the teachings of the great eighth-century Dzogchen master Padmasambhava, and are guided through the fifth through ninth stages of shamatha practice.
Lesson 10: Achieving Shamatha
In the final lesson for the course, Lama Alan Wallace shares what we can expect in the final stage of our attentional development: the achievement of shamatha.
• Meditators looking to deepen their shamatha practice.
• Individuals feeling scattered, stressed, or emotionally overwhelmed who want to explore breath practices to cultivate clarity and emotional balance.
• Dzogchen practitioners, including beginners, looking to deepen their shamatha practice in support of their Dzogchen practice.
Full Tuition: $247
After enrolling, check your email for a welcome email with instructions on how to take the course. When you enroll in any Wisdom Academy course, you agree to our terms of use. Enrolled students have lifetime access to course materials. Wisdom is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your tuition supports the creation of more courses like this one. Thank you! For more about our terms, please see the Wisdom Academy FAQ.
Dynamic lecturer, progressive scholar, and one of the most prolific writers and translators of Tibetan Buddhism in the West, Lama Alan Wallace, PhD, continually seeks innovative ways to integrate Buddhist contemplative practices with Western science to advance the study of the mind. Lama Alan, a scholar and practitioner of Buddhism since 1970, has taught Buddhist theory and meditation worldwide since 1976. Having devoted 14 years to training as a Tibetan Buddhist monk, ordained by H. H. the Dalai Lama, he went on to earn an undergraduate degree in physics and the philosophy of science at Amherst College and a doctorate in religious studies at Stanford. He later studied Dzogchen with Gyatrul Rinpoche, a senior teacher in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. With his unique background, Dr. Wallace brings deep experience and applied skills to the challenge of integrating traditional Indo-Tibetan Buddhism with the modern world.
He is the author and translator of several books, including Düdjom Lingpa’s Visions of the Great Perfection, Stilling the Mind: Shamatha Teachings From Dudjom Linpa’s Vajra Essence, Tibetan Buddhism from the Ground Up, Natural Liberation: Padmasambhava’s Teachings on the Six Bardos, and The Attention Revolution.
The Wisdom Academy is the leading provider of high-quality online courses about Buddhism and meditation.
The Wisdom Academy was founded in 2016. Since then, we’ve grown to be the leader in online Buddhist learning, with over 45 courses and thousands of students enrolled.
In the Academy, dedicated students come together with beloved teachers to learn authentic philosophy and practices for awakening.
Our courses offer teachings on Dzogchen, shamatha, mahamudra, vipassana, mindfulness, jhana, and much more. The clear, progressive structure of the courses will support you in learning about the profound philosophy and practices of the Dharma. You’ll discover the vivid and immediate ways that the teachings can create more ease, joy, and freedom in your daily life. Click here to learn more and explore our course catalog.
