Shamatha & Vipashyana in the Dzogchen Tradition

In this first lesson, Alan Wallace introduces the tradition of Düdjom Lingpa and offers commentary on the root text for the course, The Sharp Vajra of Conscious Awareness Tantra. He also provides instruction for the practice of resting body, speech, and mind in their natural state and shamatha meditation on the mindfulness of breathing.

Lama Alan Wallace offers practical commentary on the root text for the course, The Sharp Vajra of Conscious Awareness Tantra, to reveal how practitioners of specific faculties enter the path, and how we can take the mind, both the impure mind, and the essence of mind, onto the path. Lama Alan also guides us through the practice of resting the mind in space, and learning to observe the movements of mind within stillness.

Lama Alan Wallace guides us through the four stages of mindfulness covered in the root text. Describing each stage from a practical point of view, Lama Alan makes practicing through the stages of mindfulness directly relevant to the practice of shamatha.

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.

Lama Alan’s commentary invites us into the true meaning of the sharp vajra, within the second phase of the root text. We learn how the path laid out by Düdjom Lingpa is a unique approach to the understanding, and experience of pristine awareness, pristine awareness as none other than our  very own face. The utter simplicity of this approach is in part why it is so difficult, and why the path of shamatha is essential. To facilitate our progress along the path, guided meditations complement Lama Alan’s commentary on the six distinctions of pristine awareness, and the four phases of practice, as found in the root text.

Lama Alan Wallace concludes his commentary on phase two of the root text, and guides us into phase three. Here we are introduced to the practice of vipashyana as an essential inquiry into discerning the very nature of how samsara arises. Lama Alan’s commentary on Düdjom Lingpa’s pith instructions helps us to gain some insight into the the utter profundity of how Dzogchen understands samsara, and how liberation is possible.

Lama Alan Wallace continues his commentary on stage three of the root text, guiding us through Düdjom Lingpa’s commentary on the emptiness of all objective phenomena. Lama Alan holds these profound pith instructions alongside the theoretical and experimental implications of quantum mechanics, sharing insights and anecdotes.

Lama Alan Wallace continues his commentary on phase three of the root text, with an illuminating discussion on the relationship between the Madhyamaka and Cittamatra schools and Dzogchen. This rich presentation of Buddhist philosophy further reveals the visionary depth of Düdjom Lingpa’s writing and serves the deepening of our journey in the practice of vipashyana. Lama Alan’s guidance throughout the lesson is replete with insights from modern science, and reveals a profound link between the view of Madhyamaka and aspects of the Pali Canon.

Lama Alan Wallace reveals how the practices, and view, explored throughout the course are understood within the phases of Dzogchen practice. Lama Alan continues his commentary on phase three of the root text, framing the importance of ethics and practicing virtue alongside the vastness of Düdjom Lingpa’s view. Lama Alan also shares pith instructions on the meaning of secrecy in the context of Dzogchen and encourages us to be both practical and realistic as we continue to study and integrate the teachings found in the root text.

In this final lesson of the course, Lama Alan Wallace brings us to the completion of phase three of the Sharp Vajra of Conscious Awareness Tantra. Lama Alan’s commentary provides a clear and insightful understanding of fundamental Dzogchen concepts that rest at the heart of the path. In discussing the paramount importance of nonmeditation in Dzogchen, Lama Alan skillfully guides us through core terminology, explaining the nondual relationship of the feminine and masculine principles—Samantabhadra and Samantabhadri, respectively. Offering a complimentary guided practice on nonmeditation, Lama Alan clarifies the wisdom aspect of the path, presenting the quintessential view of Dzogchen, and leads us in dedicating the merit of our practice throughout the course.