Alan Wallace Fall 2012 Retreat Podcast: Vipashyana, Four Applications Of Mindfulness

Settling the mind in its natural state is the shamatha practice corresponding the applications of mindfulness on feelings and the mind. This practice itself lies on the cusp between shamatha and vipasyana, but it’s presented within the mahamudra and dzogchen traditions as a shamatha practice for dissolving the coarse mind into the substrate. Awareness of thoughts and emotions frees us from being trapped by our minds and facilitates wiser choices in our behavior. A Tibetan saying goes like this, “When you’re with others, watch your mouth. When you’re alone, watch your mind.” Meditation: settling the mind. Eyes at least partially open, with gaze resting vacantly. Turn the full force of your interest and mindfulness to the mental domain and the thoughts, images, and emotions arising therein. If you’re new to this practice or when you’re feeling spaced out or disoriented, give yourself a distinct mental target such as the sentence, “This is the mind,” focus single-pointedly on that thought, allow the thou