Alan Wallace Shamatha Teachings Fall 2010

Alan starts the session with an explanation of mindfulness of breathing, saying that, with time and practice, there may be a moment where you do not detect the breath anymore, and you can no longer find any sensation. He recommended doing 2 things: relax more deeply as you are breathing out, and as you are doing so, attend sharply to pick up the sensation. Then, in the explanation of settling the mind, he said that the substrate is not a mere absence of thoughts.  It is something that can be perceived.  He used some examples of people in deep sleep, under general anesthesia and in a vegetative state, and he said that the substrate consciousness is present and manifesting in those instances. In fact, the Substrate is always manifesting – or “shining” – but is obscured most of the time. Like the stars in the sky, it shines more when the sun sets. Alan also explained that the mental domain is the king of all senses.  The other domains (taste, sight, sound, tactile and olfactory sense) cannot perceive mental a