Spring 2011 Shamatha Retreat

The immeasurable of loving-kindness is guided through a 24-minute meditation which focuses on envisioning the causes and conditions for one's own happiness, achieving this happiness, and then sharing this happiness with others. Alan then answers the following questions: 1. How do we decide what length breaks to take between sessions? Also, I am getting sleepy after a few sessions - am I doing it wrong? 2. How do you say awareness in Tibetan? 3. When settling the mind in its natural state, where is awareness when I am thinking? 4. Is it possible to think without awareness? 5. A comment on diet and vegetarianism. 6. I noticed that when practicing the stretching exercise during awareness of awareness, I sensed my whole energetic body was stretching out. What was that? 7. What are your reasons for not using a Buddha image [a visualization practice] as a focus for meditation? 8. Please point out if and how agitation [excitation] and dullness [laxity] differ for the three shamatha practices. 9. In so far