Spring 2011 Shamatha Retreat

In this afternoon session, Alan Wallace guides a 24-minute meditation on equanimity, focusing on the expression of equanimity for oneself and other sentient beings, including a dear friend, neutral person, and enemy. During the following question and answer period, Alan answers these questions: 1. What is the thing shooting out of the head of the Buddhas here? 2. When doing shamatha without a sign I tend to tense up and close my eyes. How can I release this tension? 3. Regarding the four applications of mindfulness, how do they vary among the different schools of Buddhism? 4. On what basis should I choose my main practice for the retreat? 5. Should loving-kindness practice lead us to be vegetarians? 6. What is happening with the energies in the body during shamatha, and what types of natural healing take place? 7. During the meditation of settling the mind, we are supposed to meditate without distraction and attachment -- but why not without aversion? 8. In awareness of awareness practice, is the po