Teachings with Khenchen Lama Rinpoche - February 2009

Four Applications of Mindfulness
A central message of the Buddha's teachings is that the mind is purified of its afflictions through the integrated cultivation of meditative quiescence (shamatha) and contemplative insight (vipashyana). During this seminar, we will focus on the four applications of mindfulness, which form the foundation of Buddhist insight practice. These include mindfulness of the body, feelings, mental states, and mental objects. As we investigate the nature of these features of our existence, we will probe the very nature of human identity and the possibility of freedom. A central theme will be the cultivation of pure mindfulness, in which we will increasingly distinguish between phenomena presented to our senses and the conceptual projections that we impose on reality. The seminar will consist of lectures, guided meditations, and discussions led by Alan Wallace.

Dr. Alan Wallace
B. Alan Wallace, Ph.D. has been a scholar and practitioner of Buddhism since 1970, and he has taught Buddhist theory and meditation throughout Europe and America since 1976. Having devoted fourteen years to training as a Tibetan Buddhist monk, ordained by H. H. the Dalai Lama, he went on to earn an undergraduate degree in physics and the philosophy of science at Amherst College and a doctorate in religious studies at Stanford University. With this background, he brings unique experience and skills to the challenge of integrating traditional Indo-Tibetan Buddhism with the modern world. One of the most prolific writers and translators of Tibetan Buddhism in the West, he is currently seeking ways to integrate Buddhist contemplative practices and Western science to advance the study of the mind.