45 Merging mind with space and the importance of a genuine path (marga)

Fall 2013 Shamatha and the Bodhisattva Way of Life

We start today's morning session with the last (silent) meditation in the cycle of merging mind with space. After the meditation, Alan gives a big-picture context of the path (marga) in Mahayana Buddhism, namely in Mahamudra and Dzogchen. By elaborating on the steps and stages of each path, Alan makes it clear - once again - how Shamatha is an indispensable step if one aspires to cultivate genuine realizations on his/her path. He also points out how often unskilled teachings/teachers can confuse the qualities of Shamatha practice with much higher realizations and when this happens, the practitioner not only does not progress on his/her path but is also deluded regrading the realizations, which is the danger of inauthentic teachings. Hence, one should not abandon the ground practices of Shamatha and other preliminaries (Tong Len, Lam Rim, etc.) before venturing out into more esoteric practices.

Meditation (left in so you can practice along with us) starts at: 02:00