Online Retreat With B. Alan Wallace

Alan Wallace will offer commentaries on Three Texts by Atiśa:

Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna (982-1055) was one of the greatest paṇḍits and mahāsiddhas in the history of Indian Buddhism, and he was seminal in revitalizing Buddhism in Tibet after its decline in the ninth century under the oppressive reign of King Langdarma. He was trained academically in the great monastic universities of Vikramaśīla and Nalandā and contemplatively by the Mahāsiddhas Avadhūtīpada and Nāropā in India, as well as by Dharmakīrtiśrī (Serlingpa) in Indonesia. In his text A Guide to the Two Realities he presents an interpretation of ultimate and deceptive realities that is based on the writings of Nāgārjuna and Candrakīrti. In his Pith Instructions on a Single Mindfulness Atiśa explains how to unite the cultivation of the two bodhicittas, relative and ultimate, and he offers quintessential meditative guidance in his root text The Mahāmudrā Granted by the Noble Lord to Gönpawa. A master of both Madhyamaka and Mahāmudrā, Atiśa’s approach provides us today with a bridge between understanding the Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka view, Mahāmudrā, and Dzogchen. This two-day seminar will be comprised of Alan Wallace’s oral commentaries and guided meditations, as well as times for discussion and questions and answers.