For the second time we interview teacher and scholar B. Alan Wallace on Buddhist Geeks. Since we asked him about the Shamatha Project–an extensive meditation research project he was leading–last time, we decided to follow up in this conversation and find out how it went. He shared with us specific details about how the retreat went, both for the scientists and yogis. Check them out if you’re interested:
- Reverberations from The Shamatha Project
- Unwavering Samadhi: Meditative Achievement and Its Impact in the World
I really appreciated Alan’s candidness about the progress that the yogi’s made and his clear message that attaining these states and stages are indeed possible. I also appreciated, though am sometimes a little bit weary, of his strong emphasis on intensive practice. Many teachers have a more Buddhist-lite approach to practice, but I think he’s very clear about what it takes to achieve mastery in a given area and promotes meditation as such. The reason I’m slightly weary of it has more to do with my own tendencies of wanting to escape the world, and go live in a cave permanently. I think there’s also a lot of value–though I’m sure Alan would agree–in doing intensive practice and also integrating with the world-at-large.
In any case, I hope you enjoy the conversation with Dr. Wallace and also keep your eyes peeled for a future episode with him (that has already been recorded) where we discuss dream yoga and lucid dreaming in the context of Buddhist dream practices. We may even have a whole month of episodes on the topic of dream practices!
