Special Event and Workshops
Balancing the Heart and Mind A Weekend Retreat with B. Alan Wallace
Date: August 10, 2007 to August 12, 2007Time: 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Location: Cal Poly Pomona, Bronco Student Center, Ursa Minor
During this retreat we will explore in theory and practice two methods for meditative quiescence, or shamatha. The achievement of shamatha or “settling the mind in its natural state” is widely regarded in the Buddhist tradition as an indispensable foundation for the cultivation of contemplative insight (vipashyana), and this retreat is designed to provide participants with a sufficient theoretical understanding and a basis in experience to enable them to proceed effectively toward this extraordinary state of mental and physical balance.
In addition, instruction will be offered on the cultivation of the “four immeasurables,” namely loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity. They are so called, for the development of these qualities of the heart that can break down all barriers that are created by attachment and aversion, opening our hearts boundlessly to all beings.
Lectures and guided meditations will be interspersed with periods for group discussions, focused on the practical applications of these practices in daily life.
This retreat will be valuable for college faculty and students, school teachers, business and community leaders, peace workers, mediators and other professionals who are interested in achieving balance and harmony in their lives.
Alan Wallace
Dr. Alan Wallace, a scholar and practitioner of Buddhism, has taught Buddhist theory and meditation worldwide since 1976. Having devoted fourteen years to training as a Tibetan Buddhist monk ordained by H. H. the Dalai Lama, he continually seeks innovative ways to integrate Buddhist contemplative practices with Western science to advance the study of the mind.
He is one of the most prolific writer and translators of books on Tibetan Buddhism in the West. His most recent books are The Attention Revolution: Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind (2006), Genuine Happiness: Meditation as a Path to Fulfillment (2005) and The Four Immeasurables: Cultivating a Boundless Heart (2004).
He did his undergraduate studies in physics and the philosophy of science at Amherst College, and earned a Ph. D. in religious studies from Stanford University. During 1995-1997, he was a Visiting Scholar in the departments of religious studies and psychology at Stanford, and from 1997 to 2001 he taught in the Department of Religious Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara
He lives in Santa Barbara, where he is the president and founder of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies, dedicated to interdisciplinary research and education to advance understanding of the nature and potentials of consciousness.
More About Dr. Alan Wallce