SCIENCE MEETS MEDITATION: Balance the Heart and Mind
Feb 5th, 2009 by admin
(May 29, 2009 — May 31, 2009 at the Upaya Institute and Zen Center, http://www.upaya.org/programs/event.php?id=187)
In this weekend retreat, Dr. Wallace focuses on two methods for cultivating meditative quiescence, or shamatha. In addition to exploring the important neuroscience research being done on Dr. Wallace’s Shamatha project, he will teach, shamatha, the practice of “mindfulness of breathing”, which is an effective approach to soothing the body and calming the discursive mind. He will also introduce a method that is both a shamatha practice and a preliminary to Dzogchen, called “settling the mind in its natural state.” The attainment of shamatha is widely regarded in the Buddhist tradition as an indispensable foundation for the cultivation of contemplative insight (vipashyana).
This retreat is designed to provide participants with a sufficient theoretical and neuroscientific understanding of meditation and a basis in experience to enable participants to proceed effectively toward this extraordinary state of mental and physical balance.
Instruction will also be offered on the cultivation of the four immeasurables: loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity. These qualities of the heart are so powerful that they can break down all the barriers that are created by attachment and aversion, opening our hearts boundlessly to all beings, which brings peace and happiness.