A Retreat with Lama Alan Wallace & Dr Eva Natanya

DWELLING IN THE HEART OF REALITY:

Parallel Practices in Dzogchen and Christianity

In this six-day virtual retreat, the world-renowned Buddhist teacher, Dr. B. Alan Wallace, will dialogue with Dr. Eva Natanya, an experienced meditator and scholar of both Tibetan Buddhism and Christianity, to explore the deep parallels in practice and theory that may be found in these two ancient contemplative traditions. They will each lead numerous guided meditations, teaching details of meditation technique that are indispensable to developing a clear and stable practice, whichever tradition of prayer or meditation one may follow. They will also explain the meaning of each practice within their respective contexts: how stillness meditation, or shamatha, fits within the full scope of the Buddhist path of Dzogchen, or the Great Perfection, and how the Christian practice of hesychasm, or silent stillness, becomes a mystical path to contemplative union with the mind of Christ. Thus, participants will be invited to an experiential practice of interreligious dialogue, in which we take seriously the points of apparent contradiction, but also cut through to a perspective from which even irreconcilable differences might make sense within a greater encompassment.

Each day will consist of three sessions, totaling 5½ hours.

 In each morning 2-hour session, Dr. Alan Wallace will introduce and guide a meditation, followed by explanation from the Tibetan Buddhist Dzogchen tradition, and comparative discussion with Dr. Eva Natanya.

In each afternoon 2-hour session, Dr. Natanya will lead a meditation in Christian terms, followed by explanation from the Christian Hesychast tradition, and further dialogue with Dr. Wallace.

In the evening 1.5-hour session, Dr. Wallace will lead a meditation, followed by an opportunity for both teachers to respond to questions posed through the online platform.

Suggested Reading: 

Open Mind: View and Meditation in the Lineage of Lerab Lingpa, translated by B. Alan Wallace, edited by Eva Natanya (Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications), 2018. See especially “Oral Instructions of the Vidydhara Gurus,” by Dharmasra, and “An Ornament of the Enlightened View of Samantabhadra” by Jé Tsultrim Zangpo, pp. 127–207.

 The Philokalia: The Complete Text, compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth, Vol. IV, translated by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware (New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux), 1998. See especially St. Symeon the Theologian (pp. 11–75), Nikiphoros the Monk (pp. 192–206), and St. Gregory Palamas (pp. 287–345).

Selected readings from original sources will be provided.

Lama Alan Teaching at The Buddhist Society, London June 2019