The Four Applications of Mindfulness with B. Alan Wallace

Learning to distinguish between sensation and mental construct is an essential aspect of the path to true liberation.

This program has been canceled.

A central message of the Buddha's teachings is that the mind is purified of its afflictions through the integrated cultivation of meditative quiescence (shamatha) and contemplative insight (vipashyana). The four applications of mindfulness—of the body, feelings, mental states, and mental objects—comprise the foundation of Buddhist insight practice. As we investigate the nature of these features of our existence, we will probe the nature of human identity and the possibility of freedom from suffering and its inner causes.

Through lectures, guided meditations, and discussions, we will cultivate cognitive balance in which we increasingly distinguish between phenomena presented to our senses and the conceptual projections that we impose on reality. Through this mode of contemplative inquiry we will integrate the pursuits of genuine happiness, understanding, and virtue.

B. Alan Wallace is the founder and president of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies. Combining 17 years of training as a Tibetan Buddhist monk with degrees in physics, the philosophy of science and religious studies, he is currently seeking ways to integrate Buddhist contemplative practices and Western science to advance the study of the mind. He is the author of numerous books, including Embracing Mind: The Common Ground of Science & Spirituality.