The sixfold matrix of mental balance
4 teachings in the library are about this.
- Session Three - Refuge, and the Three Higher Trainings David Oromith · 89 minutes · recorded November 3, 2025
Refuge is confidence born of experience rather than blind faith, and David uses the trust we place in an airline pilot to say why. He completes the text with the three higher trainings of ethics, mental balance and wisdom, and closes on the parable of the unruly prince, the wise minister and the strong warrior.
- Four Aspects of Mental Balance Lama Alan · 87 minutes · recorded August 29, 2022
Lama Alan Wallace argues that modern psychology mistakes symptoms such as depression and anxiety for disorders, and looks outward for causes that are primarily inward. Drawing on the Nalanda tradition, he sets out four kinds of mental balance, conative, attentional, cognitive and emotional, each able to fail through deficit, hyperactivity or dysfunction. It is exposition throughout, with no guided practice. Questions cover his fourfold vision quest and compassion in wartime.
- Motivational Balance Glen Svensson · 74 minutes
The final module opens with the fourfold model of wellbeing from Lama Alan Wallace and Shauna Shapiro's article on mental balance, and the first of its four: motivational balance, which corresponds to the preliminary practices. Glen Svensson works through its imbalances of deficit, hyperactivity and dysfunction. One guided practice is on settling body, speech and mind, a second on whether trying to manipulate the things around us is an effective strategy. Mindfulness alone, he warns, can make matters worse.
- Stillness in Motion Glen Svensson · 91 minutes
Resting in stillness while watching the movements of the mind, a practice Glen Svensson draws from Dudjom Lingpa, combines the two objects used earlier in the course. He reviews all four modules, sets shamatha inside Lama Alan Wallace and Shauna Shapiro's fourfold model of mental balance, and advises on when and how long to practise, on triggers for daily mindfulness, and reviewing the day before sleep. A guided open awareness practice follows. The course closes with the Shantideva dedication.
More by subject
- Anger and aversion 143
- Attachment and craving 123
- The nature of mind 93
- Emptiness 84
- The bodhisattva path 81
- Anxiety and fear 79
- Death and dying 77
- Distraction and attention 73
- Sleep and rest 66
- Buddhist psychology 59
- Illness and pain 57
- Karma 57
- Teacher and student 56
- Habits and change 53
- Genuine happiness and wellbeing 52
- Patience, forbearance and acceptance 50
- Impermanence 46
- Relaxation 43
- Gratitude and appreciation 42
- Relationships and family 38
- Motivation and intention 37
- Tantra and Vajrayana 37
- Depression and low mood 32
- Dream yoga 32
- Comparison and self-cherishing 31
- Dreams and sleep 31
- Guilt and regret 28
- Self-criticism and shame 28
- Work and daily life 28
- Rebirth and continuity 26
- Lineage and tradition 23
- Buddha nature 22
- The four noble truths 22
- Ethics and precepts 21
- Stress and burnout 21
- Emotional balance 19
- Generosity and dana 18
- Forgiveness 17
- Consciousness and science 15
- The six perfections (paramitas) 15
- Enthusiastic effort (virya) 14
- Sangha and community 14
- The eight worldly concerns 14
- The four thoughts that turn the mind 14
- Grief and loss 13
- Perception and projection 13
- Dependent origination 12
- Refuge 11
- Not-self (anatta) 10
- Attentional balance 9
- Ecology and the climate 7
- Cognitive balance 6
- Nature and the outdoors 6
- The eightfold path 5
- Peace and conflict 4
- Introspection and self-monitoring 3
- Secular mindfulness 3
- Self-compassion 3
- Symbolism and iconography 3
- Spiritual materialism and bypassing 1
- The three marks of existence 1