The session begins with Geshe-la explaining how sensitivity to negative tendencies can transform into wisdom. By observing anger, agitation, or other afflictions, practitioners recognise how these patterns link to the five poisons and five wisdoms. Geshe-la emphasises that authentic meditation reveals truth through lived change, not intellectual reasoning. Genuine Dharma is marked by humility, ethics, and the natural arising of the pāramitās.

He describes “mixing practice” — bringing awareness from the cushion into daily activities, including mantra recitation, dream awareness, and working with visions. Authentic practice leads to spontaneous ethics and compassion, and non-dual awareness distinct from unconscious states. He stresses that Dharma is validated by reduced afflictions and increased compassion.

Geshe-la explains determination as arising from devotion, guru yoga, and compassion, noting that circumstances differ for each practitioner. Trust is vital, not blind faith but confidence in one’s meditation method. Without it, doubt undermines practice. Examples include practitioners using bells as reminders to check awareness throughout daily life.

Questions lead to a discussion of dream yoga and tögal. Geshe-la explains that dream yoga requires recognition of natural state; otherwise, it risks superficiality. Advanced practices reveal the insubstantiality of phenomena, but must be grounded in authentic evenness meditation. He notes that enlightenment paths differ as people are stuck in different ways, but trust and determination are essential supports.

The session closes with Geshe-la’s departure and the group continuing on their own. A participant reads from a commentary by Lopan Tenzin Namdak, explaining transition from calm concentration to recognition of natural state. The passage highlights observing thoughts without judgment, recognising watcher and watched as inseparable, and clarity inseparable from emptiness.

Michael then guides a meditation. Instructions begin with posture and body scan, inviting awareness of elements and sounds, followed by reflections on impermanence and interconnectedness. Participants visualise safe, supportive experiences and invite into their awareness a teacher or figure embodying compassion, wisdom, and equanimity. The practice emphasises stability, trust, and presence in recognising the natural state.