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The Seven Points of Mind Training (Lojong)

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The Seven Points of Mind Training (Lojong)

Sources:

  1. Lojong Slogans (Wikipedia)
  2. Seven Point Mind Training (StudyBuddhism)
  3. The Seven Points of Mind Training (Lotsawa House)

Point One: The Preliminaries

The basis for dharma practice.

Slogan 1: Train in the preliminaries (The Four Reminders)

  1. Precious Life: Awareness of the preciousness of human life.
  2. Impermanence: Awareness that life ends; death comes for everyone.
  3. Karma: Recall that every action, virtuous or not, has a result.
  4. Ego & Suffering: Awareness of the disadvantages of samsara.

Point Two: The Main Practice

Training in Bodhicitta (Absolute and Relative).

Absolute Bodhicitta

  • Slogan 2: Regard all dharmas as dreams; experiences are passing memories.
  • Slogan 3: Examine the nature of unborn awareness.
  • Slogan 4: Self-liberate even the antidote (allowing the remedy itself to naturally dissolve once its job is done).
  • Slogan 5: Rest in the nature of alaya (the essence, the present moment).
  • Slogan 6: In post-meditation, be a child of illusion.

Relative Bodhicitta

  • Slogan 7: Practice sending and taking (Tonglen) alternately on the breath (taking in others’ suffering on the inhale and sending out your own happiness and merit on the exhale).
  • Slogan 8: Three objects (attractive, unattractive, and neutral), three poisons (attachment, aversion, and ignorance), and three roots of virtue (detachment, imperturbability, and clarity).
  • Slogan 9: In all activities, train with slogans.
  • Slogan 10: Begin the sequence of sending and taking with yourself.

Point Three: Transforming Adversity into the Path of Enlightenment

Turning mishaps into the way of enlightenment.

Slogan 11:

When the world is filled with evil, transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi.

i. Intention

Relative Bodhicitta

  • Slogan 12: Banish all blames into one: our own ego, which is the cause of all our problems.
  • Slogan 13: Be grateful to everyone.

Ultimate Bodhicitta

  • Slogan 14: Seeing confusion (deceptive appearances) as the four kayas is unsurpassable Śūnyatā protection (recognizing that all experience is the display of enlightened mind).

ii. Action

  • Slogan 15: Four practices are the best of methods:
    1. Accumulating merit.
    2. Purifying negative actions (laying down evil deeds).
    3. Offering to harmful influences (dons / vighnas).
    4. Offering to the Dharma protectors (dharmapalas).
  • Slogan 16: Whatever you encounter, apply the practice (join it with meditation).

Point Four: Practice in One’s Whole Life

Instructions for the duration of life and the moment of death.

  • Slogan 17: The essence of the practice throughout life is applying the five forces: intention/impetus, the white seed (positive potential / wholesome seeds), habituation/familiarization, elimination of self-cherishing / revulsion, and prayer/aspiration.
  • Slogan 18: At the moment of death, apply these same five forces as the quintessence of the Mahayana method for transferring consciousness.

Point Five: Evaluation of Mind Training

How to measure your progress.

  • Slogan 19: All dharma agrees at one point: lessening self-absorption.
  • Slogan 20: Of the two witnesses, others and yourself, hold the principal one (recognizing that your own mind is the only one that truly knows the depth of your practice).
  • Slogan 21: Always maintain only a joyful mind.
  • Slogan 22: If you can practice even when distracted, you are well trained.

Point Six: Disciplines of Mind Training

Specific vows and commitments.

  • Slogan 23: Always abide by the three general points (don’t contradict your promises, don’t engage in outrageous behavior, and don’t fall into partiality).
  • Slogan 24: Change your attitude, but remain natural.
  • Slogan 25: Don’t talk about injured limbs (contemplating others’ defects).
  • Slogan 26: Don’t ponder others (contemplating others’ weaknesses).
  • Slogan 27: Work with the greatest defilements first.
  • Slogan 28: Abandon any hope of fruition (stay in the present moment).
  • Slogan 29: Abandon poisonous food (actions motivated by self-cherishing).
  • Slogan 30: Don’t be so predictable (don’t hold long-term grudges).
  • Slogan 31: Don’t fly off into bad play (don’t react impulsively to negative spontaneous arisings or ‘lila’ of the mind).
  • Slogan 32: Don’t wait in ambush (waiting for others’ weaknesses to appear).
  • Slogan 33: Don’t bring things to a painful point (avoid humiliating others or poking at sensitive points).
  • Slogan 34: Don’t transfer the ox’s load to the cow (don’t shift your faults or responsibilities onto others).
  • Slogan 35: Don’t try to be the fastest (competing for status).
  • Slogan 36: Don’t act with a twist (scheming for self-benefit).
  • Slogan 37: Don’t turn gods into demons (don’t use spiritual practice to inflate the ego).
  • Slogan 38: Don’t seek others’ pain as the limbs of your own happiness.

Point Seven: Guidelines of Mind Training

Integrating practice into daily life.

  • Slogan 39: All activities should be done with one intention: to be better able to benefit others.
  • Slogan 40: Correct all wrongs with one intention: through the practice of giving and taking (Tonglen).
  • Slogan 41: Two activities: one at the beginning (setting the intention to help) and one at the end (dedicating the positive fruits).
  • Slogan 42: Whichever of the two occurs (things going well or things going poorly), act patiently and maintain equanimity.
  • Slogan 43: Observe these two (your general spiritual commitments and these specific mind-training practices), even at the risk of your life.
  • Slogan 44: Train in the three difficulties (recognizing disturbing emotions, applying remedies, and maintaining them).
  • Slogan 45: Take on the three principal causes (finding a teacher, practicing the teachings, and securing favorable conditions).
  • Slogan 46: Pay heed that the three never wane (appreciation for the teacher, enthusiasm for practice, and stable conduct).
  • Slogan 47: Keep the three inseparable—body, speech, and mind—constantly oriented toward helping others.
  • Slogan 48: Train without bias in all areas; pervasively and wholeheartedly.
  • Slogan 49: Always meditate on whatever provokes resentment.
  • Slogan 50: Don’t be swayed by external circumstances.
  • Slogan 51: Practice the main points: others before self, dharma, and compassion.
  • Slogan 52: Don’t misinterpret (patience, yearning, excitement, compassion, priorities, joy—ensure these are directed toward dharma, not ego).
  • Slogan 53: Don’t vacillate.
  • Slogan 54: Train wholeheartedly.
  • Slogan 55: Liberate yourself by examining and analyzing: know your own mind.
  • Slogan 56: Don’t wallow in self-pity.
  • Slogan 57: Don’t be jealous.
  • Slogan 58: Don’t be frivolous (Don’t act for merely a short while).
  • Slogan 59: Don’t expect applause.

See also: Dharmapada, The Heart of Dependent Origination