In this section, commentary is shared on selected slogans of the Seven-Point Mind Training.
(1) First, train in the preliminaries
In our daily life, we should maintain an awareness of:
(1) The preciousness of human life and the particular good fortune of life in an environment in which we can hear the teachings of Buddha dharma.
(2) The reality of death, that it comes suddenly and without warning.
(3 The entrapment of karma—that whatever we do, whether virtuous or not, only further entraps us in the chain of cause and effect.
(4) The intensity and inevitability of suffering for ourselves and for all sentient beings.
Source: Trungpa, Chogyam. Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness. Edited by Judith L. Lief. Boston, US: Shambhala Publications, 2010.
Lojong: Transforming the Mind
When I first read these slogans, I was struck by their unusual message: we can use everything we encounter in our lives—pleasant or painful—to awaken genuine, uncontrived compassion.
Lojong introduces a different attitude toward unwanted stuff: if it’s painful, you become willing not just to endure it but also to let it awaken your heart and soften you. You learn to embrace it. If an experience is delightful or pleasant, usually we want to grab it and make it last. We’re afraid that it will end. We’re not inclined to share it.
The lojong teachings encourage us, if we enjoy what we are experiencing, to think of other people and wish for them to feel that. Share the wealth. Be generous with your joy. Give away what you most want. Be generous with your insights and delights. Instead of fearing that they’re going to slip away and holding on to them, share them.
Whether it’s pain or pleasure, through lojong practice we come to have a sense of letting our experience be as it is without trying to manipulate it, push it away, or grasp it. The pleasurable aspects of being human as well as the painful ones become the key to awakening bodhichitta (“awakened heart”).
Source: Chodron, Pema. The Compassion Book: Teachings for Awakening the Heart. Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2006.