{"id":840,"date":"2022-12-31T02:51:29","date_gmt":"2022-12-31T02:51:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mind-here-and-hereafter.org\/?page_id=840"},"modified":"2022-12-31T03:13:52","modified_gmt":"2022-12-31T03:13:52","slug":"notes-on-the-seven-point-mind-training","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mind-here-and-hereafter.org\/?page_id=840","title":{"rendered":"Notes on the Seven-Point Mind Training"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
In this section, commentary is shared on selected slogans of the Seven-Point Mind Training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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(1) First, train in the preliminaries<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
In our daily life, we should maintain an awareness of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(2) The reality of death, that it comes suddenly and without warning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(3 The entrapment of karma\u2014that whatever we do, whether virtuous or not, only further entraps us in the chain of cause and effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(4) The intensity and inevitability of suffering for ourselves and for all sentient beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: Trungpa, Chogyam.\u00a0Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness<\/em>. Edited by Judith L. Lief. Boston, US: Shambhala Publications, 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\nContemplation<\/strong>
Lojong<\/em>: 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\u2014pleasant or painful\u2014to awaken genuine, uncontrived compassion.
Lojong<\/em>\u00a0introduces a different attitude toward unwanted stuff: if it\u2019s 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\u2019re afraid that it will end. We\u2019re not inclined to share it.\u00a0
The\u00a0lojong<\/em>\u00a0teachings 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\u2019re going to slip away and holding on to them, share them.\u00a0
Whether it\u2019s pain or pleasure, through\u00a0lojong<\/em>\u00a0practice 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\u00a0bodhichitta\u00a0<\/em>(\u201cawakened heart\u201d).\u00a0
Source: Chodron, Pema.\u00a0The Compassion Book: Teachings for Awakening the Heart.\u00a0<\/em>Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2006.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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