Lojong: Training the Heart and Mind

"True compassion does not come from wanting to help out those
less fortunate than ourselves but from realizing our kinship with all beings."

---Pema Chödrön, Awakening Loving-Kindness

"Whatever you meet unexpectedly, join with meditation."
---The 16th Mind Training Slogan of Atisha

I've had my nose buried in books a lot this past week, diving once again into a stack of works on the Lojong Trainings.

Although the 59 slogans of this Tibetan Buddhist system of training the Heart/Mind were passed on as secret teachings in Tibet by the ninth century emigre Indian teacher, Atisha, they were codified and then opened to a wider audience in the 12th century by Tibetan teacher Geshe Chekawa.

Now, in the 21st century, that audience has become worldwide.  Here, in the melting pot of American Buddhism, there are numerous translations and commentaries on these Teachings in English -- and not only by teachers in the Tibetan tradition of  Pema Chödrön and her teacher Chögyam Trungpa.  In fact, these days my favorite book on Lojong is that of Zen teacher, Sensei Norman Fisher.  His book, Training in Compassion: Zen Teachings on the Practice of Lojong, rocks!

In print, in digital media, and on the web, viewing the vast array of material on Lojong available today is like peering at the rainbow facets of a diamond while slowly spinning it around in the sunlight.  It's dazzling.

How cool is that?

The Theory and the Practice

Of course, studying is one thing.  Unlearning a habits of a lifetime is another.  We've all been immersed in a pool of conditioning that serves to disconnect us from our Heart of Hearts.  The effort to uncover our natural compassion and wisdom takes commitment, energy, and patience.  

It takes Practice. 

At one point years and years ago, after having been struck by a suggestion by Ram Dass's in Be Here Now,
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I scribed a couple of "reminders" with colorful magic markers on index cards and taped them at eye level at strategic points around the house.  The first was "BE HERE NOW".  The second was "BREATHE!"  Often, when my eyes caught the card during the course of the day, I remembered!  If only for a moment or two, I had the opportunity to interrupt the habitual narratives running through my head and recalibrate the focus and quality of my awareness.

Over time, I internalized the reminders more and more. It was quite helpful.

The Mind Training Slogans of Atisha are, to say the least, a bit more sophisticated approach.  The 59 slogans are organized into 7 Points with the purpose of guiding one's Practice--both on and off the cushion.  In familiarizing yourself with the slogans, in taking time to reflect on their meaning again and again, the idea is that you'll be more likely to remember.  

In formal meditation practice -- and during the helter skelter of one's daily life -- one of the slogans may emerge in that moment to frame how to use that moment as an opportunity to practice.  Rather than react in our "normal" and generally neurotic habitual manner to the world inside and outside of us, these trainings can help us to interrupt that flow, to train ourselves toward greater openness, kindness and compassion.

Then, in a delightful--and very Buddhist, manner--we find that the slogans are also systematically designed to self-destruct.  (Slogan 4: Self-liberate even the antidote!)  They aren't seen as absolute truths in and of themselves.  They are merely mind rafts along the river of your own mind, a means of taking the Practice deeper.   

And then, as Pema Chödrön sees it, the Lojong Training raft doesn't even get you to the other shore.  As the Practice deepens, the raft just disintegrates -- leaving you there with no ground to stand on!

All you have left, then, is a clear and open mind -- and a kind and compassionate heart.

How cool is that?

PS Although, I haven't studied the Lojong Practices with a "qualified teacher," Lojong resonates deeply with my sense of "skillful means." 

Prodded to do so by one of the members of the Mindfulness Circles I facilitate, I dove into the study of these slogans about seven years ago.  Being an inveterate bookworm, I read and re-read a number of booklength commentaries on the 59 slogans, then began choosing a slogan at random each day to focus on as I awake each morning (selecting that slogan using a random number generator on my iPhone. Oy vey. LOL).  

I then usually read a brief presentation and commentary on the slogan by Acharya Judy Lief in Tricycle Magazine On-line .  If I have time that day, I'll then re-read a commentary or two.   Since I've been through each of these commentaries numerous times now, I'll often head towards the commentary that I feel might be the most relevant and useful given the specific things I'm facing that day.  I'm amazed at how often the "perfect" slogan emerges.

If you're interested in looking further into these Teachings, a couple of years back I put up an annotated bibliography of print and audio/video material at http://alaymanlooksatlojong.blogspot.com/p/another-disclaimer-although-decidedly.html 

Check it out.  This stuff works -- if YOU work at it.     
One Love,
Lance