Seven Points of Mind Training (Lojong)

1. Seven Points of Mind Training the famous instruction on 'mind training' (lojong) brought to
Tibet by Lord Atisha and written down by Geshe Chekawa. The seven points are:
i. The Preliminaries to Mind Training
ii. The Main Practice of Training the Mind in Bodhichitta
iii. Transforming Adversity into the Path of Awakening
iv. Applying the Practice Throughout One's Whole Life
v. The Measure or Signs of Proficiency in Mind Training
vi. The Commitments of Mind Training
vii. The Precepts of Mind Training

Chekawa's original text was not arranged into these seven points. This was done later by his disciple, Sechilphuwa Özer Shyönnu
(aka Chökyi Gyaltsen) (1121-1189).

Atisha Dipamkara (982-1054) was a great Indian master and scholar, and author of many texts
including the Lamp for the Path of Awakening. One of the main teachers at the famous university of
Vikramashila, he was also a strict follower of the monastic rule and was widely acclaimed for the
purity of his teaching. He spent the last ten years of his life in Tibet, teaching and translating texts,
and was instrumental in reinvigorating Buddhism there after a period of persecution. His disciples
founded the Kadampa school.

The details of Atisha’s life can be learned from the extensive biographies, but here is a brief summary.
He was born as the son of Kalyana Shri, the king of Zahor, and immediately upon his birth he had a
vision of Noble Tara. From an early age he studied the five sciences and especially the four classes of
tantra, so that he became supremely learned. He served in the proper way his learned and
accomplished teachers, who included Shantipa, Serlingpa, and Vidyā kokila. From the moment he first
received the Hevajra empowerment from his guru Rahulagupta, he had visions of many yidam
deities. He mastered unimaginable kinds of samadhi meditation. In accordance with prophecies he
had received from several masters and yidam deities, directly and in dreams, he took ordination in
the Mahasanghika tradition. He gained clairvoyance and miraculous abilities and subjugated demons
and tirthika extremists. He received instructions on mind training from the gurus mentioned above
and from his yidam deities, and twofold bodhichitta flooded his mind, expanding like a river in
summertime.

In particular, when he realized that the great master of Suvarnadvipa was a perfect embodiment of
the bodhichitta teachings, he travelled to Sumatra to seek his instruction. When they met he
immediately recognized him as his teacher from former lives and felt boundless devotion. The guru
offered him a golden statue [of the Buddha] that he had found in the forest as a child, signifying his
empowerment as the holder of his teachings. Atisha spent twelve years receiving instructions, all the
while staying close to his guru, and the bodhichitta of cherishing others above oneself was born in his
mind.

He returned to India and became an elder at Vikramashila Monastery. From there his enlightened
activity spread in all directions, East and West. He was revered as a master by followers of all schools
without any sectarian bias, and he caused the teachings of sutra and mantra to spread far and wide
through teaching and through practice. His yidam deities, such as Tara and Kasarpani, and many of
his teachers, such as Rahula, told him how beneficial it would be if were to travel to Tibet, and
especially how it would benefit a certain lay practitioner, or upasaka, and cause the teachings of his
oral lineage to flourish. He also received several invitations from the nephew of Lha Lama Yeshe Ö
[i.e., Changchub Ö ] who had himself been prophesied by the Buddha. So it was that he went to Tibet,
where he took pity on the ignorant Tibetans and eradicated their mistaken views and practices
through scriptural authority and logical reasoning, thereby setting them upon the genuine path. He
caused the torch of the sacred Dharma to blaze, burning away the thickets of mistaken views. He
developed people’s minds so that they could see the nature of reality, and he showed clearly the
distinction between Dharma and non-Dharma. In the fertile minds of his fortunate disciples, he
planted the seeds of bodhichitta and watered them with the finest nectar-like explanations, so that
they ripened into the wonderful harvest of liberation. For his foremost heir, the great Dromtö npa in
particular, he filled the fine mansion of his intellect with gems of transmission and realization. As if
opening up the treasure chest of his precious oral lineage, he dispelled the spiritual poverty of the
Land of Snows by bringing bountiful riches of virtue and goodness. Thus, we should know that the
glorious Atisha, holder of this precious oral lineage of which is like a chain of golden mountains, was
even kinder to us Tibetans than the Buddha himself.

Chekawa Yeshe Dorje (1101-1175) was born into a Nyingma family. From an early age, he took the
sufferings of others upon himself and felt natural joy in doing so. His potential and capacity for the
Mahayana were greatly developed. At the age of twenty-six, in Yarlung, he heard the Eight Verses of
Mind Training of Langri Tangpa from Geshe Nyangchak Shingpa and this was the cause for his
devotion to the Kadampa teachings. He was confident that the bodhichitta of exchanging oneself for
other is the fundamental basis of the mahayana teachings. For four years, he studied with Potowa’s
disciples Geshe Dolpa and Luk Mepa, receiving instructions on the texts of the Kadampa tradition.
Having developed deep confidence in bodhichitta, he arrived in Uri at the age of thirty in search of
the instructions on mind training. He received teachings from the great Sharawa for two years, but
during this time he never heard even a casual reference to these instructions. Feeling somewhat
doubtful, he asked his teacher, “Is the exchanging of oneself and others not the root of the Dharma?”
To which Sharawa replied that it is indeed indispensable as a method for attaining awakening and
made this clear with a quotation from the Precious Garland. Gaining confidence, Chekawa requested
the instructions. Sharawa accepted and Chekawa studied with him for nine years — first for a period
of six years and then for three more years later on — and focused entirely on this practice, receiving
teachings and meditating upon them, so that he cut through the bonds of self-cherishing, and
bodhichitta was truly born within his mind.
2. The Seven Points with slogans
a. The Preliminaries to Mind Training
i. First, train in the preliminaries.
a. Common/Outer Preliminaries
i. The uniqueness and opportunity of precious
human life
ii. The ever-presence and deeper meaning of
impermanence and death
iii. The infallibility of the cause and effect of our
actions, karma
iv. The repetitive cycle of frustration and suffering
that is samsara

b. The Main Practice of Training the Mind in Bodhichitta

i. Absolute Bodhicitta
ii. Regard all dharmas as dreams.
iii. Examine the nature of unborn awareness.
iv. Self-liberate even the antidote.
v. Rest in the nature of alaya, the essence.
vi. In post-meditation, be a child of illusion.
vii. Relative Bodhicitta Sending and taking should be practiced alternately.
These two should ride the breath.
viii. Three objects, three poisons, three roots of virtue.
ix. In all activities, train with slogans.
x. Begin the sequence of sending and taking with yourself.

c. Transforming Adversity into the Path of Awakening

i. When the world is filled with evil, transform all mishaps into the path of
bodhi.
ii. Drive all blames into one.
iii. Be grateful to everyone.
iv. Seeing confusion as the four kayas is unsurpassable shunyata protection.
v. Four practices are the best of methods.
vi. Whatever you meet unexpectedly, join with meditation.

d. Applying the Practice Throughout One's Whole Life

i. Practice the five strengths, the condensed heart instructions.
ii. The mahayana instruction for ejection of consciousness at death is the five
strengths: how you conduct yourself is important.

e. The Measure or Signs of Proficiency in Mind Training

i. All dharma agrees at one point.
ii. Of the two witnesses, hold the principal one.
iii. Always maintain only a joyful mind.
iv. If you can practice even when distracted, you are well trained.
f. The Commitments of Mind Training
i. Always abide by the three basic principles.
ii. Change you attitude, but remain natural.
iii. Don't talk about injured limbs.
iv. Don't ponder others.
v. Work with the greatest defilements first.
vi. Abandon any hope of fruition.
vii. Abandon poisonous food.
viii. Don't be so predictable.
ix. Don't malign others.
x. Don't wait in ambush.
xi. Don't bring things to a painful point.
xii. Don't transfer the ox's load to the cow.
xiii. Don't try to be the fastest.
xiv. Don't act with a twist.
xv. Don't make gods into demons.
xvi. Don't seek others' pain as the limbs of your own happiness.

g. The Precepts of Mind Training

i. All activities should be done with one intention.
ii. Correct all wrongs with one intention.
iii. Two activities: one at the beginning, one at the end.
iv. Whichever of the two occurs, be patient.
v. Observe these two, even at the risk of your life.
vi. Train in the three difficulties.
vii. Take on the three principal causes.
viii. Pay heed that the three never wane.
ix. Keep the three inseparable.
x. Train without bias in all areas. It is crucial always to do this pervasively and
wholeheartedly.
xi. Always meditate on whatever provokes resentment.
xii. Don't be swayed by external circumstances.
xiii. This time, practice the main points.
xiv. Don't misinterpret.
xv. Don't vacillate.
xvi. Train wholeheartedly.
xvii. Liberate yourself by examining and analyzing.
xviii. Don't wallow in self-pity.
xix. Don't be jealous.
xx. Don't be frivolous.
xxi. Don't expect applause.
Lojong books in english:
B. Alan Wallace, Seven Point Mind Training, Snow Lion Publications, 2004

B. Alan Wallace, Buddhism with an Attitude, Snow Lion Publications, 2003

Dalai Lama, Awakening the Mind, Lightening the Heart, the Dalai Lama (based on a commentary entitled The Rays of the Sun, by
Hortön Namkha Pel, a disciple of Tsongkhapa), Harper San Francisco, 1995

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Enlightened Courage, Editions Padmakara, 1992

Chögyam Trungpa, Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving Kindness, Shambhala, 1993

Geshe Lobsang Tharchin, Achieving Bodhichitta, Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Press, 1999

Geshe Rabten & Geshe Dhargyey, Advice for a Spiritual Friend, Wisdom Publications, 1996

Geshe Thupten Jinpa (translator), Mind Training: The Great Collection (as part of an anthology of early lojong texts), Wisdom
Publications, 2005

Gomo Tulku, Becoming a Child of the Buddhas, Wisdom Publications, 1998

Jamgön Kongtrul, The Great Path of Awakening, translated by Ken McLeod, Shambhala, 2005

Pema Chödrön, Start Where You Are, Shambhala Publications, 2001

Ringu Tulku Mind Training, Snow Lion Publications, 2007

Traleg Kyabgon, Benevolent Mind, Zhyisil Chokyi Publications, 2004

Traleg Kyabgon, The Practice of Lojong: Cultivating Compassion Through Training the Mind, Shambhala Publications, 2007

Zhechen Gyaltsab Gyurmed Padma Namgyal, Path of Heroes: Birth of Enlightenment (two volumes), Dharma Press, 1995