Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness

by Chogyam Trungpa

Overview

Warning: Using this book could be hazardous to your ego! The slogans it contains are designed to awaken the heart and cultivate love and kindness toward others. They are revolutionary in that practicing them fosters abandonment of personal territory in relating to others and in understanding the world as it is.

The fifty-nine provocative slogans presented here—each with a commentary by the Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa—have been used by Tibetan Buddhists for eight centuries to help meditation students remember and focus on important principles and practices of mind training. They emphasize meeting the ordinary situations of life with intelligence and compassion under all circumstances. Slogans include, "Don't be swayed by external circumstances," "Be grateful to everyone," and "Always maintain only a joyful mind."

This edition contains a new foreword by Pema Chödrön.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781590300510
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	07/29/2003
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	676,303
Product dimensions:	6.01(w) x 8.94(h) x 0.45(d)

About the Author

Chögyam Trungpa (1940–1987)—meditation master, teacher, and artist—founded Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, the first Buddhist-inspired university in North America; the Shambhala Training program; and an international association of meditation centers known as Shambhala International. He is the author of numerous books including Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, and The Myth of Freedom.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	xi
	Editor's Preface	xv
	Acknowledgments	xxv
	Introduction	1
Point 1	The Preliminaries, Which Are a Basis for Dharma Practice	7
1	First, train in the preliminaries	7
Point 2	The Main Practice, Which Is Training in Bodhichitta	9
	[Ultimate and Relative Bodhichitta]	9
	[Ultimate Bodhichitta Slogans]	25
2	Regard all dharmas as dreams	25
3	Examine the nature of unborn awareness	26
4	Self-liberate even the antidote	28
5	Rest in the nature of alaya, the essence	31
6	In postmeditation, be a child of illusion	36
	[Relative Bodhichitta Slogans]	39
7	Sending and taking should be practiced alternately
	These two should ride the breath	39
8	Three objects, three poisons, and three seeds of virtue	56
9	In all activities, train with slogans	58
10	Begin the sequence of sending and taking with yourself	59
Point 3	Transformation of Bad Circumstances into the Path of Englightenment	61
	[Point Three and the Paramita of Patience]	61
11	When the world is filled with evil, Transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi	62
12	Drive all blames into one	65
13	Be grateful to everyone	76
14	Seeing confusion as the four kayas Is unsurpassable shunyata protection	82
15	Four practices are the best of methods	88
16	Whatever you meet unexpectedly, join with meditation	108
Point 4	Showing the Utilization of Practice in One's Whole Life	113
	[Point Four and the Paramita of Exertion]	113
17	Practice the five strengths, The condensed heart instructions	114
18	The mahayana instruction for ejection of consciousness at death
	Is the five strengths: how you conduct yourself is important	121
Point 5	Evaluation of Mind Training	127
	[Point Five and the Paramita of Meditation]	127
19	All dharma agrees at one point	128
20	Of the two witnesses, hold the principal one	131
21	Always maintain only a joyful mind	134
22	If you can practice even when distracted, you are well trained	138
Point 6	Disciplines of Mind Training	143
	[Point Six and Prajnaparamita]	143
23	Always abide by the three basic principles	144
24	Change your attitude, but remain natural	147
25	Don't talk about injured limbs	148
26	Don't ponder others	149
27	Work with the greatest defilements first	150
28	Abandon any hope of fruition	150
29	Abandon poisonous food	152
30	Don't be so predictable	153
31	Don't malign others	155
32	Don't wait in ambush	155
33	Don't bring things to a painful point	156
34	Don't transfer the ox's load to the cow	157
35	Don't try to be the fastest	158
36	Don't act with a twist	159
37	Don't make gods into demons	160
38	Don't seek others' pain as the limbs of your own happiness	160
Point 7	Guidelines of Mind Training	163
	[Point Seven and Postmeditation]	163
39	All activities should be done with one intention	163
40	Correct all wrongs with one intention	164
41	Two activities: one at the beginning, one at the end	165
42	Whichever of the two occurs, be patient	166
43	Observe these two, even at the risk of your life	167
44	Train in the three difficulties	167
45	Take on the three principal causes	169
46	Pay heed that the three never wane	170
47	Keep the three inseparable	171
48	Train without bias in all areas. It is crucial always to do this pervasively and wholeheartedly	171
49	Always meditate on whatever provokes resentment	172
50	Don't be swayed by external circumstances	172
51	This time, practice the main points	172
52	Don't misinterpret	173
53	Don't vacillate	174
54	Train wholeheartedly	174
55	Liberate yourself by examining and analyzing	174
56	Don't wallow in self-pity	174
57	Don't be jealous	175
58	Don't be frivolous	175
59	Don't expect applause	175
	Concluding Verses	177
Appendix	Forty-six Ways in Which a Bodhisattva Fails	179
	Notes	185
	Glossary	189
	Transliterations of Tibetan Names and Terms	199
	Bibliography	201
	About the Slogan Cards	203
	About the Author	205
	Resources	211
	Index	215