Lojong

( , 'mind training') is a contemplative practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition which makes use of various lists of aphorisms or slogans which are used for contemplative practice. The practice involves refining and purifying one's motivations and attitudes. There are various sets of aphorisms; the most widespread text in the Sarma traditions is that of Chekawa Yeshe Dorje (12th century). There is also another set of eight slogans by Langri Tangpa. In the Nyingma tradition, there is a list of seven slogans which are part of the Dzogchen Nyingthig lineage. slogans are designed as a set of antidotes to undesired mental habits that cause suffering. They contain both methods to expand one's viewpoint towards absolute or ultimate , such as "Find the consciousness you had before you were born" and "Treat everything you perceive as a dream", and methods for relating to the world in a more constructive way with relative , such as "Be grateful to everyone", and "When everything goes wrong, treat disaster as a way to wake up". Prominent teachers who have popularized this practice in the West include Pema Chödrön, Ken McLeod, B. Alan Wallace, Chögyam Trungpa, Sogyal Rinpoche, Kelsang Gyatso, Norman Fischer and the 14th Dalai Lama.

( , 'mind training') is a contemplative practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition which makes use of various lists of aphorisms or slogans which are used for contemplative practice. The practice involves refining and purifying one's motivations and attitudes. There are various sets of aphorisms; the most widespread text in the Sarma traditions is that of Chekawa Yeshe Dorje (12th century). There is also another set of eight slogans by Langri Tangpa. In the Nyingma tradition, there is a list of seven slogans which are part of the Dzogchen Nyingthig lineage. slogans are designed as a set of antidotes to undesired mental habits that cause suffering. They contain both methods to expand one's viewpoint towards absolute or ultimate , such as "Find the consciousness you had before you were born" and "Treat everything you perceive as a dream", and methods for relating to the world in a more constructive way with relative , such as "Be grateful to everyone", and "When everything goes wrong, treat disaster as a way to wake up". Prominent teachers who have popularized this practice in the West include Pema Chödrön, Ken McLeod, B. Alan Wallace, Chögyam Trungpa, Sogyal Rinpoche, Kelsang Gyatso, Norman Fischer and the 14th Dalai Lama. ==History of the practice== mind training practice was developed over a 300-year period between 900 and 1200 CE, as part of the Mahāyāna school of Buddhism. Atiśa (982–1054 CE), a Bengali meditation master, is generally regarded as the originator of the practice. It is not described in his Lamp on the Path to Enlightenment ( ) but rather is based on oral teachings. The practice is based upon his studies with the Sumatran teacher, Dharmakīrtiśrī (Tib. Serlingpa, ), and the Indian teacher Dharmarakṣita, a prominent teacher at Odantapuri and author of a text called the Wheel of Sharp Weapons. Both these texts are well known in Tibetan translation. Atiśa's third major teacher of is said to have been the junior Kusalī, known also as Maitrīyogi. Atiśa journeyed to Sumatra and studied with Dharmakīrtiśrī for twelve years. He then returned to teach in India, but at an advanced age accepted an invitation to teach in Tibet, where he stayed for the rest of his life. A story is told that Atiśa heard that the inhabitants of Tibet were very pleasant and easy to get along with. Instead of being delighted, he was concerned that he would not have enough negative emotion to work with in his mind training practice. So he brought along his ill-tempered Bengali servant-boy, who would criticize him incessantly and was challenging to spend time with. Tibetan teachers then like to joke that when Atiśan arrived in Tibet, he realized there was no need after all. The aphorisms on mind training in their present form were composed by Chekawa Yeshe Dorje (1101–1175 CE). According to one account, Chekhawa saw a text on his cell-mate's bed, open to the phrase: "Gain and victory to others, loss and defeat to oneself". The phrase struck him and he sought out the author Langri Tangpa (1054–1123). Finding that Langri Tangpa had died, he studied instead with one of Langri Tangpa's students, Sharawa Yönten Drak, for twelve years. Chekhawa is claimed to have cured leprosy with mind training . In one account, he went to live with a colony of lepers and did the practice with them. Over time many of them were healed, more lepers came, and eventually people without leprosy also took an interest in the practice. Another popular story about Chekhawa and mind training concerns his brother and how it transformed him into a much kinder person. ==References== ===Citations=== ===Sources=== (* ([http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/tib/training.htm Introduction) ==Further reading== ==External links== A Reader's Guide to Lojong from Shambhala Publications Lojong Texts - An Anthology - eBook downloads from Lotsawa House Lojong - Training the Mind at Kadampa.org Interactive Reference: 59 Lojong Slogans

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1351720059 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.