Lojong

Beginning Tuesday, 11/4/20 from 4-6pm PST / 7 - 9pm EST

15 Week Course Lojong

8 Verses of Training the Mind
Geshe Langri Thangpa

1. By thinking of all sentient beings. As more precious than a wish-fulfilling jewel, for accomplishing the highest aim, I will always hold them dear.

2. Whenever I’m in the company of others, I will regard myself as the lowest among all, And from the depths of my heart, Cherish others as supreme.

3. In my every action, I will watch my mind, And the moment destructive emotions arise, I will confront them strongly and avert them, Since they will hurt both me and others.

4. Whenever I see ill-natured beings, Or those overwhelmed by heavy misdeeds or suffering, I will cherish them as something rare, As though I’d found a priceless treasure.

5. Whenever someone out of envy, Does me wrong by attacking or belittling me, I will take defeat upon myself, And give the victory to others.

6. Even when someone I have helped, Or in whom I have placed great hopes Mistreats me very unjustly, I will view that person as a true spiritual teacher.

7. In brief, directly or indirectly, I will offer help and happiness to all my mothers, And secretly take upon myself, All their hurt and suffering.

8. I will learn to keep all these practices, Untainted by thoughts of the eight worldly concerns. May I recognize all things as like illusions, And, without attachment, gain freedom from bondage.

| Rigpa Translations. Revised 2012.

Geshe Langri Tangpa (གླང་རི་ཐང་པ། ; wylie: glang ri thang pa) (1054–1123) is an important figure in the lineage of the Kadampa and Gelug schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in Central Tibet, as Dorje Senge (རྡོ་རྗེ་ སེང་གེ). His name derives from Langtang, the area in which he is said to have lived. He was a Kadampa master, and disciple of Potowa.

In the 2nd water bird year he founded Langtang Monastery (གླང་ཐང་), as a Kadampa monastery. It later became a Sakya monastery.

He was the author of Eight Verses of Training the Mind (བློ་སྦྱོང་ཚིགས་བརྒྱད་མ། ; wylie: blo sbyong tshigs brgyad ma), considered a succinct summary of the Lojong (བློ་སྦྱོང་) teachings of Mahayana Buddhism. He is said to be an emanation of Buddha Amitābha.

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Materials for This Course

MMC Prayers and Aspirations

Texts for this course:

The Practice of Lojong, Cultivating Compassion through Training the Mind, by Traleg Kyabgon

Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving Kindness, by Chogyam Trungpa

Compassion Cards, by Pema Chodron (there may be others). These are slogan cards that we are asked to memorize related to lojong teachings

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