Intermediate Buddhism: The 7 Points Of Mind Training

The 7 Points of Mind Training (Lojong) is a classic Tibetan Buddhist teaching designed to wake us up to the boundlessness of our heart and to cultivate truthfulness and harmony in our relationships. They include 59 slogans that teach a provocative yet practical approach to practice and life, and include the well-known Tonglen meditation, giving and receiving on the breath.

These teachings encourage us to first get in touch with our inner resource of love for ourselves and others. Then, using this foundation of care, we begin to turn toward our places of difficulty. We learn to offer ourselves space and clarity in order to address areas of conflict and challenge. We then open up to the experiences of others. We train in compassion to all beings, and connect to those in particular who share the same difficulties that we do.

The ultimate goal is an appropriate response to the challenges of life. We train to face these difficulties directly, with a loving and spacious attitude. We develop wisdom and insight about where we may be causing our own suffering through learned habits that are unhelpful. Through skillful communication and letting go of our self-centered attitude, we discover connection and healing for ourselves and the world.

The 59 Slogans of the 7 Points of Mind Training are as follows:

Point #1: Train in the Foundations
1. First, train in the preliminaries.

Point #2: Train in Compassion
2. Regard all dharmas as dreams.
3. Examine the nature of awareness.
4. Self-liberate even the antidote.
5. Rest in the openness of mind.
6. In life, realize the illusory nature of the world and let go.
7. Sending and taking should be practiced alternately. These two should ride the breath.
8. Begin the sequence of sending and taking with yourself.
9. Three objects, three poisons, and three seeds.
10. In all activities, train with slogans.

Point #3: Transform Difficulty into the Path
11. Transform all problems into the path.
12. Drive all blames into one.
13. Be grateful to everyone.
14. Practice openness in the midst of confusion.
15. Be generous and don’t harm.
16. Whatever you meet unexpectedly, join with meditation.

Point #4: Make Your Life Your Path
17. Practice the five strengths, the condensed heart instructions.
18. Practice for death as well as for life.

Point #5: Apply Insight and Joy
19. All dharma agrees at one point.
20. Of the two witnesses, hold the principal one.
21. Always maintain only a joyful mind.
22. If you can practice even when distracted, you are well trained.

Point #6: Be Responsible in Your Relationships
23. Always abide by the three basic principles.
24. Change your attitude, but remain natural.
25. Don’t talk about injured limbs.
26. Don’t ponder others.
27. Work with your biggest problems first.
28. Abandon any hope of fruition.
29. Abandon poisonous food.
30. Don’t be so predictable.
31. Don’t malign others.
32. Don’t wait in ambush.
33. Don’t bring things to a painful point.
34. Don’t transfer the ox’s load to the cow.
35. Don’t try to be the fastest.
36. Don’t act with a twist.
37. Don’t make gods into demons.
38. Don’t seek others’ pain as the limbs of your own happiness.

Point #7: Communicate from the Heart
39. All activities should be done with one intention.
40. Correct all wrongs with one intention.
41. Two activities: one at the beginning, one at the end.
42. Whichever of the two occurs, be patient.
43. Observe, even at the risk of your life.
44. Train in the three difficulties.
45. Take on the three principal causes.
46. Pay heed that the three never wane.
47. Keep the three inseparable.
48. Train without bias in all areas.
49. Always meditate on whatever provokes resentment.
50. Don’t be swayed by external circumstances.
51. This time, practice the main points.
52. Don’t misinterpret.
53. Don’t vacillate.
54. Train wholeheartedly.
55. Liberate yourself by examining and analyzing.
56. Don’t wallow in self-pity.
57. Don’t be jealous.
58. Don’t be frivolous.
59. Don’t expect applause.

Lección 1: Point 1: Train In The Foundations

The 7 Points of Mind Training begins with the foundation of self-love. Awakening the heart of compassion is an invitation to connect to all beings with an open and tender heart. The first step is to get in touch with the bottomless well of love which is the nature of each one of us. In order to truly immerse ourselves in our own kindness and care, we need to turn this care toward ourselves. Training in the habit of love is the method to find the depth of our own hearts in order to orient ourselves toward the world with a caring attitude.

Today has only one slogan: 1. First, train in the preliminaries.

Lección 2: Point 2: Train In Compassion

The next step in living a harmonious and meaningful life is to train to tolerate our own experience, and to care about it. The reason we’re often not there for others is that we’re not here for ourselves. Compassion is a natural instinct, but we may not be trained to turn toward our difficulties. Instead we may think our pain is wrong or overwhelming, and we avoid it or pretend that it isn’t there. The practice of self-compassion is the doorway. To support our orientation toward that which is unwanted, today’s teachings introduce the Buddhist concept of emptiness.

Today's slogans are:
2. Regard all dharmas as dreams.
3. Examine the nature of awareness.
4. Self-liberate even the antidote.
5. Rest in the openness of mind.
6. In life, realize the illusory nature of the world and let go.
7. Sending and taking should be practiced alternately. These two should ride the breath.
8. Begin the sequence of sending and taking with yourself.
9. Three objects, three poisons, and three seeds
10. In all activities, train with slogans.

Lección 3: Point 3: Transform Difficulty Into The Path

Today takes us right to the heart of the Lojong teaching, as we learn to use our difficulties as the path to our happiness. We need to first acknowledge that everyone has problems- it doesn’t mean that there’s something wrong with us. And then we need to get past the habit of blaming in order to see where we have been potentially making our own situation worse. We will practice today dealing with a difficult situation. With gratitude, generosity and openness we find the possibility for compassionate and constructive communication.

Today we study the following slogans:
11. Transform all problems into the path.
12. Drive all blames into one.
13. Be grateful to everyone.
14. Practice openness in the midst of confusion.
15. Be generous and don’t harm.
16. Whatever you meet unexpectedly, join with meditation.

Lección 4: Point 4: Make Your Life Your Path

Today we realize that practice isn’t something we do for a few minutes each morning and then go on to other things. Rather, it’s an attitude with which we can approach everything. The Buddhist list of the 5 strengths describe how to cultivate the spirit that we need to energize ourselves on the path, to live well. And whatever will help us to live well will also help us to feel good about our lives when we look back at the end of our lives, and ultimately to die well. Today we practice offering compassion to those we love.

Today's slogans are the following:
17. Practice the five strengths, the condensed heart instructions.
18. Practice for death as well as for life.

Lección 5: Point 5: Apply Insight & Joy

Today’s teaching gives us guidance to broaden and deepen our practice. We need to be able to assess for ourselves how it’s going, and trust our own evaluation. We want to delight in our progress in order to motivate ourselves for future practice. And we also learn that when things aren’t going smoothly, we are likely overly oriented toward ourselves, and that turning toward the perspectives and experiences of others is the key to living in harmony. To help with this, we practice offering compassion to those we don’t know well.

Today's slogans are as follows:
19. All dharma agrees at one point.
20. Of the two witnesses, hold the principal one.
21. Always maintain only a joyful mind.
22. If you can practice even when distracted, you are well trained.

Lección 6: Point 6: Be Responsible In Your Relationships

Today we discuss the discipline of relationship. To live in harmony, we need to learn to take responsibility for our own emotions. If we stop criticizing and disparaging others - which only makes them act worse - our kindness might help them heal. For the happiness of ourselves and others, we need to release our resentments and treat all beings with respect. We’re training ourselves to be different, which will free up others to be different in return, so that we can cease co-creating our problems. To support this, we practice offering compassion to folks we find difficult.

Today we have 16 slogans:
23. Always abide by the three basic principles.
24. Change your attitude, but remain natural.
25. Don’t talk about injured limbs.
26. Don’t ponder others.
27. Work with your biggest problems first.
28. Abandon any hope of fruition.
29. Abandon poisonous food.
30. Don’t be so predictable.
31. Don’t malign others.
32. Don’t wait in ambush.
33. Don’t bring things to a painful point.
34. Don’t transfer the ox’s load to the cow.
35. Don’t try to be the fastest.
36. Don’t act with a twist.
37. Don’t make gods into demons.
38. Don’t seek others’ pain as the limbs of your own happiness.

Lección 7: Point 7: Communicate From The Heart

Today we work toward compassionate communication. We begin by considering our deepest, most meaningful intention. We realize that only we can change our own minds, and we commit to examining our mind to see where we may be making things worse. We need to uncover and get past our biases and misperceptions and face our resentments. We have to let go of self-pity, jealousy, shallowness, and thoughtlessness. We close with the practice of compassion for all beings. We need to cultivate an awakened heart-mind not for the approval of others, but for the healing of ourselves and the world.

Today we finish with the following 21 slogans:
39. All activities should be done with one intention.
40. Correct all wrongs with one intention.
41. Two activities: one at the beginning, one at the end.
42. Whichever of the two occurs, be patient.
43. Observe, even at the risk of your life.
44. Train in the three difficulties.
45. Take on the three principal causes.
46. Pay heed that the three never wane.
47. Keep the three inseparable.
48. Train without bias in all areas.
49. Always meditate on whatever provokes resentment.
50. Don’t be swayed by external circumstances.
51. This time, practice the main points.
52. Don’t misinterpret.
53. Don’t vacillate.
54. Train wholeheartedly.
55. Liberate yourself by examining and analyzing.
56. Don’t wallow in self-pity.
57. Don’t be jealous.
58. Don’t be frivolous.
59. Don’t expect applause.

Reviews

Very thought provoking and helpful. I like the combination of lesson and then a related mediation. Thanks!

Even if you are not deeply religious I highly recommend this course. It may seem a bit esoteric and off the beaten path for even mainstream Buddhists. But Karen has a gift of making this Tonglen practice totally accessible and practical and even doable almost…

🙏John

Fabulous. Thank you.

Just finished Ayahuasca journey which revealed to me my true nature— which JUST IS —everything else — is illusion. Excited to train my mind daily using jolong to work with these illusions to be free from suffering and available to be kind, in the moment, and compassionate to ALL beings WITHOUT exception.

Thank you 🙏
Namaste 🙏

Great course. Great teacher. Very engaging and enlightening. Thank you!

Never came across this before. Loved it and want to do more research on the subject. 🖖🏻🕉️☸️

Really lovely introduction to Lojong and Tonglen. I found it powerful and very peaceful at the same time. Thank you so much.

This course explains the Lojong Teachings in a very pragmatic manner. They are much more accessible to me now. And the Tonglen Practice is a central exercise when it comes to developing an open heart. So thank you for these wonderful seven days. 🙏🏻

I enjoyed this course and was also challenged. Karen delivers her messages in mind training and through that showed me how to open my heart mind. Thanks 🙏

Thank you!

Really accessible way to explore the principles of lojong, which I had been looking for. Thank you

I’ve learned so much and really enjoyed this course. Very well done. I’m going to return to it often so that I can retain more of it next time. Thank you!

An exceptional course… full of wise, clear teaching on the slogans. I will probably redo this course more than once because everything in it makes good sense and points one in the right direction. Thank you!

Thought provoking and soul examining. Loved this practice!

I'm in AWE with this course. Thank you for creating this. Wil listen again and again.
🙏

Great course. Thank you. There was a lot of information presented in a very compact and gently flowing format.

Lovely introduction to Tonglen, delivered and received with love.

Wonderful series looking forward to taking it again

Thanks for the clear, concise and practical reminders. May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be safe and peaceful a d may you live with ease. 🙏

So many excellent pieces of wisdom to ponder here. Thank you...great course!

Excellent ,clear and concise teaching of the Lojong teachings. Karen has a pleasing voice and gives clear explanation of the meanings of the slogans. I'm only a few years into the Tibetan Buddhist traditions so this was a meaningful introduction to the entirety of the lojong traditions. It would be wonderful to have her follow up with more indepth studies of them in the future! Thank you for a lovely yet challenging experience!