THE MENTAL TRAINING PRACTICES
The following represent the first seven training points of lojong practice. The red font represents each training point
as interpreted through my studies, while the bold font renders the classical training points in The Great Path Of
Awakening. Remember, these training points are best used in the context of the development of samadhi/passadhi
(stable, unified, non-narrative awareness/tranquil expansiveness), which provides the internal “buffer zone” of
emotional non-reactivity, allowing the opportunity to realize relative bodhicitta (see “Healing The Heartmind” notes for
more on relative bodhicitta). This practice
Training the mind to cultivate awareness of Relative Bodhicitta
1: Regard all mind states as fantasies.
The classical rendering of this is: Regard all phenomena as
dreams. While practicing vipassana, note all narratives, moods, ideals, expectations, and urgencies as insubstantial,
dreamlike, transitory phenomena, fabrications of the human mind. Note how identification with the arisen phenomena
(clinging) makes them appear to be solid, believable, and demanding of action or inhibiting action (craving). Also note
how contraction/tension arises in the body as the craving and clinging “take over” the process of understanding what’s
happening, that is, understanding is misperceived as a self that requires defending or gratifying. Note the decreasing
identification with the phenomena as more expansive awareness is cultivated, accompanied by the release of the
contractions in the body (see the recommendation in “Healing The Heartmind” about relaxing/releasing/expanding
during the outbreath).
2: Be attentive to the range of consciousness not dominated by provisional arisings.
This
classical rendering is: Examine the nature of unborn awareness. In this training practice, the detachment from arisen
afflicted mind-states allows an opportunity to be aware of the undefined, expansive, clear field of awareness that is not
identified through the arisen mind state, but simply present. A useful analogy is the expansive sky, within which the
clouds arise and pass away. This expansive, non-attached field of awareness, in the context of the provisionally arisen
narrative, is relative bodhicitta. It is relative because the duality of the thoughts and the associated clear awareness is
still predominant; the vipassana practice allows awareness of the duality impersonally. When that duality is seen
through, that is, when there’s direct awareness of the interdependence of the narrative and the reflective
consciousness, absent a “witnessing self”, there is a realization of ultimate bodhicitta.
3: Let the quality of mind be choicelessly aware.
The classical rendering is: Even the remedy is free to
subside naturally. This awareness is subtle. It represents a mind state that has no preference for figure (arisen
phenomena) or ground (the undefined, expansive awareness that is other than figure). This inclusive awareness allows
an opening to the experience of shunyata, or voidness. Shunyata isn’t blankness, but simply all-encompassing, nonpreferential openness to what is, especially the constantly changing nature of phenomena. It is appreciated with a
relaxed curiosity, that is, non-striving investigation of what is, while remaining open to what might be arising next.
4: Relax into the choiceless awareness.
This is rendered thus: Rest in the nature of all, the basis of
everything. With practice, primarily during a long retreat, it is possible to remain in this “primordial process of
awareness” for extended periods of time-a peaceful abiding in access concentration. During that time, there are
opportunities to be “choicelessly curious”, investigating whether there is any basis for the existence of an observing or
an observed self that is fundamentally independent, autonomous, enduring and singular. This may prompt conditions in
the mind that reveal the absence of an independent self (anatta). Another way to describe the insight is that of the
complexity of natural conditions that produce a moment of “selfing” without choosing to differentiate into self and
other.
5: During the day, be open to the provisional “dreamlike” quality of arisen mind states.
The classical rendition of this is: In the post-meditation practice, be a child of illusion. During normal daily activities, see
if it’s possible to support the conditions that allow awareness of the provisional nature of experience, particularly the
strong bias toward personalizing what has arisen. That is, don’t take what happens during the day personally.
Personalizing can be recognized when the mind “contracts” into the arisen phenomenon through craving and clinging,
creating the false notion of a separate self, an “actor” or an “acted upon”. The lojong training is meant to promote
increasingly clear insights as to the insubstantiality of the “selfing” process. These insights interrupt criticism of others,
the situation, or even the provisionally emerging self. One way to facilitate this might be to ask “Is this thought
inherently believable just because it occurred?” Another might be to ask “Is it necessarily true that there is an observer
and an observed in this moment?”
Training the mind to practice through the filter of Relative Bodhicitta
This is the subjective awareness that arises when vipassana investigates the conditional nature of experience with a
quality of non-reactive benevolence. The loss of ego defense is spiritually useful, as it investigates how the selfing
process operates to create the duality of self and other. This awareness is fundamental for the development of the four
Divine Abidings: lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and generosity, with equanimity.
Lovingkindness promotes unqualified benevolent awareness of what is present, and has no need to sustain the
contracted, rejecting mind states of attraction or aversion. Compassion is empathic awareness of suffering that comes
to mind, with the intention to soften and release the harshness of suffering into benevolent action. It is the foundation
for the next training point, tonglen, a particular practice of compassion in Tibetan Buddhism, which will be described
more fully later. Sympathetic joy is benevolent openness to the happiness in the world, and is the antidote for the
separation created by jealousy or envy; generosity is a natural accompaniment to this quality of awareness. Finally,
equanimity brings balance to the first three, so kindness, compassion and joy are not distorted through ignorance into
aversion, cruelty, jealousy or envy.
Relative bodhicitta is cultivated through intentionally focusing on and supporting the emergence of those mindstates during access concentration, through the process of letting go of craving and clinging, cultivating more and more
daily life experiences that manifest benevolent intentions. At the beginning of spiritual development, the process is
more a sense of psychological self-integration and heightened levels of functioning. Examples would be noting and
disregarding negative self-talk, developing a more simple and wholesome lifestyle and cultivating loving, supportive
relationships.
Fulfilling the practice of relative bodhicitta leads to increasing awareness of the three characteristics of reality:
anicca (impermanence), dukkha (the stress produced by craving and clinging), and anatta (the utterly interdependent
nature of reality, which eliminates the delusion of a substantial/separate self). The emerging awareness of relative
bodhicitta is strongly developed through the practice of tonglen. The ultimate goal of relative bodhicitta is to dissolve
the misperception of a separate self through reflecting on the fundamental benevolence of ultimate bodhicitta.
Training the mind to advance in the realm of relative bodhicitta
6: Practice changing the qualities of mind states with benevolent intention through
Tonglen.
The classical rendition of this is: Train in sending and taking alternately. According to Chogyam Trungpa,
tonglen is translated thusly: “tong' means 'sending out' or 'letting go' and 'len' means 'receiving' or 'accepting'”. The
intention is structured as radiating metta (lovingkindness), karuna (compassion), mudita (sympathetic joy) and upekkha
(equanimity) out into the world on the outbreath, while willingly opening mindful awareness of the unkindness, cruelty,
jealousy and envy, and rigidly attached viewpoints that arise in awareness during the in-breath. This is a profound
practice, not to be taken lightly or casually. It is the core of lojong practice. Here are some thoughts about the process:
 First establish awareness of the spaciousness and clarity of a mind free from the hindrances during sitting
meditation practice (access concentration/relative bodhicitta).
 Realize the inherent flux of moment-by-moment awareness, which acknowledges the malleability of mindstates inherent in relative bodhicitta (the changing, dream-like quality of mental phenomena).
 While breathing in, simply investigate the experience of suffering present in the mind, being aware that this
suffering is the product of a mind (your own and/or others) trapped in the illusion produced by craving and
clinging/attachment to views. This opening is not intended to be abstract, but rather a deeply felt physical
and emotional awareness of the contraction that accompanies craving and clinging. You can simply reflect
on what is presently occurring, or you can pick a topic that has some emotional impact, such as the
unemployed/homeless, people who are ill, combat victims, etc. Feel it as openly as possible, remaining
curious to the bodily experience of stress associated with the “hijacked” aversive mind-state. It’s important
to maintain awareness of the transient, dream-like nature of any story that arises with the feeling, and then
let it transform into benevolence.
 While breathing out, or with simple awareness of shunyata, (the inherently spacious, creative and
transformative nature of bodhicitta), transform the suffering into benevolence, radiating it outward with as
much body awareness as possible, particularly from the middle of the chest. Awareness of shunyata is
experienced subjectively as opening to the spaciousness of the mind, rather than clamping down/identifying
with the arisen mind-state, that is, more awareness of “sky” and non-attachment to the “clouds” of
thoughts and expectations. With tonglen practice, it may be helpful to deliberately lengthen the out breath,
releasing the tension/contraction of the suffering that’s known during the in breath. At the end of the out
breath, allow awareness to expand and soften, releasing attachment to the suffering being contemplated.
 Imagine that the benevolent radiance is a gift of compassionate action, freely released for the benefit of
those who are suffering, with no need to be thanked or for any kind of recognition or reciprocating action
from another being. The need to be thanked automatically creates a sense of self that must be gratified,
understood, appreciated, etc. This need to be recognized and thanked is countered through cultivating
equanimity.
 When the mind becomes overly turbulent with the increasing awareness of the enormity of suffering, or the
fear that radiating compassion and generosity is too depleting (this would be the mistaken need to be allknowing and all-powerfull), revert to the practice of mindfulness of breathing or basic lovingkindness
meditation to reestablish balance. Another way to free the mind is to contemplate the impersonal nature of
karma (the law of cause and effect); this can promote equanimity, which emphasizes not taking what
happens personally.
 Remember that this practice cultivates the intention for suffering to be transformed into liberating
benevolence for all beings. Don’t take it personally if things don’t turn out as expected.
 It’s also important to keep in mind that the ultimate goal of this practice is to transform awareness from the
mundane to the transcendent. That is, to make best use of relative bodhicitta to cultivate an emerging
awareness that there is no self independent of the lawfulness of ultimate bodhicitta, which is essentially the
incredible complexity that is commonly called Buddha Nature, God, Allah, The Tao, etc. With the realization
of ultimate bodhicitta, all mind-states and behaviors inherently arise from inclusive, non-dual shunyata.
7: Be mindful in daily life of the arising of greed, aversion and ignorance in awareness,
and cultivate generosity, kindness and clear awareness to counter the unwholesomeness.
The classical rendering here is: Three objects, three poisons, three seeds of virtue. The three objects are pleasant,
unpleasant and neutral mind states. The three poisons arise when pleasant feeling turns into desire, unpleasant feeling
becomes aversion, and neutral feeling diminishes investigation of emerging self-states. The three seeds of virtue apply
tonglen practice to transform greed into generosity/sympathetic joy, aversion into compassion, and dullness into clear
awareness. To skillfully practice tonglen, it’s important to master the Four Divine Abidings, metta (lovingkindness),
karuna (compassion), mudita (sympathetic joy) and upekkha (equanimity). It’s equally important to cultivate the ability
to quickly be clearly aware of the arising of their opposites, aversion, cruelty & harshness, jealousy & envy, and
attachment & intolerance, so the appropriate antidote can be supported. As the mind grows in wisdom, the active
intention to manifest the four benevolent states evolves into an inherent emergence of those qualities, as bodhicitta.
8: Integrate the training points into daily life routines. The classical rendition of this is: In all
activities train with slogans. This seems straightforward. We all can understand the concepts related to the
process of awakening through studying and discussing them, but, more often than not, we don’t recall them
when the situation arises where they might be useful. I attended a 3 month retreat at the Forest Refuge in
Massachusetts in 2012, and took copies of each of the aphorisms with me, then taped them to the walls, door,
mirror, drawers, etc., in the room to help me remember the opportunities to use them. Even today, I can
recall some of them during the day and make good use of them.
9: The primary mind training in this mode is with self-experiences.
The classical rendition of this
is: Begin the sequence of exchange with yourself. It is fundamentally important to recognize clearly that whenever
mind-states arise, they are entirely fabricated within the subjective process of selfing. The normal tendency of the mind
is to project the cause of individual suffering to “the other”, that is, others’ behaviors, natural events, and so on.
Referring back to the training on the provisional nature of subjective reality, be aware that the suffering in the world
“out there” is interpreted and conditioned by individual subjective processing, heavily influenced by prior events and
ways of thinking and acting from the past (this process is karma). By inference, the insight can be cultivated that knows
every sentient being’s subjectivity in the world is also provisional, that is, subject to being beneficially affected by relative
bodhicitta. This sets the ground for transforming your mind-state through tonglen practice, recognizing that we all are
affected by the same characteristics of greed, aversion and ignorance. From that process, your actions are conditioned
by benevolence, as seems appropriate to the circumstances. Remember, the practice of the Four Divine Abidings is
meant to establish the reality of interbeing, which naturally manifests shunyata.
The next set of notes will focus on training points 10 through 15, TRANSFORMING POISON INTO MEDICINE—
ACTIVATING BODHICITTA WHILE EXPERIENCING ADVERSITY.