TRAINING THE HEARTMIND
The essence of the Buddhist path involves understanding the emerging characteristics of each moment of “selfing”,
with the intention of losing interest in self-organizing functions that are stressful and disruptive of social trust and
emotional intimacy. In essence, this involves the practice of compassion.
Of course, this is the cohering thread woven into the Four Noble Truths: The evidence of distress, the causes and
conditions that foster distress, the experience of relief from distress, and the ways and means for realizing relief
predominantly.
Another aspect of Buddhist approaches to liberation from distress is reflected in the “Three Jewels”: Buddha,
Dhamma, and Sangha. Buddha represents the evidence that liberation can be achieved and shared with others,
Dhamma represents the ways and means, and Sangha involves the absolute necessity of interpersonal relationship
dynamics in this process. The sense of self emerges from these dynamic interactions.
Around the year of 1,000 of the Common Era, a Mahayana Buddhist monk named Atisha began to develop a
“training program” for supporting the process of awakening. Over the course of several generations, this evolved into
what the Tibetans called lojong, translated as “mind training”; the primary author of that was Chekawa Yeshe Dorje.
Among modern interpreters of lojong are Pema Chodron (a student of Chogyam Trungpa), Alan Wallace and Ken
Mcleod. There are current master teachers of lojong, such as Sogyal Rinpoche and Traleg Kyabgon. Perhaps the most
famous living practitioner of lojong is Tenzin Gyatso, better known as the Nobel Laureate, the 14th Dalai Lama.
Of course, the original text, developed and perfected for medieval Tibetan Buddhist culture is rather archaic and
seemingly mysterious for the modern mind. Many modern commentators speak from their extensive training in the
Mahayana traditions, while my interests and practice is grounded in Theravadin abhidhamma (abhidhamma represents
Buddhist psychology).
I’ve prepared these notes as a way to organize my own thinking and practical application of the Four Noble Truths.
In 2012 I went to the Forest Refuge at the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts for a 3 month retreat, and took
the aphorisms, cut into convenient cards, to remind me of the principal points of Dhamma practice during my daily
routine.
A basic principle of Buddhism is sati, a Pali word usually translated as mindfulness. The original meaning of sati was
non-forgetfulness, that is, the ability to maintain present-time awareness in order to not forget that conditions are
impermanent, that craving and clinging produce distress, and that there is no separate, autonomous self. The aphorisms
of lojong provide prompts to be mindful in a variety of situations, almost always in the context of intrapersonal (internal)
and interpersonal (external) circumstances. Additionally, the intention woven through the entire training process is the
cultivation of compassion, that is, the alleviation of distress for all sentient beings.
The lojong training is typically divided into seven categories: (1) Preliminary training, (2) Awakening the mind, (3)
Transforming difficulties into opportunities for awakening, (4) Integrating these practices into daily life routines, (5)
Ongoing self-evaluation, (6) Specific disciplines in this regard, and (7) Overall guidelines.
There are some areas of overlap, that is, it seems that some particular points are repeated. I hope that my
comments will clarify these points, supporting remembering them and applying them consistently. The intention of the
training is for the students to memorize the points to facilitate applying them; remember, the culture of the day was not
very literate. However, no matter how literate we are, we can’t carry around a little book to remind us, so it’s probably
a good idea to take them to heart, as this will foster being mindful of opportunities to apply them. Personally, I recall
and use perhaps a dozen of them.
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STAGE ONE-PREPARING THE MIND FOR TRAINING
Preliminaries:
First, there is the assumption that the meditation student is competent in cultivating a level of tranquility and clarity
of mind, characterized in Theravada Buddhist concepts as access concentration. Access concentration is the absence or
minimal intrusiveness of thoughts that capture the mind, seeming to be real and demanding action; instead, the
prevailing mind state is persistently dominated by tranquility and clarity.
While experiencing access concentration, there is an effort to note the spaciousness and fundamental creativity of
the mind when unburdened by the normal commentary, (the “selfing story”) and the turbulence of emotional agitation.
This contrast (the spacious, reflective quality of consciousness, contrasted with the turbulent and false “certainty” that
craving and clinging to particular views presents) sets the stage for deconstructing the self, revealing the process of selfcherishing that promotes defending or aggrandizing the ego; this revelation supports spiritual evolution.
The expansive quality of awareness contradicts the strongly reinforced limitations of view that are the result of
fixation on a particular mind state as being self-defining (clinging), accompanied by a strong urge to act out the fixation
(craving). The ability to perceive the expansive quality of the mind state diminishes the fixation, allowing the
conditioning of the mind to be more clearly noted, as well as supporting more creativity in responding to what next
arises in awareness. The expansive quality of awareness reveals a less constricted, less “dense” view of self-states,
which can be noted as fleeting, cloud-like and less demanding or urgent. In turn, the more the arisen tranquil mind state
isn’t troubled by “selfing”, the more naturally kind, compassionate, generous and accepting the organizing of mindstates becomes.
A few suggestions about how to cultivate these mind states:
 First, practice aiming and sustaining attention on the routine rhythm of breathing in a relaxed manner.
Note and disregard anything arising in consciousness that is not simple breath awareness. A useful strategy
is to start with just being aware of the inbreath as inbreath, and the outbreath as outbreath; then move
attention “closer” to the breath awareness, trying to note where the touch sensation at the tip of the
nostrils is most predominant. Rest awareness on that spot persistently, even when there’s no apparent
sensation in the pauses between each breath. Finally, try to notice a particular finite touch point, as
precisely and continuously as possible. At this point, the intrusiveness of thought should be significantly
reduced, and there may be little jolts of pleasant energy, tremors or vibration in body awareness. This
signals the onset of upacara samadhi, access concentration.
 Upon establishing access concentration, while watching the breath cycle, briefly sweep through the
sensations in the body at the “bottom” of the out-breath, being attentive to areas of contraction, tension or
when the mind resists investigating a feeling; willingly surrender the resistance, softening into the sensation,
whether it’s strongly urgent or subtly so. Apply this letting go with the out-breath repeatedly, curious as to
just how even more subtle levels of contraction or resistance can be noted and released.
 Pay more attention to the processes that pass through awareness. The internal narrative process can be
perceived as different from content. One popular mindfulness technique is called noting. This involves
simply tagging the process of thinking as “thinking, thinking”, disregarding the contents of the thought
stream. The noting process involves thinking, feeling, pain, pleasure, seeing, hearing, and so on, without
becoming engaged with what is seen, or heard, or felt. With enough practice, there’s less and less interest
in becoming attached to the contents within awareness and more interest in the process of awareness.
 In the process of surrendering attachment to circumstantial content, also practice noticing when the mind
loses interest in the typical awareness of the “edge of the body”, so that awareness becomes expansive and
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inclusive of sounds and other environmental phenomena, without reacting. During these moments, realize
that there are no limits to consciousness except when conditioned by craving and clinging to the notion of a
separate and enduring self. Even physically uncomfortable sensations are not situated “in the body”; for
example, there’s awareness of intensely uncomfortable vibrations, with no perceived need to identify or
locate the sensations as “knee pain”.
 As bodily definition loses interest and awareness becomes more expansive, continue to open the mind to
the inclusion of all phenomena that arise as being complete and total. That is, realizing that all sounds,
temperature variables, and so on are integral to this moment of being, without the normal referencing to a
separate self.
The resulting mind state could be noted as an awareness of density of vibrational sensation within an indeterminate,
expansive, and inclusive range of openness. This awareness is relative bodhicitta, and is the natural consequence of the
practice of mindfulness, lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. The limitless, undifferentiated
quality of this moment of being is already manifesting as ultimate bodhicitta. One way to perceive it is to consider
undifferentiated sound as ultimate bodhicitta; relative bodhicitta is the mind’s production of “beautiful music” in the
realm of sound.
Try not to become self-judging about your “performance”—you’re simply practicing a skill such as playing a musical
instrument, not to pass or fail a test. There’s joy in simply knowing the “craft” of mindfulness is becoming more
proficient and accessible, even during difficult incidents.
Second, there are a series of contemplations that provide the motivation to practice diligently:
1. The singular opportunities of life that are provided by simply existing as a human being, providing the
perfect stage for spiritual growth; that is, sufficient discomfort to motivate seeking relief (1st Noble Truth)
along with sufficient capacity for self awareness/mindfulness and self discipline/renunciation (4th Noble
Truth, the Eightfold Path).
2. The impermanence of life, reflected in the inevitability of death of the body, as well as the “death” of plans,
ideals, careers, marriages, etc. during the normal course of life.
3. The fundamental truth of karma, that is, that things happen for a very complex “coming together” of
reasons, particularly as related to our subjective experiences and the struggle that occurs when the
personality is rigidly organized; this points to the 2nd, 3rd & 4th Noble Truths.
4. The impenetrable and ultimately unknowable complexity of the world, known as Samsara.
It is useful to frequently reflect on these four contemplations as an antidote for complacency and forgetfulness of the
purpose of the lojong practices.
STAGE TWO-CULTIVATING BODHICITTA
Primary Practices:
Two important concepts of reality are dominant here:
1.
Ultimate Bodhicitta
Bodhicitta is usually translated as meaning Awakened Mind. In the context of
ultimate reality, this is the limitless, boundless and brightly clear nature of the mind, unburdened by any sense of a
separate self. All being emerges from the context of non-duality, that is, an undifferentiated complexity that lacks a
“this is self, and this is not self” perception. This limitless spaciousness is shunyata, typically translated as emptiness or
voidness. In English, this seems misleading, suggesting a spatial quality, that is, the empty space between galaxies. I
prefer openness, spaciousness and the ground of potentiality. Openness and spaciousness can also be understood
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spatially, but the words convey to me the absence of constriction or mental rigidity, a flow of experience that is totally
inclusive. In this context, it is impersonal, that is, lacking the experience of self and not-self.
2. Relative Bodhicitta This concept represents the experience of awakening in a dualistic form. The
experience of Bodhicitta is in the context of relationship, that is, self in relationship with not-self. The primary focus of
this practice is on social relationships, in the range between the most intimate family relationships and encounters with
complete strangers; from the most affectionate to the most conflicted.
In the Wisdom aggregate of the Noble Eightfold Path, we find two attitudes, Right Understanding and Right
Intention. Cultivating vipassana develops the understanding that there is not an enduring separate self (Right
Understanding), while the four Divine Abidings (lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity) develop
an open-hearted intention to dissolve feelings of alienation and separateness (Right Intention).
This provides the context in life for applying the Bodhisattva vow, which emphasizes the importance of
compassionate action in the world. The trend of the vow is diminishing self-centered beliefs and behaviors, generating
good will, compassion and generosity for all beings. The more unburdened awareness is by the ignorance that creates
duality, the less initiating effort or intention is necessary for the divine abiding to manifest. It is believed that a
bodhisattva embodies compassion without regard to duality.
The difficulty with this practice is the ability to actually behave according to the principles of mindful lovingkindness,
compassion and sympathetic joy/generosity. This is where the benefits of the lojong practices are found and realized.
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