SLOGAN 3 • Examine the Nature of Unborn Awareness | absolute bodhichitta
In the previous slogan, “Regard all dharmas as dreams,” we looked outward, at our perception of the world. With this slogan we look inward—we look at the looking itself. [Read more…] about 3: Examine the Nature of Unborn Awareness
2: Regard All Dharmas as Dreams
SLOGAN 2 • Regard All Dharmas as Dreams | absolute bodhichitta
If the point is not to sleepwalk through life, but to be awake to our life, why would we want to regard all dharmas, or all phenomena, as dreams? Is that not a contradiction? [Read more…] about 2: Regard All Dharmas as Dreams
* A Note about Absolute and Relative Bodhichitta
The mind training slogans are all about loving kindness or bodhichitta. They are about how we can live more sanely and with more effective compassion for others. But they do not immediately launch into the practical application of mind training, or relative bodhichitta. Instead, they begin with absolute bodhichitta and the importance of emptiness as the basis for bodhisattva activity. That is the focus of slogans 2-6. But why start there? [Read more…] about * A Note about Absolute and Relative Bodhichitta
1. First, Train in the Preliminaries
SLOGAN 1 • First, Train in the Preliminaries
This slogan raises the question of what is the best foundation for dharmic practice. How should we prepare ourselves to dive into the slogans? This naturally leads to the further question of how we prepare ourselves to launch into anything. [Read more…] about 1. First, Train in the Preliminaries
Working with the Mind Training Slogans
What is the best way to work with the mind training slogans? The short answer is over and over again. At first the slogans may seem overly simple, even simple minded. But if you take the time to reflect slowly and carefully on each slogan, from many angles, they begin to sink in at a different level. You begin to uncover layers of depth and subtlety. What is really great is that the mundane grittiness and the subtle understanding are not opposed but are joined. They operate simultaneously and in tandem. So the whole way we divide our world into our ordinary dealings with daily life and what we consider more important or profound is dislodged. [Read more…] about Working with the Mind Training Slogans