The Slogans of Atisha

[This point includes just one slogan.]

[Point two, which is connected with the paramita of generosity, includes nine slogans. The first five slogans pertain to absolute bodhichitta, and the remaining four are concerned with 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

SLOGAN 6  •  In postmeditation, be a child of illusion  |  absolute bodhichitta
Practice can be divided into two: meditation and postmeditation. Meditation refers to time spent in formal practices such as mindfulness-awareness, and postmeditation refers to what we do the rest of the time. The notion of practice, of being a spiritual practitioner, includes both meditation and postmeditation, which means that practice applies both on and of the meditation cushion.” [Read more…] about 6: In Postmeditation, Be a Child of Illusion

SLOGAN 7  •  Sending and taking should be practiced alternately. These two should ride the breath.
According to this slogan, in relation to ourselves, it is a good idea to practice breathing out what we want and breathing in what we don’t want. How counterintuitive is that? And in relation to others, it is suggested that we practice breathing out to them our love and healing, and breathing in their pain and sickness. That aspect is a little easier to grasp, as the notion of praying for those we care about is more familiar to us, as people who grew up in a Judeo-Christian culture. [Read more…] about 7: Sending and Taking Should be Practiced Alternately. These Two Should ride the Breath.

SLOGAN 8  •  Three objects, three poisons, and three seeds of virtue.

Three Objects: Labeling our World
One way of looking at this slogan is that it is about the power of labels. It is about the way we categorize our world and what happens as a result. At a crude level and very quickly we are always sizing people up. We put the people we deal with into mental bins such as “friend,” “enemy” or “not worth bothering with.” We do this both individually and collectively. [Read more…] about 8: Three Objects, Three Poisons, and Three Seeds of Virtue

SLOGAN 9  •  In all activities train with slogans.
Pretty much anything we do can be joined with slogan practice. If you study and memorize the slogans, you will find that slogans appropriate to the occasion will pop up on their own. You can find ways to remind yourself, as well. You could keep a set of slogan cards on your desk, which you could buy or create in your own style. You could read and study the many commentaries on the practice. [Read more…] about 9: In All Activities Train with Slogans

SLOGAN 10  •  Begin the sequence of sending and taking with yourself.
You may want to develop greater compassion and the ability to take on the suffering of others, but what about yourself? What about your own suffering? According to this slogan, that is where you start. You begin by recognizing your own suffering. [Read more…] about 10: Begin the Sequence of Sending and Taking with Yourself

[Point three includes six slogans; it is connected with the paramita of patience]

SLOGAN 11  •  When the world is filled with evil, transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi.
When things go wrong, when we encounter obstacles, the last thing on our minds is the dharma. Instead, what is the first thing on our minds? Ourselves! It is all about how we are being inconvenienced, burdened, put upon, attacked, misunderstood, rejected—you name it. Not only do we lose track of the path, but our concern for others goes into hibernation as we focus front and center on our own particular problem. [Read more…] about 11: When the world is filled with evil, transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi

SLOGAN 12  •  Drive all blames into one.
We live in a society and world filled with blames and complaints of all kinds. When something goes wrong—and there is always something going wrong—we look for someone to blame. If we can’t find who is responsible, and our urge to blame is still lingering around, we choose someone willy-nilly. It could be anyone. Fill in the blanks, “It’s the ______! (Jews! Women drivers! Husbands! Kids! Corporations! …) [Read more…] about 12: Drive All Blames into One

SLOGAN 13  •  Be grateful to everyone.
This slogan is about gratitude. Gratitude does not seem to be that front and central nowadays. Instead of appreciating what we have, we keep focusing on what we do not have. We are filled with grudges and resentments and have strong opinions about what we deserve and what is our due. We may be taught to say “please” and “thank you,” but what have we been taught about appreciation? [Read more…] about 13: Be Grateful to Everyone

SLOGAN 14  •  Seeing confusion as the four kayas Is unsurpassable shunyata protection.
With this slogan, once again we are joining what we usually consider as undesirable with practice. In this case it is confusion. At first glimpse, this slogan seems rather obscure and even esoteric. What kind of confusion? What are the four kayas? What is shunyata, anyway, and what form of protection can it provide? Protection from what? [Read more…] about 14: Seeing Confusion as the Four Kayas is Unsurpassable Shunyata Protection

SLOGAN 15  •  Four Practices are the Best of Methods
This slogan is very straightforward and action oriented. It lays out four specific practices to incorporate in our everyday life. [Read more…] about 15: Four Practices are the Best of Methods

SLOGAN 16  •  Whatever you meet unexpectedly, join with meditation.
When our lives are going relatively smoothly and predictably it is easier to maintain our mindfulness. But when things are happening fast, it is hard to remember to join what we encounter with meditation. It is also easier to think of others if we ourselves are not currently either in the midst of some crisis or caught up in some amazing opportunity. But it seems that no matter how hard we try to stay on an even keel, we keep being blindsided by unexpected events. [Read more…] about 16: Whatever You Meet Unexpectedly, Join with Meditation

[Point four includes two slogans; it is connected with the paramita of exertion]

SLOGAN 17  •  Practice the five strengths, the condensed heart instructions.
The two slogans of Point Four are a blanket approach: you are blanketing your entire life with exertion. It takes exertion to live properly and it also takes exertion to die properly. No matter how much we have studied or how many ideas we may have, without exertion, our understanding will be superficial, not transformative. [Read more…] about 17: Practice the five strengths, the condensed heart instructions

SLOGAN 18  •  The mahayana instruction for ejection of consciousness at death is the five strengths: how you conduct yourself is important.
The previous slogan was about how to live, and this slogan is about how to die. It may seem that living and dying are two very different things, but they are completely interconnected. We learn how to live by learning how to die and we learn how to die by learning how to live. Each informs the other. [Read more…] about 18: The Mahayana Instruction for Ejection of Consciousness at Death

[Point five includes four slogans; it is connected with the paramita of meditation]

SLOGAN 19  •  All dharma agrees at one point.
This slogan raises the question of how we evaluate ourselves and others. How do we tell if someone is the genuine article or a charlatan? How do we know if we ourselves are going off the rails in our spiritual practice? [Read more…] about 19: All dharma agrees at one point

SLOGAN 20  •  Of the two witnesses, hold the principal one.
This slogan is about aloneness and confidence. It gets to a core issue on the path of practice, which is the fact that each of us must travel it alone and by ourselves. Of course we may be in a community or a sangha, but within a sangha of one-hundred members, there are a hundred different paths. We may be in one tradition, but the way we each go about it is unique. Life altogether has that same quality. We come in alone, we go out alone, and in between no matter how many friends and acquaintances we may have, we are still alone at a fundamental level. [Read more…] about 20: Of the Two Witnesses, Hold the Principal One

SLOGAN 21  •  Always maintain only a joyful mind.
Joy doesn’t have that good a reputation in our culture. We tend to associate it with idiocy or with people who are spaced out or stupid, people who are blithely ignorant of the state of the world or simply too self-absorbed to bother. How can you be joyful when there are so many problems? What about the truth of suffering, the problem of greed and craving? What about warfare, oppression, prejudice, and on and on? Furthermore, joy seems boring. There is no drama in it. [Read more…] about 21: Always Maintain Only a Joyful Mind

SLOGAN 22  •  If you can practice even when distracted, you are well trained.
When you begin to do mindfulness or bodhichitta practice, one of the first things you notice is how distracted you are. It can seem as if a veritable avalanche of thoughts, fleeting moods, memories, plans, judgments, and all sots of mental folderol is pouring through your mind continually. People say such things as “I was fine before I started meditating, but now my mind is just a jumble.” However, none of that is really new, it was just never noticed before. [Read more…] about 22: If You Can Practice Even While distracted, You are Well Trained

[Point six includes 16 slogans; it is connected with the prajna paramita]

SLOGAN 23  •  Always abide by the three basic principles.
On the spiritual path, over and over again it is a good idea to keep coming back to a few basic principles. By doing so, you can bound your actions with discipline. You can keep your practice on track. It is a bit like setting up bumpers on the side of a bowling alley, so your ball stays in its lane and does not fall into the gutter. This slogan suggests you work with three basic principles: honoring your commitments, refraining from outrageous actions, and developing patience. [Read more…] about 23: Always abide by the three basic principles

SLOGAN 24  •  Change your attitude, but remain natural.
What attitude is this slogan talking about, and why should we change it? What is an attitude anyway? It seems to me that an attitude is our customary way of thinking about things, which is usually reflected in our actions. An attitude is a kind of mental container that shapes and colors whatever is put into it. Your attitude not only colors what comes into the mind, but leads you to attend to some things and be completely oblivious of others. [Read more…] about 24: Change Your Attitude, But Remain Natural

SLOGAN 25  •  Don’t talk about injured limbs.
In the ordinary sense, this slogan simply means not to make fun of others or draw attention to their defects and problems. Rather than dwelling on what is wrong with people, which only exaggerates and perpetuates their weaknesses, we should remember that they are doing the best they can. We should accept them as they are. [Read more…] about 25: Don’t Talk about Injured Limbs

SLOGAN 26  •  Don’t ponder others.
This slogan is very similar to the last, in that it points to how easy, entertaining, and totally distracting it can be to muse about what is wrong with everybody else. The habit of faultfinding is part of a larger pattern of insecurity in which we always feel the need to compare ourselves to other people. It is as though we need to convince ourselves that we are okay, which we can only do indirectly, in comparison to people who are less okay. [Read more…] about 26: Don’t Ponder Others

SLOGAN 27  •  Work with the greatest defilements first.
This is a great slogan for procrastinators. It is all about looking into those things we avoid, that we put off, that we somehow never end up dealing with. In particular it is about defilements. But what are defilements? According to this slogan, defilements refer to patterns of thought, habits, and emotions that sap our energy and keep us from thriving. [Read more…] about 27: Work With the Greatest Defilements First

SLOGAN 28  •  Abandon any hope of fruition.
This slogan undercuts our attachment to either success or failure. It is a kind of positive giving up. Abandoning any hope of fruition does not mean abandoning our projects and ambitions. Instead it points to a way of going about things that is present focused rather than fixated on results. [Read more…] about 28: Abandon Any Hope of Fruition

SLOGAN 29  •  Abandon poisonous food.
The image of poisonous food suggests an experience that is seemingly nourishing, but in fact can kill you. In terms of slogan practice, this image refers in particular to the poison of ego-fixation and its power to transform the nutritious food of loving-kindness practice into poison. [Read more…] about 29: Abandon Poisonous Food

SLOGAN 30  •  Don’t be so predictable.
When we work with mind training and the devleopment of bodhichitta, we are interrupting our usual way of going about business. We find that many of our actions are programmed and extremely predictable and we notice that in other people as well. This is why it is so easy to push each other’s buttons. It is why it is so easy to manipulate and to be manipulated. [Read more…] about 30: Don’t Be So Predictable

SLOGAN 31  •  Don’t malign others.
When we malign someone, our intention is to cause harm. Our words are spiteful and ill-spirited. There is a saying that “sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” But in fact words do have power and they certainly can hurt. [Read more…] about 31: Don’t Malign Others

SLOGAN 32  •  Don’t wait in ambush.
This slogan is about scheming mind, the mind that never forgets a slight or an insult. Instead it keeps eating away at us, sometimes for years, and even decades. This unforgiving attitude can cause us to cut ourselves off from long-term friends or relatives. It can become so rigid and fixed, that even on our deathbed we refuse to let it go. Many people carry such grudges for life. Beyond simply carrying a grudge, we begin to plot our revenge. We wait patiently for just the right moment, a time when that person has let down their guard, or when they are in a weakened position, and then we let them have it. [Read more…] about 32: Don’t Wait in Ambush

SLOGAN 33  •  Don’t bring things to a painful point.
We all have lots of faults, and it is easy to get caught up in dwelling on them. It is easy to see all the things that are wrong about everyone and everything else as well. We may feel that we are doing somebody a favor by pointing out to them where they fall short, convincing ourselves that we are only doing so for their own benefit. But focusing on people’s most vulnerable areas, their most painful points, can undermine their confidence and their ability to go forward. Likewise, focusing on our own faults can be equally discouraging. [Read more…] about 33: Don’t Bring Things to a Painful Point

SLOGAN 34  •  Don’t transfer the ox’s load to the cow.
This slogan is about weaseling out of our own duties and responsibilitIes. It is about passing the buck. In the first place, we avoid committing ourselves, and when we do make a commitment, instead of following through, we prefer to hand it off. We are so concerned with our rights and what we feel we are owed, and we think very little about what we owe to others and to the society at large. When we are asked to do something we may feign modesty, but not because we are really modest. We just want a way out of taking on a load we know we could carry if we wanted to. [Read more…] about 34: Don’t Transfer the Ox’s Load to the Cow

SLOGAN 35  •  Don’t try to be the fastest.
So much of our life is based on speed. We want to be the first to do this and the first to get that. We are always in a big rush. We want to beat everyone else, to get to the front of the line. Being fast and busy makes us feel important. We have lots to do and not much time to do it. Fast is smart, slow is stupid. Fast is youth, slow is old age. We race along faster and faster, but where are we going? [Read more…] about 35: Don’t Try to be Fastest

SLOGAN 36  •  Don’t act with a twist.
This slogan has to do with being honest about our ulterior motives. It is based on an appreciation for how tricky our mind can be. We say one thing and mean another, or we act out of seeming benevolence, while in our heart we are only really care about ourselves.

Acting with a twist is a way of using others to advance our own interests. Everything revolves around me, myself, and I, and that attitude colors everyting we do. It literally distorts everything we say and all our actions into servants of our ego and our self-important schemes. [Read more…] about 36: Don’t Act with a Twist

SLOGAN 37  •  Don’t make gods into demons.
It is possible to take the very best and turn it into the very worst. When we first encounter the dharma and the mind training teachings, we are be so open and excited. It is so refreshing to encounter practical guidelines for developing wisdom and compassion and to find teachings we can actually apply in our everyday activities. But the more we practice and the more we become familiar with the teachings, the more tempted we are to close down and check out. Instead of appreciating the power of the practice, we begin to insert the heavy hand of ego. [Read more…] about 37: Don’t Make Gods into Demons

SLOGAN 38  •  Don’t seek others’ pain as the limbs of your own happiness.
It is embarrassing to realize how much of our own happiness seems to be based on the suffering of other beings. Even worse, we find that at times we go so far as to hope that someone else suffers, because we know that we will benefit from their pain. We hope that someone else will lose, so that we can win. We develop a kind of dog-eat-dog, or your-pain-my gain mentality. [Read more…] about 38: Don’t Seek Others’ Pain as the Limbs of Your own Happiness

[Point seven includes 21 slogans; it is connected with postmeditation]

SLOGAN 39  •  All activities should be done with one intention.
It seems that every day we fall willy-nilly into a never-ending string of activities. They seem to come at us from outside, without our necessarily having anything to do about it. We keep busy with one thing after another from morning until night. [Read more…] about 39: All activities should be done with one intention

SLOGAN 40  •  Correct all wrongs with one intention.
This slogan is about the power of establishing the attitude of mind training as a kind of underlying habit of mind. As in the previous slogan, it is about the power of our intention.

On the spiritual path we encounter both external and internal obstacles to practice and to awakening. Sometimes you are inspired and other times you are not. Even when you are inspired to practice, all sorts of external obstacles arise: you suddenly get sick, you need to attend to a family crisis, your job leaves us exhausted, etc. [Read more…] about 40: Correct all Wrong with One Intention

SLOGAN 41  •  Two activities: one at the beginning, one at the end.
When you start your day, you could actually take a moment to think about what you are doing. Instead of just launching in, you could begin properly, with something in mind beyond just getting through your to-do list. In particular, you could look on each day as an opportunity to practice lojong, or mind training. [Read more…] about 41: Two Activities: One at the Beginning, One at the End

SLOGAN 42  •  Whichever of the two occurs, be patient.
What happens to your practice when you extremely happy, when things are going especially well? And what happens to your practice when things are going horribly, and you are not doing well at all? That is what this slogan is about, and the advice is to be patient in either case. [Read more…] about 42: Whichever of the two occurs, be patient

SLOGAN 43  •  Observe these two, even at the risk of your life.
The two primary vows or commitments of the Buddhist path are the refuge vow and the bodhisattva vow. More generally, the two primary commitments one makes on the spiritual path are to work on oneself and to help other beings. These two vows provide fundamental guidelines for how to approach your practice and your daily life. [Read more…] about 43: Observe these two, even at the risk of your life

SLOGAN 44  •  Train in the three difficulties.
Mind training or lojong is a way to uncover and develop confidence in our own inherent goodness and that of all beings. It is a way to cultivate loving-kindness. You might say that is the good news. But the way to go about that is by going directly to the dark side, to what prevents that awakened quality from manifesting, which is not an easy task. You might say that is the bad news. [Read more…] about 44: Train in the Three Difficulties

SLOGAN 45  •  Take on the three principal causes.
It is good to be aware of the convergence of circumstances that makes it possible for you to practice the dharma. By attending to the underpinnings that support you on the path, you can create and maintain a strong base for moving forward. You can develop greater appreciation for your good fortune, and not take it for granted. [Read more…] about 45: Take on the three principal causes

SLOGAN 46  •  Pay heed that the three never wane.
Our initial inspiration to study with a teacher or to practice the dharma has a tendency to fizzle away over time. It is one thing to enjoy a burst of enthusiasm, but it is quite another to keep going after the initial excitement wears off. But that is exactly the point when you begin to practice for real. [Read more…] about 46: Pay heed that the three never wane

SLOGAN  47  •  Keep the three inseparable.
It is easy to think of lojong practice as just a mental exercise, after all, lojong is translated as “mind training.” But according to this slogan, lojong practice should engage our whole being: our body, our speech, and our mind. The idea is that we should be so thoroughly and completely permeated with mind training that there is no separation whatsoever. [Read more…] about 47: Keep the three inseparable

SLOGAN 48  •  Train without bias in all areas. It is crucial always to do this pervasively and wholeheartedly.
The previous slogan was about including all aspects of yourself in your lojong practice: your body, your speech, and your mind. This slogan expands upon that to include all aspects of your experience altogether. [Read more…] about 48: Train without bias in all areas

SLOGAN 49  •  Always meditate on whatever provokes resentment.
Cultivating loving-kindness sounds so sweet and wholesome. When you look at the ads in spiritual publications, you see smiling faces and promises about how to achieve happiness and be more loving and kind. But how many times do you see the word resentment? [Read more…] about 49: Always meditate on whatever provokes resentment

SLOGAN 50  •  Don’t be swayed by external circumstances.
The good thing about mind training is that it can be practiced in all kinds of situations. You do not have to wait for the right conditions to arrive or make special arrangements in order to work with mind training. The only rearrangement that needs to be made is to your own attitude. [Read more…] about 50: Don’t Be Swayed by External Circumstances.

SLOGAN 51  •  This time, practice the main points.
This time…

Every so often, opportunities to practice the dharma come up. How many times have you let those opportunities pass you by? I think of this slogan as the mañana slogan. It is the idea that there will always be time to practice later, but right now there are just too many other things going on. [Read more…] about 51: This Time Practice the Main Points

SLOGAN 52  •  Don’t misinterpret.
This slogan focuses on six qualities—patience, yearning, excitement, compassion, priorities, and joy—and how they can be misinterpreted. More generally, the point is to see how we can twist things so that our avoidance of the dharma is considered to be a virtue rather than a fault. We are continually tempted to misinterpret teachings designed to soften our ego-fixation in such a way that they instead add more fuel to our self-absorption and distractedness. [Read more…] about 52: Don’t Misinterpret

SLOGAN 53  •  Don’t vacillate.
When you first encounter the dharma, you may be intrigued but wary, or quick to be inspired. If you are inspired, you may jump in enthusiastically, and read all sorts of books, take tons of classes, and practice a lot. But such enthusiasm tends to be short-lived, and after a while, your interest and energy begins to peter out. You begin to have second thoughts about the whole thing. [Read more…] about 53: Don’t Vacillate

SLOGAN 54  •  Train wholeheartedly.
Train…

It is probably clear by now that lojong is all about training. And since the nature of mind training goes directly against our entrenched and deep-rooted habit of self-fixation, it is easy to come up with all sorts of excuses for not keeping it up. [Read more…] about 54: Train Wholeheartedly

SLOGAN 55  •  Liberate yourself by examining and analyzing.
This slogan focuses on two major obstacles to realization: ego-clinging and disturbing emotions. The idea is that it is important to really look into those two patterns. In fact, it is so important that you may need to actually conjure them up so that you can examine them in detail. [Read more…] about 55: Liberate Yourself by Examining and Analyzing

SLOGAN 56  •  Don’t wallow in self-pity.
When your practice is not going well, or you feel it is too hard, you may begin to regret undertaking it in the first place. It is easy to start to feel sorry for yourself. The anti-lojong slogan, “Ignorance is bliss,” begins to sound pretty appealing. You think, why not just live a “normal life” and forget about all this? Why take on this extra burden of mind training and the cultivation of loving-kindness? [Read more…] about 56: Don’t Wallow in Self-Pity

SLOGAN 57  •  Don’t be jealous.
This slogan is not only about jealousy, but also about overall irritability. If your meditation practice or mind training is making you even more irritable and touchy than before, something is off. You should be less susceptible to jealousy and irritability, not more so. [Read more…] about 57: Don’t Be Jealous

SLOGAN 58  •  Don’t be frivolous.
To work with this slogan, it is necessary to look at how you spend your time, what you think about, and how your invest your energy. It is easy to fritter away your time in frivolous pursuits that do not lead anywhere. But living in this way is like eating junk food: it is ultimately unsatisfying. [Read more…] about 58: Don’t Be Frivolous

SLOGAN 59  •  Don’t expect applause.
Now that you have studied all these slogans, don’t expect anyone to congratulate you! In fact it is a good idea to look at how much we keep looking for recognition altogether. It can be embarrassing, but often, as soon as we do anything of note, it is as if we were little children at a playground shouting. “Watch me, mama! Look at me! Look what I can do!” And when whatever we have done is not acknowledged or recognized, how quickly we get puffy and upset. [Read more…] about 59: Don’t Expect Applause

Summary: Working with the slogans
Although the word slogan is often associated with advertising or with political campaigns, the origin of the word comes from the Scottish for “war cry.” If you imagine that you are in a battle with distraction, confusion, and self-absorption, then like a war cry, the appropriate slogan is designed to abruptly interrupt your discursiveness and call you to attention. [Read more…] about Summary — Working with the Slogans

Judy Lief’s commentaries on the Slogans of Atisha are now available in PDF format (links below). There are three versions: “for-printing” is ideal for printing out or viewing on a larger screen; “for-tablet” is best for viewing on a tablet; and “for-smartphone” is ideal for viewing on a smart phone. These PDF files may be downloaded free of charge for the purpose of study. Donations to help support our ongoing efforts of making the dharma available to everyone are greatly appreciated. To make a donation, please click HERE.

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