Lojong literally means "Thought Transformation" or "Mind Training>' This is a group of practices used in Tibetan Buddhism. This is a text I have read and worked with before. Recently I have returned to it and try to read some of it each morning.
The Lojong training consists of 59 verses or sayings, which are attributed to the Indian Buddhist Monk, Atisha, who came to Tibet to teach sometime around 1000 years ago. The verses have been added to by commentaries made by a series of Tibetan teachers from different periods. These are available in various forms online and in books. The text I am using I downloaded 6 years ago. A colorful version can be downloaded here, but be warned, it is 120 pages.
There is quite a bit of narrative material at the beginning. The real core is going through each of the sayings with commentaries. This is not just a book to read. It is really a bridge between meditation practice and ordinary life in the world. It is both a series of practices, a way of viewing life, and practical advice on realizing this view, that is making it real for you in your life.
One of these practices that is perhaps best known is called Tonglen. Tonglen means giving and taking. It is a way of dealing with pain and confusion in yourself, in others around you and in the world. This is always helpful but particularly in the current world situation in which there is so much fear and suffering.
Some may find parts of this work strange or distasteful. For example there is a great deal of emphasis on honoring the guru. I do not have a personal, living guru but I do have an inner relationship with many teachers. I think, in the end, the real teacher is a projection of our best, clearest, most expanded self, the self that, hopefully, we want to become.
My copy is still 113 pages held together by a big clip. The pages are a bit dog eared and marked over. But I find that the more I work with this material the more I have come to appreciate it's wisdom.
Dr. Manlove
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© George Manlove. DC 2009
