Mind Training

Lokeshvara “He who looks over the world” is the embodiment of awakened compassion in Mahayana Buddhism.
Chekawa, the author, opens The Seven Points with this homage.

1. Groundwork

First, do the groundwork.

2. Practices

Awakening to what is ultimately true
Look at all experience as a dream.
Examine the nature of unborn awareness.
Let even the remedy release naturally.
The essence of the path: rest in the basis of all experience.
In daily life, be a child of illusion.

Awakening to what is apparently true
Train in taking and sending alternately. Put them on the breath.
Three objects, three poisons, three seeds of virtue.
Use reminders in everything you do.
Begin the sequence of taking with you.

3. Applications

General
When misfortune fills the world and its inhabitants
Make adversity the path of awakening.

Awakening to what is apparently true
Drive all blame into one.
Be grateful to everyone.

Awakening to what is ultimately true
The ultimate protection is emptiness;
Know what arises as confusion
to be the four aspects of being.

Special Methods
The best way is to use the four practices.
Work with whatever you encounter, immediately.

4. Summaries

What to do while living
A summary of the essential instructions:
Train in the five forces.

What to do while dying
The five forces are the mahayana instructions for dying. Posture is important.

5. Measures of proficiency

All instructions have one aim.
Two witnesses: rely on the important one.
A joyous state of mind is a constant support.
Proficiency means you do it even when distracted.

6. Commitments

Always train in three basic principles.

Body, speech, mind
Change your intention but behave naturally.
Don’t talk about others’ shortcomings.
Don’t dwell on others’ problems.

General reactivity
Work on your strongest reactions first.
Give up any hope for results.
Give up poisoned food.

Anger
Don’t rely on a sense of duty.
Don’t lash out.
Don’t lie in ambush.
Don’t go for the throat.

Envy
Don’t put an ox’s load on a cow.
Don’t be competitive.
Don’t make practice a sham.

Pride
Don’t turn a god into a demon.
Don’t look to profit from sorrow.

7. Guidelines

General
Use one practice for everything.
Use one remedy for everything.

Reminders
Two things to do:
one at the beginning, one at the end.
Whatever happens, good or bad, be patient.
Keep these two, even if your life is at risk.

Maintenance
Learn to meet three challenges.
Foster three key elements.
Take care to prevent three kinds of damage.
Engage all three faculties.

Extension
Train on every object without preference.
Training must be broad and deep.
Always work on what makes you boil.
Don’t be dependent on extraneous conditions.

Addressing imbalance
Practice what’s important now.
Don’t get things wrong.
Don’t switch on and off.

Maintaining balance
Train wholeheartedly.
Find freedom by probing and testing.
Don’t boast.
Don’t be hypersensitive.
Don’t be impulsive.
Don’t expect thanks.

This book comes highly recommended for details about the Seven Points of Mind Training

Mind Training is a comprehensive practice that is suitable for all types of students. It contains the entire path and does not depend on a person’s background. Mind Training nurses and cultivates the Buddha Nature, that pure seed of awakening that is at the very heart of every sentient being. It has the poer to transform even egotistical self-clinging into selflessness. Put into practice diligently, it is enough to lead you all the way to awakening. In “The Path to Awakening”, Shamar Rinpoche gives his own detailed commentary on Chekawa YeshE DorjE’s “Seven Points of Mind Training”, a text that has been used as a basis for transformative practice in Tibetan Buddhis for close to a thousand years. Clear, accessible, and yet profound, this book is filled with practical wisdom, philosophy, and meditation instructions.