Dzogchen Lojong

Excerpt from The Tantra of the Sole Offspring

Training the mind in these stages 

Will join impermanence with the mind.

Excerpt from The Secret Commentary on the Tantra of the Sole Offspring

The meaning of the line “Training the mind in these stages . . .” is as follows: “The mind” refers to oneself. “Stages” refers to the seven forms of mind training, in which one trains in bodhichitta by contemplating:

1. The impermanence of all conditioned phenomena 

2. Fleeting and lasting happiness

3. The various circumstances that can cause death 

4. The pointlessness of all mundane endeavors

5. The virtues of the Buddha 

6. The guru’s instructions

7. Nonconceptuality

“Training” refers to having practiced each of these mind trainings for three or twenty-one days. The meaning of “[This] will join impermanence with the mind” is as follows: “[This]” refers to the seven forms of mind training.

“Impermanence” means “to gain certainty.” “Join . . . with the mind” means that the first training in bodhichitta will turn your mind away from samsara, the second will make you repulsed by suffering, the third will arouse the prerequisite of faith, the fourth will allow you to engage the guru’s instructions, the fifth will give you resolve in meditation, the sixth will keep you from engaging in negative activities, and the seventh will cause your meditative concentration to develop.

~Garab Dorje

The Seven Mind Trainings

Essential Instructions on the Preliminary Practices

by Longchen Rabjam

To the guru and yidam deity, along with the host of dakinis,

I pay homage with the utmost respect, in body, speech, and mind. 

As a way to access the nature of the manifest essence,

I will now elucidate the essential instructions of the seven mind trainings.

To enable fortunate beginners to gradually access the nature of manifest awareness, the Precious Copper Letters presents seven forms of mind training that pertain to the following topics:

1. Impermanence

2. Fleeting and lasting happiness

3. The various circumstances that lead to death 

4. The pointlessness of all mundane endeavors

5. The virtues of the Buddha 

6. The guru’s instructions

7. Nonconceptuality

1. CONTEMPLATING IMPERMANENCE

On an outer level, time is impermanent. The four seasons come and go. Day and night come and go as well, changing moment by moment. On an inner level, the four aggregates and the four elements are impermanent as well. Constantly changing, they are as fragile and insubstantial as a mass of bubbles. On a secret level, your parents and loved ones are impermanent and will die.

When will you find yourself in the same situation? There is no way to be sure that you will not die this very day or tomorrow. Without getting distracted for even a moment, ask yourself wholeheartedly, “I wonder if I will die this evening, or perhaps tomorrow?” All sentient beings that you see will die as well, so meditate on the thought, “When will these beings pass away?”

Contemplating in this way will help you to see that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent by nature. Seeing them as examples of impermanence will help your mind become more focused. This is the way to gauge whether or not you have mastered this practice. The purpose of meditating in this manner is to turn your mind away from samsara.

2. CONTEMPLATING FLEETING AND LASTING HAPPINESS

Negative acts produce the lower realms and all forms of suffering, whereas virtue creates the higher realms and all forms of happiness. By their very nature, the higher and lower states of samsara are like the paddles on a waterwheel. Fluctuating and ephemeral, samsara is deeply flawed. The most profound way to avoid being caught up in samsara is to attain enlightenment and liberation. Everything else is unreliable and deceptive.

On the other hand, if you enter the path of liberation, you will attain the temporary pleasures of the higher realms and sublime qualities will take birth in your being as they have in the bodhisattvas. You will attain the lasting happiness of supreme enlightenment just like the buddhas. For these reasons, you should think, “I must achieve temporary and ultimate sublime happiness!”

If you do not enter the path of liberation, nonvirtue will lead you to the lower realms. Even if the virtue you have practiced leads you to a birth in the higher realms, you will eventually have to journey through the lower realms. When you think wholeheartedly that all activities end up causing suffering, you will have familiarized yourself with this mind training. The purpose of meditating in this way is to elicit a feeling of disenchantment and disillusionment with the suffering of samsara.

3. CONTEMPLATING THE VARIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES THAT LEAD TO DEATH

When born in samsara, there is nothing that you can rely on or trust. When you try to help someone, you may be harmed in return. Even food and drink can lead to illness or death. Whatever material wealth you manage to hoard could end up fulfilling the desires of your enemies and thieves. Hoping that your friends and loved ones will help you, you may imagine that they will bring you benefit, but these same people may become your worst enemies. Or, even if they do not actually harm you, they may insult you or disparage you for no reason. Whatever you do, it will not satisfy others. Indeed, worldly activities are endless and deeply problematic.

If you sincerely consider the attitudes and behavior of others, you will see that though you may try to help them, some will be satisfied while others will not. No matter how you look at it, you can see with certainty that all of this is useless. All that you do is imbued with the nature of suffering. There are innumerable circumstances that lead to illness and death. As these circumstances do not produce any real benefit, the only infallible objects to rely on are your guru and the Three Jewels. For this reason, if you cultivate devotion and make offerings to them, you will be setting in motion the causes of happiness.

Think to yourself, “I must focus solely on virtue!” With this in mind, reflect on all the good and bad circumstances of the past, what you are doing in the present, and what you will do in the future. Cultivate a sense of disenchantment, and focus your mind. When compassion toward all six classes of sentient beings manifests and you enthusiastically think of all your activities as an offering to the Three Jewels and your guru, you will have mastered this mind training. Meditating this way serves to elicit the prerequisite of faith.

4. CONTEMPLATING THE POINTLESSNESS OF ALL MUNDANE ENDEAVORS

The day you die, all of the things that you have done in your present life will do you no good. This includes protecting your loved ones, thwarting your enemies, engaging in farm work, seeking to profit from business dealings, pursuing material gain and fame, getting caught up in attachment and aversion, benevolently counseling others, chasing after influence and a good reputation, making friends and enjoying material pleasures with your loved ones, and making a home for yourself. Indeed, everything that you have done in the past is now nothing more than a memory. Like last night’s dream, it won’t come again. What you experience today is like this evening’s dream, while all that you will do tomorrow will be like tomorrow night’s dream. What a waste to have spent your time on pointless pursuits: getting caught up in attachment and aversion, quarreling with others, hoping to hear pleasant things and not to hear anything unpleasant, pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain, accumulating and hoarding things, and so on.

 5. CONTEMPLATING THE VIRTUES OF THE BUDDHA

For the fifth mind training, think to yourself, “The Buddha transcended all the shortcomings of samsara. His form radiated the marks and signs of complete enlightenment, his speech turned the wheel of Dharma, while his mind never wavered from the state of wisdom. Indeed, he was the sublime guide of the entire world, including the gods; he was its sole protector and support. For these reasons, I must attain buddhahood as well, for without doing so, I will not be of any benefit. Moreover, since buddhahood cannot be attained without meditating, it is essential that I do so. I must practice with perfect concentration, following the example of the amazing, accomplished masters of the past, who endured hardships and lived in isolated places on their quest for liberation. Just as they did, I must cast aside all the activities of this life and practice alone in a remote place!”

You will have mastered this practice when you think, “I must meditate, since without doing so it won’t be possible to attain buddhahood.” This will serve to strengthen your resolve in meditation.

6. CONTEMPLATING THE GURU’S INSTRUCTIONS

For this mind training, ponder the reasons for practicing the guru’s instructions. Consider how the guru is the one who will guide you across the boundless ocean of samsara to liberation. The guru’s instructions, like a great vessel, will liberate you. For this reason, you should practice your guru’s teachings to the letter, for if you do not, you will be perpetually tormented by the illness of suffering. With great affection, the guru is like the king of doctors. You must practice the guru’s nectar-like instructions diligently day and night.

You will have mastered this practice when you think, “What’s the point of all the things I do in this present life? I should practice the guru’s instructions and nothing else!” This will keep you perfectly focused on your guru’s instructions, without getting caught up in other activities.

7. CONTEMPLATING NONCONCEPTUALITY

The Nonconceptuality of Bliss-Emptiness

To train the mind in the nonconceptuality of bliss-emptiness, imagine the syllable HAM at the upper end of your central channel and an AH syllable at your navel. Fire blazes forth from the AH and hits the HAM, causing a stream of nectar to descend, filling the four root chakras and all the secondary chakras. This, in turn, causes bliss-emptiness to arise. As you visualize this, pull the lower energy up, press the upper energy down, and focus on a white AH syllable at your heart center. This will produce the empty knowledge that utilizes the skillful means of bliss.

The Nonconceptuality of Clarity-Emptiness

To train the mind in the nonconceptuality of clarity-emptiness, begin by expelling the stale breath three times. As you inhale, imagine that all external appearances and objects melt into light, merge with blue space, and then completely fill your entire body. Finally, join and hold the energies. This will generate clarity-emptiness. A vital point of this practice is to meditate that the energies are hot if a cold sensation is dominant, and cool if a hot sensation is more intense. Because different energies are active in different seasons (summer is associated with the fire energies, fall with the wind energies, winter with the water energies, and spring with the earth energies), there are more elaborate meditations that work with the energies that remedy these sensations, as well as on different forms and feelings. The energy of space, however, is good to practice at all times, and as physical sensations are included in these two (hot and cold), this is sufficient for practice.

The Nonconceptuality of Reality Itself

To train the mind in the nonconceptuality of reality itself, relax the body and mind from deep within. Without moving your eyes, meditate in a state free from the comings and goings of thoughts. By meditating in this way, you will be able to concentrate on whatever you direct your attention to, after which you will be able to rest for longer and longer periods in a nonconceptual, space-like state. When this comes to pass, you will have mastered this practice. This helps to develop bodhichitta more and more.

May the virtue, as pristine as a snow mountain,

From this work on the seven forms of mind training,

These vital points on the exceedingly profound preliminaries, 

Lead all beings to the state of total peace.

Through the propensities of having trained in lives past,

In this life I have mastered the essential meaning of the Supreme Vehicle.

Therefore, with the wish to benefit others in mind, 

I have revealed and clarified the profound nature.

Fortunate ones, regard this point of entry

To the profound, essential meaning as your crown ornament. 

The sublime path, the chariot of those who desire liberation, 

Will be swiftly accomplished based on these words.

These essential instructions on the preliminary practice of the seven forms of mind training were composed on the slopes of the Kangri Tökar by Longchen Rabjam, a yogi of the Supreme Vehicle.

These teachings have been entrusted to the glorious protectress of mantra Ekajati, Za Rahula, and the Oath-Bound Vajrasadhu. Should these teachings be corrupted with other words or changed, may they mete out a harsh punishment! Keep this secret from those who are not fit vessels! Grant it to those who are worthy!

Secret!

Samaya!

Virtue, virtue, virtue!