Authors: Chogyam Trungpa, Pema Chodron
ISBN-13: 9781590300510, ISBN-10: 1590300513
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Date Published: July 2003
Edition: (Non-applicable)
Chögyam Trungpa (1940–1987) was a meditation master, teacher, and artist who founded Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and an international association of meditation centers known as Shambhala International. He is the author of numerous books.
The slogans contained in this book are designed to awaken the heart and cultivate love and kindness toward others. They are revolutionary in that practicing them fosters abandonment of personal territory in relating to others and an understanding of the world as it is.
The fifty-nine provocative slogans presented here—each with a commentary by the Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa—have been used by Tibetan Buddhists for eight centuries to help meditation students remember and focus on important principles and practices of mind training. They emphasize meeting the ordinary situations of life with intelligence and compassion under all circumstances. Slogans include, "Don't be swayed by external circumstances," "Be grateful to everyone," and "Always maintain only a joyful mind."
This edition contains a foreword by Pema Chödrön.
Point 1 | The preliminaries, which are a basis for dharma practice | 7 |
1 | First, train in the preliminaries | 7 |
Point 2 | The main practice, which is training in bodhichitta | 9 |
[Ultimate and relative bodhichitta] | 9 | |
[Ultimate bodhichitta slogans] | 25 | |
2 | Regard all dharmas as dreams | 25 |
3 | Examine the nature of unborn awareness | 26 |
4 | Self-liberate even the antidote | 28 |
5 | Rest in the nature of alaya, the essence | 31 |
6 | In postmeditation, be a child of illusion | 36 |
[Relative bodhichitta slogans] | 39 | |
7 | Sending and taking should be practiced alternately : these two should ride the breath | 39 |
8 | Three objects, three poisons, and three seeds of virtue | 56 |
9 | In all activities, train with slogans | 58 |
10 | Begin the sequence of sending and taking with yourself | 59 |
Point 3 | Transformation of bad circumstances into the path of enlightenment | 61 |
[Point three and the paramita of patience] | 61 | |
11 | When the world is filled with evil, transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi | 62 |
12 | Drive all blames into one | 65 |
13 | Be grateful to everyone | 76 |
14 | Seeing confusion as the four kayas is unsurpassable shunyata protection | 82 |
15 | Four practices are the best of methods | 88 |
16 | Whatever you meet unexpectedly, join with meditation | 108 |
Point 4 | Showing the utilization of practice in one's whole life | 113 |
[Point four and the paramita of exertion] | 113 | |
17 | Practice the five strengths, the condensed heart instructions | 114 |
18 | The mahayana instruction for ejection of consciousness at death : is the five strengths : how you conduct yourself is important | 121 |
Point 5 | Evaluation of mind training | 127 |
[Point five and the paramita of meditation] | 127 | |
19 | All dharma agrees at one point | 128 |
20 | Of the two witnesses, hold the principal one | 131 |
21 | Always maintain only a joyful mind | 134 |
22 | If you can practice even when distracted, you are well trained | 138 |
Point 6 | Disciplines of mind training | 143 |
[Point six and prajnaparamita] | 143 | |
23 | Always abide by the three basic principles | 144 |
24 | Change your attitude, but remain natural | 147 |
25 | Don't talk about injured limbs | 148 |
26 | Don't ponder others | 149 |
27 | Work with the greatest defilements first | 150 |
28 | Abandon any hope of fruition | 150 |
29 | Abandon poisonous food | 152 |
30 | Don't be so predictable | 153 |
31 | Don't malign others | 155 |
32 | Don't wait in ambush | 155 |
33 | Don't bring things to a painful point | 156 |
34 | Don't transfer the ox's load to the cow | 157 |
35 | Don't try to be the fastest | 158 |
36 | Don't act with a twist | 159 |
37 | Don't make gods into demons | 160 |
38 | Don't seek others' pain as the limbs of your own happiness | 160 |
Point 7 | Guidelines of mind training | 163 |
[Point seven and postmeditation] | 163 | |
39 | All activities should be done with one intention | 163 |
40 | Correct all wrongs with one intention | 164 |
41 | Two activities : one at the beginning, one at the end | 165 |
42 | Whichever of the two occurs, be patient | 166 |
43 | Observe these two, even at the risk of your life | 167 |
44 | Train in the three difficulties | 167 |
45 | Take on the three principal causes | 169 |
46 | Pay heed that the three never wane | 170 |
47 | Keep the three inseparable | 171 |
48 | Train without bias in all areas : it is crucial always to do this pervasively and wholeheartedly | 171 |
49 | Always meditate on whatever provokes resentment | 172 |
50 | Don't be swayed by external circumstances | 172 |
51 | This time, practice the main points | 172 |
52 | Don't misinterpret | 173 |
53 | Don't vacillate | 174 |
54 | Train wholeheartedly | 174 |
55 | Liberate yourself by examining and analyzing | 174 |
56 | Don't wallow in self-pity | 174 |
57 | Don't be jealous | 175 |
58 | Don't be frivolous | 175 |
59 | Don't expect applause | 175 |
Concluding verses | 177 | |
App | Forty-six ways in which a bodhisattva fails | 179 |