The Seven Points of
Mind Training
By
The Venerable Khenchen
Thrangu Rinpoche
Geshe Lharampa
Translated by
Maruta Stern
and
Erik Pema Kunsang
Root Text Translated by
Michele Martin
Edited by
Victoria Huckenpahler
Copyright © 2004 by Thrangu Rinpoche.
Root text © 2004 Michele Martin
All rights reserved. No part of this book, either text or art, may be reproduced in any form, electronic or otherwise, without written permission from the Namo Buddha Seminar or Thrangu Rinpoche.
Published by Namo Buddha Publications
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Web site: www.NamoBuddhaPub.org
And
Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal Publications
P.O. Box 6259, Wellesley St, Auckland, NZ
Tel.: (649) 268 0786
Email: inquiries@greatliberation.org
Web site. www.greatliberation.org
ISBN: 1-931571-01-5
Library of Congress: BQ 7805.W35
Dewey Decimal: 294.3/444 20
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the many persons who helped make this book possible. First, we would like to thank Maruta Stern for translating the teachings given in Nepal, Erik Kunsang for translating the teaching given in Maine, and Michele Martin for translating the root text and for rendering extensive editing assistance. We would also like to thank Gaby Hollmann for transcribing and helping to edit the tapes of the retreat.
Note
Words are given as they are pronounced, not as they are spelled. The actual spellings of Tibetan words are given in the Glossary of Tibetan Terms.
We use the convention of B.C.E. (Before Current Era) for what is known as B.C. and C.E. (Current Era) for A.D.
These teachings were given in Nepal at the Namo Buddha Seminar in January, 1993 in Nepal and in Maine, USA in September of 2001.
This book is dedicated to:
His Holiness, the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Urgen Trinley Dorje. May he live long and prosper and spread the true Dharma throughout the world.
Table of Contents
Foreword ix
An Introduction to Mind Training 1
I. The Preliminaries 11
A. The Visualization for Mind Training Lineage 11
B. The Four Ordinary Foundations 13
1. The Difficulty of Finding a Human Birth 13
2. Death and Impermanence 15
3. The Inherent Tragedies of Samsara 15
4. The Infallible Law of Cause and Effect 16
II. The Main Practice 21
A. Ultimate Bodhichitta 21
1. Analytical Meditation 22
2. Placement Meditation 27
3. Post-meditation 29
B. Relative Bodhichitta 30
1. The Preliminary Practice 33
2. The Main Practice 34
3. The Post-meditation Practice 37
III. Carrying Practice onto the Path 43
A. The General Practice 43
1. Relying on Relative Bodhichitta 44
2. Relying on Ultimate Bodhichitta 48
a. Accumulating Merit 50
b. The Confession of Negative Deeds 50
c. Making Offerings to Gods and Demons 51
d. Making Offerings to Dakinis and Protectors 52
IV. Mind Training in Daily Life 61
A. Practicing Mind Training in this Lifetime 61
1. Power of Determination 64
2. Power of Familiarization 66
3. Power of Virtuous Actions 66
4. Power of Remorse 68
5. Power of Aspiration 70
B. Practicing Mind Training at the Time of Death 72
1. Power of Virtuous Seeds 72
2. Power of Aspiration 72
3. Power of Remorse 73
4. Power of Goodwill 74
5. Power of Familiarization 74
V. Evaluation of Mind Training 79
A. Clinging to self as a measure 79
B. Relying on yourself as a measure 83
C. State of mind as a measure 84
D. Staying on Guard 85
VI. Commitments of Mind Training 87
A. Three General Principles 88
B. Specific Principles 90
VII. Guidelines of Mind Training 101
A. What to Reject 101
B. What to Adopt 104
Conclusion 112
The Root Text of Seven Points of Mind Training 115
Notes 121
The Glossary 127
Glossary of Tibetan Terms 139
Bibliography 141
Index 143
About the Author 145
Foreword
Tibet was non-Buddhist until the eighth century when its King, Trisong Deutsen, asked Padmasambhava to come to Tibet to introduce the Buddhist teachings there. It was Padmasambhava, along with the Indian scholar Shantarakshita, who established Samye Monastery in 779 C.E. To help in this endeavor, the Minister Thonmi Sambhota was sent to India to develop a written script for the Tibetans. Thereafter, numerous Tibetans made perilous journeys to India to bring back the dharma and translate it into Tibetan.
This text on mind training, called lojong in Tibetan, was brought to Tibet by Atisha in the eleventh century. Atisha brought over 100 instructions to Tibet, this particular text being compiled by one of his students who condensed it into the present form of seven points.
The Buddhism of Tibet was a combination of the Shravakayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. The Shravakayana sometimes called the Hinayana was practiced in terms of strict personal discipline and the fundamental meditation of Shamatha and Vipashyana. The Mahayana was taught in terms of engaging in an extensive study of the emptiness doctrine of the Middle Way (Skt. Madhyamaka) school and taking the Mahayana vow to help all living beings reach liberation. Helping all beings was accomplished through the practice of the six perfections (Skt. paramitas) (generosity, morality, patience, perseverance, meditative stabilization, and wisdom). The Vajrayana was achieved through yidam practices and the practice of examining mind directly, using Dzogchen or Mahamudra meditation.
The study of texts on the Middle Way concerning emptiness took a minimum of a year in the monastic college or shedra which, unlike our colleges, involved an eight to ten hour daily study, six to seven days a week, with only a few weeks of vacation a year. The study of the Middle Way was achieved by memorizing the root texts in the morning, then receiving a commentary such as Thrangu Rinpoche has provided in this book in the late morning, and then debating the points of the text in the afternoon. Sometimes these texts were studied not just conceptually, but in conjunction with analytical meditation. At Rumtek monastery in the Nalanda Shedra, for example, Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche would teach emptiness in the morning, and in the afternoon would have the students face the outside walls and go into a deep meditation while he would read passages from the sutras on these topics.
Another method for actually practicing the Mahayana is Atisha’s mind training practice. The purpose of this practice is to overcome the habitual tendency to center the world around ourselves, and thus decrease our ego. The belief in “I” and in what we hold as “mine” causes vast amounts of harm in the world. This habit of acting in terms of “self” and “other” comes from placing ourselves over others in terms of our nation, our race, our community and social class, right down to believing that we are somehow fundamentally better than friends and even family members.
When asked whether he felt anger towards the Chinese for surrounding his camp with machine guns when he was fleeing Tibet in 1959, opening fire on him and hundreds of others, Thrangu Rinpoche replied “No,” because the soldiers were doing what they were supposed to do—shoot at him—and he was doing what he was supposed to do—run for his life.
To reverse this belief in holding our body and our ideas to be extremely important, we must put others ahead of our own selfish, ego-clinging patterns. The Seven Points of Mind Training constitute exactly such a practice, beginning the second we wake up and then carrying the attitude on through-out the day as we eat, work, and socialize with others. Practice ends at night when we examine ourselves to see if we have followed the mind training principles. Finally, Thrangu Rinpoche has suggested that as we fall asleep we should do sending and taking practice.
Mind training is relevant for modern times because we do not need to go to an isolated cave or retreat to engage in it; we can engage in it while doing all the thousands of other things we do every day. This practice has also been condensed to a few dozen instructions which are easy to memorize, and which are actually standards for living our daily life. They tell us how to behave in ordinary circumstances and show us if our ego is increasing or decreasing. In modern life, we do not usually have the time or patience to memorize long texts, so this practice is perfectly adopted for the present day.
These teachings on the Seven Points of Mind Training were given on two different occasions: in 1993 with Maruta Stern translating and also in 2001 in Maine with Erik Kunsang translating. Since Rinpoche emphasized certain points in one teaching and other points in others, we have combined the two.
Clark Johnson, Ph.D.
Atisha
Chapter 1
An Introduction to Mind Training
Why We Should Study Mind Training
In the previous years, I taught the general approach of Buddhist practice and I have also given the instructions on the Shamatha and Vipashyana meditation according to Mahamudra. These teachings are very pithy and profound and they are especially aimed at achieving the ultimate level of reality. There is, however, a way of practice that places more emphasis on the relative or the conventional level of reality. Some of my students have asked, “I practice Mahamudra and it is very beneficial, but every so often strong disturbing emotions well up and the Mahamudra practice doesn’t seem to stop them. What should I do then?” This is a good question to ask because at such times there is a way of practice that emphasizes more the relative truth and this is a teaching known as The Seven Points of Mind Training, which is very useful because it can help us pacify the emotions.
This is not just my personal opinion. The Seven Points have been practiced by the lineage of masters up to the present. They are explained as the merging of two rivers, the Kadampa and Mahamudra instructions, into one style of practice. Gampopa fused the mind training instructions of the Kadampa together with the Mahamudra instructions which he received from the great master Milarepa. In this way, there has been a line of practitioners known as “the golden rosary” or “chain of golden links” which has remained unbroken until the present time. This tradition combines mind training together with the profound instructions of Mahamudra. I consider this long tradition as a very important and a very profound approach.
The Story of Atisha
The teachings on The Seven Points of Mind Training are regarded as contemplations. They were condensed from the words of the Buddha (Skt. sutras) or the treatises (Skt. shastras) by the Indian master Atisha.1 When he first embarked in the dharma, he understood that the attainment of full and complete enlightenment depends upon forming both relative and ultimate bodhichitta. Since he wanted to find out which is the way to make sure that the true bodhichitta dawns within individuals, he fervently prayed to the deity Tara. He had several visions of her; in one vision Tara made the prediction that Atisha should set out to meet three important masters to receive the transmission of how to be a true bodhisattva and develop the bodhichitta attitude. These three masters were Jampey Naljor, Dharma Rakshita,2 and Jowo Serlingpa, the Guru from Serling. Of these three, Dharma Rakshita had an incredible life story and exemplified the bodhisattva ideal perfectly. It is said that he even gave away parts of his own flesh to someone who was needy. Atisha’s other guru was called Jampey Naljor meaning “the yogi of loving-kindness,” because he had that quality of bodhichitta. But the most important of these three was Jowo Serlingpa.
Atisha was born in the present district of Bengal but he went to Nalanda University to study. While studying at Nalanda he heard about Serlingpa. Serling is the Tibetan name for the island of Sumatra and his name means “the master from Sumatra.” In those days the Buddhadharma had spread to Indonesia and there were a great number of ordained monks studying with Serlingpa. He was so well-known that his fame had spread all the way to Nalanda in Northern India. When Atisha heard about Jowo Serlingpa, he made up his mind to go and visit. In those days this was a very difficult journey to undertake. Atisha almost died on the way because of violent storms, but whenever obstacles arose, he made fervent prayers to his chief deity Tara and always practiced loving-kindness and compassion. He somehow arrived and was accepted by Serlingpa, who told him, “Yes, bodhichitta is the most important practice and you must practice mind training. But don’t think you can do it in just a few days. It takes a long time to perfect this practice. You should stay here until you have completed this training.” So Atisha stayed with Serlingpa for twelve years and at the end of that time he had perfected his practice of mind training and returned to India.
Atisha became a great teacher at Nalanda University in Northern India and finally went to Tibet. In the eighth century C.E. Padmasambhava and Shantarakshita had gone to Tibet and established very pure Buddhist teachings. It had been a perfect time to establish Buddhism in Tibet, and the dharma flourished. In the following century, Tibet fell under the influence of King Langdarma who almost obliterated the Buddhist teachings, the lineage of precepts, and its institutions.
Following Langdarma’s assassination in 808 C.E., many teachers emerged and some taught their own dharma by, for example, mixing Buddhist practices with black magic. In one of the districts in western Tibet, there was a king called Yeshe Ö (“wisdom light”), who wanted to determine what the true dharma was and what distortions of the Buddhist teachings were so he invited genuine Buddhist teachers to come to Tibet. After him, his successor Jangchub Ö, (“the light of enlightenment”), had the same intention, and he also invited Buddhist teachers to Tibet.
King Yeshe Ö sent numerous translators to India in order to achieve this aim and many of them died on the way. But a few who succeeded in reaching Atisha gave him the king’s request. Atisha replied, “It is not a matter of personal feelings of going or not going. I will make supplications to my yidam deity and will wait for the reply.” So, he made many supplications to Tara, asking, “Will it be worthwhile for me to go to Tibet?” Tara appeared to him and said, “If you go to Tibet, it will insure that the Buddhadharma again becomes reestablished in that country, but it will also shorten your own life by 10 years.” Atisha replied, “If I live ten years less, it doesn’t matter because what concerns me the most is that the Buddhadharma help living beings. That’s what my life is meant for. So, I will go.” When Atisha arrived in Tibet, he started from the very beginning by teaching about refuge, bodhichitta, and mind training to separate the true teachings from the distortions. Atisha went to Tibet in 1044 C.E. and remained there until the end of his life.
Atisha founded the Kadampa lineage and when he passed on, he left behind three outstanding disciples, the main one being Dromtonpa Gyalwai Jungnae. In general, the Kadampa teachings were divided into three sections. One is the Kadampa philosophical texts, which were held by the Riwo Gendunpa or the Gelugpa tradition. Another is the Kadampa secret oral instructions which were held by Dakpo Lhaje (Gampopa) of the Kagyu tradition. The final one is the key instructions of the sixteen spheres which are practiced by everyone. Of these three, we practice the oral instructions which have passed from Gampopa down to this present time.
Gampopa, prior to meeting Milarepa, had followed the Kadampa teachings and received instructions from that lineage. When he was about to meet Milarepa, Milarepa told his disciples, “Today there will come a true teacher from the Kadampa tradition. Whoever escorts him into my presence will never be reborn into the three lower realms.” Milarepa understood Gampopa’s value from the very start. Also, when Gampopa was leaving after having received all the teachings on Mahamudra, the Six Yogas of Naropa, and so forth, Milarepa escorted him to Garjeling in Gampo where Gampopa began to practice. At this time Milarepa told him that he had had a special dream: from his side a vulture flew forth and landed on the Lhachi Mountain Peak and became surrounded by numerous golden geese, each of which was surrounded by 500 more geese. When they all flew on high, the whole area turned a golden color. Milarepa said, “Even though I am a follower of the yogi tradition, an eminent disciple of mine will fuse the Kadampa and Mahamudra lineage.”
The teachings on mind training have been articulated in various ways. There is one set of teachings called Mind Training in Eight Verses and another called Mind Training like a Peacock Overcoming Poison. There are many other instructions like these. The one that is most popular is known as The Seven Points of Mind Training, which is what we will actually practice after having received instructions. The Seven Points of Mind Training was written by a master called Chekawa Yeshe Dorje,3 who went through many difficulties to receive these teachings.
The Bodhisattva Vow
The bodhisattva vow constitutes a major part of the Mahayana path. One of the main ways to accomplish this vow is through the practice of mind training. This mind training, or lojong in Tibetan, that we are studying is composed of seven precepts whose purpose is to develop a feeling of love, compassion, and bodhichitta for all living beings. Usually, we tend to think of ourselves as really important. If we have any kind of suffering, we think that it is unbearable and that nobody else suffers as we do. We want to have happiness for ourselves and do not really consider that others feel the same. But the foundation for love, compassion, and bodhichitta is to think that others are equal to us and that we are able to exchange ourselves for them. Actually to do this we have to rid ourselves of this notion that only we are important, that only our suffering is unbearable, and that our desire for joy is of paramount importance. How do we train our mind to do this? The first step is to realize: “If I feel that I am important and that my suffering is unbearable, then other beings must have the same attitude. When they suffer, they too must feel that this suffering is “unbearable.” This is the meaning of training the mind.
We may ask how Mahamudra meditation and mind training are related. There are two kinds of truths, conventional and ultimate. Mahamudra is a very high level teaching which concerns the ultimate truth. But sometimes we are unable to realize that ultimate meaning, and because of this, various things happen. Sometimes our meditation goes very well, but at other times our diligence decreases, our pride increases, and our meditation doesn’t work the way it should. During these down times, the instructions of mind training are very good. Often people come to me and say: “I really want to practice dharma. I really want to study. I want to meditate but it seems I am very lazy and cannot do it.” For times like this, it is very helpful to contemplate again and again the instructions of mind training. In fact, if we can do this over and over, then the diligence which has decreased will again increase, as will faith. This is what the mind training precepts are for: the times when these obstacles, called “inner obstacles of the mind,” occur. When this happens, contemplate these thoughts over and over again. When diligence is decreasing and pride and jealousy are increasing, all of the mind instructions help. Once we have contemplated them repeatedly, then we can again go back to Mahamudra practice.
Atisha formulated about a hundred different mind training instructions. In Advice from a Spiritual Friend it states that Geshe Chekawa, who inherited the teachings from a disciple of one of Atisha’s disciples, put these instructions into the form of the seven points of mind training.
The first part of the mind training is a presentation of the preliminaries, which are the bases for dharma practice. In this text, the preliminaries are divided into two parts: the contemplation at the beginning of the preliminaries, i.e., what we must visualize and think of when we start, and then the actual explanation of the preliminaries.
Questions
Question: You talked about the relationship between this practice and The Wheel of Sharp Weapons.
Rinpoche: This text and The Wheel of Sharp Weapons are basically the same instructions, but are a little different in the meditation instructions. Both are very powerful, as the title suggests, really forceful in getting rid of negativities.
Question: Do the inner obstacles arise because of past bad karma? Could inner obstacles be purified through purification practice?
Rinpoche: Inner obstacles do not come from previous karma. What comes from previous karma are such things as physical suffering and being born in poverty. Inner obstacles, which are various negative conceptual thoughts, come >from previous negative habits of thinking. What does purify inner obstacles is, for instance, contemplation on the four thoughts which turn the mind, because inner obstacles are very, very old habits. Doing the four contemplations will gradually change the negative habits of mind and that will clear away the inner obstacles.
Question: When anything happens, negative or positive, to what extent does this depend on karma? For instance, if I am in a train accident, it is my karma, or could it also be the bad repair of the train? Or if something positive happens, like I find money and am happy, is that due simply to the fact that somebody lost this money?
Rinpoche: Not everything is karma. There are two things to consider: your previous karma and the immediate circumstances. Things like our physical suffering, or whether we are wealthy or impoverished, depend upon previous karma. Other things, like our state of mind, are more dependent upon circumstances than upon karma. For instance, if we have good Dharma friends with us, then it might be that our mind is in a good place for practicing and we are quite happy most of the time, whereas when we are around people who are not good for us, then our state of mind will not be good either, so we will be quick to become angry. That is called “the circumstance.” It functions more like barche, which could sometimes be an accident and sometimes a misfortune of some kind. It is based more upon immediate circumstances than upon karma. An airplane accident is karma, the karma of all the victims coming together at one time. It was their karma that they had all gathered together in that airplane. Another example: a man in India wants to get on the bus but doesn’t have one rupee, so he can’t get on. The bus crashes and everybody dies. It was his karma not to get on that bus, based upon the fact that he didn’t have that one rupee. That was his karma.
Question: It is very difficult to distinguish between circumstances and karma. For instance, if a brick drops on my head or my lama passes away, is it my karma or is it also his karma to pass away?
Rinpoche: If a rock falls on your head, it is karma. If it just falls from nowhere and you didn’t know about it beforehand, it is karma. However, if you pick up that rock and think, “I must build something with it,” then it is not karma. With your lama, one cannot tell whether it is karma or not. It might be, but he may have had a reason to pass into nirvana at that time, in which case it is not karma. Did he die because of your karma? No, it is not your karma. Now you don’t have a lama because he has finished teaching you, so it will be up to you whether you practice or not. That’s your karma. Because the lama has passed away, he is finished. All the Kagyu lamas have passed away. All lamas die, all living beings die; there is nobody who won’t die.
Question: An aspect of Buddhist practice that has been getting more attention in the West these days is social activism in which you bring your practice out into the community to make a positive change. There has been a growing interest in the socially active aspects of going from your meditation seat into the community and bringing about positive change. Some of the instructions of mind training could be interpreted as a sort of withdrawal from social activism, so that others are not given the benefit and opportunity of dharma.
Rinpoche: If everybody would practice these mind training instructions, it would really be good for everyone, including the community in general. For instance, it is beneficial for oneself, and if that person over there is doing it, then it is beneficial both for that person and everybody around. Mind training is very good for individuals and communities.
Eight Freedoms and Ten Riches
The Eight Freedoms (Tib. dal wa gye)
The first four freedoms involve the human realm.
1. Not holding wrong views
2. Not being born in a primitive border land
3. Not being born in an age without a Buddha present
...
Sharmik