Sacred Books

Free Buddha Dharma ebook ༄༅། །བློ་སྦྱོང་ཐུན་བརྒྱད་མའི་ཟིན་བྲིས་ཉུང་གསལ། Succinct Notes on the Eight Sessions Mind Training The Succinct Notes on the Eight Sessions Mind Training is an instructional text on mind training (lojong) in the form of edited notes. The notes are based on teachings given by one of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo’s masters from the Geluk tradition, Könchok Tenpa Rabgye (1801–1866). The root text, the Eight Sessions Mind Training, is attributed to Dromtön Gyalwe Jungne (1005–1064). Lojong instructions, which often take the form of succinct statements for reflection and meditation, evolved within the Kadam tradition that developed after Atiśa Dīpaṃkara’s (982–1054) arrival in Tibet in the first half of the eleventh century. Lojong as a Genre The key features of the mind training practices can be explained by the connotations of the term lojong itself. The first syllable lo is a generic term for mind or thought, but also, specifically in this context, refers to our attitude toward ourselves and others. The second syllable jong carries the connotations of (1) training to acquire specific skills or mastering a certain field of knowledge, (2) habituating oneself to specific ways of being or thinking, (3) cultivating mental qualities such as compassion, loving-kindness, and bodhicitta, and (4) cleansing or purifying one’s mental afflictions. The mind training practices work in a very practical way to change our basic understanding of others by recognizing that they are equal to ourselves. We do this by considering that every being has been our mother over beginningless lifetimes and by acknowledging the fact that all beings are equal in their wishing for and pursuing of happiness and wanting to avoid suffering. It is this idea of mental transformation as the central purpose of Buddhist practice that makes up the heart of the instructions of the Kadam masters. We transform the deluded state of self-centeredness and egoism into other-centered altruism by means of developing compassion, bodhicitta, and the practice of mentally giving away our own happiness and taking upon ourselves the suffering of others, a practice known as “giving and taking” or tonglen. Free download here: English: https://www.khyentsevision.org/static/published-pdfs/B644_Succinct_Notes_on_the_Eight_Sessions_Mind_Training.pdf Tibetan: https://www.khyentsevision.org/static/tibetan-pdfs/B644.pdf =====