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FACE TO FACE | EASTERN HORIZON 45

Benny: You’ve been both a bird, both necessary for flying to to specific trainings that enable a
student and now a teacher of one’s destination. profound shift in one’s attitude—
Buddhism. What initially drew from focusing mainly on oneself to
you to Buddhism, and what has The first wing is compassion, or embracing universal concern for all
sustained your interest over the method—particularly the great beings.
years—particularly in Tibetan compassion of the Mahāyāna
Buddhism? committed to protecting all beings The lojong teachings support the

from suffering. Without cultivating deepening cultivation of bodhicitta’s
Don: I was drawn to Buddhism the second wing, wisdom, one compassionate aim by lessening
because of a deep resonance with cannot achieve Buddhahood. self-centeredness. They also include
its emphasis on compassion, Without insight into the nature teachings on cultivating the wisdom
particularly in the Mahāyāna of reality, one lacks the actual of emptiness to overcome the
tradition where it is embodied in means to accomplish the aim of deeper error of self-grasping.
bodhicitta—the mind that aspires one’s compassionate motivation.
to benefit all beings by becoming These two aspects encompass There are 59 slogans in the lojong
a Buddha for their sake. In many all teachings and practices. It is tradition. How can reflecting on
ways, that is what has sustained my essential to cultivate them together, these slogans help transform
enthusiasm for Tibetan Buddhism each complementing the other. our minds toward greater peace,
since it clearly presents the path to emotional resilience, and overall
attaining that goal. This is especially What are the origin and primary well-being?
true in the Gelug school, where the aim of lojong, or mind training? The 59 slogans (though their
heart of practice is the lamrim, the Was lojong originally taught by the numbering varies in different
stages of the path, as explicated by historical Buddha, or is it a later presentations) are part of the
the great scholar Je Tsongkhapa development by Tibetan teachers? Seven-Point Mind Training of Geshe
(1357–1419). Chekawa (1101–1175), one of the
While all the Buddha’s teachings most essential lojong texts. There
You’ve benefited from the wisdom can be seen as a form of “mind are many other texts by Indian and
of many great masters, including training,” according to Tibetan Tibetan masters compiled in The
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Literature: Studies in Genre, the Great Mind Training Collection, an
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Ribur specific literature known as lojong anthology from the fifteenth century
Rinpoche, Choden Rinpoche, and “appears to be a genuinely Tibetan (translated into English by Thupten
Khensur Jampa Tegchok. If you innovation, although its contents Jinpa and published by Wisdom
were to summarize the essence of are firmly anchored in Indian Publications in 2006).
their teachings, what would it be? Buddhist tradition.” Geshe Chekawa’s slogans are
divided among seven points. They
I have been privileged to study The teachings that form the basis set out what to practice to create
with those great masters, as well for the lojong lineage came to the proper foundation for lojong,
as to have spent seven years in the Tibet with the arrival of the Indian as well as how to train the mind in
FPMT’s Masters Program with my master Atiśa Dīpankara (982–1054). everyday life.
root guru, the inestimable Geshe Several Indian texts are also cited
Jampa Gyatso. I believe the essence as sources of lojong, especially For example, the slogan “Banish the
of their teachings lies in what we the Bodhicaryāvatāra, the eighth- one to blame for everything” refers
often call the two main elements century Mahāyāna text by Śāntideva. to the fact that all our suffering
of the path to buddhahood: Lojong, often translated as mind and difficulties arise from the
compassion and wisdom. They are training, thought transformation, self-centered mind, which focuses
compared to the two wings of a or “mental purification,” refers here on our own welfare and neglects