Image: Geshe Chekawa who first wrote down The Seven Points of Mind Training
THE SEVEN POINTS OF MIND TRAINING
The Seven Points of Mind Training belong to the category of teachings known in Tibetan as lojong, or in English ‘training or transforming the mind’.
Students following the All-Encompassing Path will have studied the beginning part of this compilation from March to May 2018 (and partially in 2015) so the study of this text is an excellent way to continue to deepen and fully explore these teachings.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama says that :
“The essential message of the lojong teaching is that if we want to see a better world, we should begin by improving our own mind. For me, the lojong tradition stands as the heart of the Buddha’s message of peace. It teaches us how to regard others with the dignity and care that they deserve, and also how to transcend the limitations of conventional ego-grasping. In brief, it is a guideline for our own enlightenment, leading to enlightened conduct in our own dealings with others.”
The root text of The Seven Points of Mind Training consists of seven main points. These are:
- The Preliminaries, the Basis for Practice
- The Main Part, Training in Bodhichitta
- Transforming Adversity into the Path to Awakening
- Applying the Practice Throughout One’s Life
- The Measure of Mind Training
- The Commitments of Mind Training
- The Precepts of Mind Training
These seven points—which are further divided into fifty-nine provocative and pithy slogans—have been used for centuries as tools to face the ordinary situations of everyday life, whatever the circumstances, with true intelligence and compassion.
Sogyal Rinpoche taught on this text, very thoroughly, during the months of May to July 2012, and considers this cycle to be the most definitive he has ever given on The Seven Points of Mind Training. These wonderful teachings have been edited and compiled, and are now available for your personal study, in audio format.
THE SEVEN POINTS OF MIND TRAINING COMPILATION
Sogyal Rinpoche’s definitive teachings on The Seven Points of Mind Training
This is available to all Mandala students of the Rigpa Sangha.
Price : 25€
Audio teachings
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Format
mp3
This compilation contains over 22 hours of mp3 audio teachings in English. There is currently no capacity to translate these teachings.
written materials
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Format
pdf
A pdf file (in A4 and A5 booklet formats) containing three different translations of the root verses of The Seven Points of Mind Training from :
“To Dispel the Misery of the World” by Ga Rabjampa, translated by Rigpa Translations;
“Enlightened Courage” by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, translated by the Padmakara Translation Group, and
“Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness” by Chögyam Trungpa, translated by the Nalanda Translation Committee.
Further Study
If you wish to further study The Seven Points of Mind Training, you can explore the various contemporary commentaries that exist. You will find a list in the ‘Translations and Contemporary Commentaries’ section of the shedra wiki online article.
You can also explore the Lotsawa House Lojong section, which offers many lojong texts for free, in several languages.
