Seven Points of Mind Training

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Chekawa Yeshe Dorje

Seven Points of Mind Training (T. blo sbyong don bdun ma བློ་སྦྱོངས་དོན་བདུན་མ་) — the famous instruction on 'mind training' (lojong) brought to Tibet by Atisha and written down by Chekawa Yeshe Dorje.

The seven points are:

(1) presentation of the preliminaries,

(2) training in the two awakening minds,

(3) taking adversities onto the path of enlightenment,

(4) presentation of a lifetime’s practice in summary,

(5) the measure of having trained the mind,

(6) the commitments of mind training, and

(7) the precepts of mind training.

Chekawa's original text was not arranged into these seven points. This was done later by his disciple, Sechilphuwa Özer Shyönnu (aka Chökyi Gyaltsen) (1121-1189).

Root text

The root text of the Seven Points of Mind Training consists of 59 slogans divided into the seven main points.

Lotsawa House translation

The following translation by Adam Pearcey is published on Lotsawa House ([1]):

1. The Preliminaries

First, train in the preliminaries.

2. The Main Practice

Consider all things and events as dreamlike.
Examine the nature of unborn awareness.
Let even the antidote be freed in its own place.
Rest in the ālaya, the essence.
Between sessions, be a conjurer of illusions.

Train in the two—giving and taking—alternately.
These two are to be mounted on the breath.
Three objects, three poisons and three sources of virtue.
In all activities, train by applying slogans.
Begin the process of taking with yourself.

3. Transforming Adversity into the Path of Enlightenment

When all the world is filled with evil,
transform adversity into the path of enlightenment.
Drive all blames into one.
Meditate on the great kindness of all.
Meditating on delusory perceptions as the four kāyas
Is the unsurpassable śūnyatā protection.
The fourfold practice is the best of methods.
Whatever you encounter, apply the practice.

4. Applying the Practice throughout the Whole of Life

The essence of the instruction, briefly stated,
is to apply yourself to the five strengths.
The mahāyāna advice for transference
Involves the same five strengths. Conduct is important.

5. The Measure of Mind Training

All teachings share a single purpose.
Of the two witnesses, rely upon the principal one.
Always maintain only a joyful attitude.
If this can be done even when distracted, you are proficient.

6. The Commitments of Mind Training

Train constantly in three basic principles.
Change your attitude, but remain natural.
Don’t speak of injured limbs.
Don’t ponder others’ flaws.
Train first with the strongest destructive emotions.
Abandon any expectations of results.
Give up poisonous food.
Don’t be so loyal to the cause.
Don’t lash out in retaliation.
Don’t lie in ambush.
Don’t strike a vulnerable point.
Don’t transfer the ox’s burden to the cow.
Don’t be competitive.
Don’t misperform the rites.
Don’t reduce gods to demons.
Don’t seek others’ misery as crutches of your own happiness.

7. The Precepts of Mind Training

Do everything with a single intention.
Counter all adversity with a single remedy.
Two tasks: one at the beginning and one at the end.
Whichever of the two occurs, be patient.
Keep the two, even at your life’s expense.
Train in the three difficulties.
Acquire the three main provisions.
Cultivate the three that must not decline.
Keep the three from which you must not separate.
Apply the training impartially to all.
It is vital that it be deep and all-pervasive.
Meditate constantly on those who’ve been set apart.
Don’t be dependent on external conditions.
This time, practise what’s most important.
Don’t misunderstand.
Don’t be inconsistent.
Train wholeheartedly.
Gain freedom through discernment and analysis.
Don’t be boastful.
Don’t be irritable.
Don’t be temperamental.
Don’t seek acknowledgement.

The essence of the nectar-like instructions for transforming into the path of awakening the five prevalent signs of degeneration was passed down from the one from Golden Isle. When karmic seeds left over from former trainings were aroused in me, I felt great interest, and so, without regard for suffering or disparagement, I sought instructions on subduing ego-clinging. Now, even in death, I shall have no regrets.

Other online translations

Other translations of the root text (which are available online) include:

• Seven Point Mind Training, StudyBuddhism
• The Seven Point Mind Training, Sravasti Abbey

Tibetan commentaries

Thupten Jinpa presents the following list of well-known commentaries from Tibetan teachers on the Seven Points of Mind Training:

1. Sechilphuwa Özer Shyönnu’s (twelfth century) commentary compiled from Geshe Chekawa’s own lectures
2. Gyalsé Tokmé Zangpo’s (fourteenth century) commentary
3. Shonu Gyalchok’s (fourteenth century) Compendium of All Well-Uttered Insights
4. Müchen Könchok Gyaltsen’s (fifteenth century) Supplement to Oral Transmission
5. Radrengpa’s (fifteenth century) Stream of the Awakening Mind
6. Hortön Namkha Pel’s (fifteenth century) Mind Training Like the Rays of the Sun
7. The First Dalai Lama’s (fifteenth century) Lucid and Succint Guide to Mind training
8. Khedrup Sangye Yeshe’s (sixteenth century) How to Integrate into One’s Mind the Well-Known Seven-Point Mind Training
9. Kalden Gyatso’s (seventeenth century) Dispelling the Darkness of Mind
10. Yongdzin Yeshe Gyeltsen’s (eighteenth century) Essence of Ambrosia
11. Ngulchu Dharmabhadra’s (eighteenth century) Heart Jewel of the Bodhisattvas
12. Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo’s (nineteenth century) Seeds of Benefit and Well-Being

Other notable Tibetan commentaries include:

• Ga Rabjampa Kunga Yeshe (1397-1470), Stream of Nectar: Pith Instructions for Cultivating Relative and Absolute Bodhichitta (T. byang chub kyi sems gnyis bsgom pa’i man ngag bdud rtsi’i chu rgyun)

  Translation: Rigpa Translations, To Dispel the Misery of the World: Whispered Teachings of the Bodhisattvas, Wisdom Publications, 2012.

• Jamgon Kongtrul (1813–1899), Authentic Path to Enlightenment.

  This text is the basis for the contemporary commentary by Dzigar Kongtrul (The Intelligent Heart). It was also translated by Ken McLeod as The Great Path of Awakening.

• Zhechen Gyaltsab Gyurmed Padma Namgyal (1871-1926), Fine Vase of Honey: Profound Instructions on the Mahayana Practice of Mind Training (T. theg pa chen po'i blo sbyong gi man ngag zab don sbrang rtsi'i bum bzang)

  Translation: Path of Heroes: Birth of Enlightenment (two volumes), translated by Deborah Black, Dharma Publishing, 1995.

Also notable is this song of realization on the Kadampa tradition (including the Seven Points):

• Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Chariot of Benefit and Happiness, khyentsevision.org

Translations and contemporary commentaries

Translations and commentaries by contemporary teachers include:

• Chögyam Trungpa, Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving Kindness, Shambhala, 1993
• Dalai Lama, Awakening the Mind, Lightening the Heart, Harper San Francisco, 1995
  • based on the commentary The Rays of the Sun by Hortön Namkha Pel
• Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Enlightened Courage, Editions Padmakara, 1992
• Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, The Intelligent Heart: A Guide to the Compassionate Life (Boston: Shambhala, 2016)
  • based on the commentary Authentic Path to Enlightenment by Jamgon Kongtrul
• Ga Rabjampa Kunga Yeshe, To Dispel the Misery of the World: Whispered Teachings of the Bodhisattvas, translated by Rigpa Translations, Wisdom Publications, 2012.
• Geshe Lobsang Tharchin, Achieving Bodhichitta, Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Press, 1999
• Geshe Rabten & Geshe Dhargyey, Advice for a Spiritual Friend, Wisdom Publications, 1996
• Thupten Jinpa (translator)
  • Mind Training: The Great Collection (as part of an anthology of early lojong texts), Wisdom Publications, 2005
  • Essential Mind Training (Tibetan Classics), Wisdom Publications, 2011
• Gomo Tulku, Becoming a Child of the Buddhas, Wisdom Publications, 1998
• Jamgön Kongtrul, The Great Path of Awakening, translated by Ken McLeod, Shambhala, 2005
  • a translation of the commentary Authentic Path to Enlightenment by Jamgon Kongtrul
• Pema Chödrön, Start Where You Are, Shambhala Publications, 2001
• Ringu Tulku Mind Training, Snow Lion Publications, 2007
• Thrangu Rinpoche
  • The Seven Points of Mind Training, Zhyisil Chokyi Publications, 2004
  • Heart of the Dharma: Mind Training for Beginners, KTD Publications, 2010
• Traleg Kyabgon
  • Benevolent Mind, Zhyisil Chokyi Publications, 2003
  • The Practice of Lojong: Cultivating Compassion Through Training the Mind, Shambhala Publications, 2007
• Wallace, B. Alan
  • Seven Point Mind Training, Snow Lion Publications, 2004
  • The Art of Transforming the Mind, Shambhala Publications, 2022
• Zhechen Gyaltsab Gyurmed Padma Namgyal, Path of Heroes: Birth of Enlightenment (two volumes), Dharma Press, 1995

Sources

• Dzigar Kongtrul (2016), The Intelligent Heart: A Guide to the Compassionate Life, Boulder: Shambhala Publications 
• Thupten Jinpa, ed. (2005), Mind Training: The Great Collection, Boston: Wisdom Publications 

External links

• Mind Training (Lojong), Lotsawa House
• Seven Points of Mind Training, Rigpa Shedra Wiki