Mind Training: Cultivating Compassion & Insight. Slogan 56: Don’t wallow in self pity.
Channel: SF Dharma Collective
Date: 2021-10-01

Lopön Chandra led the sangha. She guided meditation, inviting everyone to anchor in shamata through breath awareness, and then opened up into the sending and receiving practice of Tonglen. She then spoke to the 56th Lojong slogan, “don’t wallow in self pity”. It is also translated a few other ways, including: “don’t be boastful”, “don’t feel the world owes you”, and “let go of your small sense of self”. She pointed out that, ultimately, the slogan is reminding practitioners to be humble. To think less about ourselves and more about how we can be of service to others and our world. 

Mind Training, or Lojong, is a practical and inspiring teaching that transforms the mind which is afflicted by our tendency towards enacting destructive emotions. At the heart of all practices of Tibetan Buddhism, Mind Training puts special emphasis on transforming adversity and joy into the path of our awakening. In contemporary psychological terms, we investigate our so-called ‘negative’ emotional experiences to identify the stories and patterns that occlude our innate compassionate, pro-social nature. 

There are 59 ‘slogans’ of Lojong which are designed to provoke and engage our mind to move away from self-centeredness and towards developing Bodhicitta, the wish that all beings may be happy and free of suffering. At the core is the invitation for us to commit to full, unconditional compassion for ourselves through recognizing the innate goodness and suffering we share with all beings. 

Each class will include teachings, practice, and discussion relating to one of the 59 slogans. Core Mind Training meditations such as Shamatha (Calm Abiding) and Tonglen (Sending & Receiving) will be taught.

Lopön Chandra Easton is a teacher and translator of Tibetan Buddhism. She is the Assistant Spiritual Director and Lead Authorized Teacher for Tara Mandala Retreat Center, founded by Lama Tsultrim Allione. She has taught Buddhism and Yoga since 2001 and co-translated Sublime Dharma: A Compilation of Two Texts on the Great Perfection, published in 2012. She is currently writing a book on the 21 Taras in Buddhism. Visit www.shunyatayoga.com and www.taramandala.org.

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