Mind Training: Cultivating Compassion & Insight. Slogan 50: Don't be swayed by external circumstance
Channel: SF Dharma Collective
Date: 2021-08-28

It was a special evening for the Well of Being Sangha. Lobsang Tenpa (https://lobsangtenpa.com/about) lead the sangha. He shared a comprehensive teaching on the 50th Lojong slogan, “do not be swayed by external circumstances”. The focus of his commentary centered on staying connected to our mindfulness practice and not letting the pull of material, emotional, psycho-social pressures pull us away. As practitioners we hold our vows or commitment to practice as primary. He also offered a concise and modern explanation of “the path” and what it means to maintain our practice.

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He also guided the sangha in meditation.

Lobsang Tenpa is a certified Cultivating Emotional Balance teacher, meditation instructor and Buddhist translator. Born in Siberia, he got his BA and MA in South Asian Studies at the diplomatic college in Moscow and went on to become an ordained monastic and a translator in the Tibetan contemplative tradition. In addition to his Buddhist studies and translator work, Tenpa has been working with secular ethics and secular mindfulness courses for almost a decade. Further developing his skills while studying in Nepal, the UK and the US, he has taught and led short and long-term retreats in Europe, Asia and North America. In addition, he has served as the interpreter for such teachers as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Venerable Thubten Chodron, Dr. Alan Wallace, Glen Svensson, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and many others. https://lobsangtenpa.com.

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 includes 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.

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