In the Training the Mind class, Pema Chodron recently recommended a text on the use of Lojong Slogans as a means of Trauma Recovery. We must find a way to teach recovery to ourselves. But to make recovery a daily practice, we have to translate what everybody else says into something that makes sense to us. So, if this book doesn't translate into your truth, then keep on searching until you feel and hear and see what does light your way on the path.
Survivors often feel helpless and overwhelmed by circumstances beyond their control.
Sometimes therapists, psychiatrists and the psychological literature itself concur with this one-sided view of being a trauma survivor. Therefore, I wanted to find a term that ackowledged the resiliency and strength that is part of the experience of survival. Survivorship made me think of other skills that people practice and improve upon, such as horsemanship, sportsmanship and craftsmanship. The Buddhist Lojong teachings and meditation is the basis for survivorship practice. All proceeds from the book, less copy and postage, are donated to Gampo Abbey.