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As we enter the final weeks of 2020, can we take on the biggest mind-training challenge of all, and find gratitude? I know. It has been a terrible year. Horrific. Awful. Chaotic. Just the absolute worst. Honestly, out of sheer coping mechanism, we have likely blocked…
The thirteenth lojong slogan says, “Be grateful to everyone.” And yes, this has two sides. Next week I’ll talk about the positive, because what better way to finish our Soul Ninja posts before the new year! First, let’s talk about those people we feel less grateful…
Pema Chodron tells the story of a student who, when hearing the teaching on this lojong slogan, thought the teacher said, “Drive all things into Juan.” Understandably, the student was confused, wondering: Who’s Juan? And what did that guy ever do wrong?! This funny little misunderstanding…
A well known song of the season says, “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” We often feel so moved by those lines, and by that sentiment. Doing it, of course, is the hard part. That’s where the wisdom of the…
Here’s the twelfth lojong slogan: Drive all blames into one. It’s simple, but by no means is it easy. When something goes awry, the first thing we do is look for someone or something to blame. We toss blame around like a hot potato, refusing to…
When something goes wrong, we tend to flee into our oldest habits. It’s a matter of safety, and routine. While this is sometimes necessary, it can also limit us. That’s why the eleventh slogan instructs us to “transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi.” This…
Whatever you’re facing in life, work with what you’ve got. That’s the essence of the eleventh lojong slogan. It reads, “When the world is filled with evil, transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi.” The path of bodhi, remember, is the path of the compassionate…
Buddhist teachings are filled with instructions to be present to each moment with a sense of gratitude. For example, Shantideva wrote, “When eating do not gobble noisily, Nor stuff and cram your gaping mouth. -Shantideva Which sounded like a serendipitiously funny thing to read on Thanksgiving…
It’s really that simple: don’t be selfish. The tenth lojong slogan tells us to begin the sequence of taking and sending with ourselves. And as I said in the last post, that means offering ourselves compassion. It means, especially for us right now, giving ourselves an…
Begin the sequence of sending and taking with yourself. This is our tenth lojong slogan. As you remember, sending and taking is called tonglen practice. We take in the suffering of the world, and in its place we send love, peace, and well wishes. It is…
