The 28th lojong slogan, “Abandon any hope of fruition,” is the first one I learned. My teacher had it posted in the room where we spent most of our day. I didn’t like it. It felt, at first, pessimistic and unreasonable. As you can imagine if…
Lojong slogan 27 says, “Work with the greatest defilements first.” Other teachers phrase it as working with your strongest emotions, or your biggest problems, first. Whatever way we phrase it, the wisdom here is not leaving the worst for last. Often, that’s what we want to…
The 26th lojong slogan says, “Don’t ponder others.” Much like the last saying, “Don’t talk about injured limbs,” the wisdom here is about tending to our own stuff and not projecting that stuff onto others. Have you noticed how we can so easily find reasons to…
Lojong slogan 25 says, “Don’t talk about injured limbs.” It’s a short-hand way of reminding us to speak kindly of others. It also reminds us that usually, when someone is doing something worth commenting on, their actions (or our criticism of them) are coming from a…
The 23rd lojong slogan teaches, “Change your attitude, but remain natural.” Even as we’re seeking to train our minds, we don’t need to look for confirmation outside of ourselves. And we especially don’t want to fake it, as if we’re working to show off our progress.…
Lojong slogan 22 says, “Always abide by the three basic principles.” In this one, we hear echoes of the first lojong slogan (“first, train in the preliminaries”). It’s a chance for us to hit refresh and do a check-in. So what are the three basic principles?…
“If you can practice when distracted, you are well trained.” So says the 21st lojong slogan. Of course, this comes only with time. When we first learn something, we get distracted and frazzled so easily. Our minds focus too intently on getting it right. Only with…
The 21st lojong slogan says, “Always maintain only a joyful mind.” Straight-forward enough, right? Except, being constantly joyful sounds impossible, doesn’t it? I was talking with my best friend the other day and we agree: we’re over it. We are over Covid and all the restrictions…
