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? The first one is to honor your vows. Technically, in Buddhism this means the vows a person takes to the Buddha, dharma, and sangha. I haven’t taken those vows. I imagine most of you probably haven’t, either. We can see this as a recommitment to our vow to live as bodhisattvas- as those who seek to serve others well in the world.

Second, we refrain from outrageous conduct. Traditionally, this has meant not cutting down trees (where spirits may dwell) or not polluting rivers. I have to say, I love that dishonoring the earth counts as outrageous conduct! To expand that a little, though, it also means not being what Pema Chodron calls a “bodhisattva exhibitionist.” It reminds me of a Christian scripture that encourages us not to pray loudly in the center streets, but quietly in our room. If we choose the streets, we get our reward- and it’s an empty one. Norman Fischer describes it as refraining from “attention-grabbing activities.” Do it because it’s right. Don’t expect fanfare.

Third, remain impartial. Fischer translates it, “Don’t be one-sided.” We tend toward what we know and like and approve of. And over time, that really messes with our sense of things. We get prejudiced over time, whether that’s food choices or the kind of people we like. So the goal here is to even it out a little, and try to be a bit more even-handed. Fischer encourages us to “take our one-sidedness into account and do what we can to de-emphasize it.” This is also a blanket reminder that there’s more than one side to everything. It helps when we remember we never work with the whole truth.

How can these principles help you hit reset this week?