Lojong #9

#9 In all activities, train with slogans.

Chogyam Trungpa:
The point is to catch the first thought... The idea is that in catching the first thought, that first thought should have some words.

In this case, whenever you feel that quality of me-ness, whenever you feel "I" - and maybe "am" as well - then you should think of these two sayings:

[1] May I receive all evils; may my virtues go to others.

[2] Profit and victory to others; loss and defeat to myself.

It takes quite a lot of effort because it is a big job. That is why it is called the Mahayana [big vehicle]; it is a big deal. You cannot fall asleep when you are driving on this big highway...

Dilgo Khyentse:
An example of these maxims would be: 'May the evil deeds of others ripen as my suffering; may all my virtuous acts bear fruit as others' happiness.' This is what the Kadampa masters always used to recite. It is good to repeat such verses in the post-meditation period. If we do so, Bodhicitta is sure to grow in us and therefore we should devote much time and energy to this practice.

Linus Furious:
I know you thought (hoped, maybe?) that I had given up on this line of posts, but my need for tonglen became quite apparent recently. I respond very poorly to passive aggressive behavior, and I was reminded by several people yesterday that we live in a passive aggressive society (don't worry - they narrowly escaped, so no one got hurt). Slogans like #2 above are (or should be) central to my practice - on good days, they keep me calm and smiling. On days not so good, they just keep me from going on a multi-state killing spree..

For those of you who have been playing along since the beginning, today we have a little quiz...

What is Bodhicitta?
(Before you just Google it, delve in your own mind and see if you can dredge it up from previous posts here.)
Once you remember what it is, please give us an example of how you are working toward it.

If you missed the explanation of the lojong sayings and tonglen meditation, click here.