Tonglen and lojong

Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines · Atisha Dipankara, Geshe Chekhawa Yeshe Dorje

What it is

Lojong (Tibetan, "mind training") is a Mahayana Buddhist method for cultivating bodhicitta, the wish to awaken for the benefit of all beings, by reshaping everyday attitudes through short pithy sayings ("slogans") and contemplation. The tradition attributes the teachings to the Indian master Atisha…

Format

• Preliminaries. "First, train in the preliminaries." Teachers explain these as the four reminders or "four thoughts that turn the mind": precious human birth, impermanence and death, karma (cause and effect), and the suffering of samsara (cyclic existence).
• Format and dose. The tradition presents lojong as lifelong practice in formal sessions plus slogans carried into daily life. The sources consulted give no session count or course length for lojong itself. The secular CBCT programme (Emory), which draws on Tibetan Buddhist compassion practice, is…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Measure of mind training. All teachings share one purpose; of "the two witnesses" rely on the principal one (one's own mind, as commonly explained); maintain a joyful attitude.
• Version followed: the root text The Seven Points of Mind Training attributed to Geshe Chekhawa Yeshe Dorje (1101–1175), in Adam Pearcey's translation (Lotsawa House, 2012, CC BY-NC); tonglen as Pema Chödrön, a student of Chögyam Trungpa and Dzigar Kongtrul, teaches it publicly; slogan practice as Judy Lief, editor of Trungpa's lojong teachings, presents it.
• Lojong (Tibetan, "mind training") is a Mahayana Buddhist method for cultivating bodhicitta, the wish to awaken for the benefit of all beings, by reshaping everyday attitudes through short pithy sayings ("slogans") and contemplation. The tradition attributes the teachings to the Indian master Atisha Dipankara and their arrangement into a seven-point text to Geshe Chekawa; the commonly taught English version groups…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Drifting into teaching; shared community contact; proselytising either way.
• The therapist arguing theology; ERP that offends the client's values; overlooking depression.
• Both errors: pathologising a meaningful experience, and calling emerging psychosis or mania "just spiritual".
• Distinguish spiritual preparation from suicidal intent or wish to hasten death; assess risk by current standards.
• Perfectionistic tallying of failures, vows experienced as unbearable obligations, fear of karmic punishment; see B6.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.