Training in Compassion: Zen Teachings on the Practice of Lojong

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Training in Compassion: Zen Teachings on the Practice of Lojong

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

Lojong is the Tibetan Buddhist practice that involves working with short phrases (called "slogans") as a way of generating bodhichitta, the heart and mind of enlightened compassion. Though the practice is more than a millennium old, it has become popular in the West only in the last twenty years or so—and it has become very popular indeed, because it's a practice that one can fit very well into an ordinary life, and because it works. Through the influence of Pema Chödrön, who was one of the first American Buddhist teachers to teach it extensively, the practice has moved out of its Buddhist context to affect the lives of non-Buddhists too.

It's in this spirit that Norman Fischer offers his commentary on the lojong slogans. He applies Zen wisdom to them, showing how well they fit in that related tradition, but he also sets the slogans in the context of resonant practices throughout the spiritual traditions. He shows lojong to be a wonderful method for everyone, including those who aren't otherwise interested in Buddhism, who don't have the time or inclination to meditate, or who'd just like to morph into the kind of person who's focused rather than scattered, generous rather than stingy, and kind rather than thoughtless. (Source: Shambhala Publications)

Citation

Fischer, Norman. Training in Compassion: Zen Teachings on the Practice of Lojong. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2012.

Table of contents

• • Acknowledgmentsviii
  • Introductionix
• 1. Resolve to Begin1
• 2. Train in Empathy and Compassion, PART 1: Absolute Compassion9
• 3. Train in Empathy and Compassion, PART 2: Relative Compassion29
• 4. Transform Bad Circumstances into the Path45
• 5. Make Practice Your Whole Life63
• 6. Assess and Extend81
• 7. The Discipline of Relationship95
• 8. Living with Ease in a Crazy World125

• • Afterword147
  • Appendix 1: Seven Points and Fifty-Nine Slogans149
  • Appendix 2: Basic Zen Meditation153

Interconnections

Works related to this item

Karuṇā - The profound wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. It is a core virtue in Buddhism and, in the Mahāyāna tradition, develops into 'great compassion' (mahākaruṇā), the driving force behind the pursuit of enlightenment for the benefit of others. Skt करुणा  Tib ཐུགས་རྗེ་  Ch 悲  

Go to the page with the definition of 'compassion'

Prajñā - One of the key terms for wisdom or knowledge, most often having the sense of insight, transcendent knowledge, or perhaps gnosis. In some contexts it can also refer to cognition or intellectual understanding. Skt प्रज्ञा  Tib ཤེས་རབ་  Ch 般若  

Go to the page with the definition of 'wisdom'