Part 1: About the Text
Titles of the Text
The text examined in this study is known in Tibetan as Blo sbyong don bdun ma, which translates as "Mind Training in Seven Points" or "Seven-Point Mind Training." The Tibetan term blo sbyong (lojong) combines blo (mind, thought, attitudes) with sbyong (training, habituation, purification, cleansing), carrying four interrelated but distinct semantic dimensions. The suffix don bdun ma literally means "seven points" or "seven topics," referring to the systematic organization Chekawa Yeshe Dorje imposed upon previously scattered oral instructions. Chekawa arranged the root lines into seven categories, which became the standard presentation of Lojong, thus establishing the term "seven points" as synonymous with this particular formulation of mind training. The work is classified as a didactic manual written in seven-syllable verse, noted for its mnemonic structure and use of colloquial language, including Tibetan proverbs.
The term lojong itself has sparked philological discussion regarding its most appropriate English rendering. Some scholars argue that "mental purification" more accurately reflects the etymological sense of sbyong, while others prefer "mind training" as better capturing the genre's functional character in Tibetan Buddhist pedagogy. This debate extends to whether lojong should be understood prescriptively through its classical etymology or descriptively as a recognized genre name in the Tibetan literary tradition. The seven-point formulation by Chekawa became so influential that The Seven Points functions almost as a proper name for this particular branch of the lojong literature, distinguishing it from other mind training texts such as Langri Thangpa's Eight Verses on Mind Training (Blo sbyong tshig brgyad ma).
Table 1: Language Forms and Canonical Identifiers
| Language |
Form |
BDRC ID |
Notes
|
| Tibetan
|
Blo sbyong don bdun ma
|
WA15433 (BDRC Work ID)
|
Standard title; Wylie transliteration
|
| Tibetan
|
Blo sbyong don bdun ma'i rtsa tshig sogs
|
MW1NLM668 (Mongolia MS)
|
"Root verses . . . and others"
|
| Tibetan
|
Sngags chen lam rim dang blo sbyong don bdun ma'i 'grel pa
|
MW1AC25 (Lhasa print, series 348)
|
Includes Lamrim material
|
| Tibetan
|
Blo sbyong don bdun ma'i snyan brgyud kyi tshig rnams
|
MW1PD89084 (Bka' gdams gsung 'bum)
|
Tokme Zangpo commentary witness
|
| English
|
Seven-Point Mind Training
|
—
|
Most common translation
|
| English
|
Mind Training in Seven Points
|
—
|
Alternative translation
|
| English
|
Seven-Topic Mental Purification
|
—
|
Sweet 1996 translation (prescriptive)
|
Content and Structure
While Chekawa is credited with the seven-point systematization, the root lines themselves are understood to derive from the scattered oral instructions (upadeśa, man ngag) of the Indian master Atiśa Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna (982–1054). These instructions were initially transmitted as restricted teachings (lkog chos), given orally to select disciples. Chekawa's innovation lay not in authoring entirely original verses but in compiling, organizing, and publicly disseminating what had previously been esoteric transmission material. The biographical literature consistently credits Chekawa as "the great systematizer" of the lojong teachings, a title that captures his historical role more precisely than "author" in the modern compositional sense.
His Seven Points organizes bodhicitta cultivation into a systematic, progressive framework consisting of seven main topics. This structure begins with foundational preliminary practices, proceeds through the core training in ultimate and conventional awakening mind, addresses the transformation of adversities, integrates practice into one's entire life, establishes measures of proficiency, delineates specific commitments, and concludes with practical precepts.
Point 1: Presentation of the Preliminaries
The first point establishes the foundational practices necessary for mind training. Commentarial literature identifies these as contemplating the rarity and preciousness of human birth, meditating on impermanence and death's certainty, and recognizing samsara's pervasive faults. These four contemplations generate the urgency and appropriate motivation required for the main practice.
Point 2: Training in the Awakening Mind
The second point constitutes the core of The Seven-Point Mind Training, divided into training in ultimate awakening mind (don dam byang chub kyi sems) and conventional awakening mind (kun rdzob byang chub kyi sems). This dual structure reflects the Mahāyāna understanding that complete enlightenment requires both wisdom realizing emptiness and compassionate engagement with suffering beings.
Ultimate bodhicitta training centers on emptiness meditation using approaches like viewing all phenomena as dreamlike or examining the nature of unborn awareness. Conventional bodhicitta training centers on tonglen (gtong len), "giving and taking," coordinated with breathing. Practitioners alternate between giving their happiness to others (on exhalation) and taking upon themselves others' suffering (on inhalation). Post-meditation instruction teaches the practitioner to work with "three objects, three poisons, and three roots of virtue," to maintain mindfulness by recognizing types of experiential objects and noting which afflictions they evoke, and to immediately transform afflictive responses into virtuous opposites.
Point 3: Taking Adverse Conditions onto the Path
The third point teaches the distinctive lojong approach to difficulties and obstacles. Rather than viewing hardships as impediments, mind training transforms them into catalysts for awakening. Key instructions include identifying self-cherishing as the sole cause of suffering and recognizing even harmful beings as teachers providing opportunities to practice patience.
Point 4: Condensing Practice into One Lifetime
The fourth point addresses how to integrate the entire path into one's actual life circumstances through the five powers: repeatedly renewing one's commitment to bodhicitta, consistent practice, accumulating merit, rejecting self-cherishing, and dedicating merit toward enlightenment.
Point 5: The Measure of Proficiency
The fifth point establishes criteria for evaluating progress. The primary measure emphasizes the practice aiming at reducing self-grasping and self-cherishing. Other measures include relying on one's own mind as principal witness rather than others' perceptions, maintaining a joyful attitude, and practicing effectively even while distracted.
Point 6: The Commitments of Mind Training
The sixth point delineates specific commitments that practitioners undertake, functioning as safeguards preventing practice from becoming merely theoretical. These address maintaining practice consistency, avoiding spiritual pride, refraining from public display, avoiding dwelling on others' faults, and working on one's own worst defects first.
Point 7: The Precepts of Mind Training
The seventh point presents practical precepts for daily application, expressed in colloquial language reflecting their oral origins. Examples include "do everything with one intention" (maintain bodhicitta in all activities), "correct all wrongs with one remedy" (use awareness and compassion), and "whichever of the two occurs, be patient."
Table 2: Thematic Structure of The Seven Points of Mind Training
| Section/Point |
Primary Theme |
Key Concepts |
Significance
|
| Point 1: Preliminaries
|
Foundational practices
|
Precious human birth, impermanence, samsaric suffering
|
Generates renunciation and urgency; establishes motivation
|
| Point 2.A: Ultimate Bodhicitta
|
Wisdom training
|
Emptiness, dream analogy, unborn awareness, basis-of-all, illusory body
|
Develops wisdom that prevents substantial grasping
|
| Point 2.B: Conventional Bodhicitta
|
Compassion training
|
Tonglen (giving-taking), breath coordination, three objects/poisons/virtues
|
Actualizes exchanging self and other; transforms motivation
|
| Point 3: Adversity as Path
|
Obstacle transformation
|
Blaming self-grasping, recognizing kindness, emptiness of harm, offerings
|
Converts difficulties into spiritual opportunities
|
| Point 4: Lifetime Integration
|
Essential practices
|
Five powers (intention, familiarization, white seed, repudiation, prayer), application to death
|
Condenses path; addresses dying process
|
| Point 5: Proficiency Measures
|
Progress evaluation
|
Reduction of self-grasping, self-witness, joyful attitude, distracted proficiency
|
Provides concrete criteria for assessing development
|
| Point 6: Commitments
|
Ethical safeguards
|
Avoiding pride, maintaining consistency, refraining from exploitation, giving up competition
|
Prevents deviation and self-deception
|
| Point 7: Precepts
|
Daily application
|
One intention, one remedy, beginning/ending practices, three difficulties, three causes
|
Translates principles into moment-by-moment behavior
|
