This weeks talks takes quite a few twists and turns.  I start out talking about whether one can be on Bodhisattva path, striving to gain enlightenment for the benefit of others, without attachment.  We meander into skepticism in Buddhism and end up in the translation process of Buddhist texts.

And the answer to the question?  You’ll just have to listen to find out!

This week we begin talking about the Lojong sayings that deal with Relative Bodhicitta. As we said on previous podcasts, the Lojong are a series of 57 or so short sayings that help guide us to enlightenment. These sayings are organized into 7 categories. This gives this teaching it’s other name, ‘The 7 Points of Mind Training’.

The 7 categories are:

1. The Preliminaries
2. The Main Practice (Bodhicitta )
3. Turning the negative into paths
4. Practicing in this lifetime
5. Evaluation of mind training
6. Commitments of mind training
7. Guidelines for mind training

On this episode, we talk about Relative Bodhicitta or Compassion. On this podcast we cover the next 4 slogans which are:

• Sending and Taking Should Be Practiced Alternately. These Two Should Ride the Breath
• Three Objects, Three Poisons, and Three Seeds of Virtue
• In All Activities, Train With Slogans
• Begin the Sequence of Sending and Taking With Yourself

A great site for information about all things Lojong is lojongmindtraining.com. It covers each of the saying with commentary from one of seven great teachers. You can even sign up to receive a random slogan and commentary e-mailed to you each day.