Seven Points of Mind Training

Chekawa Yeshe Dorje

Seven Points of Mind Training (Wyl. blo sbyong don bdun ma) — the famous instruction on 'mind training' (Tib.lojong) brought to Tibet by Lord Atisha and written down by Geshe Chekawa. The seven points are:

1. The Preliminaries to Mind Training (sngon 'gro rten gyi chos sems pa)
2. The Main Practice of Training the Mind in Bodhichitta (dngos gzhi byang chub kyi sems sbyong ba)
3. Transforming Adversity into the Path of Awakening (rkyen ngan byang chub kyi lam du bsgyur ba)
4. Applying the Practice Throughout One's Whole Life (tshe gcig gi nyams len dril nas bstan pa)
5. The Measure or Signs of Proficiency in Mind Training (blo 'byongs pa'i tshad dam rtags)
6. The Commitments of Mind Training (blo sbyong gi dam tshig)
7. The Precepts of Mind Training (blo sbyong gi bslab bya)

Chekawa's original text was not arranged into these seven points. This was done later by his disciple, Sechilphuwa Özer Shyönnu (aka Chökyi Gyaltsen) (1121-1189).

Tibetan Commentaries

According to Thupten Jinpa, the translator and editor of Mind Training—The Great Collection (see 'Introduction', pages 11-12), the most well-known commentaries from Tibetan teachers on the Seven Points of Mind Training are:

1. Sechilphuwa Özer Shyönnu’s (twelfth century) commentary compiled from Geshe Chekawa’s own lectures
2. Gyalsé Tokmé Zangpo’s (fourteenth century) commentary
3. Shonu Gyalchok’s (fourteenth century) Compendium of All Well-Uttered Insights
4. Müchen Könchok Gyaltsen’s (fifteenth century) Supplement to Oral Transmission
5. Radrengpa’s (fifteenth century) Stream of the Awakening Mind
6. Hortön Namkha Pel’s (fifteenth century) Mind Training: Rays of the Sun
7. The First Dalai Lama Gendün Drup’s (fifteenth century) Lucid and Succint Guide to Mind training
8. Khedrup Sangye Yeshe’s (sixteenth century) How to Integrate into One’s Mind the Well-Known Seven-Point Mind Training
9. Kalden Gyatso’s (seventeenth century) Dispelling the Darkness of Mind
10. Yongzin Yeshe Gyaltsen’s (eighteenth century) Essence of Ambrosia
11. Ngulchu Dharmabhadra’s (eighteenth century) Heart Jewel of the Bodhisattvas
12. Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo’s (nineteenth century) Seeds of Benefit and Well-Being

[only commentaries #1 and 4 appear in The Great Collection anthology]

Translations and Contemporary Commentaries

In English

• B. Alan Wallace, Seven Point Mind Training, Snow Lion Publications, 2004
• B. Alan Wallace, Buddhism with an Attitude, Snow Lion Publications, 2003
• Dalai Lama, Awakening the Mind, Lightening the Heart, the Dalai Lama (based on a commentary entitled The Rays of the Sun, by Hortön Namkha Pel, a disciple of Tsongkhapa), Harper San Francisco, 1995
• Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Enlightened Courage, Editions Padmakara, 1992
• Chögyam Trungpa, Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving Kindness, Shambhala, 1993
• Geshe Lobsang Tharchin, Achieving Bodhichitta, Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Press, 1999
• Geshe Rabten & Geshe Dhargyey, Advice for a Spiritual Friend, Wisdom Publications, 1996
• Geshe Thupten Jinpa (translator), Mind Training: The Great Collection (as part of an anthology of early lojong texts), Wisdom Publications, 2005
• Gomo Tulku, Becoming a Child of the Buddhas, Wisdom Publications, 1998
• Jamgön Kongtrul, The Great Path of Awakening, translated by Ken McLeod, Shambhala, 2005
• Pema Chödrön, Start Where You Are, Shambhala Publications, 2001
• Ringu Tulku Mind Training, Snow Lion Publications, 2007
• Traleg Kyabgon, Benevolent Mind, Zhyisil Chokyi Publications, 2004
• Traleg Kyabgon, The Practice of Lojong: Cultivating Compassion Through Training the Mind, Shambhala Publications, 2007
• Zhechen Gyaltsab Gyurmed Padma Namgyal, Path of Heroes: Birth of Enlightenment (two volumes), Dharma Press, 1995

In French

• Bokar Rinpoche, Un Coeur sans Limites, Editions Claire Lumiere, 2006
• Chögyam Trungpa, L’Entraînement de l’esprit et l’apprentissage de la bienveillance, aux éditions du Seuil, collection Points Sagesses, 1998
• Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Audace et Compassion, Editions Padmakara, 1997
• Jamgön Kongtrul (Djamgoeun Kongtrul), L'Alchimie de la Souffrance, Editions Marpa, 1996
• Pema Chödrön, La Voie commence là où vous êtes, La Table Ronde, 2000

Teachings on the Seven Points of Mind Training Given to the Rigpa Sangha

• Khandro Rinpoche, Lerab Ling, 1 October 2010
• Sogyal Rinpoche, Clear Lake, USA, 25th November—2nd December 2007, based on several commentaries (Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé, Sechilphuwa Özer Shyönnu, H.H. the Dalai Lama, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, etc.)
• Sogyal Rinpoche, Kirchheim, 28 December 2006—5 January 2007, based on the commentary by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé and other masters (edited audio teachings available through Zam)
• Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Lerab Ling, 23—27 July 2006 (based on the commentary by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé)
• Mingyur Rinpoche, Birmingham Karma Ling, December 2002. Read edited transcripts online
• Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Vermont, 1996
• Sogyal Rinpoche, Lerab Ling, 1993

External links

• Ambrosia for the Mind, A Prayer of the Seven Points of Mind Training by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo