Post Meditation

Here’s a way to increase the benefits of your meditation time exponentially: apply them to life. We talked about that in relation to the Four Boundless Qualities, and it’s also true with Vipassana. In fact, the two dovetail nicely, in supporting your e orts to wake up to reality as it actually is. After your session, as you look at the world of various appearances around you, apply your newfound, deeper understanding of their nature—in other words, see them as dreamlike—not so separate and solid as they once seemed. Apply this view to that famous nursery rhyme and really notice the words, “Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.” It’s an anthem for Vipassana practitioners—who knew? One natural response to this is compassion for all the beings who don’t have this understanding. As you rest in the essential nature of you, of it all, notice that a quality of that nature is love, compassion. So Shamata/ Vipassana leads us to the same destination that the Four Boundless Qualities lead us to ... just from a di erent angle.

One who enters an emptiness devoid of compassion Has not found the supreme of paths. When compassion alone is cultivated, One remains here in Samsara, so liberation is not attained. For those who are able to unite the two, They will not remain in Samsara, nor dwell in Nirvana.*

Rather, they can eventually reach full enlightenment—awakening. Once again, wisdom and compassion together.

Lojong—Seven Point Mind Training

I mentioned this very briefly in Book 2, then talked it up in the Recommended Reading list in the back. In the Post-Meditation (the other 23½ hours of the day) department, I’ve found it to be one of my best supports in this business of waking up. Doing a few minutes of meditation in the morning, then jumping up and doing your life in “business as usual” mode won’t be the most e cient way to make

* Saraha

progress. Of course we all want to manifest these changes in our lives, then return to the cushion tomorrow having actually made progress having used the experiences of our everyday lives. But how?

Lojong! In Tibetan that means “Mind Training.” Perhaps the most well-known and popular in Tibet (with good reason) is the one compiled by Geshe Chekawa Yeshe Dorje. No one really knows who wrote the first version or when, but over the centuries, many masters have written various versions and commentaries. The one I’ve fallen in love with and know best is the Chekawa Yeshe Dorje version. He first stumbled upon a version of it written by Atisha, a great Bengali master who had spent years studying under Serlingpa in Indonesia. Serlingpa wrote an earlier version. Chekawa happened to see Atisha’s version sitting on a friend’s daybed. He glimpsed one of its maxims about: “Give all victory to others; take all defeat for yourself.”

Chekawa was intrigued. To be honest, when I first came to that maxim and was to go through the day with that as my theme, I was annoyed. “Why do I have to do that?” I whined inwardly. It’s the opposite of what we try to do. So are many of the maxims. I decided to try it anyway, thinking, “I’ve tried it my way for countless eons, and where has it gotten me? Might as well try something else.” In a discussion/debate I was having with a co-worker, I decided to see if I could find some point she was making, drop my opposing point, and acknowledge she was right. Amazingly enough, I found it. Turns out, when I drop the need to see it only my way, my ferocious grip on I/me/mine loosens just a bit. And I actually learn something too. Who knew?! As time went on, I found other victories I could give to others. To my surprise I felt good about it, and naturally the other person felt happy too. By the end of that day, I didn’t want to move on to the next maxim. I generally find myself wanting to work with a maxim for three days to a week. And I’ve gone through the whole list of them (more than fifty!) several times.

Back to Chekawa. Seeing the value of applying these very practical little maxims to life, he devoted himself to studying it deeply. For twelve years. Then he compiled the Seven Point Mind Training, which became widely practiced and loved, throughout all lineages of Tibet. This was something not just for lamas, but for anyone who had challenges in life and might want to turn them into opportunities for happiness, mastering life despite challenges, and even using the challenges to wake up.

Later, a leader in the Rimey (ecumenical) movement of the nineteenth century, Jamgön Kongtrül the Great, wrote the commentary that I found my way to. It was translated by Ken McLeod. Pema Chödrön does a wonderful, modern Western-style commentary in her book, Start Where You Are. It’s very real and accessible.

There are many commentaries on this version of the Seven Point Mind Training. I’ll re-list them for you in the Recommended Reading section in the back of this book. Since making that list, I’ve created a little audio commentary for the app called Happify. It’s in the form of a “track,” which is made up of four weeks’ worth of daily installments, usually ten to fifteen minutes long. In mine I introduce a maxim, talk about it for a few minutes, then lead a few minutes of meditation. I was hoping to help people start their day with it, and carry the maxim with them as their theme for the day. That’s just what I did myself, with the Seven Point Mind Training, and I loved it. I wanted to share it with you so you could bring the benefits of meditation into your day. In turn, the benefits of applying the maxims to challenges in your life will help you on the cushion.

Jamgön Kongtrül the Great