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Just look at your mind |
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Tibetan mind training |
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| If you want to have a peaceful mind and be happy you must
first awaken the desire to become free of misguided and ego-centred
thinking.
This will involve developing limitless compassion for all beings. This in turn will involve a rigorous programme of mind-training so as to be rid of those troublesome thoughts and emotions that make up your subconscious gossip. |
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The contemporary Tibetan seven point system for mind
training is based on that of the great Buddhist teacher Atisha who
operated in Bengal around 982CE. The essence of the system is to develop
humility and to put others before your self.
You can do this by first taming the mind through becoming aware of what it gets up to and then training it to control its reactions to thoughts and emotions. The following quotations give a flavour of what is involved. |
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"The undisciplined mind is like an elephant. If left
to blunder around out of control, it will wreak havoc.
But the harm and suffering we encounter as a result of failing to restrain the negative impulses of the mind far exceed the damage a rampaging elephant can cause. Not only are these impulses capable of bringing about the destruction of things, they can also be the cause of lasting pain to others and ourselves." |
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| "Consciousness is … dynamic: through deliberate engagement we can effect changes in our mental and emotional states. We know, for example, how comfort and reassurance can help dispel fear. Similarly, counselling, which leads to greater awareness, and affection can help alleviate depression. | This observation is crucial. It tells us that prior to our every intended action, there must be a mental and emotional event to which we are more or less free to respond. Until we have learned to discipline our mind to some degree, we will have difficulty in exercising this freedom." |
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"We might think of mind or consciousness in terms of
a president or monarch who is very honest, very pure. Our thoughts and
emotions are like cabinet ministers. Some of them give good advice, some
bad. Some have the well-being of others as their principal concern, others
have only their own narrow interests.
The responsibility of the main consciousness – the leader – is to determine which of these subordinates gives good advice and which bad; which of them are reliable and which not, and to act on the advice of the one sort and not the other." |
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| "If we are to retain our peace of mind and thereby our happiness, it follows that alongside a more rational and disinterested approach to our negative thoughts and emotions, we must cultivate a strong habit of restraint in response to them. Negative thoughts and emotions are what cause us to act unethically." | |
Dalai Lama (1999)
Ancient Wisdom, Modern World –
ethics for a new millennium;
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"This mind grasps at a self where there is no self. From time without beginning until now, it has, in following its own whims …, perpetrated various non virtuous actions. All the sufferings I now experience are the results of those actions. No one else is to blame; this ego-cherishing attitude is to blame. I shall do whatever I can to subdue it."
"If you follow any thought or emotion, major or minor, and let your mind wander outward, your work is in error and you’re no different from an ordinary person. Turn your attention right in and look right at your mind. When you look at it nothing is seen. Relax completely, let everything go, and rest in that state of emptiness. No matter how many thoughts and emotions there are, when they aren’t held, they go freely on their own …
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