In celebration of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa’s official birthday, Dharma ebooks in collaboration with KTD Publications has published Finding Genuine Practice. Comprising teachings His Holiness gave in 2014 on Geshe Langri Thangpa’s the Eight Verses of Training the Mind, this book is intended as a gift from His Holiness to his students on the occasion of his official 35^th birthday. It is available for download on dharmaebooks.org, and printed copies will be available from www.ktdpublications.com and www.NamseBangdzo.com.

 

The Eight Verses of Training the Mind by Lang Thang Dorje Senge

By thinking of all sentient beings
As more precious than a wish-fulfilling jewel
For accomplishing the highest aim,
I will always hold them dear.

Whenever I’m in the company of others,
I will regard myself as the lowest among all,
And from the depths of my heart
Cherish others as supreme.

In my every action, I will watch my mind,
And the moment destructive emotions arise,
I will confront them strongly and avert them,
Since they will hurt both me and others.

Whenever I see ill-natured beings,
Or those overwhelmed by heavy misdeeds or suffering,
I will cherish them as something rare,
As though I’d found a priceless treasure.

Whenever someone out of envy
Does me wrong by attacking or belittling me,
I will take defeat on myself,
And give the victory to others.

Even when someone I have helped,
Or in whom I have placed great hopes
Mistreats me very unjustly,
I will view that person as a true spiritual teacher.

In brief, directly or indirectly,
I will offer help and happiness to all my mothers,
And secretly take on myself
All their hurt and suffering.

I will learn to keep all these practices
Untainted by thoughts of the eight worldly concerns.
May I recognize all things as like illusions,
And, without attachment, gain freedomfrom bondage.

Thus spoke the spiritual master Lang Thang Dorje Senge. This is completed. Sarva Mangalam.

Contents

Preface: The 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje
Introduction
The Eight Verses of Training the Mind, Lang Thang Dorje Senge
Finding Genuine Practice
One: Hold All Beings DearI
Two: Be Confident, Not Prideful
Three: Apply the Dharma as an Antidote
Four: Cherish the Difficult
Five: Train to Accept Defeat
Six: Learn from Injustice
Seven: Radiate Joy, Take on Pain
Eight: Find Ultimate Freedom
Questions and Answers
Glossary
Acknowledgments

Preface: The 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje

Preface, revised

It was Jowo Atisha who brought these mind training practices from India to Tibet. Initially, they were secret and taught to very few people. They were regarded as a high-level practice for experienced practitioners, as not everyone was capable of practicing them. They demanded great courage, determination, and dedication. Geshe Langri Thangpa‘s Eight Verses of Training the Mind was probably the first mind training practice that was opened more widely to the public. The renowned Kadampa master Geshe Chekawa, who composed the famous Seven-Point Mind Training, first began to follow the Kadampa teachings having heard Langri Thangpa’s Eight Verses. These teachings have been preserved in the Kagyu tradition through the work of Lord Gampopa. He studied both the Kadampa teachings and the Mahamudra tradition and skilfully melded them together into the Dagpo Kagyu. Mind training was an essential part of Kagyu practices from the beginning.

Geshe Langri Thangpa is himself a great example of a genuine, mind-training practitioner. Lojong was the main focus of his whole life; he lived mind training every moment. Because he was always focused on his practice, he rarely smiled, and people nicknamed him grim-faced Langri Thangpa. On only one or two rare occasions, was he known to smile. Once, there was a turquoise gemstone on the mandala plate. A little mouse, attracted by the turquoise, scrambled over the plate and tried to steal it. But it was too heavy, so the mouse called another mouse to help him. Together, one mouse pulled at the stone, and the other mouse pushed; as he watched their efforts, Langri Thangpa smiled.

His practice was so effective that those around him witnessed how even the birds and animals at his monastery refrained from harming each other. A story relates that after he passed away, the next day, an old lady came to Langthang monastery. On the way, she was shocked to see an eagle attacking a smaller bird. When she reached the monastery, she told the monks what she had seen, and declared, “I think Langri Thangpa must have passed away because this never used to happen.”

When we talk about lojong or “mind training,” the lo or “mind” referred to is bodhicitta the “mind of enlightenment,” so primarily mind training means training in bodhicitta. The Eight Verses contains all the mind training practices divided into eight stages that can be further divided into two parts: relative truth and absolute truth. The first seven stanzas are instructions on generating relative bodhicitta, and the last stanza concerns absolute bodhicitta. Some people recite the Eight Verses only as a prayer or aspiration, but that was not Geshe Langri Thangpa’s intention. He envisioned the text being used as a handbook for the practice of mind training. In these verses, he tells us precisely what we have to do. Through them, he teaches us how to visualize, how to prepare our mind, how to focus, and how to analyze. They cover all the crucial points for taming one’s mind and developing bodhicitta. They are not just something to be understood intellectually or paid lip-service; they have to be put into practice.

A parallel example would be training to run a marathon. If we want to get fit, we have to follow a daily exercise program. It requires courage, hard work, and perseverance. Mind training should be like that too. It should be practiced assiduously on a daily basis, and we need to create momentum by planning ahead. In the morning, when we wake up, we should consciously set out a plan of what we will do with our mind throughout the day. In the evening, we should reflect on our thoughts and actions during the day that has passed and assess how successfully we kept to our plan.

Langri Thangpa practiced what he taught. In the Eight Verses, it says, “I will take defeat on myself, and give the victory to others.” One day, while he was teaching the monks in his monastery, a woman arrived with a baby. “This is your child. I can’t take care of it anymore,” she exclaimed, thrust it at him, and walked off. He calmly picked up the baby and carried him until he found a wet nurse. He left the baby with her and paid her to raise the child. This incident created a huge scandal and much gossip directed against Langri Thangpa, but he said nothing. And so the baby grew up under his protection. Years later, the woman returned to the monastery with her family and told her story. All her previous children had died, so when this child was born, the family had done a mo — a divination. It said that the only way to save the baby was to give him away to a qualified master. Now the boy had grown up, and they were full of gratitude to Langri Thangpa.

Genuine dharma practice is not separate from life. Generally, when everything is going well, when there are no problems or difficulties, anyone can appear to be a good dharma practitioner. However, when things go wrong, when adversity strikes, that is the real test of our dharma practice.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has worked on the preparation of this book for publication. I hope that it will be of benefit.

17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, June 21, 2020

Introduction

The Gyalwang Karmapa has taught GesheLangri Thangpa’s Eight Verses of Training the Mind on several occasions.Though short, this text gets to the core of Mahayana practice, and each time he teaches it, he emphasizes different themes. In this particular teaching, he stressed how we need to bringour practice to bear on the difficulties that face us in our life and our dharma practice — an issue that all practitioners must face if their practice is to be effective.

The teachings in this were originally given in a weekend teaching called “The Art of Happiness” organized by the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (FURHHDL) in November 2014. We would also like to thank Rajiv Mehrotra and everyone at FURHHDL for organizing the teaching and their support.