Lojong
Tibetan Buddhist mind training using aphorisms to transform suffering.
Afriandi Makmur · CC BY-SA 3.0
Lojong (Tibetan: བློ་སྦྱོང་, Wylie: blo sbyong, 'mind training') is a contemplative practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition that uses lists of aphorisms or slogans for refining and purifying one's motivations and attitudes. The most widespread text in the Sarma traditions is that of Chekawa Yeshe Dorje (12th century), whose 59 slogans are organized into seven groupings called the '7 Points of Lojong.'
- field
- Tibetan Buddhist contemplative practice
- tradition
- Mahāyāna school of Buddhism
- key_text
- Chekawa Yeshe Dorje's 59 slogans (7 Points of Lojong)
- known_for
- Mind training using aphorisms to develop bodhicitta
Lore & Background
Lojong mind training practice developed as part of the Mahāyāna school of Buddhism. It is not described in his Lamp on the Path to Enlightenment but rather is based on oral teachings. The practice is based upon his studies with the Sumatran teacher, Dharmakīrtiśrī (Tib. Serlingpa), and the Indian teacher Dharmarakṣita, a prominent teacher at Odantapuri and author of a text called the Wheel of Sharp Weapons. Atiśa's third major teacher of lojong is said to have been the junior Kusalī, known also as Maitrīyogi. Atiśa journeyed to Sumatra and studied with Dharmakīrtiśrī for twelve years, then returned to teach in India, and later accepted an invitation to teach in Tibet, where he stayed for the rest of his life.
Reader's Guide
Finding that Langri Tangpa had died, he studied instead with one of Langri Tangpa's students, Sharawa Yönten Drak, for twelve years. Chekhawa is claimed to have cured leprosy with mind training; in one account, he went to live with a colony of lepers and did the practice with them, and over time many were healed. Another popular story concerns his brother and how the practice transformed him into a much kinder person. Lojong slogans are designed as a set of antidotes to undesired mental habits that cause suffering, containing methods for both absolute bodhicitta (e.g., 'Find the consciousness you had before you were born') and relative bodhicitta (e.g., 'Be grateful to everyone'). Prominent teachers who have popularized this practice in the West include Pema Chödrön, Ken McLeod, B. Alan Wallace, Chögyam Trungpa, Sogyal Rinpoche, Kelsang Gyatso, Norman Fischer and the 14th Dalai Lama.
Did You Know?
- Atiśa is said to have brought an ill-tempered Bengali servant-boy to Tibet to ensure he had negative emotion to work with in his mind training practice.
- Chekawa Yeshe Dorje is claimed to have cured leprosy by practicing mind training with a colony of lepers.
- The most widespread lojong text in the Sarma traditions is Chekawa Yeshe Dorje's 59 slogans, organized into seven groupings called the '7 Points of Lojong'.
- Atiśa studied with the Sumatran teacher Dharmakīrtiśrī for twelve years.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Lojong?
Lojong is a Tibetan Buddhist contemplative practice centered on "mind training," where practitioners work through sets of short aphorisms or slogans to reshape their motivations and attitudes. It belongs to the Mahāyāna school and is specifically designed to cultivate bodhicitta—the aspiration to benefit all beings.
What is the most well-known Lojong text?
The most widely circulated text in the Sarma traditions is the set of 59 slogans composed by Chekawa Yeshe Dorje in the 12th century. These slogans are organized into seven groupings, often referred to as the "Seven Points of Lojong."
How does Lojong practice actually work day to day?
Practitioners memorize and reflect on short, punchy slogans that reframe how they relate to suffering, others, and their own ego. The goal is to gradually transform habitual self-centered patterns into a genuine, stable commitment to the welfare of all sentient beings.
Why is Lojong considered important within Tibetan Buddhism?
It offers a structured, accessible method for transforming personal suffering into compassion through repeated mental rehearsal of key insights. Because it distills Mahāyāna ethics into memorable phrases, it has become one of the most recognizable and widely taught contemplative tools in the Tibetan tradition.
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