Being Ordinary
- Introduction
- • ★ Lojong Slogans
- Begin with the beginning
- Treat experiences as dreams
- Examine the nature of awareness
- Don’t get trapped by emptiness
- Rest in the openness of mind
- In the intervals be a conjurer of illusion
- Practice giving and receiving on the breath
- 3 Objects, 3 Poisons, 3 Seeds of Virtue
- Always train with the slogans
- Begin Tonglen with yourself
- Use misfortune as practice
- Drive all blame into a single source
- Be grateful to everyone
- Let confusion awaken and practice emptiness
- Do good, avoid evil, appreciate your lunacy, pray for help
- Every encounter suddenly becomes the path
- Cultivate a serious attitude
- Practice for death as well as for life
- There is only one point of focus
- Be true to the principled one
- Cultivate an ever-present joyful mind
- Proficiency comes when practicing even when distracted
- Always train in the 3 basic elements
- Don’t make a public display of your efforts
- Don’t speak of the faults of others
- Don’t ponder the actions of others
- Don’t save your biggest problem
- Don’t expect results
- Don’t poison yourself
- Don’t be so predictable
- Don’t be mean
- Don’t wait in ambush
- Don’t make everything so painful
- Don’t unload on everyone
- Don’t rush things
- Don’t be devious
- Don’t make gods into demons
- Don’t be complacent of suffering
- Focus on a singe intention
- Remedy obstacles with one intention
- Two activities begin the day end the day
- Be patient either way
- Observe, no matter what
- Face the three challenges
- Adopt three key elements
- Keep tract of the three key elements
- Keep the three inseparable
- Train without bias
- Meditate on your dissatisfactions
- Embrace challenges presented by circumstances
- Right now exert yourself, get it right
- Remain committed and engaged
- Be consistent in your practice
- Be wholehearted
- Find freedom through investigation and close analysis
- Be modest and unassuming
- Practice sympathetic joy
- Be even tempered
Be true to the principled one
(20)
You are the final judge of your practice. This is because you’ve been with yourself since the beginning of time, as you know it. You have been present with ‘you’ your whole life. Nobody else knows you so well.
The original slogan is: “Of the two witnesses, hold the principal one.” The two witnesses are you and everybody else. You are the one you should be paying attention to. Other people matter but not in the way we usually think. We follow their guidance and seek their advice, but in the end, it’s your decisions the matter. Seek wisdom from those wiser than you, but ignore everyone else’s opinions of you. This is a superpower.
Be honest in your evaluation of your life. Don’t let other’s opinions of where you’re at influence my true feelings. Be frank in your self-appraisal of the level of your practice over the appraisal of others. That doesn’t mean that you can’t learn something useful about yourself by listening to what others say. They can see the things about us that we are blind to and unconscious of in ourselves. Finding a balance between being true to yourself and listening to others is the hard and tricky work. In the end, only you can know what is in your heart and if you are acting in accordance.
Life is full of nuance and indeterminacy. To assess what is going on and know what to do, you must continuously adjust and refine. You must always be ready to rethink and reset. Appearances are deceiving.
The way we relate and communicate with each other is a mess of preconceived ideas, judgment, and biases. This creates a theater of mixed messages and talking past each other. You don’t see people as they are. This becomes obvious with a moment of reflection. Nobody can see into your heart. This we all know and have the first-hand experience with. Stop for a moment and consider the other. You can’t know what is in their heart. You know you don’t know, and this can give you space for love.
You are the only one who has been present for your entire life every moment of every day.
The two witnesses are interpreted as being self and others, but this can be interpreted as two selves. A nurturing motherly self and a foolish self. One that is supportive and one that is critical. In this case, which is the principled one? Obviously, the motherly self is the one we should listen to. It is avoiding your own doubt. Be true to yourself. Trust your intelligent maternal self over your self-cherishing attitude and self-grasping ignorance.
Milarepa is reported as saying, ‘My religion is to have nothing to be ashamed of when I die.’ Live knowing that when you die, you have tried to be the best you can be. Even with all your failings.
There is only one point of focus ………………………….[[201903180624]] Be patient either way ……………………………………[[201904100507]] Don’t ponder the actions of others ………………………..[[201903250613]] Two activities: begin the day, end the day …………………[[201904090608]] Don’t be devious ………………………………………..[[201904040538]] Don’t save your biggest problem …………………………..[[201903260512]]
Alternate Titles
- Trust your own eyes
- Of the two witnesses, hold the principal one
- Of the two witnesses uphold the principal one
- Of the two judges, rely on the principal one
- Maintain the chief of the two witnesses
- Retain the two witnesses of foremost importance
- Rely on the better of the two witnesses
- Trust yourself
03-19-2019 - 5:50 AM ›[[201903190550]] → #slogans