Greetings from Russell's Remnant:

The Buddhists have a "mind training" practice which they call Lojong. Lojong teaches that other people trigger the karma that we haven't worked out. The basic notion of lojong is that we can make friends with what we reject. It's essential message is that if we want to see a better world, we should begin by improving our own mind. Unless we have a method (lojong) that can be applied in every situation, it will be very difficult to tame the wild elephant of the mind in this twentieth century. (Russell Whitesell often taught Patanjali's mind training.)

There are two ways to make the world a comfortable place in which to walk. One way is to cover the world with leather; the other is to put on some shoes. We can spend our life trying to "tame" the world, a task that would never end; or we can take the more practical path of "taming" our own minds.

A practitioner who meditates on the thought of universal love gains the excellent fortune of divine protection.

By doing these practices, sometimes a karmic seed with the potency to bring about great suffering is reduced to the potency of producing only a small headache.

Pain is a result of what's called ego clinging, of wanting things to work out on our own terms, of wanting "me-victorious."

When the world is filled with ego clinging or with attachment to a particular outcome, there is a lot of pain.

Self-cherishing (chezin), is the greatest single enemy to our peace of mind.

All teachings of the enlightened beings have but one purpose: to tame ego-grasping.

If there were no you to initiate situations, there would not be any problems at all.

Flatten all thoughts. One should know that the experiences that arise in life are simply appearances that arise in the mind and have no substantial existence.

There is no difference between our enemies and our Teachers. The Buddha gave 84,000 different teachings, all of them designed to subdue ego-clinging. To hear it is fortunate indeed, and great is the kindness of the teacher who explains it, for its greatness is simply inconceivable.

One instant of negative thought will bring us suffering for innumerable ages.

The key is, it's no big deal. The main instruction is simply to lighten up. "Every situation is a passing memory." Do things against your usual pattern. That's how things start to lighten up. The best you can give yourself is to lighten up.

People and situations in our lives are always triggering our passion, aggression, and ignorance.

People trigger the karma that we haven't worked out. They mirror us and give us the chance to befriend all of that ancient stuff that we carry around like a backpack full of granite boulders.

The idea of karma is that you continually get the teachings that you need in order to open your heart.

We shield our heart with an armor woven out of very old habits of pushing away pain and grasping at pleasure.

Our sense of victory just means that we guarded our heart enough so that nothing got through, and we think we won the war.

Self-centeredness brings us into conflict with virtually everyone else.

If I were mindless there would be no suffering. The real source of my suffering is self-centeredness: my car, my possession, my well-being.

Self-centeredness is like wandering naked with a bundle of thorns on our back. No matter where we go or what we do, it gives us suffering.

A life that is focused on the acquisition of pleasant stimuli is continually vulnerable to suffering.

We come to this present life as the culmination of everything we have lived for in all our lives up to this point. Unless we remedy self-centeredness, it will keep on perpetuating itself without end. It does not vanish by itself.

The knowledge that we have acquired in this lifetime is so utterly minute compared with reality. It would be terrible to base our actions on strictly our present knowledge.

Nothing exists independently of consciousness or mental designation.

There is something unsatisfying about the way we live - even a successful life, a delightful family situation, a good job, a sunny day. Our minds are not functioning in accord with reality - therein lies the problem.

Develop the mind that not only is not displeased with hardships, but actually finds joy in them.

The difference between pleasure and pain in this life is insignificant.

If someone shoots an arrow into your heart, it's fruitless to stand there and yell at that person.

When we feel resentment, the words we speak aren't going to produce the results we are hoping for.

A pot with a little water in it makes a loud noise when shaken, but a pot full of water makes no noise at all. People with very little realization often want to tell everyone, but those who are truly steeped in realization do not advertise it.

Do you want to always be right or do you want to wake up?

"You should never have expectations for other people. Just be kind to them." Setting goals for others can be aggressive - really wanting a success story for ourselves.

Resistance is really what causes pain. You will find yourself in situations where you can't change the outer circumstances at all, and you realize it all comes down to how you relate to things.

The concepts of problem and solution can keep us stuck in thinking that there is an enemy and a saint or a right way and a wrong way.

The only way to go further is to open doors and not protect yourself but work with what arrives.

We think that we are the center of the universe, and none of us is paying too much attention to anyone else unless things get very passionate or very aggressive.

All the happiness that exists arises from wishing joy for others, and all the misery that exists arises from wishing happiness for oneself alone.

We have created endless negative karma with being constantly drawn into an endless vicious struggle in order to get what we "want" and avoid what we "don't want."

How things really are can't be taught. Everything is changing all the time, and we keep wanting to pin it down, to fix it.

If we want to communicate, we have to give up knowing what to do.

One person's idea of what is polite is someone else's idea of what is rude.

You have to learn to be big and small or right or wrong at the same time. Although we think that wrong is bad, if we get into the habit of thinking that we are wrong, that can be comfortable too.

We already have everything we need. You can usually feel as wretched as you like, and you're still a good candidate for enlightenment.

Not being swayed by external circumstances as a total experience is called enlightenment.

This moving away from comfort and security, this stepping out into what is unknown, uncharted, and shaky - that's called enlightenment and liberation.

Enlightenment will be ours when we are able to care for others as much as we now care for ourselves, and ignore ourselves to the same extent that we now ignore others.

If we fail to exchange our happiness for the suffering of others, we will not become fully awakened.

Each of our actions is profoundly significant, not only with this lifetime but beyond.

If our practice does not diminish self-grasping, then no matter how austere and determined we are, no matter how many hours a day we devote to learning, reflection, and meditation, our spiritual practice is in vain.

Spiritual growth is the very core of the meaning of human existence and everything else takes a back seat to it.

How generous we are does not depend on what we give away, but is a quality of mind.

Recognize that there are so many people in the world who are striving for happiness and wishing to be free of suffering, who are engaging in ineffective means for accomplishing these ends.

You are in a position to do something which most other humans never do at all.

Rather than sacrifice our spiritual practice, it is better to sacrifice a life.

You are here to study yourself.

Suffering is the dance of what is.

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Bibliography:

Start Where You Are by Pema Chodron.

Training the Mind in the Great Way by Gyalwa Gendun Druppa - translated by Glenn Mullin.

Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness by Chogyam Trungpa.

The Great Path of Awakening by Jamgon Kongtrul, translated by Ken McLeod.

Enlightened Courage by Dilgo Khyentse.

A Passage from Solitude by B. Alan Wallace.