Atisha’s Seven Points of Mind Training – Lojong

Freedoms & Advantages

The Eight Freedoms

Freedom from the eight states where there is no opportunity to practice the Dharma:

  1. Hell realms, a term in Sanskrit called narak, which is the realms of the worst kinds of suffering. *Not equivalent to the Christian concept of hell.
  2. Preta realms in Sanskrit, often translated as “hungry ghost” realms
  3. Animals
  4. Long-living gods
  5. Uncivilized lands (often translated as “barbarians” in other texts)
  6. Incomplete faculties
  7. Having wrong views
  8. A buddha has not come

The Ten Advantages

The Five Circumstantial Advantages

  1. A buddha has come
  2. The buddha taught the Dharma
  3. The teachings have survived
  4. There are followers of the teachings
  5. There are favorable conditions for Dharma practice

The Five Personal Advantages

  1. Being a human being
  2. Born in a central land
  3. All faculties are intact
  4. Lifestyle is not harmful or contradictory to teachings
  5. Having faith in the Dharma