Osho: Three Objects, Three Poisons, Three Bases of Virtue Chogyam Trungpa: Three Objects, Three Poisons, and Three Seeds of Virtue Pema Chodron: Three Objects, Three Poisons, Three Seeds of Virtue Jamgon Kongtrul: Three Objects, Three Poisons, Three Seeds of Virtue Alan Wallace: Three Objects, Three Poisons, Three Roots of Virtue Rabten & Dhargyey: There are Three Objects, Three Poisons, and Three Sources of Virtue. Dilgo Khyentse: Three Objects, Three Poisons, Three Roots of Virtue ALTERNATELY PRACTICE SENDING AND TAKING IN ALL ACTIVITIES TRAIN WITH WORDS  Formal Practice   Alan Wallace

Three Objects, Three Poisons, Three Roots of Virtue
1 user commentary Read

 

 
My Book on Tai Chi Imagery
The next verse refers to the three objects: agreeable, disagreeable, and neutral objects. As we relate to these three types of objects, the three mental poisons arise: attachment, hostility, and confusion. The point is to use these poisons as opportunities to nurture the roots of virtue.

As we engage in the affairs of daily fife, as soon as we become aware that attachment, craving, or clinging has arisen, right then is the time to recognize that there are an immeasurable number of sentient beings who are subject to the same mental afflictions. Expand your awareness of this right on the spot, and let the aspiration arise: "May those countless sentient beings be endowed with the root of virtue that is freedom from attachment. May they be free of this attachment that I am now experiencing." The aspiration itself is a root of virtue.

Similarly, in moments of anger, simply recognize the anger as it arises. This presents a way for those of us with a dharma friend or spouse to help each other. Provided the anger is not directed at the other person, when one flies off the handle the other can simply say, "Anger has arisen." This can, if not vanquish the anger, at least snap us halfway out of its craziness. The anger presents us also with the opportunity, once we have recognized it, to recognize also that there are innumerable sentient beings who, like ourselves, are subject to anger. And so let the aspiration arise: "May they be endowed with the root of virtue of freedom from anger." We can likewise apply the same practice to the third poison, confusion or ignorance. This is truly a practice for our daily life.

Excerpted from: The Seven-Point Mind Training(first published as A Passage from Solitude : Training the Mind in a Life Embracing the World), by B. Alan Wallace. Copyright 1992 by Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca, New York 14851.

Website design in ASP.NET (VB), Javascript, and SQL Server. Copyright Martin Mellish, 2003

You are visitor number 302,640 Page View: 3,342,690

This site provides an on-line database of commentaries on the Tibetan Buddhist meditation practices of lojong (Mind Training) and tonglen.
You can support this site by using it for your Amazon.com purchases.
Search:
Keywords:

Written during a retreat in the high California desert by one of the foremost Buddhist intellectuals of our time. This commentary probably goes further than any other in making the Mind Training practice understandable and justifiable to a Western way of thinking. It also contains some very valuable 'lecture notes' taken by Sechibuwa, one of Chekawa's disciples who heard the teachings directly from the master.
All of us have attitudes. Some of them accord with reality and serve us well throughout the course of our lives. Others are out of alignment with reality, and cause us problems. Tibetan Buddhist practice isn't just sitting in silent meditation, it's developing fresh attitudes that align our minds with reality. Attitudes need adjusting, just like a spinal column that has been knocked out of alignment. B. Alan Wallace explains a fundamental type of Buddhist mental training called lojong, which can literally be translated as attitudinal training. It is designed to shift our attitudes so that our minds become pure well-springs of joy instead of murky pools of problems, anxieties, fleeting pleasures, hopes and frustrations.
Eighth-century text on the Mahayana path of love, compassion, and complete personal responsibility by the Indian master Shantideva. Translated by Alan and Vesna Wallace.