Living in the Path Online
Realizing the Lamrim, Lojong: Transforming Kaka into Gold

Overview

Living in the Pathis an online program taught exclusively by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the spiritual director of the FPMT. Many of the modules are extracted from Rinpoche’s explanations of the topics of the lamrim – the teachings on the stages of the path to enlightenment according to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa (Gelug). Other modules cover specific practices intended to help us purify our negative karma and create the merit necessary to actualize the lamrim topics.

Prerequisites

Living in the Path is ideal for anyone who wishes to deepen their personal practice and develop the realizations of the path to enlightenment by relying on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s heart advice and teachings. However, as Rinpoche’s teachings often assume familiarity with the topics of the lamrim, it is advisable to have done some prior study of the lamrim, such as by having completed some or all of the modules of Discovering Buddhism.

Course Contents

In this module of Living in the Path, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains the practice of lojong, often translated as “thought transformation” or “mind training.” Although all the Buddha’s teachings are a type of lojong, given that they are meant to be used to transform or train the mind, the particular lojong taught here is that of using problems, including even cancer and impending death, in the path to enlightenment. Rather than disliking and rejecting problems, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s lojong teachings show us how to embrace them and make them worthwhile and beneficial for ourselves and others. This teaching includes an explanation of tonglen, the practice of taking-and-giving, which Lama Zopa Rinpoche describes as “the best puja you can do in your life.”

Course Materials

This module of Living in the Path consists of 45 pages of lightly edited transcripts accompanied by five short video excerpts drawn from teachings given at Root Institute, Bodhgaya, India, on February 5th, 2017.

1. Lojong Makes Your Mind So Happy

2. Cherish Even One Sentient Being
3. Lojong is to Like Suffering

4. Lojong Advice from the Great Masters

5. Practice Lojong with Tonglen

Videos:
          Video 1: Blame Your Self-Cherishing
          Video 2: Cherish Even Those who Turn into an Enemy
          Video 3: The Selfish Mind Makes Everything into an Enemy
          Video 4: Experience Your Problem on Behalf of All Sentient Beings
          Video 5: Tonglen is the Best Puja

To help deepen your personal understanding and experience of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings, they are supplemented with:

• points for reflection at the beginning of each chapter
• guidelines for meditation at the end of each chapter
• mindfulness practices for keeping the teachings present throughout the day
• a service practice to benefit others

Important information about your order of online materials: Following your order, you will receive an email with a link to a webpage to download a PDF document which will contain the enrollment key for the course and instructions on how to access the course on the FPMT Online Learning Center.