A Meditation on the Four Preliminaries of the Yoga of Lojong or The Little Engine That Could

A spiritual friend of mine is taking classes in Lojong, a Tibetan Buddhist mind-training practice which revolves around meditating on 59 slogans, the first of which is to train in the four preliminaries. As we discussed the preliminaries together, we realized it was a genius stroke to make this the first slogan, because in effect, this supplies the engine, the earnestness, as Nisargadatta Maharaj calls it, that is absolutely necessary for realization.

First, maintain an awareness of the preciousness of human life. If one sees the universe as a holistic entity and the human being as an organ within that universal organism, then the human mind is its crown of creation, its way toward self-awareness and reality itself.

Second, realize this human life ends, and all is impermanent. In other words, there is only so much time for the human being to perform its precious responsibility. The universe is depending on you right here and right now.

Third, be aware of the suffering nature of samsara, the dream state. The human being attempts to make the impermanent into something of permanence, including itself, or to be more precise, what it assumes to be itself. It is an impossible task, and thus creates a world of suffering. And this suffering only increases the desire for something permanent. It’s a vicious cycle.

Fourth, understand there is a cause and result to all human action. In other words, if it is the human desire for permanence which creates samsara, then what was made can be unmade. In the simple act of understanding, the human mind “attains” its natural state of awareness, Buddhahood. And this simple so-called act is the saving grace of the Bodhisattva itself. For in pure awareness, all samsara is seen for what it is, nothing real.