Slogan #2

Regard everything as a dream

The next five slogans are considered to be the ultimate or absolute truths of compassion. The Lojong slogans, as a complete set, are training in Bodhicitta which translates to “the awakening mind and heart.” Like the two wings of a bird, the path of a Bodhisattva requires both a wisdom mind that is discerning and a loving and compassionate heart.

The Lojong teachings are predominantly concerned with the experiential rather than the theoretical but these five Bodhicitta slogans support the belief in one’s true nature, original state, or the authentic seed of vulnerability that is innate in all of us. A Bodhisattva is one who vows to fully engage with everything that life offers in order to alleviate the suffering in ourselves and others through transformation. Transformation occurs over time as we increase tolerance for change and discomfort.

Slogan #2 challenges our compulsion to concretize all phenomena as solid and to take ourselves so seriously. Instead of being held hostage to our most powerful narratives, this particular slogan asks us to regard everything as a dream. Life is a passing memory; every situation is transient and our experiences are manifestations of our senses which are unreliable at best. Chögyam Trungpa gives the analogy of the moon reflecting on moving water—because the water is disturbed the reflection of the moon will also be fragmented and distorted. This slogan encourages us to experience every situation fully as it unfolds but to note its fluidity rather than being fixated on discrete moments.

Regarding everything as a dream is both expansive and practical. As experiences and dramas arise and subside, try to notice the point at which you appropriate them into your solid interpretation of the way things are. Pay attention to the contrast between holding and solidifying and releasing and opening. Can you create ideal conditions for compassion by lightening up a little on how intense and overwhelming life can be? This is a conscious intention of acknowledging your egocentric biases. Soften, open, relax, and establish a different relationship with your sensations, impulses, thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and memories by not identifying with them so much. The result? Relief, ease, space. Liberation. Freedom. A deliberate compassion practice is the catalyst that moves us in the direction of the Bodhisattva. This process of awakening is strength training for the mind and heart!

We already have everything we need. There is no need for self-improvement. All these trips that we lay on ourselves—the heavy-duty fearing that we’re bad and hoping that we’re good, the identities that we so dearly cling to the rage, the jealousy and the addictions of all kinds—never touch our basic wealth. They are like clouds that temporarily block the sun. But all the time our warmth and brilliance are right here. This is who we really are. We are one blink of an eye away from being fully awake.

Pema Chodron