Slogan #54

Train wholeheartedly.

This slogan expands on the previous one and further develops the embodiment of compassion: “Don’t vacillate and train wholeheartedly.” Be committed, dedicated, and unequivocal about your Lojong practice. Embrace life’s mayhem with an open heart. Train with your whole heart by letting go of judgmental narratives and egocentric noise so that you can see and act from your heart. Be wholehearted. Live wholeheartedly. Trust the practice wholeheartedly in its ability to transform your life.

“Wholehearted” also acknowledges the importance of the heart as the centre of the chakra system. Anahata means "unstruck" and upholds that love and compassion emanate at the heart center with the sound “Om.” This sound is spontaneously created; that is, this universal vibration is not created by objects being "struck.” The heart is our emotional centre and its health is revealed by our ability to love and be loved and to maintain good relationships with others. Integrate breath and visualization in this week’s formal sits by focusing your attention to the very centre of the chest, right in front of your spine and envisioning a beautiful green flower with many petals. Notice if the petals are feeling closed or open. Breathe into the centre of this flower to loosen the petals. Exhale and let each closed petal fall open one by one, breath by breath. Do this until you feel more spacious than when you began.

Training begins with self-compassion and requires mindfulness, the belief in our shared humanity, and an unconditional positive self-regard. This practice turns the volume down on our internal monologue in order to meet each moment with kindness and grace. Loving kindness becomes our baseline and when kindness encounters suffering it will synthesize into compassion. Invite humility and vulnerability in. Infuse generosity and forgiveness into your life. Meet all experiences with gentle and tender mindfulness. Being in a relationship with self and others is an advanced practice. Let’s live wholeheartedly so that we can die wholeheartedly.