In all activities, train with the slogans.

Sweetgrass Braids - Photo by Mari Helle

          It's interesting to discover as an adult what an influence other people have had in one's life. My father-in-law always hated shopping and frequently attempted to persuade his wife to make haste with the phrase, "Get it and let's go!" I tend to dither when picking out a gift for someone else, and my husband often uses the same expression on me. As a child, my mother had a rule that all the holiday decorations had to be packed away before January 1st. She gave the impression that it was bad luck to do otherwise (though I think she was just tired of the holiday excitement). Now that I have my own home, I make sure to put away all evidence of the holiday before New Year's Day too. What we hear, see and do on a regular basis tends to become woven into the normality of our lives. The ninth slogan is an encouragement to take the wisdom of lojong and likewise braid it into our everyday experiences. It invites us to become so familiar with the slogans that certain events or emotions trigger the thought of one like a fragrance that brings back fond memories.

Transformation doesn't come from changing our mannerisms or our way of talking; it comes from learning to think about things differently. ~ Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche

For more information on the ninth slogan, go here.

Slogan Nine

In all activities, train with the slogans.

From the Lojong for the Layperson booklet:

            If we were to cross a field every day, we would tramp down the weeds and eventually create a well-worn path. The slogans help us create a new path by thinking differently. When we study and memorize the slogans, they steer our minds in a new direction.  We will find that no matter what situation arises, the memory of an appropriate slogan will come to mind. Their purpose is not to help us escape from life’s hassles or make all our troubles disappear, but to aid us in working with the challenges we face. The slogans increase our capacity for loving-kindness and decrease our self-absorption. We learn to break out of our habitual pattern of reacting in self-centered ways.

Photo: Fifty-nine different types of tumbled stones.

            What we do, see or hear frequently becomes familiar. As an example, check out these advertising taglines and see if you can connect each one to the product or company it represents:

• ·         Just do it.
• ·         Melts in your mouth, not in your hands.
• ·         Can you hear me now?!
• ·         Don’t leave home without it.
• ·         It keeps going, and going and going…
• ·         Good to the last drop.
• ·         Plop plop, fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is.
• ·         Nothin’ says lovin’ like something from the oven.
• ·         Where do you want to go today?
• ·         Live in your world, play in ours.
• ·         Once you pop, you can’t stop.
• ·         Snap, crackle, pop.

My apologies to readers who aren’t in the States as some of these catchphrases may not be recognizable to you (but I bet you could easily come up with your own list). When I make the slogans a part of my daily spiritual practice, they have a way of popping in my head just when I need them.

(Answers: Nike, M&Ms, Verizon, American Express, Energizer Batteries, Maxwell House Coffee, Alka Seltzer, Pillsbury, Microsoft, Sony Playstation, Pringles Potato Chips, Rice Krispies Cereal)