Mind-training, or more appropriately ‘heart-training’, is a Tibetan Buddhist practice first brought to Tibet by the Indian Buddhist Master Atisha in the eleventh century CE. Mind-training is a practice with the aim of cultivating and attaining bodhichitta – the altruistic mind of awakening. The term bodhichitta is comprised of two words, bodhi (Skt.) meaning awakened, and citta (Skt.) meaning mind; together they are commonly translated as, awakened mind or mind of enlightenment. In Western terms, bodhichitta can be best understood as unconditional love.
     The mental state or quality of bodhichitta is comprised of two aspects, the aspiration to awaken, and the altruistic intention to do so for the sake of others. In other words, bodhichitta is the altruistic wish and determination to awaken for the benefit of all sentient beings. When this aspiration and intention arises spontaneously and simultaneously, and their union is developed to its highest potential, they become the mind of bodhichitta, a mind that continually and spontaneously works for the benefit of others. The attainment of bodhichitta requires learning to relinquish self-cherishing (selfishness/narcissism), while cultivating and developing cherishing of others (altruism). I often say that to practice bodhichitta is to learn to care for others with motherly intent.

The Two Expressions of Bodhichitta
– Conventional bodhichitta – the altruistic wish and determination to awaken for the benefit of all sentient beings. A conceptual understanding of bodhichitta gained through study, practice, and meditation, arising (with some effort) within meditation but lost when not in meditation. An attitude born from great compassion, that when cultivated deeply, creates a profound motivation to engage in practices aimed at awakening for the benefit of others.

– Ultimate bodhichitta – arising from conventional bodhichitta, this is a deeper realization of bodhichitta, arising (spontaneously without effort) within meditation, but still present when not in meditation. Ultimate bodhichitta is the direct realization of the mind of awakening, which is the union of bodhichitta and emptiness. Ultimate bodhichitta is often referred to as a mind, for the fact that it becomes a constant and enduring mental state through which one perceives reality.

The Bodhisattva
A bodhisattva is one who has aroused bodhichitta. An advanced practitioner that has attained ultimate bodhichitta. The term bodhisattva is comprised of two words, bodhi (Skt.) meaning awakened, and sattva (Skt.) meaning being. Together they can be translated as awakened being. Besides having high spiritual realization, bodhisattvas are said to possess extraordinary (superhuman) powers of compassion. In the Mahayana tradition, the ideal of the bodhisattva is the embodiment of the path, as well as the immediate goal.

The Actual Practice of Mind-Training
Mind-training is practiced by contemplating and/or visualizing a set of prescribed topics which gently lead to the development of the mind of bodhichitta. Mind-training isn’t merely a seated practice, but something we incorporate throughout our day. The simplest of contemplations being the continual reflection upon the thought, ‘May I awaken in order to benefit all beings’.