INDIANA BUDDHIST CENTER

Observing and training one’s own mind is the most important practice in Buddhism. This short text, Eight Verses for Training the Mind, describes important and efficacious ways to accomplish these activities. The text was composed on the basis of the bodhichitta pith instructions of Atisha and Geshe Potowa, and are key instructions of Mahayana practice. For genuine Dharma practitioners, the practice of even one of these verses is of great benefit.

The first seven verses of the Eight Verses for Training the Mind deal with the practices associated with cultivating the method aspect of the path such as compassion, altruism, aspiration to attain buddhahood, and so on. The eighth verse deals with the practices that are directed toward cultivating the wisdom aspect of the path.