35. Don’t aim to win

  • This is the Thirteenth Slogan/Instruction of Point Six, which consists of sixteen instructions.
  • Point Six is “The Disciplines of Mind Training”

 

When practitioners begin to develop their understanding of the dharma and their appreciation of the dharma, they sometimes fall into a sort of racehorse approach. They become involved with who is the fastest: who can understand the highest meaning of mahamudra or the greatest meaning of tantra or the highest idea of ultimate bodhichitta, or who has understood any of the hidden teachings. Such practitioners are concerned with who can do their prostrations faster, who can sit better, who can eat better, who can do this and that better. They are always trying to race with other people. But if our practice is regarded purely as a race, we have a problem.

Chögyam Trungpa, Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness

Opaque watercolor and gold on cotton ; overall: 91.5 x 75 cm (36 x 29 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art

Tsong Khapa, Founder of the Geluk Order, c. 1440-1470. Central Tibet. Opaque watercolor and gold on cotton; overall: 91.5 x 75 cm (36 x 29 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art