When living into the lojong slogans, our goal is to reside in absolute bodhicitta. And, while all 59 slogans teach us how to do so, the first six slogans help us get a sense of what it is and what it feels like. That’s why we first train in the preliminaries, see everything as a dream, and examine the nature of unborn awareness. They guide us toward understanding absolute bodhicitta.

When we tap into our unborn awareness, we find absolute bodhicitta. It feels expansive and open. Some describe it as emptiness, because when you experience it, words fail and logic stops. It feels like having a gloriously empty head. All the trains have stopped. Only awareness remains.

In this awareness, compassion resides. It’s not cold-hearted distant awareness. We don’t become detached observers, just watching the car wreck and not doing a thing to help. Quite the opposite. When we tap into absolute bodhicitta, we’re able to move in compassion wisely. That practical aspect, relative bodhicitta, is what the other 53 slogans talk about.

But we begin with six slogans on absolute bodhicitta for the same reason the Eightfold Path begins with Right View. We must see clearly before we can act wisely. Traleg Kyabgon describes the feeling of absolute bodhicitta as “spaciousness, luminous clarity, and stability.” We practice resting in this because we can’t move on to action without it. Kyabgon continues, “Real spirituality is not just a matter of cultivating wholesome traits and positive thoughts and emotions. It is about learning to distinguish between things as they are and our present confusion about them.”

In other words, this expansiveness and openness provides much needed perspective. We see with clarity. We feel stable within. And then, we engage the practical.

As you continue to examine the nature of unborn awareness, try to rest in absolute bodhicitta. Call it up within you. Cultivate it. Strengthen the connection. Let it serve you as you continue along the lojong path.