Julian of Norwich and Other Tibetan Lamas

In his last verse, Langri Thangpa writes: “By ensuring that all this remains undefiled / From the stains of the eight mundane concerns, / And by understanding all things as illusions, / I will train myself to be free from the bondage of clinging.” The eight “mundane” or “worldly” concerns are “the four pairings of contrasting reactions that reflect deep-seated attachment to the concerns of this life.’ ₁ Thupten Jinpa presents that as:

(1) [B]eing elated when one finds resources and dejected when one does not, (2) being elated when hearing pleasant words and dejected when hearing unpleasant words, (3), being elated when praised and dejected when belittled, and (4) being elated when enjoying happiness and dejected when undergoing unhappiness. ₂

Geshe Lhundub Sopa links the eight worldly concerns with the struggle to acknowledge, embrace, and integrate into one’s core the reality of impermanence:

Much of the way you act is based on the implicit belief that you and your loves ones will not die. This self-deception encourages you to develop all kinds of expectations and plans for establishing happiness in this life. Naturally, all your energy is directed toward finding happiness and protecting it once you think you have found it. All your worries are focused on eliminating unhappiness in this life; you are anxious about sickness, poverty, and your reputation. These attitudes can be summarized in the eight worldly concerns. Four of these concerns arise from attachment to gain, pleasure, praise, and fame; the others are aversion to loss, pain, scorn, and disgrace. ₃

Geshe Sopa and other Tibetan Buddhist teachings clarify that what ultimately needs to be addressed and transformed are not necessarily the circumstances and conditions associated with these mundane concerns but the energies of attachment and aversion that fuel the “concerns” -expectations, motivations, and intentions. ₄ In his commentary on Langri Thangpa eighth verse entitled, Geshe Sonam Richen offers this empathic perspective:

As we train ourselves in ethical discipline and other aspects of the instructions, we will certainly make mistakes. It is therefore essential to remain vigilant and not allow wrong intentions to subvert what we do … In everything we do our guiding intention should always be others’ benefit. We may be tempted to practice out of self-interest in the form of the eight world concerns. These are to like rewards, happiness, praise, and good reputation and to dislike their opposites – not receiving rewards, unhappiness, criticism and anything which damages our reputation. It is very easy for these concerns to tempt us to behave in ways that will attract others’ approbation and appreciation in the form of rewards and respect which would enhance our reputation. However, such self-interest is utterly contradictory to the Mahayana teachings. ₅

Our primal propensity to perceive the impermanence of things and conditions as permanent leads deeper and deeper into the oppressive Egypt of Self. Liberation from this unfreedom, this afflictive slavery, involves a change in perception: “And by understanding all things as illusions, / I will train myself to be free from the bondage of clinging.” On these words, Geshe Sonam Richen reflects: “Our misconceptions of things … fetter us firmly to cyclic existence. The last lines of the verse express the wish for direct experience of reality, the understanding of which frees us from bondage.” ₆ Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo affirms that “[b]ondage is the bondage of ego,” and that with an expansive recognition and vision of ultimate reality, “we have no attachment, and we are free from the prison house of samsara.” ₇                                                                      

If you – my teachers, the buddhas of the three times, and all the bodhisattvas – possess blessings and compassion … bless me so that the meaning of these eight verses will be realized in me. Bless me so that all the suffering and its origin of all sentient beings ripens upon me and all the fruits of my awakening mind ripen upon all beings. ₈

Endnotes

1. Chekawa, “A Commentary on ‘Eight Verses on Mind Training,” Mind Training: The Great Collection. Compiled by Shonu Gyalchok and Konchok Gyaltsen. Translated and edited by Thupten Jinpa. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2006, page 288. The words of the title of this reflection are taken from 1 Corinthians 13:4-5a. Vulgate: “caritas patiens est benigna est caritas non aemulatur non agit perperam non inflatur / non est ambitiosa non quaerit quae sua sunt non inritatur…” Douay Rheims: “Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up, / Is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil …”
2. “Notes,” Mind Training: The Great Collection. Compiled by Shonu Gyalchok and Konchok Gyaltsen. Translated and edited by Thupten Jinpa. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2006, note # 77, page 583. Another translation: “May none of this ever be sullied / By thoughts of the eight worldly concerns. / May I see all things as illusions / And, without attachment, gain freedom from bondage.” (Eight Verses for Training the Mind: An Oral Teaching by Geshe Sonam Rinchen. Translated and edited by Ruth Sonam. Boulder: Snow Lion, 2001, page 73.
3. Geshe Lhundub Sopa, Steps on the Path to Enlightenment, A Commentary on Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim Chenmo, Volume 1, The Foundation Practices. Senior Editor: David Patt. Editor: Beth Newman. Boston, Wisdom Publication, pages 313. In another place Geshe Sopa teaches: “As Nagarjuna says in the Friendly Letter, ‘A wise person has no interest in the eight worldly concerns.’ Wise people apply their time and energy in the opposite direction; they try to avoid becoming attached to these worldly goals. They apply methods that lead them away from samsaric attachment and toward freedom from that attachment.” What are those methods? How do you counteract attachment to the eight worldly concerns? You should meditate on the faults of cyclic existence in general and, in particular, you should cultivate mindfulness of death. Realizing the actual suffering nature of this samsaric existence – that life is short and is soon coming to an end – will undermine compulsive attachment to these worldly attractions.” (Geshe Lhundub Sopa, Steps on the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim Chenmo. Volume 2: Karma. With David Patt. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2005, page 426.)
4. In his commentary on Nagarjuna’s Friendly Letter, Geshe Sopa offers teaching on Nagarjuna’s twenty-ninth verse: “The eight worldly concerns are: gain and loss, / pleasure and pain, praise and blame, fame and disrepute. / The knower of the world [The Buddha] says you should be indifferent / to them and not let them occupy your mind.” Geshe Sopa comments: “Nagarjuna isn’t saying that gaining wealth, praise, fame, and pleasure are things that have to be given up. You don’t have to get rid of all your possessions and your livelihood. That would be crazy. What is to be abandoned is the attitude you have in relation to these objects …. Thus, when Nagarjuna says that you should be indifferent to these worldly concerns he is saying that you need to control your mind. To cease your overwhelming desire for them, you have to understand the nature of these worldly things. When you recognize the fleeting and dissatisfactory nature of these goals, you see that they are not really important. You think about this over and over again. This practice equalizes or neutralizes your desire.” (Geshe Lhundub Sopa, Nagarjuna’s Advice to Buddhists: An Explanation of Letter to a Friend. Introduced and edited by Beth Newman. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2023, pages 136-137).
5. Eight Verses for Training the Mind: An Oral Teaching by Geshe Sonam Rinchen. Translated and edited by Ruth Sonam. Boulder: Snow Lion, 2001, page 73.
6. Eight Verses for Training the Mind: An Oral Teaching by Geshe Sonam Rinchen. Translated and edited by Ruth Sonam. Boulder: Snow Lion, 2001, page 76. 
7. Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, The Heroic Heart: Awakening Unbound Compassion. Boulder: Shambhala Publications, 2022, page 166. The context of these quotations is Tenzin Palmo’s concluding reflection on the second half Langri Thangpa’s eighth verse.
8. Chekawa, “A Commentary on ‘Eight Verses on Mind Training,” Mind Training: The Great Collection. Compiled by Shonu Gyalchok and Konchok Gyaltsen. Translated and edited by Thupten Jinpa. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2006, pages 288-289.