My dear friends,

The seventh precept in Point 2 of Geshe Chekawa's Mind Training in Seven Points reads:

The five degenerations, also known as the five deteriorations or defilements, refer to specific challenges or negative conditions prevalent in our current age, which can hinder spiritual progress if not properly addressed. Listed below are the five degenerations, practices that can serve as their antidotes, and the how these practices contribute to our progress on the Bodhisattva path.

1. Degeneration of Life Span: The decreasing length and quality of human life over time. For instance, while life expectancy at birth in the U.S. in 1980 was similar to that of other large, wealthy countries, over the intervening decades life expectancy in the U.S. has not increased as significantly as it has in peer countries. This is due largely to deluded socioeconomic policies.^[1]
   • Practice: Use the awareness of life's brevity to cultivate urgency in your practice. Reflect on the preciousness of human life and its fleeting nature to deepen your commitment to spiritual training.
   • Path: This can foster diligence and perseverance, encouraging one to make the most of each moment for practice and service.
2. Degeneration of View: The prevalence of incorrect views and misunderstandings about the nature of reality and spirituality.
   • Practice: Counteract wrong views with study, contemplation, and meditation on the correct view of emptiness and interdependence. Engage in teachings and practices that clarify the nature of reality.
   • Path: Developing wisdom through correct understanding transforms confusion into insight, allowing you to see things as they truly are.
3. Degeneration of Afflictions: The increase in mental afflictions such as desire, anger, and ignorance.
   • Practice: Apply antidotes to mental afflictions, such as practicing loving-kindness to counter anger, and developing contentment to counter desire. Use lojong precepts to transform afflictions into the path.
   • Path: This cultivation of positive mental states transforms afflictions into opportunities for developing virtues like patience, compassion, and equanimity.
4. Degeneration of Sentient Beings: The moral and ethical decline among sentient beings, leading to greater selfishness and harm.
   • Practice: Develop Bodhicitta by recognizing the suffering and confusion in others. Use this as a motivation to cultivate the altruistic intention to help all beings achieve enlightenment.
   • Path: The suffering and faults of others become a source of compassion and the drive to practice the Bodhisattva path, transforming adversity into the cause for great compassion.
5. Degeneration of the Times: The increase in external and internal disturbances, leading to a general decline in the conditions for spiritual practice.
   • Practice: Maintain a steady mind amidst chaos by engaging in regular meditation and mindfulness practices. Recognize disturbances as opportunities to deepen your practice and cultivate inner peace.
   • Path: By practicing equanimity and mindfulness, you can transform turbulent times into periods of profound spiritual growth and resilience.

To fully integrate these transformations into your path to full awakening, it is essential to develop a strong foundation in the practice of the Six Perfections (Paramitas): generosity, ethical discipline, patience, enthusiastic effort, concentration, and wisdom. Additionally, maintaining a consistent practice of mindfulness and compassion, and regularly reflecting on the lojong teachings, can help you skillfully navigate and transform the degenerations into opportunities for profound spiritual development.

Remember, each of these challenges, when met with the right attitude and practice, becomes an opportunity to deepen your understanding, develop your virtues, and progress along the path to full awakening for the benefit of all beings.

[1] "How does U.S. life expectancy compare to other countries?", Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, January 30,2024