The Tibetan word lojong is made up of two parts: "lo" means attitude, mind, intelligence, and perspective; and "jong" means to train, purify, remedy, and clear away. So the word "lojong" could literally be translated as attitudinal training, but in this book it is called mind-training.

All of us have attitudes. Some of them accord with reality and serve us well throughout the course of our lives. Others are out of alignment with reality and cause us problems. Tibetan Buddhist practice isn't just sitting in silent meditation, it is also developing fresh attitudes that align our minds with reality. Attitudes need adjusting, just like a spinal column that has been knocked out of alignment. Alan B. Wallace explains this fundamental type of mental training. This training is designed to shift our attitudes so that our minds become pure wellsprings of joy instead of murky cesspools of problems, anxieties, fleeting pleasures, hope, and frustrations.

Based on the Tibetan master Chekawa's Seven-Point Mind-Training which is highly respected in Tibet and has been widely explained by masters from all of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions over the centuries. These are simple but far-reaching techniques for training the mind, developing concern for others, and turning adversity to advantage.

Buddhism with an Attitude, Alan Wallace, Snow Lion Publications, Paperback, 288 pages, $16.95.