1. First, Train in the Preliminaries

This is Point One of seven. Point one has only one slogan/instruction: “Train in the Preliminaries”

The preliminaries (Tibetan ngöndro) referred to are to meditate on:

1. Your precious human birth;
2. Impermanence and death;
3. The unsatisfactory nature of cyclic existence; and 
4. The inescapable results of cause and effect – karma.

Mandala or Iconographic Panel, 18th century. Tibet. Embroidery; silk and metallic threads; average: 52.4 x x 46.4 cm (20 5/8 x 18 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art