Mindfulness Monday: Relief from Suffering – Tonglen Meditation

Also posted in: Thrive Guide

Strengthen Your Inner Landscape: Relief from Suffering – Tonglen Meditation

There is a lot of suffering in this world. We have all experienced suffering and know someone who is suffering. It is the commonness of humanity that we all know what it feels like to suffer. My heart continues to break with every story of injustice experienced by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Through the process of unlearning and learning, I want to do more and I will make mistakes. To aid in my own processing of systemic racism and the suffering felt through the COVID-19 pandemic I create more space through the Tonglen practice. It is extremely versatile for your own suffering and the suffering of loved ones, enemies, public figures or groups of beings. 

Tonglen is the practice of sending and taking through a combination of loving-kindness and compassion. This Tibetan Buddhism practice makes a big difference in my day, to be able to “free myself from myself”, as my teacher Kira says from her studies with Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo(1). It is not a practice of taking on another’s suffering, but transforming it into ease. After this practice, I feel more present and have the ability to bear witness for those who are suffering. It increases the capacity for compassion and the ability to stay present when faced with negativity or suffering (2). Try out a led practice after reading the steps below. Explore this practice more from my teachers and other resources with links below. 

Steps: 

  1. Think of the person/people/animals/beings who are suffering that you want to focus on. It helps to pick them ahead of time because the brain has a tendency to pull in other people once we begin. Try to maintain a single focus for ease, don’t worry about picking the “right” person.
  1. Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down. Focus on your breath with your eyes closed. 
  2. Picture the being you chose in front of you. Visualize their suffering surrounding them like a cloud of smoke or a thick fog. 
  3. On an inhale, Breathe in the fog. Imagine it going into your heart center where there is a diamond or a bright light that cleans the fog.  
  4. Exhale out from this source of light, surrounding the being with your radiant light from within.

Practice 5: Tonglen Meditation

Video Description: Kadee leads a meditation called Tonglen from Tibetan Buddhism. The practice is a combination of loving-kindness and compassion that involves receiving the suffering of others and sending back ease. 

http://youtu.be/t0zvVotqJq0

Video Description: Kadee leads a meditation called Tonglen from Tibetan Buddhism. The practice is a combination of loving-kindness and compassion that involves receiving the suffering of others and sending back ease. 

Props

None.

Tips for Success

  • This practice takes a lot of bravery and courage to face and bring in the suffering of others. 
  • If you find blockage with others, start with your own suffering. 
  • Identify the focus of your practice before starting, if more beings want to come in let them in, or do another practice with those beings. 
  • Listen to your body and build on the internal awareness
  • Tonglen can extend infinitely and expands your compassion (5)

 

References, Resources, and Further Exploration 

(1)The practice of Relieving and Offering. Kira Sloane.  http://www.kirasloane.com/lovenotes/2016/6/9/the-practice-of-relieving-and-offering

(2)How to do Tonglen practice. Aly Waibel, PhD https://alywaibel.com/2020/02/19/how-to-do-tonglen-practice/

(3) Tonglen- Guided Practice (23 minutes) by Aly Waibel, PhD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umhe3u2xc58&feature=youtu.be

(4) Meditation: Tonglen or Giving and Receiving. Joan Halifax https://www.upaya.org/dox/Tonglen.pdf

(5)Tonglen Instruction by Pema Chödrön http://static1.squarespace.com/static/57b4bb3a6b8f5b5b2c74b3d0/t/57bcde9f03596ed5dc891229/1471995552506/TONGLEN+INSTRUCTION+by+Pema+Ch%C3%B6dr%C3%B6n.pdf%C2%A0%C2%A0

(8) The Beginner’s Guide to Tonglen Meditation. Zenful Spirit. https://zenfulspirit.com/2017/03/28/beginners-guide-tonglen-meditation/

 

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