Tonglen (Compassion) With The Hands

Tap into your compassion superpowers! You may be familiar with Tonglen practice — a form of compassion meditation where we breathe in others' sufferings, and breathe out compassion and support for them. This meditation is similar, but it uses the hands to receive the other person's suffering and offer them compassion. I've been finding it a very helpful way to practice.

There's something quite superhero-like about receiving suffering and giving compassion using the hands. If your arms get tired during this practice, it's fine to move!

Transcript

So let's begin just by sitting quietly,

Letting the eyes soften,

So that the muscles around the eyes become softer,

More at ease,

And within the eyes,

Allowing the focus of your gaze,

Even behind your closed eyelids,

To be soft,

And let your eyes be kind as well,

Let there be a gentle benevolence within the eyes,

Again even behind your closed eyelids,

As if you're looking upon all things with warmth,

And with soft,

Kind eyes,

Letting all sensation within the body come effortlessly into awareness,

And meeting everything with warmth and tenderness,

Noticing how the soft wave of every in-breath,

As it sweeps through the body,

Brings openness,

And expansion,

And lifts you up,

Letting some of that openness,

And expansiveness,

And height,

And light,

Remain naturally as the body releases,

And as a wave of movement,

And sensation,

And softening,

Sweeps through the body,

Accompanying the out-breathing,

And as you let your attention rest,

On the soft waves of the in-breathing,

And the out-breathing,

You might want to imagine that you're breathing in light,

And strength,

Every in-breath,

Filling you with strength,

Raising your dominant hand,

So that the palms of each hand are facing out into the world,

And I invite you to call to mind someone who is suffering,

And with every in-breath,

Into yourself,

Through your non-dominant hand,

This person's suffering,

Of warmth and light,

Through your dominant hand,

Toward this person,

Offering them support,

So with every in-breath,

Receiving with the non-dominant hand,

With every out-breath,

Giving with the dominant hand,

And the processes of receiving and giving,

Can be happening all the time,

It's just that when you're breathing in,

You particularly notice the act of receiving,

And as you're breathing out,

You pay more attention to the giving,

If your hands become uncomfortable,

Feel free to move them,

Finding a position that's more comfortable,

And if you want,

You can name what it is that you're receiving and giving,

So you might say,

I receive your hurt,

I offer you love,

I receive your doubt,

I offer you love,

I receive your fear,

I offer confidence,

I receive your turmoil,

I offer peace,

So just using whatever phrases,

Seem appropriate for the person that you're directing compassion towards,

And you can begin to let the acts of receiving and of giving,

Fade away,

And let the hands come back to rest,

Just observing yourself,

With warmth and compassion,

And in a few moments,

At which point you can bring your kindly awareness,

Reviews

Nice and grounding, felt more warmth streaming through my hands than in earlier (similar) practices, thank you 🙏

Gently guided me into a heart space filled with compassion. A beautiful way to attune to the heart at the start of the day. It somehow feels like a gentler form of Tonglen. I appreciated it's invitation to attune to a particular person who is suffering. That heart practice of compassion is such a blessing.

I support this teacher through Wildmind org. I appreciate his creativity and understanding of connection. I see this particular meditation as embodying (literally?) the intentions I prioritize: kindness, warmth and efforts to be a part of the cycle of support and connection in the universe for myself and others. In practicing Compassion Hands, I noticed something like my neural pathways lighting (?) up as I felt the guidance match with my personal intentions. Which I would describe as feeling like my internal computer turned on and joined the network. I call that feeling connected-happy.

A wonderful way to share compassion and support with a friend who is ill. Many thanks