Tonglen: A Meditation On Compassion For The Whole World

Tonglen is a Tibetan practice, and it means giving and taking or sending and receiving. In this practice, we contemplate taking the world's suffering and releasing compassion by transforming it with a compassionate and loving heart. It is also known as "exchanging oneself with others." To begin the practice, first imagine someone you have great compassion for and really be aware of that feeling. It will help in offering compassion to all sentient beings. After the bell is Shantideva's dedication of merit.

Transcript

We're going to be doing a meditation called Tanglen,

Which is a Tibetan compassion and I like to believe in equanimity practice as well.

So let me just shortly tell you a little bit more about Tanglen and the practice and then we'll start the meditation.

So Tang means letting out letting go and Len in Tibetan means accepting or taking in.

It's described as a practice of sending and taking or giving and receiving because what we do in this meditation is we take in the pain and suffering of the world and then we release compassion and in that compassion is arisen in us and also the sensation and the understanding of equanimity that we all suffer.

For those of you who might be new to the practice or feeling extremely sensitive this morning,

Instead of trying to take on the pain of the entire world or just some bigger amount of it,

Consider just taking on your own pain or the pain of a single family member or relative or your neighborhood,

Something smaller and if that's too much and you feel overwhelmed at any point in the practice,

Just let all that go.

This is not about creating suffering for ourselves and just return to the breath or the body anchor.

So just remember that we're not trying to create suffering for ourselves.

One way to kind of bring this feeling of compassion on for ourselves before we begin is trying to think of someone living or dead that means so much to us.

A child,

A grandparent,

A parent,

A friend,

A pet,

It doesn't matter who but just think of this person and think of whatever suffering they've experienced or are experiencing,

How much that you would like to remove their suffering,

How much you care for them,

How deeply you love them and how strong that desire is to take away their suffering and so that's what we're trying to do here.

That's the mind we're trying to develop in this practice.

So with that being said,

Begin to find a place that feels comfortable.

If you're sitting in a chair or cushion or laying down and gently let the body begin to pay attention to the breath,

Let the eyes close and we'll begin and end with the bell.

So we can start to look for a more spacious sense of being by just paying attention to the space at the end of the out breath and maybe trying to be aware of the space around the body,

The feeling of spaciousness just as the body breathes.

Just try to notice that for a short time just as we settle in,

Just letting the breath be natural,

Allowing the posture if we're not already there to be upright and awake but also relaxed letting the body kind of be soft around the upright spine,

Bringing your full attention to the heart center,

Sometimes called the heart mind,

Just feeling that being aware of it and then taking three slow deep breaths just alerting the mind and body that a meditation session is beginning and then after those three just allow the body to return to the natural breath,

The Buddha breath.

With the breath being our attention,

Being aware of the breath and having the feeling present of the heart mind of the heart,

Begin to imagine or feel or sense that you're breathing in and out directly through the heart through this place of deep compassion,

Of love,

Caring,

Generosity.

And with an understanding that this practice is about being brave,

About being strong,

The Buddha taught us to not run away from things but to face them squarely,

To understand that there is suffering,

That suffering is caused by attachment and craving,

There's an end to suffering and that's his noble eightfold path.

So with the intention to be brave today,

Begin to allow the awareness of all the greed,

Hatred and suffering in this world to come into focus,

Acknowledge how all beings,

Everyone suffering on one level or another.

Some are dying of starvation,

Some are dying of obesity,

Some are suffering from oppression and some have so much internal suffering that all they can do is oppress others.

Some are sick from COVID,

Some have made themselves sick with fear about catching COVID.

Now begin to breathe in all the suffering in the world that you can be aware of,

That you can handle and allow your heart to be just fully open and to notice and be present with all this sorrow,

All this pain and try to feel the pain,

The grief,

The fear.

Just let it all in.

And then with the intention to share compassion and generosity with everyone,

With the people full of fear and with the brave people out there offering their love and care and protection all over the world.

Let it all out and exhale waves of compassion to every being everywhere as best you can.

And just do this over and over in whatever way feels okay.

Breathing in,

Suffering and pain and sorrow and breathing out compassion and love and generosity and healing.

Begin to add a visual quality.

To this meditation as you breathe in,

Visualize thick,

Dirty,

Dark smoke,

Heavy and hot and unpleasant.

And as you exhale,

Imagine cool,

Sweet,

Pleasant,

Refreshing,

Uplifting waves of compassion.

Just continue the hot and cold,

Adding whatever visuals feel pleasant.

And appropriate for a few minutes.

Next we come to the personal aspect of the practice.

You start to consider painful situations,

Emotions,

Experiences in our own lives.

And breathe into your heart center this pain,

This difficulty.

And as you exhale,

Breathe out mercy and care and compassion for yourself.

Breathe in the pain and out the mercy.

Inhale suffering,

Exhale compassion.

Breathe in the pain and out the mercy.

Breathe in the pain and out the mercy.

Now we begin to expand the practice again to our loved ones.

Inhaling the pain and difficulty and suffering of those we hold dear to our hearts.

And exhaling mercy and compassion and love.

Breathing in and out the mercy.

Inhaling sorrow,

Exhaling compassion,

Care and mercy.

And mercy.

And always remembering that if the mind wanders during the practice,

To offer yourself compassion and care.

No judgment.

Just simply let the mind return to the practice gently.

You you Now we continue to expand,

Taking in the pain and sorrow of those we don't already love.

Those we might not care for or really not like,

At least at the moment,

Even our enemies.

Everyone is suffering on some level,

Just like us.

So with that understanding we continue offering this loving and compassion practice.

Taking in the pain and sorrow into our hearts and then releasing compassion and mercy and caring and generosity with each breath.

You you Breathing in the pain that closes the hearts of those we consider our enemies.

Breathe out the compassion that heals the wounds that close their hearts.

Even the most unskillful of these people.

We take in their pain and we send loving caring compassionate feelings towards them.

You Now last,

We let go of the personal aspect of this practice.

Letting go of offering it to people we know,

People we love,

People we don't.

And we open our hearts wider to not just the human realm but all sentient beings.

To all beings everywhere.

The animals and the insects and the birds and the fish.

All beings suffer one way or another.

And to have a completely open loving heart requires us to take in their suffering,

To be brave,

To be strong,

And to offer them love and kindness and compassion and caring.

We breathe in the suffering and out the compassion.

You We breathe in the pain and suffering of all living beings.

We breathe out love and compassion for the entire world including ourselves.

You you These last few minutes,

Let go of offering and taking and just bring your attention back to the natural breath.

Just let your body do what it does and just be aware of what you're feeling now.

Whatever it may be,

No judgment.

Just just be with it.

You you you you you you you So we'll end the practice with a simple statement to ourselves.

May I awaken the compassionate heart for the benefit of all living beings.

And at the sound of the bell you can allow your eyes to open and your attention to return to your surroundings.

I'd like to end with the dedication of merit by Shanti Deva.

I'm always moved by this and I think even though this was written a really long time ago,

It could have been written yesterday.

May all beings everywhere,

Plagued by sufferings of body and mind,

Obtain an ocean of happiness and joy by virtue of our merits.

May no living creature suffer,

Commit evil or ever fall ill.

May no one be afraid or belittled with mind weighed down by a depression.

May the blind see forms and the deaf hear sounds.

May those whose bodies are worn with toil be restored on finding repose.

May the naked find clothing,

The hungry find food.

May the thirsty find water and delicious drinks.

May the poor find wealth,

Those weak with sorrow find joy.

May the forlorn find hope,

Constant happiness and prosperity.

May there be timely rains and bountiful harvests.

May all medicines be effective and wholesome prayers bear fruit.

May all who are sick and ill quickly be freed from their ailments.

Whatever diseases there are in the world,

May they never occur again.

May the frightened cease to be afraid and those bound be freed.

May the powerless find power and may people think of benefiting each other.

For as long as space remains,

For as long as sentient beings remain,

Until then may I too remain to dispel the miseries of the world.

Thank you.

Reviews

Thank you for this practice. I did it for Ukraine.

Exactly what the World needs now is more love, patience, compassion and tolerance. May you be well. Thank you. ☮💖🙏

🙏 thank you for inspiring me to read Shantideva.

Beautiful practice & dedication of merit Cary🍃
Most grateful 💫

Powerful practice with a lovely dedication at the end. Thank you! 🙏🏻

such a perfect time for compassion meditation. Thank you

Thank you, this reminded me of my collective purpose.