Tonglen – Developing Compassion For Self & Others

So as we begin this period of practice check in to make sure that you're sitting in a way that's dignified relatively upright with the chest open and sitting at ease so if you notice any tensions in the body anywhere,

Just seeing if you can let them relax a little and one part of the body that it's particularly useful to bring a sense of relaxation to is the eyes so you can let the muscles around the eyes soften and even behind closed eyelids you can have a sense of your eyes being a little defocused almost as if you were staring into space and also allowing the eyes to be kind so just remembering what it's like to look with love and affection and letting those qualities fill your gaze now and having done that it's much easier to have an attitude of kindness toward ourselves so you can observe your own body,

Your own breathing,

Your own feelings,

Your own thoughts with kindness and you can bring that attitude of kindness into the world around you so just be aware of the vastness of the space surrounding you so you can be aware perhaps of light,

If it's sunlight that's coming from millions of miles away sometimes you can hear sounds coming often from miles away so in a sense your field of awareness,

The field of your senses extends far outside your body in front,

Behind,

To the sides,

Above and below and you can regard that space with kindness and all beings in that space with kindness so as the Buddha put it,

We spread a heart full of love to the entire world abundant,

Expansive,

Limitless,

Free of enmity and ill will and now as you breathe in,

Do so with the wish that all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering with every in-breath,

May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering and with each out-breath,

Breathing out the wish that all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness just continuing to do this and now as you breathe in,

Do so with the wish that all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness and with each out-breath,

Breathing out the wish that all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness and with each out-breath,

Breathing out the wish that all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness and with each out-breath,

Breathing out the wish that all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness and with each out-breath,

Breathing out the wish that all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness and with each out-breath,

Breathing out the wish that all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness and with each out-breath,

Breathing out the wish that all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness and sensing yourself as being vast let yourself breathe in other beings suffering and you can imagine it dissolving into the vastness of your own being dissolving into spelling,

Vanishing and as you breathe out,

Sending beings a sense of relief,

Calmness and ease breathing in beings sufferings,

Breathing out a sense of relief,

Calm and ease and if as you're doing this there's any sense of discomfort or fear or inadequacy turning toward those uncomfortable experiences,

Breathing them in and breathing out relief to yourself and you can imagine it dissolving into the vastness of your own being so we're breathing in beings sufferings with the wish that they be free of suffering we're breathing out a sense of relief,

Calm,

Ease,

Sending this to beings as we wish that they have happiness so you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell you can just continue practicing in this way until you hear the bell