Tonglen ~ Transforming Suffering With Compassion

"It's dark all day and it glows all night
Factory smoke and acetylene light
I face the day with my head caved in
Looking like something that the cat brought in

There has to be an invisible sun
It gives its heat to everyone
There has to be an invisible sun
That gives us hope when the whole day's done"
~The Police

In this compassionate Tibetan Buddhist visualization, we absorb & transform the suffering of all beings in the universe, inhaling the 'black smoke' of their dukkha and exhaling the pure white light of bliss back to them. It's not necessary to be able to visualize well, as long as you feel it. I've adopted this way of doing Tonglen from Michael Taft. I highly recommend you check out his meditations.

A trigger warning: you'll be asked to vividly imagine suffering, so if that's not for you, please take care of yourself and opt out of this one. That said, the instruction is to imagine Buddha nature to do the transformation & not to suffer yourself at all.

Image: A. Chinchure