Tonglen Meditation

Tonglen is a Tibetan word that means “giving and receiving.” The practice of Tonglen helps us to discover that generosity is nourishing and that being generous helps us to feel our wealth. Tonglen is also a powerful tool for getting over the fear of impermanence and for healing ourselves and others.

Transcript

Hi everybody,

This is Shambhavi and today we're going to practice Tonglen.

Tonglen is a meditation practice that originated in Bengal around the end of the 10th century and it was brought to us by an Indian Buddhist teacher who eventually moved to Tibet and now Tonglen is associated with Tibetan Buddhism.

Tonglen means giving and receiving,

So it's a practice of giving and receiving,

But ultimately what Tonglen teaches us is that generosity is nourishing.

It teaches us that when we are completely generous we feel completely fulfilled and nourished.

Tonglen is also a practice that puts us in touch with our primordial abundance.

It lets us know that no matter how much we give away we are still full and complete.

So let's start the practice.

Settle into a comfortable meditation position.

Make sure that your knees are supported.

Just let your breath come to its natural resting state.

So take a few breaths and let your breath settle without doing anything special to control your breath.

Now I want to introduce you to what is called the sun tea of the breath.

The word sun tea means a gap or a juncture.

It's where one thing has ended and another thing has not yet begun.

Sun tea are moments in time when we can be more in touch with the unconditioned or the unmanifest.

Have the experience of the center of your heart space.

Bring your awareness into the center of your chest and just let it rest there.

Experience what is also called the cave of the heart.

The heart space or the cave of the heart.

Let your awareness rest in that lively darkness and see if you can get in contact with a feeling of spaciousness and even vastness or infinity in the center of your chest.

Now I want you to have the experience that as you inhale you're inhaling through every pore in your skin from head to toe 360 degrees around.

You are breathing in through the skin in your entire body right into that center of your heart space.

So inhale slowly and gently through all the pores in your skin right into the center of your heart space and then exhale out through all the pores of your skin.

Let your breath be natural and relaxed as you do this.

And now as you inhale into the center of your heart space into the cave of your heart.

Notice that at the end of the inhale before you begin to exhale again there's a small gap or a small space before the inhale turns into the exhale.

See if you can experience that right in the center of your chest.

This sun t or this gap at the end of the inhale before you exhale is naturally occurring.

You don't have to do anything to make it happen.

And now leave aside the breath for a moment and consider everything about you that is of value.

Consider that you have a human body.

Consider that you have food.

That you have a place to live.

Consider all of the values that you express in your life.

Consider your creativity,

Your intelligence.

Consider your lovingness,

Your kindness.

Consider anything about yourself that you appreciate.

Consider all your special skills that you've learned over the years.

Consider your health or the help you've received with your health.

Consider all the teachings that you've had,

All the education you've had,

All the spiritual teachers who may have helped you,

Or just the ordinary teachings that you've received through the course of living every day that have benefited you.

Take stock of any advantages that you have in life,

What has helped you and supported you.

Whether it's something about you,

About your personality and your capacities,

Or something that other people have given you.

And now we're going to begin the practice of Tang Lien.

Think of a person in your life who could benefit from having some of the values that you've identified in yourself,

Or who could benefit from some of the help that you've received in your life.

Perhaps that person has a health problem,

Or has a problem with money,

Or just has a hard time getting along in life,

Or some other obstacle that they're having a hard time overcoming.

I want you to think of that person,

And as you inhale through every pore of your skin,

I want you to inhale their obstacles.

I want you to take into yourself all the obstacles that this person has.

And as you inhale,

And you come to the end of the inhale,

Your awareness is now going to be in the sun tea,

That gap in the center of your chest.

And I want you to let all of this person's obstacles dissolve into that sun tea,

Into that gap,

Or that gateway to the unmanifest,

That gateway into infinity.

And as you exhale,

I want you to send out through every pore in your skin to this other person,

Everything that you have that they need.

I want you to give away all the value,

All the opportunity,

All the assets that you have that this person needs through exhaling that benefit to them.

Continue inhaling all their obstacles,

And having a momentary flash on that sun tea in the center of your heart space,

Where all of their obstacles will dissolve back to the unmanifest.

And then exhale everything they need,

Give away everything you have that they need through your exhale.

Send it to them.

Try to have a real experience that you are giving them everything of value that they need,

That you're giving it away from yourself and giving it to them.

Even if you feel a little scared about this,

Try to be brave and really give it all away.

And now as you're doing tonglen for this one person that you know,

Begin to include all other people who have the same obstacle as this person,

As your friend.

Include all people in the world who have that same obstacle,

People you don't know,

And inhale all of their obstacles into the center of your heart space,

And exhale all of the value,

All of the assets,

All of the skill,

All of the help that they might need.

And now think of someone who you have trouble relating to,

Someone who you feel is difficult,

Someone in your life who has caused you upset or strife.

And consider what that person needs,

What could you give them,

How could you benefit them by giving them what has benefited you.

And begin to inhale from them all of their obstacles,

All of the things that bother you or distress you or annoy you.

Take them all into yourself through every pore of your skin as you inhale,

And let all of those obstacles dissolve into the sun tea in the center of the heart space.

As you exhale back to them everything they need to feel whole and complete and happy and content.

And now think of a group of people who have suffered poverty or war or discrimination or some other kind of obstacle,

Some other kind of pain that has affected a whole group of people.

Choose a group of people that you especially care about.

You could even choose animals if you like.

And now vividly in your imagination think of all of the pains that they have suffered.

Visualize them in your mind,

Think of them,

Feel empathy for them and put yourself inside the experience of this group of people so that you clearly have in your mind and your heart what they have suffered.

And now inhale all of their sufferings,

All of their experiences of suffering,

All of their pain through every pore in your skin,

All of it without exception even if you feel afraid right into the center of your heart space and let it drop into that sun tea.

And then exhale to them everything that they need,

Even your own life,

Even your own body,

Even all the privilege and opportunity you may have had in this life,

Even all the teachings you may have received,

Everything you value most.

Exhale it and give it wholeheartedly without reserve to this group of people and continue on doing that with each inhale and exhale.

Can you continue with the 그다음 eighth And now stop all effort and go inside.

See how you feel.

Notice that in giving everything away you haven't lost anything at all.

Notice any differences in how you feel now from how you normally feel when you consider giving away important valuable things.

Continue to abide quietly in this state of fullness,

Openness,

And generosity until you feel like getting up.

Try to carry this feeling into the rest of your day.

And notice how the practice of Tung Lien influences your relationships with others as you go about your normal activities.

Reviews

Thank you for this wonderful and valuable meditation of receiving and giving, which is much to the benefit of others, the World and the self. Namaste 🤓🙏🏻

One of the best tonglen practices in here! I only wish it were a little longer with lengthier pauses for extending my taking and giving. It isn't usually my total focus of my tonglen practice but today I concentrated on my husband who is in a deep depression, my son who is struggling to find work and is in despair because he hasn't seen his daughter since she was born at year ago and my entire family that is experiencing overwhelming hardship at This time . TY 😊 may they all find strength, perseverance and peace. I bookmarked and will revisit frequently.

This is a wonderful practice. My heart is full 🙏❤️

I felt bliss like I have never felt before. I am happy, I feel motivated to help others as best I can, and life feels good again because of this. I will continue to practice this noble pratice. Thank you for such wonderful guidance! Peace ☮️

it was a practice that leaves you wanting more - because we are learning to give in the ways that can best support others while being able to stay true to our own conditions. it leaves an invitation to give more

Wow, I can really feel the strong effects of this practice. This is deep, the one practice I truly need right now.

Lovely meditation . Thank you so much for sharing ❤️🙏🕊️🌸

First time with a guided tonglen practice. What an amazing discovery! Thank you.

Love the pacing and your voice and the teaching and visualization. It was amazing!

A refreshingly different version to what I am familiar with. Thank you 🙏🏽

Not necessarily the most relaxing but powerful and intense.

My heart feels so overwhelmed with grief about the loss of lives in Palestine right now. The loss of journalists. The loss of connectivity. I need to do this practice daily. I know it is what we all need now more than ever before. Thank you so much for sharing the teachings of our wise ancestors who came before.

The war in Israel and palestine has been hanging heavy in my heart today. So much violence and pain that makes you want to look away. I needed this practice today to continue opening my heart. Thank you

There is so much to be learned and gained from this approach. Thank you for the introduction. I am looking forward to bringing this into my life. 🙏

This was the most beautiful, detailed and loving guidance for the tonglen practice. Deep gratitude 🙏🏽

Amazing exercise of giving away and filling oneself up with the power of abundance

In deep gratitude. You "accidentally" showed up on my phone today, as I was contemplating what process I wished to convene with my long time Soul Lab group when we will gather by ZOOM for perhaps the 200th time next week, my turn again to lead. Of course. Tonglen will take us deep into our hearts of gratefulness. The sharing will be profound and life giving, each of us a fractile of Divine love. Thank you. My heart is grateful.

Very powerful meditation practice. It really challenged my personal image of altruism. Thank you.

Amazing 🙏 I’ll be coming back to this lovely practice again soon.

Powerful. I feel more strong and stable and more connected to others after that meditation. Thank you so much.🙏🏼