Tong Len on Hell Beings

In this meditation our deep wish to help others takes hell being's suffering and plants seeds to happiness. It is the 4th in Tonglen teaching. Recorded live.

Transcript

So find a comfortable position.

And close your eyes.

Make sure you're sitting straight,

And that your head is straight,

And your shoulders are level.

And see if there's any tension in your face,

Or in your mouth,

Or in your eyes,

And just relax.

Now focus on your breathing.

Just follow the air as it goes in and out.

Just watch the movement of the air at the entrance to your nostrils.

Without being involved,

Without trying to control it,

Just watching it.

And create a strong wish in your heart.

To be able to help all those beings that are suffering in all those terrible ways in our universe.

Whether they are ones that we can see,

Or ones that we cannot see.

Create a holy being to help you learn how to remove all this suffering.

See the flama come sit in the air in front of you.

And they are very loving,

Radiant,

Very happy to help you.

They are so happy when you invite them to come.

Prostrate to them mentally by remembering their great kindness.

Make offerings to them.

Some beautiful things.

It can be beautiful music,

It can be your practice.

It can be a moment when you remember what they taught you and you try to put it into practice.

Confess anything that might be clouding your mind at the moment and clear it out of the way.

Any misdeed,

Any impure thought that you may have or that you had before,

Just let it go.

Ask the lama to be with you and teach you and help you develop your heart,

Develop your compassion.

And of course they agree.

And now imagine in front of you a huge plain,

Flat,

A flat plain,

Brown,

Ground,

And a very hot sun,

Very hot kind of deserted plain.

And the sun is burning really hot.

And now see the ground turning to steel and becoming very hot.

Sun is burning like ten suns and it's becoming really,

Really hot,

Red hot.

And flames are coming off the ground and beginning like dancing on the ground.

And the whole ground is really like a sea of flame.

And you see people running there and they are naked.

And their legs are burning and they are screaming,

They are in panic.

They are in great agony and they are running,

They are trying to escape the flames except there is nowhere to go because everything is in flames.

And you see them from the air,

You are up in the air.

They cannot see you.

But you see their suffering and your heart breaks.

You just so much want to help them.

And because you so much want to help them,

You are spreading your arms and they grow.

And you are spreading out your legs like a big bird and they grow and you become a huge bird.

Your desire to help them makes you grow and you turn yourself into a cloud.

And you are raining water down on them which gradually,

Gradually puts out the flames and cools off the ground.

And as the flames die down and the ground cools down,

The people calm down because their pain is lessened.

And the ground grows grass and trees.

And now you turn your body into silk and the silk comes down and closes the people.

And now you turn your body into this beautiful pavilion which covers them,

Gives them shade.

And where they sit now and be happy and they are content now.

And finally you are coming down and sitting there and they come and gather around you and sit around you in a circle.

And you see yourself teaching them.

You are teaching them Tonglen so they can create causes to never suffer again.

So this is the act of giving that you are doing.

This is the tongue that you are doing with the people who were in the hell realm and you take them out of there.

You take away that hell suffering that they are having.

So look,

See your virtue,

See the virtue of helping all those beings.

Even if it is in your thought,

It is great virtue.

It is because thoughts plant karmas,

They plant very powerful karmas.

So rejoice in that.

And make a wish,

Do an act of truth.

Say,

If it is true that I had even a small moment of feeling to help those beings,

May this be a cause for this to actually come true.

By the truth of what I just did in my imagination,

In my meditation,

May it be that I will be able to help all those beings truly.

Now turn back to the Lama in front of you.

Thank them for helping you throughout the meditation.

Help them for helping you develop your heart,

Open your heart,

Develop your compassion to ever higher levels.

Bring them into yourself,

Invite them in,

Make a beautiful place for them in your heart.

And see them coming and staying with you in your heart.

And dedicate this kindness to all beings so that nobody has to suffer any kind of suffering in any of the realms of samsara.

And make a prayer that these teachings stay in this world,

That they don't disappear.

That people who teach these things stay in the world,

In your world.

And pray that the teachings spread to places where they haven't reached yet,

So that everybody will hear them.

That everybody will be able to practice them and that nobody has to suffer.

Slowly you can open your eyes.

Reviews

Thank you great Lama for your kindness wisdom, may all the creatures be blessed with compassion.

How does she do this.... transport me.

The visualizations are a great help for focusing. Very peaceful.

Great! I love it so much!! Thank you!!!

This was really good and powerful. Not for the feight of heart, but true bodhisattvas

Great meditation! It helps you develop compassion for all beings! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Words fail to describe the power of this meditation.

P.S. I seriously suggest that you do them in order.

Unusual and exceptional. Thank you.

Beautiful. Thank You Lama Devora-hla

I brought Kian yin to help and she poured water on the steel plate to extiguish the flames

Lama, my deepest appreciation to you for this teaching and Series. Tong Len is practice so needed now.

Very relevant to me, just after our presidential elections. Thank you for bringing me to this perspective.

Very compassionate to all beings