Tonglen meditation.
Begin by sitting comfortably and consciously inviting a sense of relaxation and generating the intention that this practice is done for the benefit of ourselves and others.
So tuning in now to your own breathing rhythm,
Letting the in-breath and the out-breath follow one after the other.
Maybe slightly deepening the inhale and lengthening the exhale.
And throughout this practice we use the breath for receiving and then giving.
It's a practice to cultivate compassion,
The willingness to turn towards difficulty,
To breathe it in and then to offer out compassion.
So imagine now that as you inhale you're breathing in something dark or heavy or murky.
And then on the exhale imagine breathing out something that is light,
Bright or spacious.
And as you continue breath by breath allowing the body to feel like an ever-widening clear container of freshness.
Knowing that the exhale offers the antidote to whatever you have breathed in.
We sometimes worry that if we breathe in what is dark or heavy or murky it will get stuck within us.
Yet this forgets the capacity of the heart to transform everything.
You may like to imagine a drop of water hitting a hot pan and it immediately evaporates into steam.
The heart has the capacity to transform whatever arises.
And as you breathe in and feel the lungs full,
Pause for a moment sensing into the heart.
Maybe you can feel the beat and then breathing out.
The lungs are almost like two hands that enclose the heart holding it safe.
And the heart has the extraordinary capacity to transform whatever we breathe in.
So that as we exhale we breathe out the antidote.
And now inviting in a personal issue.
Letting the in-breath portray the feeling tone of any difficulty you're currently having.
Perhaps a sense of unworthiness or frustration or jealousy.
Allowing the inhale to welcome in more and more of this issue.
And allowing yourself to trust in whatever way you see this issue.
Remembering that the heart will do the work of transformation for you.
So as you exhale visualize yourself growing more open and bright like a clear sky over the ocean.
With more and more space for the issue to be held in.
Noticing the ever-widening embrace of the exhale.
The inhale is like a loving parent willing to hold the full experience of a child's turmoil without judgment.
And in this practice we're not fixing the issue or pushing it away.
We're creating a holding environment for the issue to be breathed in and for the out-breath to allow ever more space for it to move through.
And in this way we can use Tonglen to support ourselves whenever we have difficulty.
And we can also use it as a way of connecting with others.
So breathing in the same issue for everyone who is feeling this way in this moment.
This is no longer your own problem but a feature of the human predicament.
Letting life touch you in this poignant way.
The heart transforming the issue and the out-breath swelling your inner body to accommodate the imagined pain of all our fellow human beings.
Of all our fellow human beings.
May we all be willing to meet this pain with fresh space and empathic connection.
And recognizing this dual benefit.
We're supporting ourselves while under duress and simultaneously connecting with others.
Undermining our habits of isolation during vulnerable experiences.
And bringing the practice to a close by letting the body breathe for you.
The gentle inflow and outflow of breath.
Aware of the body resting on the earth.
As we bring our practice to a close.
