Tonglen Meditation Practice

This is a guided Tonglen meditation. Tonglen is a practice that is based in compassion, and involves taking in the suffering or discomfort of other beings, and the sending out of wellbeing and wellness to those who are experiencing the suffering. The meditation involves sensing openness and spaciousness, and then feelings of discomfort and constriction. The practice evolves to flow and move with the breath, with the inbreath becoming a vehicle of taking in suffering or a sticky smoke, while the outbreath sends a relief of suffering or clear light. This can be done for any being or beings, those you know, or those you do not know, whether near or far.

Transcript

This is a guided tonglen meditation. We'll begin with basic mindfulness practice. So bring your awareness to your body. Your seat. Feel the ground beneath you. And all those parts of your body which are on the ground. Let yourself rest into the ground. Also become aware of your liftedness. The elongation of your spine. And bring awareness to your breath. As it naturally rises and falls. And for a few moments here. Let this awareness of body and of breath. Bring you into alignment with the present moment. Just as you are. If you'd like more time for basic mindfulness practice, You can pause the recording. As we begin our Tonglen meditation. We begin by connecting with a sense of openness. Or spaciousness. So we can tap into this by feeling the ground beneath us. And the sense of vastness of the ground. That holds everything. We can also connect with the space that's around us. Space that begins around your body. The space within the room you are in. That extends outside. The space that extends up into the sky. So we can begin to connect with openness. Just by bringing awareness to the openness of space within which we are sitting. You might also bring to mind specific images. That evoke a sense of openness or spaciousness for you. Like the sky. The vastness, The clarity of sky. Or perhaps the ocean. Expansiveness and depth of ocean. Or perhaps the image of an open meadow. Notice what works best for you. So we rest here for a moment in some quality of openness. Of spaciousness. Within which our practice is taking place. And now we can begin to tap into the textures. Of our experience. We begin with any kind of texture or sense of discomfort. Or dis-ease. That we're feeling in this moment. Might be pain. Physical or emotional or mental. Any sense of tightness or constriction or claustrophobia. Any kind of hue of suffering. You don't need to focus on a specific situation or on any kind of storyline. We're just tapping into a basic feeling. Of unease. You might feel this in your body. As anxiety. And security. Feeling this as a texture in your experience. And as you breathe in, Breathe in this texture. Breathe in. This discomfort. Imagining it as a thick, Heavy, Sticky, Dark smoke. At the top of the in-breath, Flash for a moment on the openness that we began with. And now as you breathe out. We're breathing out a cool, Clear light. We're tapping into any kind of well-being. Any kind of sense of ease or comfort that we are also experiencing right now. Breathing out this texture of relief of pain. It could be a sense of joy. Or an inkling of love that you can feel into. A basic sense of okayness or workability. However you can feel that in this moment. The texture of any goodness or well-being. Of health. Breathe that out. Breathe that out as a cool, Clear light. So we continue this visualization on the in-breath. Breathing in pain, Discomfort as a heavy, Sticky, Thick smoke. Breathing out well-being. Ease. Relief of suffering. There's a cool clear light on the out-breath. And now we'll bring a specific situation to mind. Think of someone. Who's going through a difficult time. Going through hardship of some kind. Bring them into your awareness. Take a moment to connect with their pain or their particular form of suffering. Maybe there is an additional quality to this suffering that you can sense or feel into. And now as you breathe in, As you breathe in, You're breathing in their suffering, Their particular pain. Again with the image of a heavy, Sticky, Thick, Dark smoke. The top of the breath flashing on openness, Spaciousness. And now breathing out to them. A relief from their suffering. And easing of their pain. Sense of clarity. Well-being. Health. Safety, Joy. Whatever it is that they need. To find their center, To be well. To relieve their suffering. And continue with your Tonglen practice for this specific being. If you like you can stop the recording, Pause the recording and continue with your Tonglen for this specific being for longer. And now we'll extend our practice out to include other beings. Beings perhaps who are suffering from a similar situation. Breathing in their suffering. And breathing out a relief from that suffering. Beginning to feel that we're breathing in from 360 degrees around us. And breathing out equally in all directions. Continue to expand your practice. Wherever you might find resistance in your practice. Or feel like you're getting lost or distracted. Breathe that in. Breathe in the distraction. Breathe in the zoning out. Breathe in the critical thought, The judgment. And breathe out clarity. Breathe out compassion. Ease. To yourself. And all beings. And as you complete the next exhale. Let any and all visualization release. Let your awareness rest. Feel the ground of your seat. Feel your body firmly on the earth. Notice the quality of your heart and mind. Thank you.