Tonglen Meditation

Tonglen meditation, a Buddhist practice, is a practice of breathing in the suffering of another and exhaling care, compassion, and relief. Sean Fargo leads this guided Tonglen practice, inviting us to inhale the difficulties of someone we know (to whatever degree is comfortable), filtering these through the heart, and exhaling to release warmth, love, and care. It closes with an invitation to wish ourselves well, especially after this type of exercise.

Transcript

So as we do each week, Like to start with a brief guided meditation. Like to preface this by saying that if anything feels too intense or overwhelming, Please feel free to disregard any guidance that you feel is a little too intense. Always feel free to find something else that feels more comforting or safe for you if things get too intense. You can practice mindfulness of walking or you sense into the bottoms of your feet. You can just navigate to the belly and sense the belly as you breathe. You can wish yourself loving kindness or compassion or care or wish other people well, But do whatever you feel is safe and appropriate for you. But during today's meditation, It may feel a little uncomfortable, But the intention is not to overwhelm anyone. But we'll get through it together and come out the other side stronger. So hope I didn't build that up too much. Great, So you can close your eyes or look downward just to limit visual distractions. If you wish, You can keep your eyes open if that feels safer for you. You can have your video on or off. I'll be closing my eyes. It's very softly. And settling into the body. Beginning to notice different sensations around the body that feel predominant or interesting. Just taking a survey of different parts of the body and just kind of noticing what you can feel from the inside. Maybe noticing the quality of breath as you inhale and exhale. So we're not trying to feel a certain way. We're simply noticing however we happen to feel in the body. It's okay to feel what we feel. Simply opening to the body. Welcoming ourselves home to the natural sensations of the body. As we breathe in and out, And out. The natural rhythm of breath, Whatever that means for us. Wishing ourself the courage to continue to open to our natural experience. Whether it's pleasant or unpleasant. May we meet each experience with courage and curiosity. And now invite us to reflect on a person or a group of people who may be going through a little bit of a hard time. Nothing too intense, Nothing traumatic or too life-changing. Maybe you know someone who's gone through some frustration. Maybe a little bit of sadness, Annoyance. Maybe a little bit of sadness, Annoyance. Maybe they're confused. Maybe they're confused. You can reflect on how that might feel. Feel. Tune into that emotion that they might be feeling to whatever extent that you can. You can use your imagination if that's helpful. We're sensing into the emotion of someone we know who's going through a little bit of a rough time. Maybe a group of people. Now I invite you to see if you can visualize their suffering as if you're breathing it into your body instead and exhaling a sense of care, Compassion, Warmth. So we're breathing in their suffering a little bit by little bit. We're filtering it through our body with a sense of care and exhaling a sense of love or benevolence back to this person or a group of people wishing them well, Breathing in their difficult emotion, Relieving them of that heaviness or darkness, Filtering it through your heart and wishing them a genuine sense of care. Breathing in their suffering to whatever extent you feel like you can. Breathing out warmth and love. Breathing in what's difficult for them, Relieving that to whatever extent you think you can and breathing out a sense of compassion for them. Continuing to cycle this energy, Caring for your body and yourself in the midst of this, Breathing in their stress or anxiety, Annoyance, Filtering it through our hearts and our lungs, Our bellies, And breathing out a tender sense of care, Wishing them well. If we do this in baby steps, We might feel that we're feeling stronger, More able to be with what's difficult, Responding with this genuine sense of compassion. Now I invite us to take a couple of big, Deep breaths, Maybe emphasizing the exhale, And listening to your body. What could the body use right now? Maybe it could use a little wiggle, Maybe some more deep breaths, Maybe a hand over the heart, Maybe some water, And providing what you feel like your body is wanting right now. Maybe it's appreciation for doing this exercise. Wishing ourselves a sense of strength, To be able to be with what's difficult, Wishing ourselves a sense of safety and health, And health, Wishing ourselves a sense of ease, Especially after this exercise, Wishing each other in this group a sense of care, Wishing each other in this group a sense of care, And appreciation for doing something like this. And may we live with the same quality of nonjudgmental awareness for the rest of our day. Maybe feeling your feet on the ground, Weight of your body being pulled downward, Maybe wiggling your shoulders or your jaw, Softening the muscles of the face around the eyes, And slowly opening your eyes whenever you're ready.