So before we begin the meditation on tonglen,
Let's take a few minutes to remember the reasons for doing this practice and the benefits of doing it.
So it's part of a method for cultivating bodhicitta that involves first reflecting on how all living beings are equal in wanting happiness and wanting to not suffer.
So everyone has those feelings deep inside their minds,
Their heart.
Also from the Buddhist point of view,
Everyone has the potential to be free of all suffering and its causes,
All the afflictive states of mind,
Which is greed,
Hatred,
And ignorance,
And karma.
So nobody will be stuck with those states of mind forever.
Everyone can be free of them.
And everyone has the potential to develop all the positive qualities,
Love,
Compassion,
Wisdom,
And become Buddhas.
So every living being has Buddha nature,
The potential to reach the same state the Buddha achieved,
The state of enlightenment or awakening.
So in the light of this equality of oneself and everyone else,
Does it make sense that we regard ourselves as more important,
More special than other beings?
And also self-centeredness,
Selfishness,
Is the cause of many,
Many problems.
In fact,
The teachings say all the suffering there is in the world comes about due to self-centeredness,
Selfishness.
For example,
It leads to negative attitudes,
Negative karma,
Which bring more suffering in the future.
It's a huge obstacle to making progress on the path and reaching the higher states of liberation and enlightenment.
And then the opposite attitude of altruism or cherishing others,
Genuinely,
Sincerely caring about others and doing whatever we can to help them,
That kind of attitude is the cause of all peace and happiness.
It's what motivates us to engage in virtue,
Like the 10 virtuous actions,
Not killing,
Not stealing,
And so forth.
It's also what lies behind acts of generosity and being patient,
Being kind and compassionate,
Helpful for others.
So really try to see that self-centeredness is the cause of problems and suffering,
While altruism is the cause of genuine peace and happiness,
Both for ourselves and for others.
So by understanding this,
We naturally want to decrease self-centeredness and increase altruism.
The practice of tonglen is a very effective method for bringing about that kind of change in our mind.
So last week we did tonglen with respect to our own self,
Our own future suffering.
And this time we'll do it with another person.
We'll just start with one person,
Not all sentient beings.
That's a big step.
And it's generally easier to use a person we already know and care about.
So bring to mind someone you know.
It could be a family member or a friend who is experiencing some suffering right now,
Physical or emotional or both.
And it's good if you can imagine that person in front of you,
And then spend a few minutes contemplating what kind of suffering they're experiencing,
What kind of problems they're experiencing,
And generate a feeling of compassion,
Wishing that they could be free of these problems.
You can also think of problems this person will probably experience in the future as they get older,
Age-related difficulties,
Illness,
Emotional problems,
And eventually having to die,
Leave this life behind.
And again,
And again,
Generate compassion.
If it's difficult to really feel the compassion,
You could try saying a phrase like,
How wonderful it would be if you could be free of all your suffering,
Both present and future,
And the causes of suffering.
And see if you can make this compassion so strong that you would be willing to take away this person's suffering,
Take it on to yourself so that they don't have to experience it.
And in the tonglen practice,
When we take on suffering,
We use it to overcome our self-centered,
Selfish attitude.
So in that way,
It's something very meaningful and beneficial.
So imagine this person's suffering taking the form of smoke or fog,
And imagine it coming out of them.
And then you can take it into yourself,
Either with your breathing,
Breathing it in,
Or just coming into you in whatever way you like.
Imagine it going to your heart chakra,
The center of your chest.
There,
Your self-centered attitude is in the form of a black ball or a black lump.
And when the other person's suffering in the form of smoke comes into you,
It turns into a kind of bowl of lightning and crashes down on this black lump of self-centeredness and destroying it,
Smashing it,
Making it non-existent.
Let your mind rest for a few moments in the feeling of peacefulness,
Freedom from this nagging,
Selfish,
Self-centered attitude that's always demanding that you do things for yourself and not for others.
So imagine that kind of mind,
That kind of voice disappearing.
Now think of all your positive qualities and your good karma,
Your wealth,
Your resources,
Your health,
Your body,
All the positive things you have in your life.
And imagine those taking the form of a light or a sparkling,
Wish-fulfilling jewel at your heart,
Radiating rays of light.
And feel the wish to give to this person whatever will bring them happiness and peace.
And imagine the rays of light from this light or jewel at your heart going to the other person and transforming into whatever will bring them peace and happiness.
You can imagine it becoming ordinary things like the kind of food they like to eat that will make them happy.
But more important,
Imagine it becoming inner qualities that will enable their mind to be in a good state,
A positive state,
Especially in terms of dharma practice.
All the inner qualities they need to be able to engage in the practice of dharma,
The practice of the path to liberation and enlightenment.
You can even imagine them gaining all the realizations of the path,
Enabling them to progress all the way to enlightenment.
Imagine the person looking peaceful,
Calm,
Happy,
Radiant,
And feel a sense of joy,
Rejoicing that you did this practice.
It's not definite that by doing this practice will bring about any change for the other person.
That depends on karma.
But by doing this practice,
We bring about changes in our own mind.
It's a way of purifying our karma and our afflictions and increasing our love and our compassion.
It's a way of accumulating a great deal of merit and helping us make progress towards enlightenment.
