Tonglen Meditation

“The essence of the practice is willingness to share pleasure and delight and the joy of life on the out-breath and willingness to feel your pain and that of others fully on the in-breath” Pema Chodron.

The following instruction for Tonglen was provided by my Meditation teacher at Nature Care, Lousie Gilmore, but you can use any Tonglen script (if you have one) as the basis of the instruction will be the same.

Begin by developing an internal focus. Breathe and sit with yourself. Now, playfully pretend to be a Buddha. Imagine that you are no longer your ordinary self, but that you can see things from a larger perspective, from the point of view of an enlightened being – your true nature. From this perspective you can develop warmth and tenderness for your ordinary self.

If you are agitated, lonely, scared, misunderstood, angry, anxious, accept this suffering part of yourself. Breathe the dark cloud of your own suffering into your heart centre, where it feeds the purifying fire of the heart and dissolves the last traces of ego. Breathe out the brilliant light of healing love, warmth, confidence and joy. Do this for a time to purify your mind.

Next, bring to mind someone close to you, whom you know is suffering. Hold them in your heart. Connect with them and their difficulties. Your heart quite naturally becomes softer and more tender. It longs to extend comfort and relieve their pain. You are learning how compassion feels in your heart. Imagine breathing in and out from your heart centre.

Feel your heart as a centre of kindness and imagine it contains a purifying fire. Start to breathe in the sorrows of the person you have visualised. Imagine them touching your heart and being transformed into a brilliant light, love, warmth, energy, confidence, and joy. Picture the person and breathe the healing qualities out from heart towards them. Continue this receiving and giving for as long as you wish. When you have finished feel a firm conviction that your compassion has purified and dissolved their suffering and pain. Knowing that the practice can bring such benefit, feel a sense of joy that others have been relieved and that this practice will benefit all beings.

As your practice becomes stronger you can extend your compassion to the troubles of others who are suffering – relatives, co-workers, even people who have caused you sorrow or harm and eventually to everyone in the world. Breathe in the sorrows of those who are caught up in war or oppression. Breathe in the sorrows of those who are hungry, ill or who are grieving. With every outward breath, imagine all that suffering transformed and sent out to all living beings as the healing balm of compassion. Do this over and over again with each breath in and each breath out.

Finally, sit quietly and allow your breath and your heart to rest naturally as a still centre of compassion.