Taking, Giving, Sending, Receiving
Dear Ones,
Today I wanted to share a practice that invites us to acknowledge the pain, fear and suffering that may be in our awareness at this time – our own, and that which is also present and visible in the world around us – and to use our breath, attention and compassion to send love and healing to the people and the places where that suffering is present, including our own minds, hearts and bodies. The name of this practice is Tonglen.
Often in breath-based meditation, the practice involves breathing in the thing we need, and breathing out the stress or pain we want to be rid of. Some practices use both the inhale and exhale to cultivate resources – for example, “breathe in peace, breathe out love.” Tonglen practice also “rides the breath,” but in a slightly different way.
According to Pema Chodron, “Tonglen is an ancient Tibetan practice of “sending and receiving.” Tong means “sending out” or “letting go”; len means “receiving” or “accepting.”” Chodron continues, “Tonglen practice, also known as “taking and sending,” reverses our usual logic of avoiding suffering and seeking pleasure. In tonglen practice, we visualize taking in the pain of others with every in-breath and sending out whatever will benefit them on the out-breath.” Tonglen can be done as a formal sitting meditation, but it can also be done “in the moment,” anywhere, any time that we witness or experience suffering and want to do something to transform and heal it rather than avoid or deny it.
Although it feels counter-intuitive, I have grown to love Tonglen practice for some of the same reasons I love Metta or Loving-Kindness practice: because when I am aware of suffering and feeling helpless to change it, Tonglen gives me a way to explore and engage with taking on and transforming that suffering with my own compassion, spaciousness and love… and it extends that compassion, spaciousness and love beyond myself or my immediate community and allows me to “take in” the pain of the world and “send out” whatever healing love is needed in those places.
I find it most helpful to practice Tonglen through listening to a guided meditation like one of these:
Tonglen practice: less than 5 minutes
Tonglen for illness: 15 minutes
Tonglen for Coronavirus: 15 minutes
There are many Tonglen practice on Insight Timer, as well as on YouTube, and once you have a sense of the practice, you can take it with you wherever you go and use your breath as a tool for healing and transformation of any fear, pain, illness or suffering you may witness or experience.
If you experience feelings of helplessness when you encounter suffering, you are not alone. I hope Tonglen practice may offer a pathway to actively respond, using the power of our breath and our compassion to take in and transform the suffering and stress we are experiencing and witnessing, and to send healing where it is needed most.
Peace,
Glynn
