Tonglen Meditation
“Breathe in suffering and breathe out compassion”
• Make yourself comfortable sitting, standing, walking, or lying down.
• Straighten your back, relax your body, and breathe deeply; shift your focus from external distractions to your mind.
• Engage in circular breathing throughout this meditation: Breathe slowly and deeply through your nostrils, from your abdomen, with the in-breath the same length as the out-breath, and without a pause in between the in-breath and out-breath.
Do Tonglen for yourself: As you breathe in, let your greed, anger, jealousy, fear, attachment, confusion, and other negative thinking come to the surface. On your out-breath, breathe out this negative thinking, and fill the empty space with compassion.
Do Tonglen for someone you love: Breathe in the suffering of someone you love, and breathe out compassion to the person. Realize that your loved one wants to be happy, but is suffering instead. Open your heart to your loved one.
Do Tonglen for someone about whom you feel neutral: Breathe in the suffering of someone about whom you feel neutral (for example, a clerk in a store), and breathe out compassion to this person. Realize that the individual wants to be happy but is suffering instead. Open your heart to the person.
Do Tonglen for someone you dislike: Breathe in the suffering of someone you think has hurt you, and breathe out compassion to the person. Realize that the individual, like you and everyone else, wants to be happy. Because of negative thinking, the person makes harmful choices that lead to suffering. If you increase that suffering, the person may behave even worse. You are best off developing compassion so you can think clearly about how to deal with the individual in a manner that brings back good consequences, not bad ones (karma). Open your heart to the person.
Do Tonglen for the world: Breathe in the suffering of the world, and breathe out compassion to the world. Realize that everyone in the world wants to be happy, but too often makes unhealthy choices that lead to suffering instead. By developing universal compassion, you will take steps to help relieve this suffering. Open your heart to the world.
Purification: At the end of your meditation, visualize the suffering you breathed in as black smoke. You must let go of this black smoke, or it could increase your own suffering. Breathe out this black smoke completely. Then fill your heart and your whole being with compassion toward yourself, everyone else, and the world.
This meditation uses the breath to transform negativity into compassion for yourself and others. By doing Tonglen Meditation on a regular basis, you will let go of negativity, open your heart, and develop clear thinking that leads to healthy lifestyle choices.
