Chaos Pt2- Tonglen
Hello members,
With these Sunday emails I’m doing my best to keep a balance of calm and retreat-when-necessary, on one hand, while also keeping a balance of sitting firmly in place bearing witness to chaos and pain on the other.
I am aware that my attempts will fail most of the time.
That’s part of real mindfulness.
If you would like to help me with the balancing act, kindly schedule your calendar so that you can attend member video calls. The monthly lab-work conversations have been the most useful tool I’ve got in my toolbox for making these newsletters relevant.
The next video-call will be on March 22nd 3pm. You can get the link at the G-Cal invite. No worries if you can’t come, I just wanted to be transparent about my writer’s process. This is a collaborative effort. And on those occasions when it’s possible for you to collaborate during lab-work, it matters.
Part 1
You might have seen the free Sunday-Pause email earlier today that includes the “Volcano & Sea” creative visualization 12-minute audio. It was recorded two years ago when we were making maps of our inner experiences for lab-work. I liked that that “Volcano & Sea” recording included a number of calming images at the end. It is very appropriate for beginners. That’s why I put it into the Sunday-Pause email this week.
Part 2
And now, here’s the next step for folks who would like to move past the beginner phase. In this Tier2 Sunday-Lab email, the recording is the enhanced lab-work deeper dive… my variation on a Tonglen meditation.
This 11-minute meditation was originally recorded when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. At that time, I created a whole album of war-time lab-work meditations that you are welcome to revisit. And now that the we are in the midst of new experiences of attacking Iran, it seemed appropriate to bring these recordings back up to the top of our playlists.
The full traditional versions of Tonglen practices are from Tibetan lineages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tonglen is a Buddhist practice that involves breathing in the suffering of others and breathing out peace and healing. Its purpose is to cultivate compassion.
Tong means “giving or sending”, and len means “receiving or taking”.[1] Tonglen is also known as “exchanging self with other.”[2][3]Practice
In the practice, one exchanges the self with other, sending and taking should be practiced alternately. These two should ride the breath. As such it is a training in altruism.[3]
The function of the practice is to:reduce selfish attachmentincrease a sense of renunciation[4]purify karma by giving and helping[4]develop and expand loving-kindness and bodhicitta[4][3]
The practice of Tonglen involves all of the Six Perfections;[4] giving, ethics, patience, joyous effort, concentration and wisdom. These are the practices of a Bodhisattva.[4]