Meditation on Tong len
Prepared by: Ven Kaye Miner
Find a comfortable posture and become aware of the natural rhythm of your breathing,
focusing and quietening the mind.
And then developing a positive motivation for doing this meditation thinking that may it
be a cause to experience Enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Body of the meditation:
And now, let’s begin this meditation, on taking and giving, by working with the abstract
quality of this practice. So we can imagine the suffering, pain, difficulties, being like black,
heavy, perhaps hot kind of light. And we can imagine the pleasure and happiness is white,
cool light. So still with the natural rhythm of our breathing. we imagine that as we breathe
in, we breathe in this black, heavy pain and suffering and as we breathe out we breathe out
everything that is good, in the form of white, bright light, happiness. Breathing in the
black, breathing out the white. Just the natural rhythm of the breathing.
Imagine opening up to the reality of the suffering existence of yourself and all other beings.
Acknowledging that there’s pain, that there’s suffering and that you’re not alone. But also
acknowledging that there’s happiness, freedom, goodness.
Still with the awareness of breathing in the black pain and breathing out the white
goodness, combined with the awareness of the reality of the situation, imagine that as you
breathe in the black, it destroys the protective shell of the self cherishing, enabling your
heart to open and allowing the true nature of yourself, the love and the compassion,
enabling you to share your goodness with others. This flows out on the out breath.
Goodness, happiness, love, white light. Taking with the in breath, giving with the out,
taking and giving.
If you feel comfortable with this, you can visualise or imagine a specific situation and
connect with that. Perhaps it’s imagining taking away the suffering and pain of the people
in Iraq and giving them happiness and well being. Perhaps it could be some sickness or
pain that you’re experiencing now yourself.
And you can connect with that pain and sickness and suffering that so many others are
experiencing. All the suffering of beings within cyclic existence. Imagine their sufferings.
Imagine taking it away. Imagine giving them happiness. Taking and giving, on the breath.
Dedication:
And now as we bring this meditation to a close we dedicate all the positive energy that
we’ve created, that we may be able to destroy the self cherishing and perfectly practise tong
len. May we be able to develop the quality of Bodhicitta so that we may be able to realise
our greatest potential for enlightenment in order to free all beings from their suffering and
to place them in perfect peace and happiness.
So now when you feel ready begin breathing more deeply, slowly begin to move the body
and then open your eyes.
This really is a very powerful meditation, thank you all very much. Try thinking of
Bodhicitta and try thinking of tong len as you go about your daily life, that’s your home
work.
