Begin Tonglen with yourself

(10)

The original slogan is: “Begin the sequence of sending and taking with yourself.”

Let’s talk for a minute about ‘suffering.’ Think of it as a negative emotional response to anything. This includes feelings of fear, pain, and loss. Some are big and ominous like fear of death, and some are small annoyances that we are dissatisfied with, like running out of chocolate ice cream. It’s a big spectrum of hurts and pain points that interact in a varied way to hold you hostage to self ego-clinging.

Looking at your own spectrum of suffering first is often more comfortable and more natural to see because it is so up close and personal. This makes it easier to see the pain point clearly and draw it in with the breath and breath out love and compassion towards yourself.

This breathing practice is for the benefit of others. In the process, it transforms not only their pain but also the relationship you have with your own suffering. Breathing in pain and send out love and compassion with yourself as the object of this meditation, before moving on to more challenging or unknown people. Developing the feeling of tender, compassionate love for yourself is the place to start.

Tonglen encourages you to get closer to your experiences. The more pain and emotional suffering you experience, the harder it is to get clear and closer to it. Slowly your pain and emotional distress will be dissolved by this breathing them in and sending back out compassion on the out-breath back to yourself.

“What you do for yourself – any gesture of kindness, any gesture of gentleness, any gesture of honesty and clear seeing toward yourself – will affect how you experience your world. In fact, it will transform how you experience the world. What you do for yourself, you’re doing for others, and what you do for others, you’re doing for yourself. When you exchange yourself for others in the practice of tonglen, it becomes increasingly uncertain what is out there and what is in here.” – [^@Chodron:1994a]

There is a subtle comfort in developing this type of loving-kindness practice. Who doesn’t want to create this feeling of connectedness, well being, and to establish and maintain joy? Again, these visualization practices are not a Zen thing. Zen considers them too structured. But a little formal structure to meditation now and then is a good thing.

Breathe in your pain and suffering. Breath out loving-kindness and watch what happens. Healing, balance, and transformation. A return to presence. A chance to begin again, as if for the first time. Practicing this way develops profound sanity and an appreciation of life despite our busyness and confusion. Breathing in this way is counter to your usual way of looking at problems and reminds you that you encompass the things you usually push away.

How you understand your pain points translates into how you see the suffering of others. The quality of how we relate to ourselves bleeds over to how we relate to others. You begin to transform our experience of the world. Getting a clear picture of your own suffering helps you to understand the suffering of others and what is behind their actions.

Do your best and rest in knowing that life does not put you in situations in which you can’t deal with the challenges. There is nowhere for you to practice other than right here in the midst of what your life. Use this practice to become a better version of yourself.

Begin at the beginning …………………………………..[[201902280602]] Always train with the slogans …………………………….[[201903080539]] Practice giving and receiving on the breath ………………..[[201903060456]] Tonglen Instructions …………………………………….[[201901200704]] Don’t save your biggest problem …………………………..[[201903260512]] Focus on a singe intention ……………………………….[[201904070610]] The Power Of Regret ……………………………………..[[202009070839]]

Alternate Titles

• Begin sending and receiving practice with yourself
• Begin the sequence of sending and taking with yourself
• Commence Taking Progressively From Your own Side
• Practice self-acceptance

03-09-2019 - 5:08 AM ›[[201903090508]] → #slogans