Tonglen

We take refuge and develop the attitude of enlightenment, bodhicitta:

Until I have reached full awakening I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the supreme Assembly.
By means of beneficial actions such as generosity may I attain enlightenment in order to benefit beings.

May all beings find happiness and the cause of happiness.

May they be free of suffering and the cause of suffering.

May they not be separated from the perfect happiness that is free of suffering.

May they abide in great equanimity, free from attachment and aversion to those near and far.

To develop an inner attitude full of love and compassion we need a practice. The exchange of self and others in the form of giving and receiving is especially well adapted. It is important to do this formal practice in addition to a benevolent and compassionate activity in daily life. This meditation consists of several phases and uses breath as a support.

We let our mind completely relax and find it’s deep inner quietness without holding on to anything. We remain fully aware that everything which appears is our own mind. We rest in this quiet, peaceful mind in the awareness, that everything appearing inside of and around us is not separate from our self. (3-5 min.)

In a natural way we become aware of the movement of our breath, without any particular intention or wish of modification. We follow the movements of our breath until we are fully aware of them. (5 min.)

When we exhale we imagine white light flowing out of our heart, reaching all the beings in the vast universe and melting with them. This light contains all our qualities, all our favorable circumstances, all our positive energy which we have accumulated since beginningless time. It contains everything which could bring joy to beings. (5 min.)

When inhaling we imagine that we take into our heart all the sufferings, all unsatisfaction and all the difficulty of all beings in the form of a dark mist. All this is absorbed in the openness of our compassionate heart and is dissolving there. We imagine that in this way we free all beings of their suffering, their unsatisfaction and their negativity as well as of their causes. We develop a deep joy to be able to do this. (5-10 min.)

Finally we let our mind rest in complete openness, in the ultimate reality, where there is no separation of ‘self’ and ‘other’, beyond any point of reference and free of any concept of an ultimate reality of ‘joy’ and ‘suffering’. The mind rests in it’s natural dimension. (5-8 min.)

To conclude we dedicate the positive energy of this practice for the benefit of all beings:

Through this merit may I attain true omniscience.

Then, having overcome all harmful, destructive forces, may I liberate sentient beings from the ocean of existence and it’s turbulent waves of birth, sickness, old age and death.

Adapted from: Gendun Rinpoche, Heart Advice from a Mahamudra Master