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    Tonglen for Our Own Suffering: 7 Variations on an Ancient Practice
    Tonglen for Our Own Suffering: 7 Variations on an Ancient Practice
    Tonglen for Our Own Suffering: 7 Variations on an Ancient Practice
    Ebook86 pages1 hour

    Tonglen for Our Own Suffering: 7 Variations on an Ancient Practice

    By Swami Girijananda

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    About this ebook

    Tonglen is a classic spiritual practice for awakening and strengthening compassion. Girijananda’s unique approach focuses on releasing us from our own suffering by “breathing in the dark and breathing out the light.” She breaks down the steps of tonglen and shows us how to face, befriend, and transform our darkness into light. Seven distinct variations of this simple yet powerful practice are given, for people at any stage of inner development.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateJan 15, 2015
    ISBN9780915801374
    Tonglen for Our Own Suffering: 7 Variations on an Ancient Practice

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      Book preview

      Tonglen for Our Own Suffering - Swami Girijananda

      2014

      The Path of the Bodhisattva

      May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering;

      May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.

      This simple prayer sums up the yearning of the aspiring bodhisattva—the being who lives and acts, motivated by the desire to be of benefit to all sentient beings. It expresses not only the wish that beings be free from suffering but also that they be free from the causes of suffering. When I first heard this prayer, I felt that the addition of causes was superfluous, until it was explained to me that the cause of suffering is selfishness and the cause of happiness is compassion.

      The first part of the wish is that others have happiness and freedom from suffering in all ordinary ways in their lives. The addition of the causes of happiness and suffering brings in the wish for their spiritual growth and evolution. We are, in fact, wishing that they become enlightened, that they realize their true nature.

      When I began teaching meditation in 2010, I wanted to present meditation in the context of the path of the bodhisattva—also called the path of compassion. I had received teachings on this path during my time at the Tibetan Buddhist center of Chagdud Gonpa called Rigdzin Ling from 1996 to 2008, and the teachings had resonated deeply. They seemed to illuminate a latent strand in the puzzle of my life’s

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