Tonglen and bodhicitta
May. 9th, 2025 07:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
micki“The practice of tonglen- sending and receiving- is designed to awaken bodhichitta, to put us in touch with genuine noble heart. It is a practice of taking in pain and sending out pleasure and therefore completely turns around our well established habit of doing just the opposite.
“Tonglen is a practice of creating space, ventilating the atmosphere lives so people can breathe freely and relax. Whenever we encounter suffering in any form, the tone line instruction is to breathe it in with the wish that everyone could be free of pain. Whenever we encounter happiness in any form, the instruction is to breathe it out, send it out, with the wish that everyone could feel joy. It's a practice that allows people to feel less burdened and less cramped, a practice that shows us how to love without conditions.
“Bo and Sita Lozoff have been helping people in prison for over 20 years. They teach meditation, they gift talks, and in books and newsletters they give earthy and inspiring spiritual advice. Every day their mailbox is packed with letters from people doing time period every day the answer as many as they can. Sita told me that sometimes those letters would be so filled with misery that she would feel overwhelmed. Then, without ever having heard of tonglen, she just naturally began breathing in all the pain in those letters and sending out relief period....
“Spiritual awakening is frequently described as a journey to the top of a mountain. We leave our attachments and our worldliness behind and slowly make our way to the top. At the peak we have transcended all pain. The only problem with this metaphor is that we leave all the others behind-are drunken brother, our schizophrenic sister, our tormented animals and friends. They're suffering continues, unrelieved by our personal escape.
“In the process of discovering bodhichitta, the journey goes down, not up. It's as if the mountain pointed towards the center of the earth instead of reaching into the sky. Instead of transcending the suffering of all creatures, we moved toward the turbulence and doubt. We jump into it. We slide into it. We tiptoe into it. We move toward it however we can. We explore the reality and unpredictability of insecurity and pain, and we try not to push it away. If it takes years, if it takes lifetimes, we let it be as it is. At our own pace, without speed or aggression, we move down and down and down. With us move millions of others, our companions and awakening from fear. At the bottom we discover water, the healing water of bodhichitta. Right down there in the thick of things, we discover the love that will not die.”
“Tonglen is a practice of creating space, ventilating the atmosphere lives so people can breathe freely and relax. Whenever we encounter suffering in any form, the tone line instruction is to breathe it in with the wish that everyone could be free of pain. Whenever we encounter happiness in any form, the instruction is to breathe it out, send it out, with the wish that everyone could feel joy. It's a practice that allows people to feel less burdened and less cramped, a practice that shows us how to love without conditions.
“Bo and Sita Lozoff have been helping people in prison for over 20 years. They teach meditation, they gift talks, and in books and newsletters they give earthy and inspiring spiritual advice. Every day their mailbox is packed with letters from people doing time period every day the answer as many as they can. Sita told me that sometimes those letters would be so filled with misery that she would feel overwhelmed. Then, without ever having heard of tonglen, she just naturally began breathing in all the pain in those letters and sending out relief period....
“Spiritual awakening is frequently described as a journey to the top of a mountain. We leave our attachments and our worldliness behind and slowly make our way to the top. At the peak we have transcended all pain. The only problem with this metaphor is that we leave all the others behind-are drunken brother, our schizophrenic sister, our tormented animals and friends. They're suffering continues, unrelieved by our personal escape.
“In the process of discovering bodhichitta, the journey goes down, not up. It's as if the mountain pointed towards the center of the earth instead of reaching into the sky. Instead of transcending the suffering of all creatures, we moved toward the turbulence and doubt. We jump into it. We slide into it. We tiptoe into it. We move toward it however we can. We explore the reality and unpredictability of insecurity and pain, and we try not to push it away. If it takes years, if it takes lifetimes, we let it be as it is. At our own pace, without speed or aggression, we move down and down and down. With us move millions of others, our companions and awakening from fear. At the bottom we discover water, the healing water of bodhichitta. Right down there in the thick of things, we discover the love that will not die.”
