A piece of wisdom from
April 11, 2020 · Saturday
The quote
“When you breathe in, you take in someone else's pain. When you breathe out, you send out relief. The practice is about reversing the habit of avoidance.”
— Pema Chodron · Tonglen
The concept
Tonglen
The Tibetan practice of breathing in suffering, and breathing out relief, and the wider mind-training that grew around it.
When somebody is suffering, most cultures answer: distance yourself. Tibetan Buddhism answers: breathe them in. Tonglen, the practice of giving and taking through breath, is the most counterintuitive meditation in any tradition, and the mos…
A practice for today
When the next difficult feeling arrives, ask yourself: the lesson of Tonglen. The Tibetan practice of breathing in suffering, and breathing out relief, and the wider mind-training that grew around it.
From the Bhagavad Gita
Verse 12.13
अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च। निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी॥
“He who hates no creature, who is friendly and compassionate, free from the sense of "I" and "mine", equal in pain and pleasure, patient — such a person is dear to me.”
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