Tonglen

Tonglen (wyl. gtong len) The practice of "giving" (tong) and "receiving" (len), it is part of the instruction on 'mind training' (tib. lojong) brought to Tibet by Lord Atisha, as such it belongs to the teachings on relative bodhichitta and it appears in many Indian and Tibetan sources like the Bodhicharyavatara, the Kunzang Lama’i Shyalung, the Seven Points of Mind Training, the Eight Verses of Training the Mind, the Thirty-Seven Practices of the Bodhisattvas, the Lam Rim and in Longchenpa’s Mind in Comfort and Ease. There are also special instructions which have been passed down in the oral tradition.

Put very simply, the Tonglen practice of giving and receiving is to take on the suffering and pain of others, and give them your happiness, well-being, and peace of mind. Tonglen uses the medium of the breath. As Geshe Chekhawa wrote: “Giving and receiving should be practiced alternately. This alternation should be placed on the medium of the breath.”

His Holiness the Dalai Lama says :

To be able actually to transfer one's happiness to others and directly take their sufferings upon oneself is something only possible on a very, very few occasions; it occurs when oneself and another individual have a very special type of relationship based on karmic affinity stemming, perhaps from a previous life. Then why does one cultivate this attitude? Because it leads to attaining great strength of character, courage and enthusiasm; and improves one's own practice of developing bodhichitta

Sogyal Rinpoche says:

Of all the practices I know, the practice of Tonglen is one of the most useful and powerful. No other practice I know is as effective in destroying the self-grasping, self-cherishing, self-absorption of the ego, which is the root of all our suffering and the root of all hard-heartedness.

How do I do the practice?

For a complete introduction in the practice of tonglen please refer to the 12th chapter of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (Sogyal Rinpoche, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1992)