Tonglen

Tonglen (Tibetan: གཏོང་ལེན་, Wylie: gtong len, or tonglin) is Tibetan for 'giving and taking' (or sending and receiving), and refers to a meditation practice found in Tibetan Buddhism.

In the practice, one visualizes taking in the suffering of oneself and of others on the in-breath, and on the out-breath giving recognition, compassion, and succor to all sentient beings. As such it is a training in altruism.

The function of the practice is to:

The practice of Tonglen involves all of the Six Perfections; giving, ethics, patience, joyous effort, concentration and wisdom. These are the practices of a Bodhisattva.

The Dalai Lama, who is said to practise Tonglen every day, has said of the technique:

"Whether this meditation really helps others or not, it gives me peace of mind. Then I can be more effective, and the benefit is immense."

The Dalai Lama offers a translation of the Eight Verses in his book The Path To Tranquility: Daily Meditations.

Pema Chödrön gives tonglen instruction in as follows:

"On the in-breath, you breathe in whatever particular area, group of people, country, or even one particular person... maybe it’s not this more global situation, maybe it’s breathing in the physical discomfort and mental anguish of chemotherapy; of all the people who are undergoing chemotherapy. And if you’ve undergone chemotherapy and come out the other side, it’s very real to you. Or maybe it’s the pain of those who have lost loved ones; suddenly, or recently, unexpectedly or over a long period of time, some dying. But the in-breath is... you find some place on the planet in your personal life or something you know about, and you breathe in with the wish that those human beings or those mistreated animals or whoever it is, that they could be free of that suffering, and you breathe in with the longing to remove their suffering.

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Wikipedia