Transforming Sorrow into Connection

by Vanessa Mortillo

 

“When we come from a place of love, everything shifts for us.”

-Lama Palden Drolma

 

A powerful tool I have turned to when I find myself overwhelmed with the suffering of others is the Buddhist practice of Tonglen, or “sending and receiving.” This practice invites us to take in suffering and pain, and then move it outward into the world as greater compassion and joy. The first part of the practice includes breathing in the suffering. At first glance this sounds counterintuitive, but for many of us, the suffering is already stuck inside. In her book on Tonglen, Love on Every Breath, Lama Palden Drolma states, “many of us take in the suffering, and it simply sits in us, unprocessed, weighing us down.” She details the use of this practice to move the stuckness and hopelessness into greater compassion by turning our kindness outward. The second part of Tonglen, sending peace on the outbreath, invites us to deepen our connectedness to others in the world. This process in itself is healing. When we feel more connected we have access to our internal resources including love, compassion and empowerment. 

 

To get started, Pema Chodron guides us through a short Tonglen practice here. 

What We Sat With This Past Week In The Meditation Classes

by Dean Solon

Pema Chodron:  "Meditation is about seeing clearly the body that we have, the mind that we have, the domestic situation that we have, the job that we have, and the people who are in our lives.  It's about seeing how we react to all these things.  It's seeing our emotions and thoughts just as they are right now, in this very moment, in this very room, on this very seat.  It's about not trying to make them go away, not trying to become better than we are, but just seeing clearly with precision and gentleness."

in this life you have been given this body,
in this life you have been given this mind,
in this life you have been given this heart,
in this life you have been given this experience,
in this life you have been given this path and this possibility,
in this life you have been given this mystery and this surprise.

(with this being easter week, let us add these words):
in this life you have been given this grace,
in this life you have been given this great good fortune.

since you are alive, here is what to do,
                                         here is who to be:
be awake.

since we are alive,
let us be awake.