Sunday 9 October 2011

Post No. 326 - Tonglen

I recently came across a Tibetan Buddhist practice called tonglen - see here (I particularly like Pema Chödrön's comment that this breaks down fear of pain) and here. In essence, with this practice one takes (through a combination of breathing and visualising) into oneself the pain (suffering) of others, and sends them positive energy. As such, it reminds me of a few things. There is a very key second step, which I will get to after I discuss what I have been reminded of.

The first is that advanced yogis apparently are capable of absorbing ... "problems" from others (not just possession/obsession type problems - after all, keep in mind that everything is really just energy, so to be ... say ... jealous, one has to have and use jealousy energy), and then dissolving those problems within their own auras.

The second is using trance mediumship [1] for rescue. This involves letting another spirit take over your body - not a nice, advanced, pleasant guide or inspirational spirit (I won't get into the need to check such spirits for genuineness here, but that really is a very crucial matter, and why you should have a good, experienced teacher), but someone you know will be unpleasant, angry, hurt, someone whose pain you will share. This is the purpose for which I learned trance: it is very tough, but it is a great way to get to know yourself (it is truly amazing to see someone who is manifesting in an angry way calm down when they go into an aura that is clear of anger energies and very well tuned to transmute or clear such anger energies; on the other hand, if they remain angry in your aura, you know you have more personal development work to do :) ), and great way to, in a sort of sense, have more lives, as you really do share some of the significant experiences and energies of the person being rescued (to put my tongue into my cheek I could say,particularly if, like me, you are too much of a stickybeak to be a deep trance medium :) ).

The third is shamanistic healing, where one draws the illness out of the patient. This was one of the earliest forms of spiritual practice I pursued, but it is important to have allies and good techniques to make sure you don't have some of the illness left in you, to make sure that you really do get rid of it all.

The fourth is the push-pull techniques taught by the Order of Scathach (currently in their second lesson), which is an adaptation of the physical martial art "push-pull" (where, to simplify, if your opponent pushes, you pull, or if they pull, you push - thereby using their own effort against them) technique to psychic energies: if your opponent is sending you negative energy, you psychically grab it and pull, then let it pass right through you and into the Earth. The teaching of this technique emphasises the importance of a calm state of mind.

To do these techniques, one has to be EXTREMELY good at self monitoring and self healing. One also has to know oneself, and have "been through the mill" in terms of what one is capable of, and know that EVERYONE is capable of good and bad, no matter how far they have come along the spiritual path [2]. Sure, if you've been evolving spiritually for some time, you will have established good habits of "being good", so to speak, but events can still occur which push you to "your limit". Absorbing something from someone else deliberately, could be exactly such a matter. Being very self disciplined and used to analysing yourself to make sure you have not left something inside you is important - and that is where things like proper meditation and Buddhist mindfulness can come in handy.

The basic idea of tonglen is also useful for this, as focusing on sending out a cure may well trigger exactly such a response within yourself -provide you don't have any self guilt or desire for self punishment within you.

Hmmm ... we're back to the importance of knowing yourself - I might end this post on that point :) Ah - but that second point!

OK, the second point is that, when one finds oneself resisting the exercise of tonglen for others, one then focuses of doing that practice for oneself - take out your weariness, compassion fatigue, etc, and send yourself whatever you need, whether that is appreciation, gratitude, healing, a hug, etc. So ... one also learns to be gentle (compassionate) towards oneself.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear")

Notes:
  1. Wikipedia's definition is here; posts of mine which touch on this are here and here.
  2. I like the North American Indian idea that we have two wolves inside us: one "good", and one "bad". Whichever one is strongest is the one that we feed the most ...

Tags: tonglen, balance, self knowledge, evil, evolution, healing, health, selflessness, selfishness,

First published: Sunnudagr, 9th October, 2011

Last edited: Monday, 3rd November, 2014 (added words about second part of practice) 


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