Mindful Happiness

Anthony Quintiliani, Ph.D, LADC

  • Home
  • Dr. Anthony Quintiliani
    • About
  • Mindful Happiness
  • Mindful Expressions Meditation CD
  • Contact

August 18, 2015 By Admin

Tonglen Ultimate Compassion Meditation

Tonglen Meditation or Giving and Taking

MindfulHappiness-Tonglen

I have added various posts about many compassion practice.  Earlier posts have covered a range of practices – from super-easy to more demanding. Here, I will add a more advanced practice.  This Tibetan compassion meditation practice has been taught often in the Vajrayana school of Buddhism.  In my opinion meditation teacher, Pema Chodron, is perhaps the most gifted trainer in this particular form of compassion practice.  Tonglen, or giving and taking, is a more serious practice and one that sometimes requires more courage than other compassion practices.  Tonglen  emphasizes core Bodhisattva skills and practices; some of its foundations come from the 11th century Indian Master, Atisha.

When I do Tonglen, I like to begin with a ceremony that places my heart and soul in their most sensitive places.  I do the nine bells ceremony (also posted here), in which I ring three Tibetan singing bowls three times each followed by three deep bows with hands in prayer mudra. I do this with deep respect for people in my family who have passed away.  I repeat this ceremony three times.  I do this ceremony slowly. I also like to pay attention to a poem I have written about the dead.  The poem requests that YOU remember the face, smile, eyes, voice, favorite behaviors, and emotional connection between YOU and a significant person who has passed.   I sometimes do loving kindness for myself and others before Tonglen practice. I find that such practices soften us up a bit; these practices place us in a better emotional position to do Tonglen. Are you ready to practice? My instructions are bare bones in detail. Note that preliminaries were based on the dead, but that Tonglen practice is based on people who are suffering right now – people known and unknown to you.  Ultimately, the practice forces us into an insight of non-self-cherishing and giving great compassion and comfort to others. There are many choiceness realties in concentrating, accepting, exchanging and transforming the suffering of others.

  1. First, we become aware of our breath. Begin by using your imagination as if breathing IN dark, heavy, thick, hot, smoky breath and breathing OUT light, floating, smooth, cool, clear breath.  Practice this for a few very slow breaths.
  2. Then focus your attention and empathy on known and unknown people who you know are suffering right now in this present moment.  Be specific in each breathing sequences – a few minutes each. You may wish to begin with a person close to you, a person who is now suffering.  After practicing a while with a person you are close to, you may want to turn your accepting (taking and giving) to other people, perhaps even people you do not know but understand are suffering right now.
  3. Here you practice radically accepting another person’s suffering and pain as your own, and not defending into avoidance or suppression. The practice enhances the belief that we are all inter-dependent, not separate selves of independent origination.
  4. Add more detail to your imagination by having a strong focus on what their suffering FEELS like.  Do not block it. Continue to take it in on your in-breaths. Yes, you are willingly taking in the painful suffering of others. On your out-breaths, do your best to PUSH OUT compassion, feelings of love and caring, your compassionate intelligence, and soft heartedness to the same people.  Allow your soft, caring, loving human heart to do the work.  Taking in pain and suffering, and giving out compassion, caring, concern and love. You may even decide to send out some of your personal joy and happiness.
  5. As a more intensive practice, you may wish to do what Chogyam Trungpa suggested – along with breathing in and out, imagine taking and giving  using every pore in your body. This more intense body practice may be beyond your capacity if you are new to Tonglen.
  6. If at any time you find this practice too strong emotionally for you, it is quite acceptable to stop doing it. Simply shift to loving kindness, etc.
  7. End with a brief loving kindness meditation for yourself.

By Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, VermontChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness  

CLICK HERE  or any image blow to Order 

Mindful Happiness cover designs.indd

MindfulHappiness_Amazon           mindful-happiness_barnes_and_noble

Filed Under: Activities, Featured, Meditation Activities, Mindful Awareness, Tonglen Tagged With: ANTHONY QUINTILIANI, MEDITATION, MEDITATION ACTIVITIES, TONGLEN, ULTIMATE MEDITATION

Twitter

Mindful Happiness -Currently in Production

Mindful Happiness Posts

Mindful Ways to  Help a person Change Unhelpful Behaviors Brought to you by The Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont Although behavior therapy and contingency management remain the most effective means to initiate changes in unhelpful behaviors, more generic approaches offer some promise.  See the steps noted below to change an […]

Stress in America – 2019 Every year the American Psychological Association ( November, 2019) conducts an extensive survey to determine the levels of stress in America. The data below does NOT include children; therefore, the already high numbers would be much higher. Here are some highlights. Stress levels are quite high but stable. Increased concerns […]

Practicing Interoceptive Meditations Anthony R. Quintiliani, Ph.D., LADC The mindfulness-based process and intervention of interoception (also called neuroception) has slowly moved from meditation practice into clinical practice, now being part of the recommended MBSR, ACT, and more current CBT-based therapies. The three brief meditations below are presented to expand the use of interoceptive processes in […]

Effective Clinical Supervision Perhaps other than the mental health status of the therapist and her/his ethical clinical skills, there is no more important variable in successful clinical work than effective CLINICAL supervision.  I emphasize “clinical’ because in today’s bureaucratic systems, so much supervision tends to be about required procedures like utilization level, reporting requirements, and documentation for services […]

Advanced Buddhist Practices Abiding in Emptiness The various impediments (enemies) to abiding in emptiness are noted below. We have strong attachment to objects of mind and our sense door pleasures. We experience strong desire and cravings as our norms. We over-attach to forms of affection. We may become stuck in grief related to our experienced […]

“The Other Shore” to Happiness and Enlightenment Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, The Other Shore: A New Translation of The Heart Sutra…Berkeley, CA: Palm Leaves Press brings us on an inner journey toward a happier, more peaceful and enlightened life. Wisdom implies that we understand that life is made up of mental formations, no-self (more clarifications later), […]

Relapse Prevention Plans – The Basics T. T. Gorski, Anthony R. Quintiliani, Ph.D., LADC The following information about how to develop effective relapse prevention plans has been paraphrased from the Work of Terrence T. Gorski.  It is highly practical and a concrete way to develop your skills in relapse prevention interventions. Intermediate (Marlatt and Gordon) […]

Henry David Thoreau  & Walking Meditation Henry David Thoreau is, perhaps, the most individualistic of the American Transcendentalists. He asked us to consider what we have learned that is useful as we travel our own “stream of life.” He cautions us not to regret when we die that we “had not lived.” He advised us to […]

Expanded Lectio Divina for Self-Development In this post I will provide an expanded version of this process by combining information from Origen,  the Carthusian  Monk  Guigo II,   and  Augustine of Hippo.   The presented process of 12 steps may be used  to enhance internalization of sacred writing and/or to support internal healing of the participants. […]

Mindful Observation  Through Mindful Breathing The following guided meditation is a combination meditation from Asanga’s Grounds of Hearers, Jam-Yang-Shay-Pa’s concentration meditation on the breath, and the Anapanasati Sutta. These guided meditation instructions have been simplified and combined for contemporary use by lay meditators. Observation of Observation – Mindfulness in Breathing Contemplate breathing in and out with complete […]

Mindful Happiness – Brain on Meditation Reports from various MRI and self-report measure studies support the proposition that your brain changes (neuronal plasticity) when you practice meditation on a regular (daily) basis.   The same is likely true when you practice yoga on a regular basis. Here are some noted changes in brain functioning that […]

My third posting on self-medication- Comes from the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont. Now we will turn our attention to how people become habituated to self-medication to obtain brief moments of joy and/or to avoid emotional suffering.  Recall that self-medication becomes a habit (dopamine released in reward centers of the […]

I Have Questions Our spiritual traditions have many sources of powerful spiritual origination: Shiva, Buddha, Jesus, Saint Francis to note just a few.  The Roman thinker Seneca noted that our most feared day is our last on earth, but this is also the beginning of our eternity.  As a practicing Buddhist, a secular meditation teacher, […]

The Principles of Nature and Natural Healing This is an advanced post on Eastern views of healing. From ancient shamanic traditions all the way to today’s AMA approved procedures in energy medicine, healers have been trying to discover and integrate the foundations of nature into healing. This reality exists from shamanic rituals all the way […]

Expanded Information about Your Compassion Practices and Benefits Compassion Practice Tips and Exercises The Buddha noted that one should not dwell on the past, become too attached to future outcomes, but instead concentrate our mind only on the present moment of our experiences.  The Dalai Lama noted that compassion is a necessary condition for inner […]

Money and Electronic “Friends” Are They Real ? The Sutta Nipata  (4.15, Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu) noted “Seeing people floundering like fish in small puddles, competing with one another…fear came into me. The world was entirely without substance….Wanting a haven for myself, I saw nothing that wasn’t laid claim to.  Seeing nothing in the end but […]

The Heart Sutra – Thich Nhat Hanh “Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha.” This ultimate mantra is one of the most important in Buddhism. Thich Nhat Hanh’s new translation of The Heart Sutra offers a great deal of enlightened, sometimes more advanced, information and process. Avalokitesvara and other great Bodhisattvas present important views of this […]

  The Tao of Nature I have two interesting stories about nesting robins.  These stories tell of the bonds of birds and their young, and how intelligent these birds can be. The first story happened to me abut 15 years ago. The second story happened today, July 27, 2017. Story 1 I was working in […]

Brain Habits –  Helpful Vs Unhelpful Nora Volkow, MD, Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse ( video below)  has noted that people suffering from addictions may experience some dysfunction in in brain areas related to personal motivation, reward recognition, and inhibitory controls.  Neuroscientists have utilized various brain imaging techniques to document this possibility in addicted individuals.  These […]

Showing Deep Love & Respect Loved Ones Lost This is a very brief post about love and respect for “lost loved ones” – those special people who have left their human body and mind behind. Two Rituals 1) Loving Kindness Meditation for Lost Loved Ones After breathing slowly and deeply for a few minutes in silence, […]

Mindful Happiness Tags

SELF MBSR ACTIVITIES TRAINING BREATHING JOURNALING SELF CARE MINDFULNESS TRAINING VERMONT ELEANOR R LIEBMAN CENTER THICH NHAT HANH DR ANTHONY QUINTILIANI MINDFULNESS WALKING MEDITATION PSYCHOTHERAPY SUFFERING ACTIVITY MEDITATION COVID-19 EMPTINESS COMPASSION MINDFUL HAPPINESS CONSCIOUSNESS WISE MIND MINDFUL TRAINING ADDICTION PRACTICES TRAUMA SELF ESTEEM HAPPINESS ENLIGHTENMENT MINDFUL BRAIN THERAPY. MINDFUL MEDITATION MEDITATION PRACTICE VIPASSANA SELF MEDICATION BUDDHISM VIPASSANA MEDITATION SELF COMPASSION ANTHONY QUINTILIANI CLINICAL SUPERVISION PRACTICE EXERCISES

Mindful Categories

Mindful Happiness Pages

  • About
  • Contact
  • Dr. Anthony Quintiliani
  • Mindful Expressions Meditation CD
  • Mindful Happiness
  • Site Map

Copyright © 2023 · Mindful Happiness