My Experiences of the Tong Len Practice

I practice Tong Len for around 5 minutes per day as part of a longer
45 – 50 minute practice. This longer practice involves setting up a
shrine, making offerings, setting motivation, prayers,
visualisations, mantras, analytical meditation, dedication, and long
life prayers.

I practice the Tong Len in its generic form most of the time, but
lately I have become more aware of the suffering I see around me.
This is where I work, see in town, what I read in the newspaper and
see on the television. So I may include people, mainly young, with
drug, alcohol, mental health problems, squalor, lack of direction,
unexpected pregnancy, and the impression of general suffering.
However, I also see peoples' lives turning round for the better so
that is included as well.

I visualise being surrounded by sentient beings in human form, as far
as I can imagine. The scene is usually at night but with a faint glow
coming from somewhere. The suffering arises as a black cloud which I
breathe in. At my heart, this blackness dissolves into white light
which I breathe out, and through the pores. This is sometimes
called `placing the two astride the breath'. All the beings absorb
this white light, either by breathing it in or through their skin
pores.

As the visualisation stabilises I imagine that all physical and
mental suffering gradually dissolves and a clearer, more joyful state
of mind arises in everyone. As the practice progresses, more subtle
states of clarity arise until all that remains is a last tiny speck,
like a tiny strand caught in a film projector. So minor irritations
are all that are left, until they dissolve.

Then, as everyone (including oneself) gets bathed in this white
light, a natural state of clarity, simplicity, and joy arises. I have
the confidence to create this light, to feel strong and empowered to
deal with suffering when I see it arise. It also works outside of
formal practice in everyday life.

So the Tong Len ends with this light which exists everywhere, and has
within it compassion, love, and a profound wisdom ~ Bodhicitta. It
becomes the standpoint from which all beings are perceived, and where
their capacity for Bodhicitta is awakened, creating a subtle state of
bliss.

I then visualise the four armed Avolokiteshvara above everyone and
slowly recite 21 Om Mani Peme Hungs. After this, I dissolve the
visualisation, and begin a more in depth meditation for around 25
minutes, or may extend the Tong Len into this time.

I then end the meditation with a Medicine Buddha visualisation,
mantra recitation, dedication, and long life prayers.

I have used the following sources:-

Geshe Rabten and Geshe Dhargyey, Advice from a Spiritual Friend, pp
56 to 61, Wisdom Publications, London, 1986.

Geshe Tashi Tsering, The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Part 4 The
Mind of Enlightenment (Bodhicitta), Chapter 5. Jamyang Buddhist
Centre, London 2002.

Geshe Tsultrim Gyeltsen, Keys to Great Enlightenment, pp 153 to 160,
Thubten Dhargye Ling Publications, Los Angeles, USA, 1989.

Pabongka Rinpoche, Liberation In the Palm of Your Hand, pp 598 to
602, and pp 608 to 611. Wisdom Publications, Boston, Massachusetts,
USA, 1993.