Guided Meditation: Tonglen for a Broken Self?

Tonglen is a profound yet accessible practice in Tibetan Buddhism—an act of taking in suffering and sending out goodness. In a traditional tonglen session which is done in stages, we begin with ourselves, and progress to a loved one, a neutral person, a difficult person, and finally, all beings. But many people have difficulty in the stage of tonglen for self, just as they do with self-compassion in everyday life. 

In this episode, we break down the architecture of the segment of tonglen for self as we do the traditional sequence, lingering in detail in the stage of holding space for our own struggles without resistance or avoidance (among other things). Why do this? Because meeting our own suffering with openness and steady attention, rather than pushing it away allows us to learn more about suffering, our basic goodness, and compassion. Instead of getting stuck in cycles of self-judgment or repression, we take a direct and honest approach of being intimately present with this moment’s truth about ourselves and everything else. 

This isn’t about self-indulgence or wallowing. It isn’t about spiritual bypassing. It’s about the radical honesty of saying: Yes, this is here. And yes, I can hold it with kindness. And so much more. 

Lama Lekshe unpacks us in a guided meditation and answers a couple of questions. Experience for yourself the power of tonglen to transform the way you meet your own mind with intimacy, integration, and healing through non-conceptual presence and awareness.