Pema Chodron: How To Do Tonglen, A Meditation Practice For Difficult Times

I grew up knowing Pema Chodron (the second most popular Buddhist in America, after that Dalai Lama guy). Or, rather, she knew me (I was just a little kid running around not paying attention to anything). My first memory of her is at Whittier Elementary in Boulder, Colorado, where I attended kindergarten. She and my momma were, and are friends.

As I grew up, I got to know her a little (doing service shifts at her cabin at Shambhala Mountain in 1992, where she helped Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche teach his first Seminary) and was always struck at how strong and powerful this kindly, small woman was--what a leader.

Everyone knows she's sweet (that voice!). But seeing her on Bill Moyers, not even nervous or blinking, then doing the same thing with Oprah--well I realized again and again that this woman knows exactly who she is, and what is what.

These days, I still know her a little bit, though I only rarely see her (recently saw her a little at the Karmapa's first visit to America).

Here (below) she talks about tonglen practice, one of the fundamental meditation practices of Buddhism as taught by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. It's great for doing if a loved one is dying, or your mind is in particular tumult...you can learn how to do it from her books or at your local Shambhala Center, it's easy to learn and actually very practical, powerful and easy to do. Video (or, click here to check out her and Oprah's conversation).

It's good to set the stage by meditating (click here for Trungpa's classic instruction) for a few minutes before, and after, your tonglen practice--so that you don't hold onto the black/hot/heavy inbreath or the white/cool/bright inbreath (you'll know what I mean when you watch the below videos).

It's great to see a younger Pema surrounded by the traditional Shambhala Buddhist/Eastern Tiger, Lion, Garuda and Dragon banners in the below videos:

Bonus: Gampo Abbey video.

 

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Comments

[Nalanda Nick]

01:48 PM on 09/10/2009

Yay!
Pema!
Nice article, Way.
Here's one on her recent wonderful teachings hosted by Nalanda West (www.nalandawest.org) in Seattle:

http://news.northwestdharma.org/09JulAugIssue/sangha_patience.php

Peace.

[khanti]

11:27 PM on 09/07/2009

I just read through the desciption of Tonglen. It is the practice of the 6 paramitas from the Mahayana Tripitaka. In the Theravada Tripitaka it is the 10 paramitas. To meditate on the paramitas is the practice of selflessness or egoless by sacrfying the self to help others. The culmination of such practice is to perform it physically. One example is Mother Theresa. In her you can find Dana(generosity scarify oneself for others); Viriya(boundless energy to do good) ; Karuna(compassion); Adhithana(determination); Sacca(truth, sincerity), Nekkhamma(renunciation she renounce the worldly life to dedicate the rest of her life to help the less fortunate albeit in the name of God ); Sila(morality); Khanti(patience);
Those who criticize her cannot even come close to anyone of her qualities.
When you practice the Ten Perfections all these positive traits will be with you on your future births. These will be your armor of protection.
I don’t expect many people to understand or practice this form of meditation among the Huffpo readers here Mr.Waylon. Nevertheless it is good as a reference. You need to have former birth merits/cultivation to have affinity for such practice. That is why Buddhist to not convert people to Buddhism. It is always good to start somewhere, perhaps start by encouraging people to practice compassion. The good seeds of what you sow will take effect in the future when the World experience less wars and conflicts.

[Angie Cordeiro]

06:16 PM on 09/07/2009

"Start Where You Are" was my campaign this summer.

Wonderful post, please keep writing!

[Jain]

03:13 PM on 09/07/2009

"When Things Fall Apart" (1997) Pema Chodron

Excellent book.

[Cautious]

01:15 PM on 09/07/2009

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonglen

[Cautious]

12:36 PM on 09/07/2009

Just some thoughts-

It would be nice for you to post some text about tonglen instead of just videos. Some explanatory material might have been helpful too.

I'm a little dismayed by the strong association of these practices with certain personalities. Yes, Trungpa and Ani Pema are important teachers, but tonglen has been around for centuries, long before them. I suggest that those without immediate video capacity on their computers look up text explanations not associated with any particular personality or organization.

That said, the practice of tonglen is not a bad idea in these times.