Essences, Intention, and the Buddhist Practice of Tonglen
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As an armchair Buddhist, and not an especially diligent one at that, I nonetheless grow increasingly dependent on the Tibetan Buddhist practice called Tonglen. When I am inundated by my own emotions -- or am psychically absorbing the emotions of others -- it calms and clears my mind. I have recently come to see that it can also enhance essence work, for it operates through Intention, as do many of the practices we are discussing in this special issue. When you take an essence or a mixture of essences with the conscious intention of changing an undesirable pattern or emotional state, the healing is better, stronger, and more clearly focused.
In Buddhist meditative practice, you do not judge your emotional state or struggle to rid
yourself of it, you just notice that you are in it, accept that you are feeling it for now,
and have compassion for yourself. As you do so, it passes more quickly and moves into a new,
more peaceful state. Tonglen is a powerful tool for achieving just that. How Tonglen works
is that you take a slow, deep in-breath, visualizing that you are breathing in
the undesirable emotion or state of mind, and then you slowly release that breath,
knowing that you are sending out the opposite, desired state of mind.
For instance,
when you are feeling fear, you inhale that emotion as deeply as possible, then exhale
courage. If you feel judgmental, the opposite would be acceptance or compassion.
If you were plagued by self-doubt, you would replace it with confidence. If you are troubled
by worry for others, replace it with trust in their ability to care for themselves.
And so on. The slow, deep breathing puts you in a meditative state where you are
connected with the Divine, however you conceptualize it.
At first, breathing in the very emotion I so desperately longed to be free of seemed strange and even scary. It struck me as counter-intuitive -- for instance, shouldn't I be inhaling peace in order to rid myself of turmoil? Wouldn't it increase the turmoil to breathe it in? And if I exhaled the state I wanted to achieve, wouldn't it be gone? However, I had come to trust my favorite American Tibetan Buddhist author, Pema Chodrun, so I read about it in each of her books and found a CD-ROM by her about the practice. I did what she said, and I found that within minutes, if I were sincerely willing to let go of the uncomfortable state I was immersed in, Tonglen would calm me and free me of that state. Try it if you don't believe me! You don't need to be a Buddhist to do Tonglen -- anyone can avail themselves of the comfort and peace of mind it provides.
For a long time, I didn't remember to do this practice until I was not only in a stew but
had stewed long enough to be heartily sick of it. Over time, I have come to rely on
Tonglen and to love it. And I came to see that it could help a great deal with what
I call my Prayer Projects and with my essence work. As I progressed in Buddhist studies,
it seemed that one long-standing issue after another presented itself to be healed,
in fairly urgent form. I seemed to have less and less tolerance for negative patterns
that were old-shoe familiar throughout my life, and were -- stubbornly, even a tad proudly -- part of who I believed myself to be.
As those patterns arose, one by one, and became intolerable, I would design a Prayer
Project. I would create a simple prayer -- maybe a one-liner -- that I prayed urgently
and devoutly for weeks or months at a time. For example, when being judgmental
finally became unacceptable to me, my prayer consisted of the following:
"Let me not find fault with anyone or pass judgement on anyone or anything.
I MEAN IT, LORD!" Talk about Intention -- I MEAN IT, LORD, is an indication
that you are putting your total being behind that intention.
You might not want to add it unless you are dead serious about releasing
the pattern, for it super-sizes the effectiveness of the prayer. With almost dizzying
speed, it magnetizes events and interactions that catalyze the healing.
Naturally, as I worked with the Prayer Project, I would mix myself flower essences that related to the state of being or issue that I was targeting. For instance, when working with the issue of judgmentality, I chose Beech (for those who are excessively critical of themselves and others) and Rock Water, for those with impossibly high standards. Between the prayer and the essence mixture, that was some catharsis!! It seemed to magnify my perceptions of the unethical, even reprehensible conduct that was everywhere around me -- on the nightly news, among my professional colleagues, and certainly among my neighbors. The more uncomfortable I was with their behavior, the more conscious I became of my own flaws and shortcomings.
I kept praying, kept taking essences, and kept noticing my own state. And, yes, when it all became too unsettling, I did Tonglen about it. I would breathe in judgement and breathe out compassion. I would breathe in intolerance and breathe out acceptance. And it did get better, probably better than it ever has been in my life, though I am now keenly more aware of when I am being judgmental and how it separates me from others. That, however, is a good thing, for now I realize that it is me that needs healing and forgiveness.
Later, I realized that if I had consciously yoked the prayer, Tonglen, and the essences together, rather than doing so haphazardly, the healing of my judgmentality would have been smoother, faster, and more effective. So now when I am doing a Prayer Project, I say my current prayer, take a dose of the essences, and then work on the issue with Tonglen, all with the Intention to shift the pattern I am working on. You might try it.
As I said, you don't have to become a Buddhist to benefit from the age-old practice
of Tonglen. However, consciously remembering that there are people all around
the world doing this practice on a daily basis can enhance your work.
Another thing that
makes the work more powerful is to move to the final stage of Tonglen, which is to
practice it not only for yourself, but also on behalf of others everywhere who are struggling
with the same issues you are. Breathe in your state and breathe out the opposite for five, ten minutes, and then add the following: "Let me also dedicate this practice to all the people in the world who are feeling the same way I am. Let them also be free from this emotion." This part of the practice seems to soften the heart and help you know that you are not alone.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ivory Phoenix is the nom de plume of someone who for the past
twenty years has been a devout user of vibrational healing tools like flower remedies,
homeopathy, Reiki, and light work, and who, despite all that, has yet to reach
perfection. Go figure.
This page is a creation of Donna Cunningham's Word
of Mouth Web Design, a service that focuses on designing beautiful and unique sites to showcase the work of
lightworkers, artists, astrologers, and other practitioners of the healing arts. Graphic images
from Clipart.com.
The World Wide Essence Society does not mean to imply any recommendation of nor give certification to any individuals or companies above. This article is provided purely for informational purposes. We ask consumers to make their own determination as to quality of the services and products offered above. This article is not meant to be advice, and the information is not meant to replace medical or psychological treatment.
In Buddhist meditative practice, you do not judge your emotional state or struggle to rid
yourself of it, you just notice that you are in it, accept that you are feeling it for now,
and have compassion for yourself. As you do so, it passes more quickly and moves into a new,
more peaceful state. Tonglen is a powerful tool for achieving just that. How Tonglen works
is that you take a slow, deep in-breath, visualizing that you are breathing in
the undesirable emotion or state of mind, and then you slowly release that breath,
knowing that you are sending out the opposite, desired state of mind.
