The Practice of Sending and Taking - Tonglen - Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche

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The Practice of Sending and Taking: Tonglen

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

Seventh Slogan: "Sending and taking must be practiced alternately. These two must ride the breath."

Tonglen, simply called "sending and taking," is the first bridge between the practice of absolute Bodhicitta and the practice of relative Bodhicitta. It is the seventh slogan and holds a distinctive place in lojong training because, through tonglen, the meditator can truly see, from the perspective of absolute Bodhicitta, that the fundamental nature of mind is clarity and emptiness, indivisible in nature.

This is the foundation from which one can truly begin to dismantle attachment and clinging. Tonglen is simply being able to bring forth in the heart and mind the desire for happiness and the desire for freedom from suffering, which all sentient beings experience.

And that is why, with each breath, we train the mind to truly feel the equality between oneself and others.

Citation

Khandro Rinpoche. "The Practice of Sending and Taking: Tonglen." Produced Aug 14, 2021. Video, 10:14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JeHcwVDdn0.

Interconnections

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Gtong len - A contemplative practice, particularly in the Tibetan tradition, where one visualizes taking on the suffering and negative actions of others and giving them one's own happiness, well-being, and merit. It is performed to enhance compassion (karuṇā) and develop the ultimate aspiration of bodhicitta. Tib གཏོང་ལེན་  

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Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

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Gtong len - A contemplative practice, particularly in the Tibetan tradition, where one visualizes taking on the suffering and negative actions of others and giving them one's own happiness, well-being, and merit. It is performed to enhance compassion (karuṇā) and develop the ultimate aspiration of bodhicitta. Tib གཏོང་ལེན་  

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Śūnyatā - The state of being empty of an innate nature due to a lack of independently existing characteristics. Skt शून्यता  Tib སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་  Ch 空;空門  

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