Even though we ultimately desire to be happy, most of us find ourselves taking in sorrow, pain and tragedy through everything we see, hear and feel both in our own experience and through the media. It’s like we are breathing in suffering and this suffering, both our own and that of others, can sit inside us, weighing us down and dampening our happiness and well-being. There is a Tibetan meditation practice called Tonglen that can allow that suffering to be transformed by the light of our true nature. It combines breath, awareness, imagination, and an energetic transformation process that opens our hearts to reveal and cultivate kindness, love, compassion, and wisdom. Lama Palden advises us to start from the center of ourselves and have the courage to face our own suffering. She says if we don’t allow it to be liberated “then we’re not really going to be able to go the distance with others. Because we are, in some ways, afraid of the suffering and that actually gives it power over us.” She also gives a description of how the practice of Tonglen can be used in our everyday life in an “on-the-spot” meditation and shares stories of her own teachers, Kalu Rinpoche and the 16th Karmapa.
