What is Tonglen?
Tonglen (Tibetan: gtong len, “giving and taking,” often pronounced “TONG-len”) is a Tibetan Buddhist meditation practice in which the practitioner mentally takes in the suffering of others on the in-breath and sends out happiness, ease, or well-being on the out-breath. Anyone asking “what is tonglen” or about the tonglen meaning should know that it is a bodhicitta practice. It belongs to the Mahayana aim of cultivating the wish to awaken for the benefit of all beings. It is also a method of mind training (lojong) that works directly against self-cherishing, the habit of putting one’s own comfort first.
Tonglen is imaginative and contemplative. It is not a ritual healing technique, and it does not claim to move suffering from one person to another in a physical sense.
Origins & lineage
The conceptual roots are in Indian Mahayana Buddhism. The eighth-century monk Shantideva, in the Bodhicaryavatara (“Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life”), teaches “equalizing and exchanging self and other” in his eighth chapter. This is the doctrinal basis for tonglen.
The Bengali master Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana (982–1054) received the mind-training lineage from the Sumatran teacher Serlingpa (Dharmakirti). Atisha traveled to Tibet in 1042 and taught there until his death in 1054. His Tibetan students founded the Kadam school. One of them, Dromtonpa, carried the teachings on.
The practice was set out in a form close to the modern one by Geshe Chekawa Yeshe Dorje (1101–1175). He compiled the Seven Points of Mind Training (Lojong Don Dun), partly drawing on the verses of Langri Tangpa (1054–1123), whose Eight Verses of Training the Mind express the same attitude. In the Seven Points, the slogan “Sending and taking should be practiced alternately; put them astride the breath” is the classic instruction for tonglen.
The Kadam teachings were absorbed by the later Tibetan schools, including Gelug, Kagyu, and Sakya, and tonglen is now taught across them.
How it’s practiced
Traditional instruction usually begins with a short period of settling the mind. The practitioner then brings to mind a person or group who is suffering, and may start with oneself or a loved one. On the in-breath they imagine drawing in that suffering, often visualized as heavy, hot, dark smoke. On the out-breath they imagine sending out coolness, light, and whatever the person needs. The two movements are synchronized with the breath.
Advanced stages extend the practice from one person to all beings, and then to difficult people and to one’s own mental states. In some presentations, tonglen is combined with a view of emptiness. It can feel uncomfortable, and teachers say that this discomfort is part of the practice rather than a sign of failure.
Tonglen today
Tonglen reached a broad Western audience in the late twentieth century. Chögyam Trungpa taught the practice within the Kagyu and Shambhala communities. His student Pema Chödrön made it widely known through books such as Start Where You Are (1994) and Tonglen: The Path of Transformation. Sogyal Rinpoche presented a version for the dying and their caregivers in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (1992). The 14th Dalai Lama has taught it often and describes it as a way to counter self-centeredness.
Seekers now meet tonglen at Buddhist centers, meditation retreats, hospice and caregiver training, recorded guided meditations, and online courses. Adapted forms sometimes appear in secular compassion programs. Those versions generally leave out the Mahayana framework.
Common misconceptions
- It does not literally absorb others’ illness. Traditional teachers describe it as a mental training. It is not a way to heal people or to take their suffering onto oneself, and it does not replace medical care.
- It is not self-sacrifice or martyrdom. The aim is to loosen self-clinging and to widen compassion, not to ignore one’s own wellbeing.
- It is not the same as loving-kindness (metta). Metta mainly sends good wishes. Tonglen deliberately turns toward pain as well.
- It is not always easy or suitable. Some teachers advise beginners, and anyone dealing with trauma or acute distress, to work gently or with guidance, or to begin with a simpler practice.
- Debate exists over secular adaptation. Some practitioners see removing the bodhicitta context as a loss. Others see it as a legitimate adaptation, since the core instruction is simple.
How to begin
For tonglen for beginners, a reasonable starting point is Pema Chödrön’s Start Where You Are or her teaching recordings on tonglen. Another is the tonglen chapter of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. A short daily period of mindfulness-of-breathing practice is a useful foundation. Many people then join a class or retreat at a Tibetan Buddhist center, where a qualified teacher can give an oral transmission and answer questions. Begin with a brief session, perhaps five to ten minutes, and focus on one person.