Article
[…] say, the path of purification is not easy. It involves experiencing precisely what we have always ignored or suppressed. For instance, the Tibetan practice called tonglen, or “ taking and sending,” extends and deepens our relationship with compassion. In this practice, we imagine taking in the pain, illness, negativity, confusion, and ignorance of others, freeing them from […]
Chapter 7 of “Stand-Alone Talks”
[…] a transition which many people find quite challenging. And I think it’s a transition that a good teacher can be very helpful with, so that whether it’s taking and sending or tonglen or mahamudra or any of these things, you say, “okay, I know this practice, this practice means something to me, now I’m just going […]
Chapter 7 of “Chö: Cutting Through the Thickets of Thinking”
[…] middle of this you go phat! And you’re just there. As you continue to do this, you cultivate compassion very, very intensely, very deeply, whether it’s through taking and sending or whatever, so it’s really, really strong and you go phat! And then you do the same thing with faith, loving-kindness, with everything. [Laughter] Cool. Okay? […]
Chapter 14 of “Mind Training in Seven Points”
[…] going bad in your life, may or may not be about what you’ve done. And the point here is just to open to the experience. Work with taking and sending. And everything that arises, approach it as just experience. And if it’s a pleasant experience, use it to develop loving-kindness and a sense of giving. And […]
Chapter 4 of “Ganges Mahamudra: Tilopa’s Pith Instructions to Naropa”
[…] selective, like, “Okay, this practice works for me, but this one doesn’t, and yet I always thought that was an important practice.” And there’s a whole reorganization taking place. And what’s coming out of that is now practicing not because of anybody else’s agenda, but because you have enough experience at this point to […]
Article
In the initial stages of practice, we are consumed by thoughts. As we continue, we gradually are able to experience thoughts as thoughts, and not be distracted by them. To be a little technical, when the level of energy in the attention is higher than the level of energy in what you are experiencing, […]
Chapter 3 of “The Jewel in the Lotus”
[…] to release naturally. Now, how do you actually do that? I’ll get to in a minute. This came up in the July retreat where we were doing taking and sending. How do you do taking and sending non-conceptually without reference? Well, easiest way is to imagine that you’re dreaming. And when you imagine that you’re dreaming, […]
Chapter 4 of “Chö: Cutting Through Demonic Obsessions”
[…] unfolding or flowering of awareness and understanding and compassion. Well, in chö, the first stage is called arisings. When you start cutting. either through the practice of taking and sending, through the practice of moving into experience using the four spell-breakers that I outlined this afternoon, the first thing you encounter is the resistance of habituated […]
Chapter 5 of “There Is No Enemy”
[…] the five-step practice that I gave you this morning, I think is a very effective way of doing this. There are other practices which could be used, taking and sending, deity practices. If you really have a high level of attention, you can use things like mahamudra and dzogchen, etc. But from a practical point of […]
Chapter 6 of “Chö: Cutting Through the Thickets of Thinking”
[…] chö where you’re using the bell and damaru and all the visualizations where you’re offering. And then there’s a simpler chö which is basically cultivating loving-kindness, compassion—doing taking and sending. Then there’s the unelaborate chö, which is stomping [laughter] … it’s actually rounding up and … [unclear], throwing the obsessions away. [Ken kisses them goodbye] Blasting […]
Chapter 5 of “The Warrior’s Solution”
[…] arise. We have to relate to them, but they don’t have the same kind of solidity that we’ve usually invested. Solidity of pleasure and power we counteract by taking and sending. Student: By what? Ken: Taking and sending. The technique of taking in the suffering of others, and giving to others the pleasure and power and goodness and […]
Chapter 1 of “Buddhahood Without Meditation”
[…] black and blue. The subject matter of this retreat Ken: The subject matter of this retreat isn’t working on that stuff per se. This is not like taking and sending, or the four measurables, or phowa practices, and other retreats that many of you have done with me. We’re not working on that material. But the […]
Chapter 4 of “Being Mahamudra”
[…] want to talk a little bit about that today. Those of you who attended the mind-training retreat last year know about how to work with compassion because taking and sending is a method of transforming emotional energy through compassion into attention. And many of you have studied and practiced loving-kindness, metta practice, and you’re familiar with […]
Chapter 1 of “Karma: Awakening From Belief”
[…] And there are also esoteric methods of developing states of attention, states of energy. But it’s all about developing attention so you can actually experience what is. Taking and sending is another good example. So, tomorrow morning, get up—we’ll keep this simple—practice for at least half an hour, half an hour to an hour depending on […]
Chapter 7 of “A Trackless Path II”
[…] more complete. It is stronger, clearer, whatever I’ve heard people describe. And whether it’s mahamudra, whether it’s dzogchen, whether it is seeing from the inside, whether it’s taking and sending—some of the other forms of practices that we haven’t discussed here, like yidam practice, I would even say Koan practice—this emotional quality, if you keep that […]
