Sacred Practices: Part 2 - The Magic of Tonglen

In this second post about Sacred Practices I'm going to tell you about the very special Tibetan Buddhist practice of Tonglen, how it has enhanced my life and what it can do for you, if it is a technique that you are not already using in your life :-) 

Tonglen is described in 'The Tibetan Book of Living & Dying' as one of the most useful and powerful practices a person can do. This has become my opinion of it as well after experiencing its effects. In Tibetan the word 'Tonglen' means 'giving and receiving' and this is exactly what happens in the energy exchange that occurs in this simple practice that anyone can do. 

The practice of Tonglen became widely popularised in Tibet by the great master Geshe Chekhawa. One day Geshe Chekhawa came across a written teaching which intrigued him and led him on his path to discovering Tonglen. The teaching was this:

"Give all profit and gain to others,

Take all loss and defeat on yourself"

After reading these words, Geshe Chekhawa set out to find the master who had written those words, but was then informed that this master had passed away. Eventually though, he found the dead master's disciple, who informed him that whether he liked it or not he would have to practise this teaching if he wished to attain Buddhahood. This is a similar concept to the Indian teachings on Karma Yoga, such as taught by Vivekananda, which state that the ultimate ideal which brings about liberation for a karma yogi is the willingness to give up one's life for another. 

The disciple whom Geshe Chekhawa had found, then instructed him in the art of Tonglen, a practice that is a practical application of this teaching. The story continues that the practice proved so powerful that many lepers who applied this spiritual technique to their daily life became cured and Geshe Chekhawa's own brother underwent a character transformation to that of a  spiritually compassionate man through the practice of Tonglen. 

In order to practise Tonglen, it is recommended that a person develops their capacity for compassion and empathy first, for feeling what another individual must be going through, and there are exercises recommended for this purpose within The Tibetan Book of Living & Dying. Then when a person feels their heart is open enough, they can do the practice of Tonglen. It is very simple. The gist of it is to inhale and as you do so, to imagine drawing in dark smoke or energy with the breath, which can be the stagnated energy of your own mind and body, or of another person who needs help, or a specific place or area. Then as you exhale, to imagine sending out light, to the person or area, or to your own being. I like to imagine that I have an alchemical fire burning inside me and that when I breathe in the heavier and darker energy, it gets sucked into the fire and transmuted into divine sparks of light that then get sent out of me with the exhale. 

The first time I ever tried this practice, I was scared of doing it, because I thought I had enough to deal with, with my own issues and especially as a sensitive person the thought of taking on even more 'stuff' from other people seemed overwhelming - I was working in student support services and having many people 'offload' their problems on to me each day.

However, it turned out to be one of the most empowering things I've ever done. I first tried it in a group meditation experience, where I felt a little disturbed by the group energy, but then it occurred to me, that instead of being bothered by the group dynamics, I could quietly practise this breathing technique and offer it as a silent gift to the group, breathing in the burdens of others and offering them back love, compassion and light. It was amazing! It completely transformed the energy of the room and I felt to be in a deep state of samadhi which stayed with me throughout my afternoon at work and it seemed that this profound sense of peace subsequently got passed on to others who came near me. It remains one of my deepest spiritual experiences. 

More recently I have used this technique in situations where I have encountered anger, sometimes directly aimed at me, other times where it has been an undercurrent amongst people. Each time I have done this, a shift has been felt in my energy and the energy of the room as well as how I perceive things. It provides the opportunity to lose fear of others' reactions and also gift others with unconditional presence and compassion. Of course, where possible we should seek to understand and work through our own emotions and help others to do the same, but in situations when that is not possible, then this is something we can do to help. It is a great way of stepping outside of the narrow perspective of our limited personalities and to take on a higher universal view of empathy and pure love. 

Tonglen is an empowering and highly transformative spiritual practice that anyone can have in their spiritual and energy work tool kits that can be of huge benefit to the world. If we can help by taking on others' anger, fear and lower vibration feelings and transform them, then we are serving to clear the collective consciousness and shifting global energy, whilst stepping into our power as higher level beings and oxygenating our lungs and cells at the same time! Whatever we can do to help ourselves and others has to be a good thing! Tonglen provides us with a simple way to transmute energy and act as spiritual alchemists within our daily lives. Remembering this practice when we are feeling challenged can help us to become a master rather than a victim of circumstances.

Sacred Practices: Part 1 - The Miracle of Bound Lotus

[Picture - lowering myself into Bound Lotus]

I wanted to share some of the sacred practices that I have found to be the most profound, ones that I keep coming back to on a regular basis and that enhance and 'up' my meditation practice and spiritual connection. In the first and second posts I'll be looking at and de-mystifying the practices of Bound Lotus & Tonglen, both of which are incredibly powerful, but which may at first seem scary or 'out of reach' to those who have not tried them before. In writing this I hope to inspire people that these practices are accessible and can offer incredible rewards, particularly in the areas of increased spiritual connection, a deepening of awareness and helping to maintain that sense of inner peace that we all crave in daily life. 

The Miracle of Bound Lotus 

Bound Lotus, aka Baddhapadmasana, is a yoga posture found in the Hatha, Ashtanga and Kundalini Yoga lineages. In its ultimate expression it is a form of full lotus, where the yogi folds forward and places their head on the ground, with the arms crossed behind the back and hands holding on to the big toes of the feet, forming a full body 'bind'. It is a posture of surrender to the universe, which when held, quickly raises the kundalini energy up the central spinal column, making it an ideal meditative posture. Iyengar demonstrates the posture with his characteristic flexibility in his classic book 'Light on Yoga' and states its specific purpose in raising the kundalini energy. It is also known as 'Yoga Seal Pose', or 'Yoga Mudrasana' because it forms a powerful energy feedback loop or Mudra with the whole body engaged and looking a bit like a pretzel! 

Yogi Bhajan called it 'Psychic Union' pose because of its power to take the practitioner deep into the subtle realms, bringing insight and clarity, a deep experience of Shuniya - the void or silence where healing occurs,  a peaceful acceptance of our situation, answers to questions, and mystical astral experiences. In Ashtanga yoga it is usually performed for a few minutes towards the end of the daily series of flowing ashtanga postures before the practitioner goes into meditation. In kundalini yoga, however, it can be a separate practice and meditation in and of itself. 

The bound lotus practice recommended in the tradition of Kundalini Yoga, as taught by Yogi Bhajan, and passed on to his student, MahanKirn Kaur Khalsa, who specialises in teaching Bound Lotus, recommends building up to a period of 31 minutes a day in the posture, after having warmed up with other yoga practice. At the end of the Bound Lotus practice, the practitioner needs to rest in Savasana for 10 minutes and during this rest time further deep healing and profound experiences can occur as the energy recalibrates within the body. 

MahanKirn Kaur was given this practice by Yogi Bhajan as a method to heal her leg which had become paralysed by a rare nerve disorder. She had seen more than 200 doctors, specialists and alternative healers shamans and none of them was able to help. In fact some of the best doctors recommended amputation as a solution. When she finally turned to her spiritual teacher, Yogi Bhajan, he told her that doing this extreme practice, despite the initial agony it would cause her, would heal her leg, and it did! 

Although Mahan Kirn's case was extreme and she took the route of going through intense pain to get the healing she needed, the good news is that we can still get the benefit of this practice without having to go through such a painful experience. So if you'd like to try it but feel it's inaccessible because you cannot do full lotus pose, or even if you struggle to sit cross legged, don't worry as you can find a modification that means you can work towards this pose and enjoy the benefits of this practice as you progress. As MahanKirn has stated it is the journey, not the destination that counts. For instance, a variation of the posture is to sit cross-legged and bend forward with the arms behind the back, hands holding on to the elbow of the other arm. Or, another variation is to sit with one leg stretched out in front and the other leg bent at the knee with the foot placed on the hip of the outstretched leg, as in Maha Mudra posture, and then bend forward supported by pillows if needed.

I committed to a 40 day Bound Lotus practice back in 2012 and for me personally, it was agony at first, especially at the base of the spine. Although I'm not the most accomplished yogi in many postures and have issues with inward turning hips, for some reason I have been able to do full lotus posture since quite early on after starting yoga around 2006. With the Bound Lotus though I found the bending forward bit very painful and I used cushions on the ground in front of me to place my head on, so that it was not too much of a stretch for my spine at the beginning. At first I could only manage a few minutes each day, and got frustrated by the pain, but gradually I became more supple to the point of holding my toes and reaching my forehead to the floor in the full posture and I was able to hold the pose for longer each day. 

The pain became a mental concept for working through and accepting emotions and also learning to just 'be' and go beyond my mind's complaints. It actually became bizarrely pleasurable because I soon realised that after I had broken mentally through the pain barrier, the depth of the peace and meditation was astounding. The pain therefore became an indicator of the potential for depth of experience. The recommended chant mantra of the Ray Man Shabad, which is provided in an accompanying CD with Mahan Kirn's Bound Lotus Manual, really helped me through as well. I started to really feel the sound, the sacred Naad, resonating within me. And towards the end of the 40 days I was managing the whole 31 minutes and finding it an incredibly peaceful and rewarding practice throughout. 

It is recommended that you swap the legs around half way through your practice and I started to notice that once I swapped which leg was on top, that an incredible energy would build up in my legs. It formed an energy triangle between my base chakra and the minor energy centres in my knees. On one occasion it was pulsing so strongly that I felt as if I were literally going to 'lift off' from the ground! I began to realise how levitation might be possible with this kind of energy concentrated in a small area. I also noticed that I had the most beautiful and other-worldly experiences at the end when I was just resting in Savasana. Sometimes I would be journeying in other places and realms and other times I would just have total peace and no longer be bothered by things that had been a problem to me in my life, and also sometimes I would just drift into much needed healing sleep as well. 

I stopped the practice for a while because of time issues and also wanting to build up strength through other forms of yoga, but recently I have come back to it and I'm using it in a more subtle and flexible way. I'm finding now that just being in this posture for a short period of time and then sitting up and meditating can cause profound shifts in my energy. I am a naturally sensitive person, so sometimes for me personally, I find the cliche of 'less is more' is highly appropriate. I'm learning to listen to my body, to let it guide me and respect its messages more. Some days it doesn't want to be forced into uncomfortable positions, but other days it is very willing. I am learning to listen to it more as my teacher and honour its innate wisdom. 

If you are interested to learn more about Bound Lotus as a practice then I recommend visiting MahanKirn's website where you can see a free video demonstrating Bound Lotus and the various ways you can modify and assist yourself into this posture. There is also the Bound Lotus Manual I mentioned available for purchase which includes background information, useful yoga sets for warming up before bound lotus and the accompanying CD with beautiful chant music by Snatam Kaur to elevate the experience. Visit www.mahboundlotus.com for further details. 

In my next blog post I shall be looking at the Tibetan Buddhist practice of Tonglen, and in future posts I plan to cover sacred chanting practices and Kriya Yoga, so stayed tuned for further information!