An introduction to Tong Len meditation by Andy Lowe

Name: An introduction to Tong Len meditation by Andy Lowe
Start: 2025-01-13T18:30:00+07:00
Location: มูลนิธิบ้านอารีย์

Schedule

Mon, 13 Jan, 2025 at 06:30 pm

UTC+07:00

Location

มูลนิธิบ้านอารีย์ | Bangkok, BM

You are cordially invited to join us on 13 January 2025, when our friend Andy Lowe will be leading the Monday night meditation at Baan Aree, the beautiful location so generously made available to us by the Baan Aree foundation.
Andy will introduce the Tibetan Buddhist practice of Tonglen which was introduced to him by the late Thrangu Rinpoche. Please see the attached document/ A two page explainer entitled Tonglen -“giving and receiving” is available to download via the www.littlebang.org
Everyone is welcome, from beginners to experienced meditators. We meet to support and encourage each other in our practice.
Baan Aree is a Thai Buddhist Center, please wear something that is comfortable to sit in, and avoid tight-fitting clothes, shorts, sleeveless tops, and short skirts. There may not be sufficient drinking water on site, therefore you may bring your own water in a closed container. No other food/drinks are allowed in the main room.
As is usual with Buddhist teachings, there is no charge for this event. However, the Little Bangkok Sangha follows the Buddhist custom of Dana (generosity). The teachings and the venue are offered as an act of generosity, and those receiving them can, if they wish, reciprocate by making donations. These go towards the venue's costs. A box for Dana will be provided.
Programme:
6:00 pm Baan Aree opens
6:30 pm Dhamma talk
7:30 pm Q&A
7:45 pm Session ends
8:00 pm Baan Aree closes
The session will be guided by Dr Andy Lowe, a retired university academic specialising in Grounded Theory who lived in Thailand from 2001 to 2023. He now lives in the UK. For the past 35 years he has been a student of Ringu Tulku Rinpoche [Tibetan Buddhist Rime Master]. Whilst in the UK for a decade he ran Samye Dzong, a Tibetan Buddhist centre in Glasgow Scotland under the auspices of the late Akong Rinpoche. He is the chair of the UK based charity Tibetan Buddhist Rigul Trust which raises funds supporting
both secular and monastic education, including health care, for the Tibetan community in eastern Tibet. Shortly after retiring to Thailand, he became a member of the Little Bangkok Sangha led by the venerable Phra Pandit.
We plan a live broadcast of this talk on our Facebook page and the Baan Aree YouTube channel:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/littlebangkoksangha
https://www.youtube.com/@Baanaree2020
It is also recorded for later viewing.
Please see this map for directions:
https://goo.gl/maps/1FuCuvCtNdPMAL4F9
<https: uyu3gn0nrhkuixx73dn7zwqnno7pd8u="">
Text from attachment:
Tonglen - “giving and taking”.
This is a skillful form of meditation practice that allows us to cut
through our habitual tendency of closing down both our hearts and
minds to pain and suffering. This applies equally to our own pain and
suffering as well as to other people’s pain and suffering. Instead of
trying to block out pain, it is embraced and transformed into loving
kindness and helps us to cultivate our own relative Bodhicitta.
Tonglen achieves this by using suffering to crush our own ego which
potentially enables us to release our true Buddha nature. There are
four types of Tonglen practice. Self Tonglen, Tonglen for our family
and friends, Tonglen for our enemies and Tonglen for the dying. It is
a very powerful practice that requires guidance either from
accomplished practitioners or from practitioners who have had
comprehensive instruction from realised Tonglen practitioners. We in
Bodhicharya are very fortunate to have a teacher such as Ringu
Tulku Rinpoche who has a deep understanding of the practice of
Tonglen. All Tonglen practice must always be preceded by heart felt
motivation, then actual practice and concluded with the dedication
prayers. Our motivation comes from the understanding that all of us
all want the same thing. To be free from pain and suffering and be
happy. It is our own ignorance and ego which is the cause of all our
suffering. In order to fully engage with an appropriate motivation our
minds must be inclusive, loving and joyous. Tonglen has the
potential to destroy the harmful aspects of our ego and at the same
time can reveal our true Buddha nature. This means, counter
intuitively, that the greater the pain and suffering we can take on, the
greater the benefit will be for all.
The stages of the Self Tonglen practice:
[1] After you have achieved a stable Shinay meditative state,
remind yourself about the pain and suffering you have
previously experienced. This could be physical pain or
emotional pain.
[2] Focus on your pain and suffering and visualise them all
cumulating outside your body in the form of a ball of thick black
acrid smoke.
[3] Then inhale this hot black acrid smoke through your nostrils.
[4] Visualise this black smoke entering your body and collecting
around an entity located near your heart. This entity is the
symbolic representation of your ego.
[5] Visualise that the black smoke gradually begins to penetrate
and destroy parts of your own ego entity.
[6] As the shell of the ego entity is breached powerful luminous
white light radiates out of your body. This white luminous light
has the qualities of pure moonlight and reaches out to all
sentient beings with the power to heal both pain and suffering
of others.
[7] Rest in this luminosity and then dedicate the merit before
concluding the meditation
The Origins of Tonglen
The acclaimed Buddhist master Atisha Dipankara Shrijnana born in
Bengal India in 982 CE gave the transmission of Tonglen to Tibetan
Kadampa master Langri Thangpa sometime after 1100CE. The
practice then became more well known when Geshe Chekawa Yeshe
Dorje(1101-1175CE) summarised the transmission in his “Lojong” or
seven points of mind training. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who is
said to practice Tonglen every day, has said of the practice: “Whether
this meditation really helps others or not, it gives me peace of mind.
Then I can be more effective, and the benefit is immense” *
HH the Dalai Lama(1999)*
Tonglen references
Books:
HH the Dalai Lama (1999) The Path to Tranquility: Daily Meditations
Viking Press ISBN 0-67088-759-5
Ringu Tulku Rinpoche(2007) Mind Training
Snow Lion Publications
ISBN13 978-155939-2785
Sogyal Rinpoche (1992) The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
Harper Collins ISBN 0-7126-5437-2
Trungpa Chogyam (1993) Training the mind and Cultivating Loving
Kindness Shambhala Classics
ISBN 1-59030-051-3
Web Links
Ringu Tulku Rinpoche The seven points of mind training
talk in Edinburgh in 2012 -audio
www.bodhichrya.org
[50 minutes audio]
Ken Holmes Four ways of changing the mind [YouTube]
2013 [24 minutes]
Tonglen 1 Basic instructions [YouTube]
2015 [24 minutes]
Tonglen 2 Practice instructions [You Tube]
2015 [24 minutes]</https:>