| People generally eat up the teachings, but when it comes to doing tonglen, they say, "Oh, it sounded good, but I didn't realize you actually meant it." In its essence, this practice is: when anything is painful or undesirable, breathe it in. In other words, you don't resist it. You surrender to yourself, you acknowledge who you are, you honor yourself. As unwanted feelings and emotions arise, you actually breathe them in and connect with what all humans feel. We all know what it is to feel pain in its many guises. EXCERPTED FROM Comfortable with Uncertainty by Pema Chödrön, page 85 |
