A library of wisdom
Tonglen — Quotes
When somebody is suffering, most cultures answer: distance yourself. Tibetan Buddhism answers: breathe them in. Tonglen, the practice of giving and taking through breath, is the mo A curated set of 30 quotes from the Tonglen tradition.
“When you breathe in, you take in someone else's pain. When you breathe out, you send out relief. The practice is about reversing the habit of avoidance.”
“The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.”
“Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It is a relationship between equals.”
“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.”
“Be grateful to everyone.”
“Drive all blames into one.”
“Whatever you meet unexpectedly, join with meditation.”
“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”
“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.”
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.”
“Death is not an end but a moment of arising into another bardo. The way we have lived is the way we will die. The way we die is the way the next state begins.”
“When you are sad and depressed, when life seems to have lost its meaning, that is the moment when bodhicitta is most needed.”
“Whenever we follow our wandering, scattered minds, we are creating the conditions for suffering. Whenever we are present, here, now — even for a moment — we are creating the conditions for liberation.”
“The bad news is you're falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is there's no ground.”
“Discipline is not pleasing the teacher; it is keeping the work in your own hands.”
“In meditation, do not look for a particular kind of experience. The point of the practice is to be present to whatever arises.”
“In the cool shade of trees, the lord of yogis sat. The hare cradled the moon. Each mind was its own paradise.”
“When you understand the meaning of impermanence, all clinging falls away. When clinging falls away, the heart is light. When the heart is light, the mind is free.”
“I sing because I cannot remember a time before I sang. The practice has eaten my life. The life has eaten the practice. There is no separation.”
“All the suffering in the world comes from seeking pleasure for oneself. All the happiness in the world comes from seeking pleasure for others.”
“If a problem can be solved, why worry? If a problem cannot be solved, what is the use of worrying?”
“May I be a guard for those who are protectorless, a guide for those who journey on the road. For those who wish to go across the water, may I be a boat, a raft, a bridge.”
“Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment, I know this is the only moment.”
“Smile, breathe, and go slowly.”
“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment.”
“Maitri begins with the simple, radical act of being kind to yourself.”
“Tonglen reverses the usual logic of avoiding suffering and seeking pleasure. In the process, we become liberated from a very ancient prison of selfishness.”
“There is a Tibetan word, shenpa. It means hooked. The moment you notice the hook — that noticing is freedom.”
“The way out is the way in. The only way out is through.”