A piece of wisdom from
July 8, 2024 · Monday
The quote
“Once upon a time, Chuang Tzu dreamt he was a butterfly. He did not know he was Chuang Tzu. Suddenly he awoke. Now he does not know whether he was Chuang Tzu dreaming he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he is Chuang Tzu.”
— Chuang Tzu · The Tao
The concept
Tonglen
The Tibetan practice of breathing in suffering, and breathing out relief, and the wider mind-training that grew around it.
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 most counterintuitive meditation in any tradition, and the mos…
A practice for today
Before bed tonight, name one thing where the lesson of Tonglen. The Tibetan practice of breathing in suffering, and breathing out relief, and the wider mind-training that grew around it.
From the Bhagavad Gita
Verse 2.22
वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि। तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णान्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही॥
“As a person sheds worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, so does the embodied self shed worn-out bodies and take on new ones.”
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