A piece of wisdom from
September 25, 2025 · Thursday
The quote
“Without doubt, the mind is restless and difficult to control. But it can be controlled by practice and by dispassion.”
— Krishna · The Bhagavad Gita
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 15.5
निर्मानमोहा जितसङ्गदोषा अध्यात्मनित्या विनिवृत्तकामाः। द्वन्द्वैर्विमुक्ताः सुखदुःखसंज्ञैर्गच्छन्त्यमूढाः पदमव्ययं तत्॥
“Free from pride and delusion, conquerors of the evil of attachment, ever steadfast in the self, with desires withdrawn, freed from the dualities of pleasure and pain — undeluded, they reach that imperishable abode.”
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