Appendix B

A Variation on Tonglen (receiving/giving) Meditation

(Instructions in parentheses are a variation for Christians.)

1. Sitting erect, note the breath moving in and out. Feel yourself in a circle of light (of God's or Jesus' presence, His Heart to your heart).

2. Breath in, feeling that Light and infinite love move into you.

3. Breath out. Let it fill your heart.

4. Breath in, note the immense suffering of the world, then direct focus to one place/person.

5. Breath out, sending that Love with the exhaled breath, to this suffering being. Here we are allowing ourselves to give freely, not to hold that Light which is so precious for ourselves but offering it freely in service to others.

6. Inhale. See the suffering as a black, thick, tarry mass. Allow yourself to draw it into your heart. Note any resistance, any fear of allowing in that suffering, any desire to stay separate; soften around it. This is not a matter of forcing oneself, but gently opening one's heart to fear, to the fear that creates illusion of our separation from the suffering of the world. We MUST do it gently. If there is resistance, allow in as much as you can. No "shoulds," no judgment, just the heart that gently opens when its fear is met with mercy.

7. Exhale, allowing yourself to feel the heaviness of the suffering.

8. Inhale, (remembering God); we as human need not hold the suffering and bear it ourselves.

9. Exhale, release it out to whatever accepts it (to God or to Jesus).