i’d love for you to join me now in the field of compassion, the bodhisattva field, the field of liberation and love, the field of infinite openness… and, in this sacred space, let us join in the most essential practice for cultivating compassion, the practice of tonglen, of giving and taking…

truth is we all have an endless supply of compassion available to flow into us through the umbilical cord of our one heart…

so, let’s tune in now with the prayer said by the living embodiment of compassion, the Dalai Lama…

May I Be a Guard
May I be a guard for those who need protection
A guide for those on the path
A boat, a raft, a bridge for those who wish to cross the flood
May I be a lamp in the darkness
A resting place for the weary
A healing medicine for all who are sick
A vase of plenty, a tree of miracles
And for the boundless multitudes of living beings
May I bring sustenance and awakening
Enduring like the earth and the sky
Until all beings are free from sorrow
And all are awakened.

let us now continue with this trandformative practice of opening compassion, tonglen…

we begin with ourselves by coming into our essence… unconditional love and imagining all limiting forces condensing into a black ball of smoke and coming out of our stomach to be received into the sacred heart of compassion… now witness the black ball dissolving and smile feeling yourself as love, joy, wisdom and liberation…

now, let’s move onto someone we love who’s suffering and witness all their pain coming out of their stomach and coming into the divine heart of boundless compassion… smile at seeing them transfigured…

now, we move onto someone who’s betrayed us terribly seeing all the forces that created their pain condensing into a black ball of smoke that dissolves as it enters the divine heart of compassion…

finally, we see a group of dangerous people and the pain that caused their views condensing into a black ball of smoke and dissolving as it enters the sacred heart of compassion… smile as you witness this group’s transformation…

now, take a deep breath from the sacred heart of compassion savoring this beingness of bliss…