I = Interviewer.

M = The Mystic of Cascadia.

I : You follow teachings that have existed for thousands of years. Have you learned anything from current times that you would include with these teachings?

M : Yes, there is one thing I’ve added that has become quite important to what I teach. It is The Wisdom of No Escape, and the Path of Loving Kindness as taught by Pema Chodren. The most important component is the meditation Tonglen. It is a vehicle with which a profound understanding of ones self and others can be obtained. It’s not an easy path to follow, but gives deep meaning to life, something well worth the effort involved.

I : Tell us about this mediation Tonglen?

M : It’s a breathing meditation which reverses the usual roles of the in and out breath. Normally you breathe in the good, and breathe out the bad. In Tonglen, we breathe in the bad, and breathe out the good. Obviously that is an over simplification, but it is the essence of it.

The basic idea is to breathe in the bad such as pain and suffering, and breathe out the good such a joy and happiness. Another example is breathing in confusion and breathing out understanding. You can adjust the scope if the meditation to suit your needs. For example you can use just yourself as the one breathing in pain, and out happiness. You can use just another person as the target. Or it could be a family, the residents of a city, a country, all the way. to everyone on the planet. Adjusting the scope impact the level of openness one experiences

I. : So what is the big take away from doing Tonglen?

M : There is no big take away. There are as many take away’s as there are people practicing their meditation. The take away’s are in the details of our personal history.

I : If there are no big take away’s, how are people going to know it’s worth while to learn how to do Tonglen.

M : You just have to practice the meditation and experience what it can bring to your life. For example, I have a friend who is suffering from depression. With them, I would breathe in their pain and suffering, and breathe out joy and happiness to them. This experience will make me feel different about my friend than if I’d never done the mediation. I would now feel a loving kindness for them to a degree that didn’t exist before. Does this make sense?

I : Yes. It tells me I’m going to have to try Tonglen and see how it changes me.

M : That’s exactly right.