About Tonglen

Tonglen is Tibetan for 'giving and taking', and refers to a meditation practice found in Tibetan Buddhism.
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Thangka depicting the Refuge Tree of the Karma Kagyu Lineage by Sherab Palden Beru, c. 1972

Tibetan Buddhist meditation – Reveling the nature of consciousness

In Tibetan Buddhism, the central defining form of Vajrayana is Deity Yoga (devatayoga). This involves the recitation of mantras, prayers and visualization of the yidam or deity (usually the form of a Buddha or a bodhisattva) along with the associated mandala of the deity's Pure Land. Advanced Deity Yoga involves imagining yourself as the deity and developing "divine pride", the understanding that oneself and the deity are not separate. "Yidam" in Tibetan technically means "tight .