Lama Palden Drolma’s new book Love On Every Breath is a great beginner’s guide to Tonglen Meditation as well as a detailed refresher manual for the accomplished Tonglen practitioner. I fall into the second category as I have been practicing Tonglen almost every day since 2009 when I found it to be a powerful self-healing technique following quadruple bypass open-heart surgery.
Although Tonglen focuses on giving of positive healing energy to others (a basic element of the Buddhist Vajrayana Path), it also provides the practitioner with benefits. In the instance of my surgery, the day I was transferred from the ICU to the Cardiac Recovery Floor, I was told that I had to get up and walk the floor using a tall walker.
I was, to put it mildly, resistant to the idea of even getting out of the bed, especially since I’d had my chest cracked open only two days before. Still, once I was plodding slowly down the hall of the ward, I could not help but notice how sickly the other patients looked.
Although I did not have the assistance of a manual such as Love On Every Breath, I’d received Tonglen training year earlier, so I figured “Why not. What do I have to lose.” The answer was clear after only one pass down the hall. I don’t know if the Tonglen helped the other patients, but I felt a lot better. Accordingly, I expanded the Tonglen energy to include everyone in the hospital. Then, to helping everyone suffering in the city and eventually everyone in the world.
And that’s the magic healing possibility that Love On Every Breath provides to readers. Lama Palden Drolma clearly lays out the steps and reasoning behind this proven ancient practice in a way that everyone can understand. Her book also provides a great review for accomplished practitioners. Plus, you don’t even have to be Buddhist to do this practice as she shares variations for people of any belief system or no belief system.
Lama Palden Drolma’s easy to read style makes this book a great pathway to relief during times of great suffering and struggle. And she presents the practice while explaining Buddhism and her journey in becoming a practitioner in a way that makes Love On Every Breath a delightful read.
One can get all this from Love On Every Breath, and people in the Seattle area will be able to hear Lama Palden Drolma live at East West Bookshop on Friday, September 27 at 7 pm and / or spend the day in her daylong Tonglen workshop Saturday, September 28.
L. Steven Sieden is a writer, event producer and global futurist. His books include “Buckminster Fuller’s Universe” and “A Fuller View, Buckminster Fuller’s Vision of Hope and Abundance For All”. He has been reviewing Seattle area theatre and live entertainment since 2012.
