Praise for Love on Every Breath
“As a Catholic Sister, I found Lama Palden’s book, Love on Every Breath, to be an important spiritual work for persons of every spiritual tradition. Living in such a time of increasing hatred and violence, Palden’s sharing of how to grow our capacity for compassion through her enhanced practice of Tonglen is so needed. Her explanation of the Buddhist framework for this practice is clear and interspersed with examples from her life, making it very readable for those not as familiar with that tradition.”
— Sister Nancy Sylvester, IHM, Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue
“Love on Every Breath illuminates a clear and practical pathway for cultivating an awakened, loving heart. Drawing deeply from her Buddhist training and life experiences, Lama Palden Drolma masterfully presents a powerful guide for navigating the painful world we live in with compassion, openness, and healing. This book is an invaluable contribution for our times.”
— Wendy Garling, author of Stars at Dawn: Forgotten Stories of Women in the Buddha’s Life
“With Love on Every Breath, Lama Palden offers an accessible and adaptable method to transmute suffering — our own and others’ — and to more deeply attune with our inherent loving awareness. An important, illuminating, and timely contribution!”
— John J. Prendergast, PhD, author of The Deep Heart and In Touch
“Love on Every Breath by Lama Palden Drolma brings to the public an ancient meditation practice, one that can help transform our personal and collective grief by awakening the love and compassion that are inherent in all beings. This book is a beautiful exploration of a practice that is so very needed today and is accessible to all. It is a practice that can be done in solitude in deep meditation or on the subway during one’s daily commute. As individuals and as a collective, we are dealing with much suffering in our world today, both human and planetary. There is no more urgent task than to learn to transform this pain into love so that we can awaken to a greater sense of well-being and to the true reality of what is. Lama Palden shows us the way by recounting stories from her own journey. She shows us that by practicing the Love on Every Breath meditation techniques, we, too, can find the beauty and love that reside in each and every heart.”
— Dena Merriam, founder of the Global Peace Initiative of Women and the Contemplative Alliance
“As the rising voice of the feminine gives new life to perennial wisdom teachings, hidden jewels are being revealed through a feminine lens and rendering the esoteric utterly available. Tonglen is such a treasure. Through Lama Palden’s loving heart and lucid mind, we are offered practical tools with which to take the pain of the world all the way in, where it may be transmuted into a healing elixir for all beings.”
— Mirabai Starr, author of Caravan of No Despair and Wild Mercy
“The Tibetan Buddhist practice of Tonglen — breathing in suffering and breathing out compassion — is a once-secret treasure that our world now urgently needs. Lama Palden faithfully transmits the traditional instruction she received from her many Tibetan masters, while speaking in the warm, conversational tone of an intimate friend. The book is liberally sprinkled with striking tales of her own years of study in India and Nepal. . . .Love on Every Breath is rigorous enough to appeal to the dedicated Buddhist practitioner, while being accessible to people of every religious or nonreligious persuasion.”
— Lewis Richmond, author of Aging as a Spiritual Practice
“Drawing on Eastern spirituality and modern psychology, Love on Every Breath offers a tried-and-true method for living joyfully in a suffering world. Indeed, this empowering book reveals how we can transform ourselves and our world by opening our hearts to others. If you want to bring more kindness into the world, read this book.”
— Christine Carter, PhD, author of Raising Happiness and The Sweet Spot: How to Accomplish More by Doing Less
| New World Library14 Pamaron WayNovato, California 94949 |
Copyright © 2019 by Lama Palden Drolma
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, or other — without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
The material in this book is intended for education. It is not meant to take the place of diagnosis and treatment by a qualified medical practitioner or therapist. No expressed or implied guarantee of the effects of the use of the recommendations can be given or liability taken.
All names have been changed to protect privacy.
Text design by Tona Pearce Myers
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Drolma, Palden, Lama, [date]– author.
Title: Love on every breath : Tonglen meditation for transforming pain into joy / by Lama Palden Drolma.
Description: Novato, California : New World Library, [2019].
Identifiers: LCCN 2018052576 (print) | LCCN 2019000005 (ebook) | ISBN 9781608685776 (e-book) | ISBN 9781608685769 (print : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781608685776 (ebk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Meditation--Buddhism. | Spiritual life--Buddhism. | Compassion--Religious aspects--Buddhism. | Buddhism--China--Tibet Autonomous Region.
Classification: LCC BQ5620 (ebook) | LCC BQ5620 .D76 2019 (print) | DDC 294.3/4435--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018052576
First printing, May 2019
ISBN 978-1-60868-576-9
Ebook ISBN 978-1-60868-577-6
Printed in Canada on 100% postconsumer-waste recycled paper
| New World Library is proud to be a Gold Certified Environmentally Responsible Publisher. Publisher certification awarded by Green Press Initiative. |
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
I dedicate this book to Kalu Rinpoche, my beloved teacher, innovator, who gave us the priceless jewels of the Dharma, and gave us the love, support, and skills to actualize awakening. And to our human family — may we learn to be kind with one another and ourselves, honor our equality, and cooperate in order to face our challenges.
Contents
