Books
An announcement from Rudra Press:
TONGLEN FOR OUR OWN SUFFERING To order on Amazon:
7 Variations on an Ancient Practice Paperback $19:95, Kindle $9:95
Tonglen is a traditional Buddhist practice for awakening and strengthening compassion. It involves the expansion of the heart to embrace and include everything in our human experience. Swami Girijananda’s approach, which blends elements from both the Buddhist and Hindu tantric traditions, focuses on releasing us from our own suffering through what she calls “breathing in the dark and breathing out the light.”
Breaking down the steps of tonglen, she shows us how to face, befriend, and transform our darkness into light.
- First we learn to acknowledge our own darkness, our “stuff.”
- Next we separate those feelings from our stories about them.
- Finally we connect to the inner light of our own true nature and experience the natural transformation that takes place from within.
The book includes seven distinct variations of this simple yet powerful practice, suitable for people at any stage of inner development. (Free bonus content: audio guided meditations, available online or in CD format.)
Book signing at Booklegger, Eureka California
Testimonials for Tonglen for Our Own Suffering
- Swami Girijananda is a wise and insightful teacher. Here, she offers a powerful practice manual for entering into one of the greatest of all practices for enlightenment. Not only does she make tonglen accessible, she also offers a methodology that both beginners and advanced meditation students will find helpful. I recommend this book to anyone who yearns to experience the freedom and love that the sages tell us is possible even in the midst of life’s inevitable pain. –Sally Kempton, Author of Meditation for the Love of It, Awakening Shakti, and Doorways to the Infinite
- When difficulty in life presents itself, our first instinct is to withdraw and avoid. By means of tonglen, a meditator approaches the universal problem of suffering fearlessly, directly and compassionately. By meeting suffering without flinching, he or she accomplishes a spiritual transformation. Girijananda’s interpretation of this powerful method is lucid and extremely intelligent. She makes this ancient and esoteric practice relevant to the contemporary reader. This book will be of great value to the earnest practitioner. –Mahamandaleshwar Swami Shankarananda
- Tonglen for Our Own Suffering is an absolutely precious book that deserves a place of honor in every spiritual seeker’s library! Swami Girijananda offers a clear, concise, simple explanation of one of the most powerful spiritual practices we can embark on—the noble practice of Tonglen. Many seekers eventually find it difficult to successfully traverse the spiritual path without incorporating this sacred practice into their being. The ability to—literally—become an instrument through which darkness can be transformed into the Light of Love is—perhaps—the greatest gift we can offer our fellow sentient beings. Swami Girijananda has crafted a beautifully coherent, compelling explanation of Tonglen and its fundamental role in spiritual unfolding. I highly recommend this wonderful book! And I lovingly recommend that you allow yourself to receive—and be transformed by—the sacred gift of spiritual illumination—and compassionate awareness—it contains. Namaste. -Ramananda John E. Welshons, Author of One Soul, One Love, One Heart, and Awakening from Grief
Swami Girijananda 
Just received this beautiful book and can’t wait to begin reading!
Wow—- look it— Look it— Look it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So Beautiful—You are so beautiful——and a book——