About this Talk
In this talk, Eko discusses the constructs of the compassionate mind and describes compassion as both feeling suffering and responding skillfully to it. The talk encourages listeners to view others without fixed assumptions, including the practice of seeing each person as a bodhisattva whose purpose is to awaken us.
Eko also covers devotional practice with bodhisattvas such as Manjushri and Kuan Yin, relating bowing to awakening and to one’s own unrealized qualities. A major focus is Tonglen, or exchanging self for other, presented as a breathing practice of taking in suffering and sending out peace and equanimity.
Examples from a fawn and from a father-daughter story are used to illustrate how Tonglen can change one’s relationship to suffering. Eko says the practice can help focus the mind, loosen self-centeredness, and reduce the sense of separation.