Tong-len for Pain in Jaw
Rinpoche gave the following advice on tong-len while in a café in New York with a geshe and some students. One of the students asked Rinpoche what she could do about the pain she had in her jaw.
Regarding the difficulties with the center, you need an open heart; there are different views, so apply the views that are more beneficial. Like a road blocked by rocks, first you have to recognize the blocks so that you can clear them away.
Regarding the pain in your jaw, it is very important to do this prayer every day. When you have happiness, think: may all sentient beings have happiness and peace. When you have suffering, problems, cancer, AIDS, relationship problems, whatever, think: may all sentient beings’ oceans of samsaric sufferings be dried out.
The idea is to do tong-len practice, from time to time, each day. Each time you do this practice of taking on the sufferings, you collect vast amounts of merit, because you are taking on the sufferings of numberless beings and purifying not only this life’s negative karma but also past lives’ negative karma. The stronger you generate compassion for animals or human beings, the greater the amount of negative karma is purified. When you do the practice of giving, you also purify today’s, this life’s, and past lives’ negative karma. It purifies many eons of negative karma.