Sending and Receiving

Abstract

This chapter assesses the technique of sending and receiving. Sending and receiving, sometimes also translated as giving and taking, is an imaginative visualization technique developed in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. It aims at altering how an individual responds to negativity and helps that individual to see themselves as a transformational force, one that changes hostility into compassion. In it, the individual imaginatively receives the badness out in the world and changes it into goodwill and compassion, which they send back out. When a person mentally visualizes things, it can change a lot about how that individual feels and what they notice. This technique uses this psychological fact as a tool to deliberately bring about certain changes. In particular, this technique will help to change that individual’s relation to others and the negativity they face every day.