One of the amazing things about Tonglen is that you can use it to transform any kind of negativity. By simply imagining your anger, hatred, fear, paranoia, jealousy etc. as black smoke you can then begin to transform it. Another outstanding benefit of the Tonglen process is that no Psychological Analysis is required: You don't need to torture yourself asking questions such as, "Why am I so stupid?" And there is no need for 'Psychological Archaeology' - digging around in your past trying to find 'root causes.' It's an empowering process focused on transforming your feelings here and now in the present. Developing Compassion with Tonglen Meditation
When you have practised and gained some familiarity using Tonglen on your own negativities you can begin to experiment with taking on the suffering of others. Maybe you know someone that is suffering from illness or grieving. However you may well have some resistance to taking on their suffering at first as Buddhist Nun, Pema Chodron points out in her article The Practice Of Tonglen -
"This is the core of the practice: breathing in other's pain so they can be well and have more space to relax and open, and breathing out, sending them relaxation or whatever you feel would bring them relief and happiness. However, we often cannot do this practice because we come face to face with our own fear, our own resistance, anger, or whatever our personal pain, our personal stuckness happens to be at that moment." "At that point you can change the focus and begin to do tonglen for what you are feeling and for millions of others just like you who at that very moment of time are feeling exactly the same stuckness and misery."