The Buddhist Practice of Tong-Len vs. Quantum Physics

I'm reading the book "The Art of Happiness" by HH Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler (again). Last night I watched "What the Bleep do we know?" (again). The last time I read the book I had also watched the same movie around the same time. Then, I had a doubt, and once again the same doubt has arisen.

In the book "The Art of Happiness" the Dalai Lama speaks about developing compassion and ways to learn compassion and learn to deal with suffering. I quote - "In Buddhist practice, you can use your personal suffering in a formal way to enhance your compassion - by using it as an opportunity for the practice of Tong-Len. This is a Mahayana visualization practice in which one mentally visualizes taking on another's pain and suffering, and in turn giving them all of your resources, good health, fortune, and so on."

In the movie "What the Bleep do we know?" (as well as the movie "The Secret" which is quite similiar) they talk about how we manifest our reality through the power of thought. In "The Secret" one woman talks about how she fought her cancer by waking up every morning telling herself that she was healthy, and how a man eventually (and somewhat unconsciously as it was a dream from years ago that he had not thought about in some time) found himself living in his dream home. In "The Secret" they talk about the "Law of Attraction", in that, positive or negative, we unconsciously manifest what we are thinking, just by thinking it (and that, of course, we can consiously manifest our reality too).

So, my doubt is, wouldn't the Tong-Len visualization practice bring about suffering? I understand that in order to develop compassion we must truly be able to understand a person's suffering, or to practice empathy but on a very personal level, even to the point of having a physical reaction. But it is still always "their" suffering and we are safely observing from the outside. Are we just asking for suffering if we practice this kind of visualization? If we visualize it will we manifest it?

I am only a novice reading books and asking questions at this point. The more I learn the more questions I have, which seems to be a general rule in life anyway. But when it comes to Buddhism, who can you consult? Do you think the Dalai Lama would be free for a Q&A session?

Comments enthusiastically requested!!! (p.s. This blog was sent to the office of HH Dalai Lama asking for guidance .. really. Wish me luck in getting a reply!)