Pema Chodron
Pema Chodron
Pema Chödrönis an American, Tibetan Buddhist. She is an ordained nun, acharya and disciple of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Chodron has written several books and is the director of the Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia, Canada...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionClergyman
Date of Birth14 July 1936
CountryUnited States of America
mistake self suffering
We insist on being Someone, with a capital S. We get security from defining ourselves as worthless or worthy, superior or inferior. We waste precious time exaggerating or romanticizing or belittling ourselves with a complacent surety that yes, that’s who we are. We mistake the openness of our being—the inherent wonder and surprise of each moment—for a solid, irrefutable self. Because of this misunderstanding, we suffer.
compassion working-with-others action
Compassionate action involves working with ourselves as much as working with others.
kindness writing curiosity
Everything is material for the seed of happiness, if you look into it with inquisitiveness and curiosity. The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment. There always is the potential to create an environment of blame -or one that is conducive to loving-kindness.
meditation-practice meditation-and-yoga trying
Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already.
teacher irritation perfect
This very moment is the perfect teacher, and, lucky for us, it's with us wherever we go.
reality practice differences
As we practice, we begin to know the difference between our fantasy and reality.
mean suffering firsts
The first noble truth of the Buddha is that when we feel suffering, it doesn’t mean that something is wrong. What a relief.
running lines stories
We cannot be present and run our story-line at the same time.
eye awakening blink
We are one blink of an eye away from being fully awake
fall thinking together
We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart.
heart missing ego
I equate ego with trying to figure everything out instead of going with the flow. That closes your heart and your mind to the person or situation that's right in front of you, and you miss so much.
running discovery meditation
One of the main discoveries of meditation is seeing how we continually run away from the present moment, how we avoid being here just as we are. That’s not considered to be a problem. The point is to see it.
challenges feelings enough
Peace isn’t an experience free of challenges, free of rough and smooth, it’s an experience that’s expansive enough to include all that arises without feeling threatened.
lonely warrior perspective
When we feel left out, inadequate, or lonely, can we take a warrior’s perspective and contact bodhichitta?