❤️ Pema Chodron

[quotedelight]

The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new. — Pema Chödron

[mindful-and-motivated-deactivat]

“If we run a hundred miles an hour to the other end of the continent in order to get away from the obstacle, we find the very same problem waiting for us when we arrive. It just keeps returning with new names, forms, manifestations until we learn whatever it has to teach us about where we are separating ourselves from reality, how we are pulling back instead of opening up, closing down instead of allowing ourselves to experience fully whatever we encounter, without hesitating or retreating into ourselves.”

— Pema Chödrön

[halfchildhalfancient]

“There’s the space that seems to be out there, like the sky and the ocean and the wind, and there’s the space that seems to be inside. We could let the whole thing mix up. We could let the whole thing just dissolve into each other and into one big space. Practice is about allowing a lot of space. It’s about learning how to connect with that spaciousness that’s inside, and the spaciousness that’s outside. It’s about learning to relax, soften, and open — to connect with the sense that there’s actually a lot of room.”

– Pema Chödron from the book "How to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Making Friends with Your Mind"

[truth-consciousness-bliss-deact]

As we change our own dysfunctional habits, we are simultaneously changing society. Our own awakening is intertwined with the awakening of enlightened society. If we can lose our personal appetite for aggression and addiction, the whole planet will rejoice.

Pema Chödrön

[mindful-and-motivated-deactivat]

"

It helps to remember that our practice is not about accomplishing anything – not about winning or losing – but about ceasing to struggle and relaxing as it is. That is what we are doing when we sit down to meditate. That attitude spreads into the rest of our lives.

—Pema Chodron

When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

[honeymooninthefridge]

Excerpted from: Practicing Peace in Times of War by Pema Chödrön, page 33

[radical-revolution]

When we cling to thoughts and memories, we are clinging to what cannot be grasped. When we touch these phantoms and let them go, we may discover a space, a break in the chatter, a glimpse of open sky. This is our birthright—the wisdom with which we were born, the vast unfolding display of primordial richness, primordial openness, primordial wisdom itself. When one thought has ended and another has not yet begun, we can rest in that space.

— Pema Chodron

[halfchildhalfancient]

"Be kinder to yourself. And then let your kindness flood the world."

—- Pema Chödron

[migas]

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity

Pema Chödrön (via migas)

[purplebuddhaproject]

When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it’s bottomless, that it doesn’t have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast, and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space.

Pema Chödrön (via purplebuddhaproject)

[panatmansam]

Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible in us be found.

Pema Chödrön, (b. 1936) American Buddhist Nun and Teacher (via panatmansam)

[abiding-in-peace]

When things fall apart in your life, you feel as if your whole world is crumbling. But actually, it’s your fixed identity that’s crumbling. And as Chögyam Trungpa used to tell us, that’s cause for celebration.

Pema Chödrön (via abiding-in-peace)

[the-red-lotus-blog-deactivated2]

Love and compassion are like the weak spots in the walls of ego. They are like a naturally occurring opening. And they are the opening we take. If we connect with even one moment of good heart or compassion and cherish it, our ability to open will gradually expand. Beginning to tune into even the minutest feelings of compassion or appreciation or gratitude softens us. It allows us to touch in with the noble heart of bodhicitta on the spot.

Pema Chodron (via the-red-lotus-blog)

[yeshecholwa]

Be kinder to yourself. And then let your kindness flood the world.

Pema Chödron (via inferior-colliculi)

[halfchildhalfancient]

“Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity. If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.”

Pema Chödrön (via halfchildhalfancient)

[fractal-unfoldment-deactivated2]

Everything is impermanent. Everything is always changing - fluid, unfixed, and open.

Pema Chödrön, Taking the Leap (via emanateharmony)

[lazyyogi]

Letting there be room for not knowing is the most important thing of all. When there’s a big disappointment, we don’t know if that’s the end of the story. It may just be the beginning of a great adventure. Life is like that. We don’t know anything. We call something bad; we call it good. But really we just don’t know.

Pema Chodron (via lazyyogi)