Although we have the potential to experience the freedom of a butterfly, we mysteriously prefer the small and fearful cocoon of ego. — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
It's not a terrible thing that we feel fear when faced with the unknown. It is part of being alive, something we… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
“Meditation is an invitation to notice when we reach our limit and to not get carried away by hope and fear.” — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
The central question of a warrior's training is not how we avoid uncertainty and fear but how we relate to discomfort. — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
We're afraid that this anger or sorrow or loneliness is going to last forever... Instead, acting it out is what makes it… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Usually we think that brave people have no fear. The truth is that they are intimate with fear. — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Each time you stay present with fear and uncertainty, you're letting go of a habitual way of finding security and comfort. — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Openness doesn’t come from resisting our fears but rather from getting to know them well. — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
“What a predicament! We seem doomed to suffer simply because we have a deep-seated fear of how things really are. Our attempts… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
A further sign of health is that we don't become undone by fear and trembling, but we take it as a message… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
“We start by working with the monsters in our mind. Then we develop the wisdom and compassion to communicate sanely with the… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
Feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Anxiety, heartbreak, and tenderness mark the in-between state. It's the kind of place we usually want to avoid. The challenge is to… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
No one ever tells us to stop running away from fear...the advice we usually get is to sweeten it up, smooth it… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
The spiritual journey involves going beyond hope and fear, stepping into unknown territory, continually moving forward. The most important aspect of being… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
If seeing that other person's pain brings up your fear or anger or confusion (which often happens), just start doing tonglen for… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
…feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
We think that by protecting ourselves from suffering, we are being kind to ourselves. The truth is we only become more fearful,… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
“We can explore the nature of that piece of shit. We can know the nature of dislike, shame, and embarrassment and not… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
On the journey of the warrior-bodhisattva, the path goes down, not up, as if the mountain pointed toward the earth instead of… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Ordinarily we are swept away by habitual momentum. We don't interrupt our patterns even slightly. With practice, however, we learn to stay… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Underneath our ordinary lives, underneath all the talking we do, all the moving we do, all the thoughts in our minds, there's… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
When we practice generating compassion, we can expect to experience our fear of pain. Compassion practice is daring. It involves learning to… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
“Generally speaking, we regard discomfort in any form as bad news. But for practitioners or spiritual warriors-people who have a certain hunger… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
“Meditation is an invitation to notice when we reach our limit and to not get carried away by hope and fear. Through… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
“Once there was a young warrior. Her teacher told her that she had to do battle with fear. She didn’t want to… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
“When we feel dread, when we feel discomfort of any kind, it can connect us at the heart with all the other… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
Do I prefer to grow up and relate to life directly, or do I choose to live and die in fear? — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
When we are willing to stay even a moment with uncomfortable energy, we gradually learn not to fear it. — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Feeling irritated, restless, afraid, and hopeless is a reminder to listen more carefully. — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
“What we’re talking about is getting to know fear, becoming familiar with fear, looking it right in the eye—not as a way… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
Fear is a natural reaction of moving closer to the truth. If we commit ourselves to staying right where we are, then… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Are you experiencing restlessness? Stay! Are fear and loathing out of control? Stay! Aching knees and throbbing back? Stay! What's for lunch?… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
When people are hurting, what they really need is someone who is fully there for them - not someone who is condescending… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Finding the courage to go to the places that scare us cannot happen without compassionate inquiry into the workings of ego... Openness… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
It's not a terrible thing that we feel fear when faced with the unknown. It is a part of being alive, something… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Hope and fear come from feeling that we lack something; they come from a sense of poverty. We can’t simply relax with… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
“LIFE’S work is to wake up, to let the things that enter into your life wake you up rather than put you to sleep.… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share
Since death is certain and the time of death is uncertain, what is the most important thing? — Pema Chodron Copy Share
Buddhist words such as compassion and emptiness don't mean much until we start cultivating our innate ability simply to be there with pain with… — Pema Chodron Copy Share
The essence of generosity is letting go. Pain is always a sign that we are holding on to something - usually ourselves. — Pema Chodron Copy Share
“If the object of meditation were something concrete, something solid and graspable - an image or a statue or a dot on the floor… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share
It's a transformative experience to simply pause instead of immediately fill up the space. By waiting, we begin to connect with fundamental restlessness as… — Pema Chodron Copy Share
“The essence of life is that it’s challenging. Sometimes it is sweet, and sometimes it is bitter. Sometimes your body tenses, and sometimes it… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share
If we run a hundred miles an hour to the other end of the continent in order to get away from the obstacle, we… — Pema Chodron Copy Share
“But in this meditation technique, we are with the out-breath; there's no particular instruction about what to do until the next out-breath.” — Pema Chödrön Copy Share
“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know. Nothing ever really attacks us except our own confusion. Perhaps… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share
So even if the hot loneliness is there, and for 1.6 seconds we sit with that restlessness when yesterday we couldn't sit for even… — Pema Chodron Copy Share
If you have rage and righteously act it out and blame it all on others, it's really you who suffers. The other people and… — Pema Chodron Copy Share
“When we realize that the path is the goal, there’s a sense of workability. Trungpa Rinpoche said, “Whatever occurs in the confused mind is… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share
Every day is a new opportunity to work with what you have inside toward enlightenment. — Pema Chodron Copy Share
If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be… — Pema Chodron Copy Share
