“Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better.” — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
As we practice, we begin to know the difference between our fantasy and reality. — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
“The ground of practice is you or me or whoever we are right now, just as we are.” — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
Compassion practice is daring. It involves learning to relax and allowing ourselves to move gently toward what scares us. — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Ordinarily we are swept away by habitual momentum and don't interrupt our patterns slightly. When we feel betrayed or disappointed, does it… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
The essence of practice is always the same: instead of falling prey to a chain reaction of revenge or self-hatred, we gradually… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
We can stop thinking that good practice is when it’s smooth and calm, and bad practice is when it’s rough and dark.… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
There isn't anything except your own life that can be used as ground for your spiritual practice. Spiritual practice is your life,… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
It's helpful to remind yourself that meditation is about opening and relaxing with whatever arises, without picking and choosing. — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
“It helps to remember that our spiritual practice is not about accomplishing anything—not about winning or losing—but about ceasing to struggle and… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already. — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
It has a lot to do with developing patience, not with the check-out person so much, but with your own pain that… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
“Compassion practice is daring. It involves learning to relax and allow ourselves to move gently toward what scares us. The trick to… — Pema Chödrön 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
“Meditation practice is how we discover basic goodness and learn to cultivate bodhichitta. With this view, practice, and activity, even the most… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
One way to practice staying present is to simply sit still for a while and listen. For one minute, listen to the… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
“IMPERMANENCE means that the essence of life is fleeting. Some people are so skillful at their mindfulness practice that they can actually… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already. The ground… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
If your everyday practice is open to all your emotions, to all the people you meet, to all the situations you encounter,… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Many people hope a spiritual practice will let them avoid what they are ashamed of. But when you hide something from yourself,… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
The painful thing is that when we buy into disapproval, we are practicing disapproval. When we buy into harshness, we are practicing… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
When we start out on a spiritual path we often have ideals we think we're supposed to live up to. We feel… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
“This meditation is called nontheistic, which doesn't have anything to do with believing in God or not believing in God, but means… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
We could learn to stop when the sun goes down and when the sun comes up. We could learn to listen to… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
When you refrain from habitual thoughts and behavior, the uncomfortable feelings will still be there. They don’t magically disappear. Over the years,… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Awareness is the key. Do we see the stories that we're telling ourselves and question their validity? When we are distracted by… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
“Once I had an opportunity to talk with Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, about the fact that I was not able to do my… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
Discomfort of any kind becomes the basis for practice. We breathe in knowing our pain is shared. — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
“We train in the bodhichitta practices in order to become so open that we can take the pain of the world in,… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
“For an aspiring bodhisattva, the essential practice is to cultivate maitri, or loving-kindness.” — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
“What I have realized through practicing is that practice isn't about beng the best horse or the good horse or the poor… — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
Our patterns are well established, seductive, and comforting. Just wanting for them to be ventilated isn't enough. Those of us who struggle… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Rejoicing in the good fortune of others is a practice that can help us when we feel emotionally shut down and unable… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
“In sitting meditation, our practice is to watch our thoughts arise, label them "thinking", and return to the breath.” — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
To cultivate equanimity we practice catching ourselves when we feel attraction or aversion, before it hardens into grasping or negativity. — 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
“Meditation practice is not about later, when you get it all together and you’re this person you really respect.” — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
“An interesting practice that combines mindfulness and refraining is just to notice your physical movements when you feel uncomfortable.” — Pema Chödrön Copy Share Image
Tonglen practice begins to dissolve the illusion that each of us is alone with this personal suffering that no one else can… — 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
