Pema Chödrön

Nothing in its essence is one way or the other.

— Pema Chodron

Treat yourself as your own beloved child.

— Pema Chodron

Pain is not a punishment; pleasure is not a reward.

— Pema Chodron

There are many changes in the weather of a day.

— Pema Chodron

Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.

— Pema Chodron

Feel the feelings and drop the story.

— Pema Chodron

To live is to be willing to die over and over again.

— Pema Chodron

“Hell is just resistance to life.”

— Pema Chodron

Obstacles are our friends: they teach us where we're stuck.

— Pema Chodron

It is possible to move through the drama of our lives without believing so earnestly in the character that we play.

— Pema Chodron

“Real safety is your willingness to not run away from yourself.”

— Pema Chödrön

“Everything in our lives can wake us up or put us to sleep, and basically it's up to us to let it…

— Pema Chödrön

The truth is that good and bad coexist; sour and sweet coexist. They aren't really opposed to each other.

— Pema Chodron

Compassionate action involves working with ourselves as much as working with others.

— Pema Chodron

Everything in our lives has the potential to wake us up or put us to sleep. Allowing it to awaken us is…

— Pema Chodron

Unconditional good heart toward others is not even a possibility unless we attend to our own demons.

— Pema Chodron

Compassion practice is daring. It involves learning to relax and allowing ourselves to move gently toward what scares us.

— Pema Chodron

Although we have the potential to experience the freedom of a butterfly, we mysteriously prefer the small and fearful cocoon of ego.

— Pema Chodron

Deep down in the human spirit, there is a reservoir of courage. It is always available, always waiting to be discovered.

— Pema Chodron

Somehow, in the process of trying to deny that things are always changing, we lose our sense of the sacredness of life.…

— Pema Chodron

I equate ego with trying to figure everything out instead of going with the flow. That closes your heart and your mind…

— Pema Chodron

We don’t sit in meditation to become good meditators. We sit in meditation so that we’ll be more awake in our lives.

— Pema Chodron

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

A heartfelt sense of aspiring cuts through negativity about yourself; it cuts through the heavy trips you lay on yourself.

— Pema Chodron

“It's as if you just looked at yourself in the mirror, and you saw a gorilla. The mirror's there; it's showing you,…

— Pema Chödrön

“Every day we could reflect on this and ask ourselves, “Am I going to add to the aggression in the world?” Every…

— Pema Chödrön

“LIFE’S work is to wake up, to let the things that enter into your life wake you up rather than put you…

— Pema Chödrön

Many people hope a spiritual practice will let them avoid what they are ashamed of. But when you hide something from yourself,…

— Pema Chodron

The painful thing is that when we buy into disapproval, we are practicing disapproval. When we buy into harshness, we are practicing…

— Pema Chodron

Not causing harm requires staying awake. Part of being awake is slowing down enough to notice what we say and do. The…

— Pema Chodron

We feel that we have to be right so that we can feel good. We don’t want to be wrong because then…

— Pema Chodron

“I realized that it is these two things that staying with regrets offers: It can become the seed of compassion and empathy…

— Pema Chödrön

Remind yourself, in whatever way is personally meaningful, that it is not in your best interest to reinforce thoughts and feelings of…

— Pema Chodron

“The principle of nowness is very important to any effort to establish an enlightened society. You may wonder what the best approach…

— Pema Chödrön

Our wisdom is all mixed up with what we call our neurosis. Our brilliance, our juiciness, our spiciness, is all mixed up…

— Pema Chodron

Although it is embarrassing and painful, it is very healing to stop hiding from yourself. It is healing to know all the…

— Pema Chodron

“Even though peak experiences might show us the truth and inform us about why we are training, they are essentially no big…

— Pema Chödrön

…feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach…

— Pema Chodron

We think that by protecting ourselves from suffering, we are being kind to ourselves. The truth is we only become more fearful,…

— Pema Chodron

“When things fall apart and we can’t get the pieces back together, when we lose something dear to us, when they whole…

— Pema Chödrön