Pain Quotes by Pema Chödrön

Discomfort of any kind becomes the basis for practice. We breathe in knowing our pain is shared.

— Pema Chodron

This is the tendency of all living things: to avoid pain and to cling to pleasure.

— Pema Chodron

Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person.

— Pema Chodron

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

— Pema Chodron

“Without loving-kindness, staying in pain is just warfare.”

— Pema Chödrön

The next step is to learn to communicate with the people that you feel are causing your pain and misery- not to…

— Pema Chodron

If we're willing to give up hope that insecurity and pain can be eliminated, then we can have the courage to relax…

— Pema Chodron

Each of us has a "soft spot": the place in our experience where we feel vulnerable and tender. This soft spot is…

— Pema Chodron

The only way to ease our pain is to experience it fully. Learn to stay with uneasiness, learn to stay with the…

— Pema Chodron

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

The essence of generosity is letting go. Pain is always a sign that we are holding on to something - usually ourselves.

— Pema Chodron

“There's a common misunderstanding among all the human beings who have ever been born on the earth that the best way to…

— Pema Chödrön

If it's painful, you become willing not just to endure it but also to let it awaken your heart and soften you.…

— Pema Chodron

When we practice generating compassion, we can expect to experience our fear of pain. Compassion practice is daring. It involves learning to…

— Pema Chodron

Hold the sadness and pain of samsara [suffering, confusion] in your heart and at the same time the power and vision of…

— Pema Chodron

When we touch the center of sorrow, when we sit with discomfort without trying to fix it, when we stay present to…

— Pema Chodron

Instead of asking ourselves, 'How can I find security and happiness?' we could ask ourselves, 'Can I touch the center of my…

— Pema Chodron

To lead a life that goes beyond pettiness and prejudice and always wanting to make sure that everything turns out on our…

— Pema Chodron

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

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

Most of us do not take these situations as teachings. We automatically hate them. We run like crazy. We use all kinds…

— Pema Chodron

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

Well, it starts with being willing to feel what we are going through. It starts with being willing to have a compassionate…

— Pema Chodron

“Thinking that we can find some lasting pleasure and avoid pain is what in Buddhism is called samsara, a hopeless cycle that…

— Pema Chödrön

Buddhist words such as compassion and emptiness don't mean much until we start cultivating our innate ability simply to be there with…

— Pema Chodron

The sad part is that all we're trying to do is not feel that underlying uneasiness. The sadder part is that we…

— Pema Chodron

“Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both. Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives…

— Pema Chödrön

“Thinking that we can find some lasting pleasure and avoid pain is what in Buddhism is called samsara, a hopeless cycle that…

— Pema Chödrön

When we protect ourselves so we won't feel pain, that protection becomes like armor, like armor that imprisons the softness of of…

— Pema Chodron

It isn't what happens to us that causes us to suffer; it's what we say to ourselves about what happens.

— Pema Chodron

The Buddha taught that flexibility and openness bring strength and that running from groundlessness weakens us and brings pain. But do we…

— Pema Chodron

“The essence of this practice is that when we encounter pain in our life we breathe into our heart with the recognition…

— Pema Chödrön

To lead a life that goes beyond pettiness and prejudice and always wanting to make sure that everything turns out on our…

— Pema Chodron

One very powerful and effective way to work with this tendency to push away pain and hold on to pleasure is the…

— Pema Chodron

Someone needs to encourage us not to brush aside what we feel. Not to be ashamed of the love and grief that…

— Pema Chodron

“To lead a life that goes beyond pettiness and prejudice and always wanting to make sure that everything turns out on our…

— Pema Chödrön