Meditation is not a matter of trying to achieve ecstasy, spiritual bliss, or tranquillity, nor is it attempting to become a better… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Trying to change ourselves doesn't work in the long run because we're resisting our own energy. Self-improvemen t can have temporary results,… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
It becomes increasingly clear that we won’t be free of self-destructive patterns unless we develop a compassionate understanding of what they are. — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Maybe the most important teaching is to lighten up and relax. It's such a huge help in working with our crazy mixed-up… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
While we are sitting in meditation, we are simply exploring humanity and all of creation in the form of ourselves. We can… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
At least once a year, I imagine that I am about to die. Looking back as truthfully as I can at my… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
It is possible to move through the drama of our lives without believing so earnestly in the character that we play. That… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Compassion isn't some kind of self-improvement project or ideal that we're trying to live up to. Having compassion starts and ends with… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
There's something delicious about finding fault with something. And that can be including finding fault with one's self, you know? — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Learning how to be kind to ourselves, learning how to respect ourselves, is important. The reason it's important is that, fundamentally, when… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
We insist on being Someone, with a capital S. We get security from defining ourselves as worthless or worthy, superior or inferior.… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Feel the wounded heart that's underneath the addiction, self-loathing, or anger. — 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
Being preoccupied with our self-image is like being deaf and blind. It's like standing in the middle of a vast field of… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
WE ALREADY HAVE everything we need. There is no need for self-improvement. All these trips that we lay on ourselves—the heavy-duty fearing… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Once you create a self-justifying storyline, your emotional entrapment within it quadruples. — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Lean into the sharp points and fully experience them. The essence of bravery is being without self-deception. Wisdom is inherent in (understanding)… — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
Remind yourself, in whatever way is personally meaningful, that it is not in your best interest to reinforce thoughts and feelings of… — 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 Image
Since death is certain and the time of death is uncertain, what is the most important thing? — Pema Chodron Copy Share Image
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 Image
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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
