Self Quotes by Pema Chödrön

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

— Pema Chodron

Compassion for others begins with kindness to ourselves.

— Pema Chodron

Feel the wounded heart that's underneath the addiction, self-loathing, or anger.

— Pema Chodron

Once you create a self-justifying storyline, your emotional entrapment within it quadruples.

— Pema Chodron

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

Ego is something that you come to know - something that you befriend by not acting out or by repressing all the…

— Pema Chodron

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

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

There's something delicious about finding fault with something. And that can be including finding fault with one's self, you know?

— Pema Chodron

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

Ego is like a room of your own, a room with a view with the temperature and the smells and the music…

— Pema Chodron

Meditation is not a matter of trying to achieve ecstasy, spiritual bliss, or tranquillity, nor is it attempting to become a better…

— Pema Chodron

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

In the most ordinary terms, egolessness is a flexible identity. It manifests as inquisitiveness , as adaptability, as humor, as playfulness. It…

— Pema Chodron

While we are sitting in meditation, we are simply exploring humanity and all of creation in the form of ourselves. We can…

— Pema Chodron

We insist on being Someone, with a capital S. We get security from defining ourselves as worthless or worthy, superior or inferior.…

— Pema Chodron

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

At least once a year, I imagine that I am about to die. Looking back as truthfully as I can at my…

— Pema Chodron

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

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

— Pema Chodron

Ego could be defined as whatever covers up basic goodness. From an experiential point of view, what is ego covering up? It's…

— Pema Chodron

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

— Pema Chodron

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

“Egolessness means that the fixed idea that we have about ourselves as solid and separate from each other is painfully limiting. That…

— Pema Chödrön

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