All the wars, all the hatred, all the ignorance in the world come out of being so invested in our opinions. Pema Chodron More Quotes by Pema Chodron More Quotes From Pema Chodron Better to join in with humanity than to set ourselves apart. Pema Chodron loneliness humanity life Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Pema Chodron empathy compassion mindfulness It's said that when we die, the four elements - earth, air, fire and water - dissolve one by one, each into the other, and finally just dissolve into space. But while we're living, we share the energy that makes everything, from a blade of grass to an elephant, grow and live and then inevitably wear out and die. This energy, this life force, creates the whole world. Pema Chodron fire air life This very moment is the perfect teacher, and, lucky for us, it's with us wherever we go. Pema Chodron irritation perfect teacher Ordinarily we are swept away by habitual momentum and don't interrupt our patterns slightly. When we feel betrayed or disappointed, does it occur to us to practice? Pema Chodron karma practice doe When you refrain from habitual thoughts and behavior, the uncomfortable feelings will still be there. They don’t magically disappear. Over the years, I’ve come to call resting with the discomfort “the detox period,” because when you don’t act on your habitual patterns, it’s like giving up an addiction. You’re left with the feelings you were trying to escape. The practice is to make a wholehearted relationship with that Pema Chodron buddhist giving-up wisdom Feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we're holding back. Pema Chodron irritation buddhism disappointment Clarity and decisiveness come from the willingness to slow down, to listen to and look at what’s happening. Pema Chodron slow-down clarity looks Are you experiencing restlessness? Stay! Are fear and loathing out of control? Stay! Aching knees and throbbing back? Stay! What's for lunch? Stay! I can't stand this another minute! Stay! Pema Chodron lunch inspiration practice The first noble truth of the Buddha is that when we feel suffering, it doesn’t mean that something is wrong. What a relief. Finally somebody told the truth. Suffering is part of life, and we don’t have to feel it’s happening because we personally made the wrong move. In reality, however, when we feel suffering, we think that something is wrong. As long as we’re addicted to hope, we feel that we can tone our experience down or liven it up or change it somehow, and we continue to suffer a lot. Pema Chodron mean reality moving Relaxing with something as familiar as loneliness is good discipline for realizing the profundity of the unresolved moments of our lives. We are cheating ourselves when we run away from the ambiguity of loneliness.....Rather than persecuting yourself or feeling that something terribly wrong is happening, right there in the moment of sadness and longing, could you relax and touch the limitless space of the human heart? Pema Chodron loneliness running cheating The biggest obstacle to taking a bigger perspective on life is that our emotions capture and blind us. Pema Chodron obstacles perspective emotion Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already. Pema Chodron meditation-and-yoga practice trying Everything is material for the seed of happiness, if you look into it with inquisitiveness and curiosity. The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment. There always is the potential to create an environment of blame -or one that is conducive to loving-kindness. Pema Chodron curiosity kindness writing One way to practice staying present is to simply sit still for a while and listen. For one minute, listen to the sounds close to you. For one minute, listen to the sounds at a distance. Just listen attentively. Pema Chodron buddhist distance practice Sometimes we find that we like our thoughts so much that we don't want to let them go. Pema Chodron attachment want sometimes While we are sitting in meditation, we are simply exploring humanity and all of creation in the form of ourselves. Pema Chodron meditation sitting humanity To lead a life that goes beyond pettiness and prejudice and always wanting to make sure that everything turns out on our own terms, to lead a more passionate, full, and delightful life than that, we must realize that we can endure a lot of pain and pleasure for the sake of finding out who we are and what this world is... Pema Chodron passionate prejudice pain In order to have compassion for others, we have to have compassion for ourselves. Pema Chodron compassion-for-others compassion order It has a lot to do with developing patience, not with the check-out person so much, but with your own pain that arises, the rawness and the vulnerability, and sending some kind of warmth and love to that rawness and soreness. I think that's how we have to practice. Pema Chodron pain practice thinking
