Compassionate action involves working with ourselves as much as working with others. Pema Chodron More Quotes by Pema Chodron More Quotes From Pema Chodron Underneath our ordinary lives, underneath all the talking we do, all the moving we do, all the thoughts in our minds, there's a fundamental groundlessness. It's there bubbling along all the time. We experience it as restlessness and edginess. We experience it as fear. It motivates passion, aggression, ignorance, jealousy, and pride, but we never get down to the essence of it. Pema Chodron passion ignorance moving The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment. Pema Chodron obstacles resentment joy Over time, as the thinking mind begins to settle [through the practice of meditation], we’ll start to see our patterns and habits far more clearly. Sometimes this can be a painful experience. I can’t overestimate the importance of accepting ourselves exactly as we are right now, not as we wish we were or think we ought to be. By cultivating nonjudgmental openness to ourselves and to whatever arises, to our surprise and delight we will find ourselves genuinely welcoming the never-pin-downable quality of life, experiencing it as a friend, a teacher, and a support, and no longer as an enemy. Pema Chodron painful-experiences teacher thinking Hell is just resistance to life. Pema Chodron resistance hell Our patterns are well established, seductive, and comforting. Just wanting for them to be ventilated isn't enough. Those of us who struggle with this know. Pema Chodron karma practice struggle We are all capable of becoming fundamentalists because we get addicted to other people's wrongness. Pema Chodron capable becoming people Remember that this is not something we do just once or twice. Interrupting our destructive habits and awakening our heart is the work of a lifetime. Pema Chodron awakening heart remember The painful thing is that when we buy into disapproval,we are practicing disapproval. When we buy into harshness,we are practicing harshness. Pema Chodron painful-things disapproval painful Now is the only time. How we relate to it creates the future. In other words, if we're going to be more cheerful in the future, it's because of our aspiration and exertion to be cheerful in the present. What we do accumulates; the future is the result of what we do right now. Pema Chodron cheerful results moments The treasure we seek requires no lengthy expedition, no expensive equipment, no superior aptitude or special company. All we lack is the willingness to imagine that we already have everything we need. The only thing missing is our consent to be where we are. Pema Chodron needs If you’re aggressive in your dealings, that’s how you’ll be regarded in the world. You might smile and give generously, but if you frequently explode in anger, people never feel comfortable in your presence and you’ll never have peace of mind. Pema Chodron mind giving people We can stop struggling with what occurs and see its true face without calling it the enemy. It helps to remember that our spiritual practice is not about accomplishing anything - not about winning or losing - but about ceasing to struggle and relaxing as it is. That is what we are doing when we sit down to meditate. That attitude spreads into the rest of our lives. Pema Chodron struggle spiritual attitude When you open yourself to the continually changing, impermanent, dynamic nature of your own being and of reality, you increase your capacity to love and care about other people and your capacity to not be afraid. You're able to keep your eyes open, your heart open, and your mind open. And you notice when you get caught up in prejudice, bias, and aggression. You develop an enthusiasm for no longer watering those negative seeds, from now until the day you die. And, you begin to think of your life as offering endless opportunities to start to do things differently. Pema Chodron eye heart inspirational Somehow, in the process of trying to deny that things are always changing, we lose our sense of the sacredness of life. We tend to forget that we are part of the natural scheme of things. Pema Chodron buddhism suffering work When we sit down to meditate, we connect with something unconditional - a state of mind, a basic environment that does not grasp or reject anything. Meditation is probably the only activity that doesn't add anything to the picture. Everything is allowed to come and go without further embellishment. Meditation is a totally nonviolent, non aggressive occupation. Not filling the space, allowing for the possibility of connecting with unconditional openness - this provides the basis for real change. Pema Chodron space meditation real There isn't anything except your own life that can be used as ground for your spiritual practice. Spiritual practice is your life, twenty-four hours a day. Pema Chodron four practice spiritual When we feel left out, inadequate, or lonely, can we take a warrior’s perspective and contact bodhichitta? Pema Chodron warrior perspective lonely Feeling irritated, restless, afraid, and hopeless is a reminder to listen more carefully. Pema Chodron irritated hopeless feelings To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. To live fully is to be always in no-man's-land, to experience each moment as completely new and fresh. To live is to be willing to die over and over again. Pema Chodron alive land men Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us. Pema Chodron wretchedness inspire needs
