Feeling irritated, restless, afraid, and hopeless is a reminder to listen more carefully. Pema Chodron More Quotes by Pema Chodron More Quotes From Pema Chodron If you look back at history or you look at any place in the world where religious groups or ethnic groups or racial groups or political groups are killing each other, or families have been feuding for years and years, you can see - because you're not particularly invested in that particular argument - that there will never be peace until somebody softens what is rigid in their heart. Pema Chodron religious heart peace If it's painful, you become willing not just to endure it but also to let it awaken your heart and soften you. You learn to embrace it. Pema Chodron pain hurt heart The Buddha taught that flexibility and openness bring strength and that running from groundlessness weakens us and brings pain. But do we understand that becoming familiar with the running away is the key? Openness doesn't come from resisting our fears but from getting to know them well Pema Chodron pain keys running Meditation is not about getting out of ourselves or achieving something better. It is about getting in touch with what you already are. Pema Chodron something-better achieve meditation People get into a heavy-duty sin and guilt trip, feeling that if things are going wrong, that means that they did something bad and they are being punished. That's not the idea at all. Pema Chodron mean people ideas As Buddhism moved from one culture to another, it always adapted. Pema Chodron adapted buddhism culture Finding the courage to go to the places that scare us cannot happen without compassionate inquiry into the workings of ego... Openness doesn't come from resisting our fears but from getting to know them well. Pema Chodron inquiry scare ego Ego is something that you come to know - something that you befriend by not acting out or by repressing all the feelings that you feel. Pema Chodron ego acting feelings 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 an open heart and the willingness not to instantly try to get ground under our feet. For instance, if what we're feeling is rage, we usually assume that there are only two ways to relate to it. One is to blame others. Lay it all on somebody else; drive all blames into everyone else. The other alternative is to feel guilty about our rage and blame ourselves. Pema Chodron buddhist pain heart Blaming is a way to protect your heart, trying to protect what is soft and open and tender in yourself. Pema Chodron heart trying way A heartfelt sense of aspiring cuts through negativity about yourself; it cuts through the heavy trips you lay on yourself. Pema Chodron negativity cutting ambition That nothing is static or fixed, that all is fleeting and impermanent, is the first mark of existence. Everything is in process. Pema Chodron fleeting change firsts 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 the environment suffer also, but you suffer more because you're being eaten up inside with rage, causing you to hate yourself more and more Pema Chodron hate suffering people What happens with you when you begin to feel uneasy, unsettled, queasy? Notice the panic, notice when you instantly grab for something. (51) Pema Chodron uneasy panic feels Fear itself is the vanguard of wisdom Pema Chodron vanguard Don’t get caught up in hopes of what you’ll achieve and how good your situation will be some day in the future. What you do right now is what matters. Pema Chodron caught achieve what-matters Opening to the world begins to benefit ourselves and others simultaneously. The more we relate with others, the more quickly we discover where we're blocked. Pema Chodron blocked benefits world It is a commitment to respect whatever life brings that we develop wholehearted determination to use discomfort as an opportunity for awakening, rather than trying to make it disappear. Pema Chodron determination opportunity commitment I'm here to tell you that the path to peace is right there, when you want to get away. Pema Chodron get-away path want When things are shaky and nothing is working, we might realize that we are on the verge of something. Pema Chodron realizing frustration might
