Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us. Pema Chodron More Quotes by Pema Chodron More Quotes From Pema Chodron Most spiritual experiences begin with suffering. They begin with groundlessness. They begin when the rug has been pulled out from under us. Pema Chodron has-beenssufferingspiritual If we're willing to give up hope that insecurity and pain can be eliminated, then we can have the courage to relax with the groundlessness of our situation. This is the first step on the path. Pema Chodron insecuritygiving-uppain The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves. Pema Chodron freedominspirationalgiving In meditation and in our daily lives there are three qualities that we can nurture, cultivate, and bring out. We already possess these, but they can be ripened: precision, gentleness, and the ability to let go. Pema Chodron yogaletting-goinspiring Since death is certain and the time of death is uncertain, what is the most important thing? Pema Chodron certainuncertainimportant There comes a time when the bubble of ego is popped and you can’t get the ground back for an extended period of time. Those times, when you absolutely cannot get it back together, are the most rich and powerful times in our lives. Pema Chodron egopowerfultogether Instead of making others right or wrong, or bottling up right and wrong in ourselves, there's a middle way, a very powerful middle way...... Could we have no agenda when we walk into a room with another person, not know what to say, not make that person wrong or right? Could we see, hear, feel other people as they really are? It is powerful to practice this way..... true communication can happen only in that open space. Pema Chodron communicationpowerfulinspirational The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at ourselves, we feel confident and fearless about looking into someone else's eyes. Pema Chodron buddhistheartpeace When Things Fall Apart” and I quote “Life is a good teacher and a good friend. Things are always in transition, if we could only realize it. Nothing ever sums itself up in the way that we like to dream about. The off-center, in-between state is an ideal situation, a situation in which we don't get caught and we can open our hearts and minds beyond limit. It's a very tender, nonaggressive, open-ended state of affairs. Pema Chodron hopedreamteacher Constantly apply cheerfulness, if for no other reason than because you are on this spiritual path. Have a sense of gratitude to everything, even difficult emotions, because of their potential to wake you up. Pema Chodron gratitudewakes-youspiritual It isn't the things that happen to us in our lives that cause us to suffer, it's how we relate to the things that happen to us that causes us to suffer. Pema Chodron perspectivesufferingspiritual As human beings, not only do we seek resolution, but we also feel that we deserve resolution. However, not only do we not deserve resolution, we suffer from resolution. We don't deserve resolution; we deserve something better than that. We deserve our birthright, which is the middle way, an open state of mind that can relax with paradox and ambiguity. Pema Chodron buddhistsufferingmind Without giving up hope—that there’s somewhere better to be, that there’s someone better to be—we will never relax with where we are or who we are. Pema Chodron relaxgiving-upgiving When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it's bottomless, that it doesn't have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast, and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space. Pema Chodron heartinspirationallove The most important aspect of being on a spiritual path may be to just keep moving. Pema Chodron importantspiritualmoving The next step is to learn to communicate with the people that you feel are causing your pain and misery- not to learn how to prove them wrong and yourself right but how to communicate from the heart. Pema Chodron painheartpeople The truth is that good and bad coexist; sour and sweet coexist. They aren't really opposed to each other. Pema Chodron sourtruth-issweet it is only to the extent that we are willing to expose ourselves again and again to annihilation that we are able to find that part of ourselves that is indestructible. Pema Chodron again-and-againannihilationable If you ask why we meditate, I would say it's so we can become more flexible and tolerant to the present moment. Pema Chodron flexibleasksmoments If we begin to get in touch with whatever we feel with some kind of kindness, our protective shells will melt, and we'll find that more areas of our lives are workable. AS we learn to have compassion for ourselves, the circle of compassion for others-what and whom we can work with, and how-becomes wider. Pema Chodron circlescompassionkindness
