This very moment is the perfect teacher, and, lucky for us, it's with us wherever we go. Pema Chodron More Quotes by Pema Chodron More Quotes From Pema Chodron If we knew that tonight we were going to go blind, we would take a long, last real look at every blade of grass, every cloud formation, every speck of dust, every rainbow, raindrop-everything. Pema Chodron dust real clouds That could be applied to whatever you feel. Maybe anger is your thing. You just go out of control and you see red, and the next thing you know you're yelling or throwing something or hitting someone. At that time, begin to accept the fact that that's "enraged buddha." If you feel jealous, that's "jealous buddha." If you have indigestion, that's "buddha with heartburn." If you're happy, "happy buddha"; if bored, "bored buddha." In other words, anything that you can experience or think is worthy of compassion; anything you could think or feel is worthy of appreciation. Pema Chodron jealous maturity appreciation I have all the support I need to simply relax and be with the transitional, in-process quality of my life. I have all I need to engage in the process of awakening. Pema Chodron relax support quality Each time you stay present with fear and uncertainty, you're letting go of a habitual way of finding security and comfort. Pema Chodron comfort letting-go way The only way to ease our pain is to experience it fully. Learn to stay with uneasiness, learn to stay with the tightening, so that the habitual chain reaction doesn't continue to rule your life. Pema Chodron pain ease way If right now our emotional reaction to seeing a certain person or hearing certain news is to fly into a rage or to get despondent or something equally extreme, it's because we have been Pema Chodron news emotional long Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. Pema Chodron buddhism healing fall Simply be present with your own shifting energies and with the unpredictabilit y of life as it unfolds. Pema Chodron spiritual inspirational life The wisdom, the strength, the confidence - the awakened heart and mind are always accessible -- here, now, always. Pema Chodron heart-and-mind mind heart Usually we regard loneliness as an enemy. Heartache is not something we choose to invite in. It's restless and pregnant and hot with the desire to escape and find something or someone to keep us company. When we can rest in the middle, we begin to have a nonthreatening relationship with loneliness, a relaxing and cooling loneliness that completely turns our usual fearful patterns upside down. Pema Chodron heartache loneliness justice The Process of becoming unstuck requires tremendous bravery, because basically we are completely changing our way of perceiving reality. Pema Chodron bravery reality way Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment. Pema Chodron path-to-enlightenment enlightenment path 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 having compassion for all those unwanted parts of ourselves, all those imperfections that we don't even want to look at. Pema Chodron imperfection compassion self To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. Pema Chodron nests experience alive We cannot be present and run our story-line at the same time. Pema Chodron spiritual stories running To live is to be willing to die over and over again. Pema Chodron willing-to-die willing dies How do we cultivate the conditions for joy to expand? We train in staying present. Pema Chodron staying train joy Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity. Pema Chodron empathy compassion real We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience and Infinite love is the only truth; everything else is an illusion. Pema Chodron positive-thinking spiritual love-is Without loving-kindness for ourselves, it is difficult, if not impossible, to genuinely feel it for others. Pema Chodron difficult impossible kindness
