Pema Chödrön Quotes
Best 34 Quotes by Pema Chödrön – Page 1 of 2
“All you need to know is that the future is wide open and you are about to create it by what you do.”
“Do I prefer to grow up and relate to life directly, or do I choose to live and die in fear?”
“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. They teach us to perk up and lean in when we feel we’d rather collapse and back away. They’re like messengers that show us, with terrifying clarity, exactly where we’re stuck. This very moment is the perfect teacher, and, lucky for us, it’s with us wherever we are.”
“If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.”
“Just where you are – that’s the place to start.”
“Let your curiosity be greater than your fear.”
“Like all explorers, we are drawn to discover what’s out there without knowing yet if we have the courage to face it.”
“Running from the immediacy of our experience is like preferring death to life.”
“Suffering usually relates to wanting things to be different from the way they are.”
“The more you try to get it your way, the less you feel at home.”
“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.”
“The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.”
“The way to dissolve our resistance to life is to meet it face-to-face.”
“We sow the seeds of our future hell or happiness by the way we open or close our minds right now.”
“You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather.”
“You must face annihilation over and over again to find what is indestructible in yourself.”
You Might Like
“Meditation allows us to directly participate in our lives instead of living life as an afterthought.”
The Places That Scare You Quotes
“Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.”
“Each moment is an opportunity to make a fresh start.”
“In meditation we discover our inherent restlessness. Sometimes we get up and leave. Sometimes we sit there but our bodies wiggle and squirm and our minds go far away. This can be so uncomfortable that we feel’s it’s impossible to stay. Yet this feeling can teach us not just about ourselves but what it is to be human. We really don’t want to stay with the nakedness of our present experience. It goes against the grain to stay present. These are the times when only gentleness and a sense of humor can give us the strength to settle down so whenever we wander off, we gently encourage ourselves to 'stay' and settle down. Are we 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!”
“Interrupting our destructive habits and awakening our heart is the work of a lifetime.”
“Live your life as an experiment.”
“Patience is the training in abiding with the restlessness of our energy and letting things evolve at their own speed.”
“Rejoicing in ordinary things is not sentimental or trite. It actually takes guts. Each time we drop our complaints and allow everyday good fortune to inspire us, we enter the warrior's world.”
“The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.”
“Things are as bad and as good as they seem. There's no need to add anything extra.”
“When we touch the center of sorrow, when we sit with discomfort without trying to fix it, when we stay present to the pain of disapproval or betrayal and let it soften us, these are times that we connect with bohdichitta.”
When Things Fall Apart Quotes
“Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.”
“Rather than letting our negativity get the better of us, we could acknowledge that right now we feel like a piece of shit and not be squeamish about taking a good look.”
“Sometimes when things fall apart, well, that’s the big opportunity to change.”
“The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.”
You Might Like
“Sometimes pain and illness are not meant to be removed. You can't second-guess God. Rather than praying for it to go away, it's often wiser to pray that you learn as much from it as you possibly can.”
