It isn’t what happens to us that causes us to suffer; it’s what we say to ourselves about what happens.
PEMA CHODRONMeditation isn’t really about getting rid of thoughts, it’s about changing the pattern of grasping on to things, which in our everyday experience is our thoughts.
More Pema Chodron Quotes
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Anything we experience, no matter how challenging, can become an open pathway to awakening.
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Use what seems like poison as medicine. Use your personal suffering as the path to compassion for all beings.
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If you follow your heart, you’re going to find that it is often extremely inconvenient.
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All the wars, all the hatred, all the ignorance in the world come out of being so invested in our opinions.
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So many of us start along the spiritual path because we are suffering. But you must realize that for real healing to occur, there must first be deep compassion for yourself, especially the parts of yourself you dislike or consider ugly.
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Appreciate everything, even the ordinary. Especially the ordinary.
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The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.
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When we are willing to stay even a moment with uncomfortable energy, we gradually learn not to fear it.
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The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.
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If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there’s an arrow in your heart.
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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.
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Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing.
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We work on ourselves in order to help others, but also we help others in order to work on ourselves.
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The central question of a warrior’s training is not how we avoid uncertainty and fear but how we relate to discomfort.
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Meditation isn’t really about getting rid of thoughts, it’s about changing the pattern of grasping on to things, which in our everyday experience is our thoughts.
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Feel the feelings and drop the story.
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Don’t worry about achieving. Don’t worry about perfection. Just be there each moment as best you can.
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Openness doesn’t come from resisting our fears but rather from getting to know them well.
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In the end, that’s what we all need more than anything else: to be there for each other, in every kind of situation.
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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.
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As our kindness for ourselves grows, so does our kindness for other people.
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Every moment is unique, unknown, completely fresh.
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Treat yourself as your own beloved child.
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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.
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The future is completely open and we are writing it moment to moment.
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The essence of generosity is letting go. Pain is always a sign that we are holding on to something – usually ourselves.
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