When things fall apart in your life, you feel as if your whole world is crumbling. But actually it’s your fixed identity that’s crumbling. And as Chögyam Trungpa used to tell us, that’s cause for celebration.
PEMA CHODRONWhen things fall apart in your life, you feel as if your whole world is crumbling. But actually it’s your fixed identity that’s crumbling. And as Chögyam Trungpa used to tell us, that’s cause for celebration.
PEMA CHODRONObstacles are our friends: they teach us where we’re stuck.
PEMA CHODRONInner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.
PEMA CHODRONWe have a choice. We can spend our whole life suffering because we can’t relax with how things really are, or we can relax and embrace the open-endedness of the human situation, which is fresh, unfixated, unbiased.
PEMA CHODRONWhatever happens in your life, joyful or painful, do not be swept away by reactivity. Be patient with yourself and don’t lose your sense of perspective.
PEMA CHODRONSo war and peace start in the human heart. Whether that heart is open or whether that heart closes has global implications.
PEMA CHODRONOne of the deepest habitual patterns that we have is to feel that now is not enough.
PEMA CHODRONWhen we are willing to stay even a moment with uncomfortable energy, we gradually learn not to fear it.
PEMA CHODRONTreat yourself as your own beloved child.
PEMA CHODRONThe greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.
PEMA CHODRONBy the way that we think and by the way that we believe in things, in that way our world is created.
PEMA CHODRONAnything we experience, no matter how challenging, can become an open pathway to awakening.
PEMA CHODRONAll the wars, all the hatred, all the ignorance in the world come out of being so invested in our opinions.
PEMA CHODRONUse what seems like poison as medicine. Use your personal suffering as the path to compassion for all beings.
PEMA CHODRONSince death is certain and the time of death is uncertain, what is the most important thing?
PEMA CHODRONIf 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.
PEMA CHODRON