When we resist change, it’s called suffering. But when we can completely let go and not struggle against it, when we can embrace the groundlessness of our situation and relax into it’s dynamic quality, that’s called enlightenment.
PEMA CHODRONOur true nature is like a precious jewel: although it may be temporarily buried in mud, it remains completely brilliant and unaffected. We simply have to uncover it.
More Pema Chodron Quotes
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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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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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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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By the way that we think and by the way that we believe in things, in that way our world is created.
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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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Deep down in the human spirit, there is a reservoir of courage. It is always available, always waiting to be discovered.
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Openness doesn’t come from resisting our fears but rather from getting to know them well.
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There’s nothing more important on our spiritual path than developing gentleness to oneself.
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Obstacles are our friends: they teach us where we’re stuck.
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As our kindness for ourselves grows, so does our kindness for other people.
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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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So war and peace start in the human heart. Whether that heart is open or whether that heart closes has global implications.
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It isn’t what happens to us that causes us to suffer; it’s what we say to ourselves about what happens.
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Never give up on yourself. Then you will never give up on others.
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Appreciate everything, even the ordinary. Especially the ordinary.
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