So war and peace start in the human heart. Whether that heart is open or whether that heart closes has global implications.
PEMA CHODRONSo 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.
More Pema Chodron Quotes
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All you need to know is that the future is wide open and you are about to create it by what you do.
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Appreciate everything, even the ordinary. Especially the ordinary.
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Never give up on yourself. Then you will never give up on others.
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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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Usually we think that brave people have no fear. The truth is that they are intimate with fear.
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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.
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Since death is certain and the time of death is uncertain, what is the most important thing?
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Openness doesn’t come from resisting our fears but rather from getting to know them well.
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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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Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible in us be found.
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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.
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In meditation, you learn how to get out of your own way long enough for there to be room for your wisdom to manifest.
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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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Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.
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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.
PEMA CHODRON