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 CHODRONLet difficulty transform you. And it will. In my experience, we just need help in learning how not to run away.
More Pema Chodron Quotes
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Sticking with that uncertainty, getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos, learning not to panic-this is the spiritual path.
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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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Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.
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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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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 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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The future is completely open and we are writing it moment to moment.
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All situations teach you, and often it’s the tough ones that teach you best.
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Be kinder to yourself. And then let your kindness flood the world.
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We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us so that we become increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder and more open to what scares us. We always have this choice.
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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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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.
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We 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.
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The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.
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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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