Pema Chodron quotes

Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know. (Pema Chodron)
Rejoicing in the good fortune of others is a practice that can help us when we feel emotionally shut down and unable to connect with others. Rejoicing generates good will. View quote
Pema Chodron
The Buddha taught that we're not actually in control, which is a pretty scary idea. But when you let things be as they are, you will be a much happier, more balanced, compassionate person. View quote
Pema Chodron
Sometimes people's spiritual ideas become fixed and they use them against those who don't share their beliefs - in effect, becoming fundamentalist. It's very dangerous - the finger of righteous indignation pointing at someone who is identified as bad or wrong. View quote
Pema Chodron
I equate ego with trying to figure everything out instead of going with the flow. That closes your heart and your mind to the person or situation that's right in front of you, and you miss so much. View quote
Pema Chodron
Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth. View quote
Pema Chodron
The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment. View quote
Pema Chodron
The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new. View quote
Pema Chodron
To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. View quote
Pema Chodron
If right now our emotional reaction to seeing a certain person or hearing certain news is to fly into a rage or to get despondent or something equally extreme, it's because we have been cultivating that particular habit for a very long time. View quote
Pema Chodron
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. (Pema Chodron)
Pain is not a punishment; pleasure is not a reward. View quote
Pema Chodron
As long as our orientation is toward perfection or success, we will never learn about unconditional friendship with ourselves, nor will we find compassion. View quote
Pema Chodron
We are all capable of becoming fundamentalists because we get addicted to other people's wrongness. View quote
Pema Chodron
True compassion does not come from wanting to help out those less fortunate than ourselves but from realizing our kinship with all beings. View quote
Pema Chodron
It's also helpful to realize that this very body that we have, that's sitting right here right now... with its aches and it pleasures... is exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, fully alive. View quote
Pema Chodron
If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher. View quote
Pema Chodron
The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment. View quote
Pema Chodron
According to the Buddhist belief, you can go on and on indefinitely, so you see your life as just a brief moment in time. View quote
Pema Chodron
As Buddhism moved from one culture to another, it always adapted. View quote
Pema Chodron
The next time you lose heart and you can't bear to experience what you're feeling, you might recall this instruction: change the way you see it and lean in. Instead of blaming our discomfort on outer circumstances or on our own weakness, we can choose to stay present and awake to our experience, not rejecting it, not grasping it, not buying the stories that we relentlessly tell ourselves. This is priceless advice that addresses the true cause of suffering-yours, mine, and that of all living beings. (Pema Chodron)
You are the sky. Everything else - it's just the weather. View quote
Pema Chodron
It isn't what happens to us that causes us to suffer; it's what we say to ourselves about what happens. View quote
Pema Chodron
Times are difficult globally; awakening is no longer a luxury or an ideal. It's becoming critical. We don't need to add more depression, more discouragement, or more anger to what's already here. It's becoming essential that we learn how to relate sanely with difficult times. The earth seems to be beseeching us to connect with joy and discover our innermost essence. This is the best way that we can benefit others. View quote
Pema Chodron
What you do for yourself, any gesture of kindness, any gesture of gentleness, any gesture of honesty and clear seeing toward yourself, will affect how you experience your world. In fact, it will transform how you experience the world. What you do for yourself, you're doing for others, and what you do for others, you're doing for yourself. View quote
Pema Chodron