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The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

Pema Chodron

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Pema Chodron
Age: 88
Born: 1936
Born: July 14
Clergyman
Philosopher
Writer
New York City
New York
Deirdre Blomfield-Brow
Self
Deception
Bravery
Essence
Without

More quotes by Pema Chodron

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Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already.
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Fear is a natural reaction of moving closer to the truth. If we commit ourselves to staying right where we are, then our experience becomes very vivid. Things become very clear when there is nowhere to escape.
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The truth is that good and bad coexist sour and sweet coexist. They aren't really opposed to each other.
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As each breath goes out, let it be the end of that moment and the birth of something new. . .
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At some point, we realize that what we do for ourselves benefits others, and what we do for others benefits us.
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We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart.
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When we touch the center of sorrow, when we sit with discomfort without trying to fix it, when we stay present to the pain of disapproval or betrayal and let it soften us, these are times that we connect with bohdichitta.
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It's important to remember, when we're out there aggressively working for reform, that, even if our particular issue doesn't get resolved, we are adding peace to the world. We have to do our best and at the same time give up all hope of fruition.
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It is only when we begin to relax with ourselves that meditation becomes a transformative process. Only when we relate with ourselves without moralizing, without harshness, without deception, can we let go of harmful patterns. Without maitri (metta), renunciation of old habits becomes abusive. This is an important point.
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Impermanence is a principle of harmony. When we don't struggle against it, we are in harmony with reality.
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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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We are undoing a pattern... It's the human pattern: we project onto the world a zillion possibilities of attaining resolution.
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This very moment is the perfect teacher, and, lucky for us, it's with us wherever we go.
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Never underestimate the power of compassionately recognizing what's going on.
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How will we experience the world a month, a year, or five years from now? Will we be even angrier, more grasping and fearful, or will some shift have occurred? This depends entirely on the tendencies we reinforce today.
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Just where you are-that's the place to start!
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Compassion practice is daring. It involves learning to relax and allowing ourselves to move gently toward what scares us.
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Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us.
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The painful thing is that when we buy into disapproval,we are practicing disapproval. When we buy into harshness,we are practicing harshness.
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Being preoccupied with our self-image is like being deaf and blind. It's like standing in the middle of a vast field of wildflowers with a black hood over our heads. It's like coming upon a tree of singing birds while wearing earplugs.
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