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Discomfort of any kind becomes the basis for practice. We breathe in knowing our pain is shared.

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
Inspire
Becomes
Knowing
Practice
Discomfort
Freedom
Shared
Pain
Basis
Kind
Bases
Breathe

More quotes by Pema Chodron

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Every small problem most likely stems from the same root as large problems, and so there is no need to always go deep. One can use anything for the therapeutic process and/if this link is made.
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Treat yourself as your own beloved child.
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As our kindness for ourselves grows, so does our kindness for other people.
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Suffering begins to dissolve when we can question the belief or the hope that there's anywhere to hide.
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It is possible to move through the drama of our lives without believing so earnestly in the character that we play.
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We can gradually drop our ideals of who we think we ought to be, or who we think we want to be, or who we think other people think we want to be or ought to be.
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Meditation takes us just as we are, with our confusion and our sanity. This complete acceptance of ourselves as we are is called maitri, or unconditional friendliness, a simple, direct relationship with the way we are.
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Patience takes courage. It is not an ideal state of calm. In fact, when we practice patience we will see our agitation far more clearly.
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Meditation isn't really about getting rid of thoughts, it's about changing the pattern of grasping on to things, which in our everyday experience is our thoughts.
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The idea is to develop sympathy for your own confusion.
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The most important aspect of being on a spiritual path may be to just keep moving.
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Searching for happiness prevents us from ever finding it.
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The approach is that the best way to use unwanted circumstances on the path of enlightenment is not to resist but to lean into them.
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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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We sow the seeds of our future hells or happiness by the way we open or close our minds right now.
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Honesty without kindness, humor, and goodheartedness can be just mean. From the very beginning to the very end, pointing to our own hearts to discover what is true isn’t just a matter of honesty but also of compassion and respect for what we see.
Pema Chodron
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Learning how to be kind to ourselves, learning how to respect ourselves, is important. The reason it's important is that, fundamentally, when we look into our own hearts and begin to discover what is confused and what is brilliant, what is bitter and what is sweet, it isn't just ourselves that we're discovering. We're discovering the universe.
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Each of us has a soft spot: the place in our experience where we feel vulnerable and tender. This soft spot is inherent in appreciation and love, and it is equally inherent in pain.
Pema Chodron
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Resistance to unwanted circumstances has the power to keep those circumstances alive and well for a very long time.
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The only way to ease our pain is to experience it fully. Learn to stay with uneasiness, learn to stay with the tightening, so that the habitual chain reaction doesn't continue to rule your life.
Pema Chodron