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When we are willing to stay even a moment with uncomfortable energy, we gradually learn not to fear it.

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
Moment
Learn
Energy
Fear
Moments
Gradually
Even
Uncomfortable
Stay
Willing

More quotes by Pema Chodron

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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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I can't overestimate the importance of accepting ourselves exactly as we are right now, not as we wish we were or think we ought to be.
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Openness doesn’t come from resisting our fears but rather from getting to know them well.
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It's hard to know whether to laugh or to cry at the human predicament. Here we are with so much wisdom and tenderness, and—without even knowing it—we cover it over to protect ourselves from insecurity. Although we have the potential to experience the freedom of a butterfly, we mysteriously prefer the small and fearful cocoon of ego.
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The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.
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In the most ordinary terms, egolessness is a flexible identity. It manifests as inquisitiveness , as adaptability, as humor, as playfulness. It is our capacity to relax with not knowing, not figuring everything out, with not being at all sure who we are, or who anyone else is, either.
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Just where you are-that's the place to start!
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When we scratch the wound and give into our addictions we do not allow the wound to heal.
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Honesty without kindness, humor, and goodheartedness can be just mean.
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Our true nature is like a precious jewel: although it may be temporarily buried in mud, it remains completely brilliant and unaffected. We simply have to uncover it.
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What you do for yourself, you're doing for others, and what you do for others, you're doing for yourself.
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Each time you stay present with fear and uncertainty, you're letting go of a habitual way of finding security and comfort.
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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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As long as our orientation is toward perfection or success, we will never learn about unconditional friendship with ourselves, nor will we find compassion.
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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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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.
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Until we stop clinging to the concept of good and evil, the world will continue to manifest as friendly goddesses and harmful demons.
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Instead of asking ourselves, 'How can I find security and happiness?' we could ask ourselves, 'Can I touch the center of my pain? Can I sit with suffering, both yours and mine, without trying to make it go away? Can I stay present to the ache of loss or disgrace-disapp ointment in all its many forms-and let it open me?' This is the trick.
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we come to realize that other people's welfare is just as important as our own. In helping them, we help ourselves. In helping ourselves, we help the world.
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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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