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It isn't the things that are happening to us that cause us to suffer, it's what we say to ourselves about the things that are happening. The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

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
Makes
Cling
Truth
Suffer
Anything
Happenings
Believe
Happening
Things
Cause
Hear
Causes
Suffering
Unavailable

More quotes by Pema Chodron

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If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.
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When we protect ourselves so we won't feel pain, that protection becomes like armor, like armor that imprisons the softness of of the heart.
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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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Resistance to unwanted circumstances has the power to keep those circumstances alive and well for a very long time.
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Openness doesn’t come from resisting our fears but rather from getting to know them well.
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The most complete and true happiness comes in moments when you feel right there, completely present, with no ideas about good and bad, right and wrong - just a sense of open heart and open mind.
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The next step is to learn to communicate with the people that you feel are causing your pain and misery- not to learn how to prove them wrong and yourself right but how to communicate from the heart.
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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. The ground of practice is you or me or whoever we are right now, just as we are. That’s the ground, that’s what we study, that’s what we come to know with tremendous curiosity and interest.
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You build inner strength through embracing the totality of your experience, both the delightful parts and the difficult parts.
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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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To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.
Pema Chodron
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I'm here to tell you that the path to peace is right there, when you want to get away.
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Feel the feelings and drop the story.
Pema Chodron
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The real thing that we renounce is the tenacious hope that we could be saved from being who we are.
Pema Chodron
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If you’re aggressive in your dealings, that’s how you’ll be regarded in the world. You might smile and give generously, but if you frequently explode in anger, people never feel comfortable in your presence and you’ll never have peace of mind.
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One way to practice staying present is to simply sit still for a while and listen. For one minute, listen to the sounds close to you. For one minute, listen to the sounds at a distance. Just listen attentively.
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The third noble truth says that the cessation of suffering is letting go of holding on to ourselves.
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We can put our whole heart into whatever we do but if we freeze our attitude into for or against, we're setting ourselves up for stress. Instead, we could just go forward with curiosity, wondering where this experiment will lead. This kind of open-ended inquisitiveness captures the spirit of enthusiasm, or heroic perseverance.
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The essence of generosity is letting go. Pain is always a sign that we are holding on to something - usually ourselves.
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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.
Pema Chodron