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Compassion practice is daring. It involves learning to relax and allowing ourselves to move gently toward what scares us.

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
Compassion
Relaxation
Move
Daring
Learning
Involves
Practice
Scare
Moving
Allowing
Relax
Buddhist
Scares
Toward
Gently

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We tend to forget that we are part of the natural scheme of things.
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We work on ourselves in order to help others, but also we help others in order to work on ourselves.
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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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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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At the root of all the harm we cause is ignorance.
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Let your curiosity be greater than your fear.
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We feel that we have to be right so that we can feel good... The whole right and wrong business closes us down and makes our world smaller.
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The first noble truth of the Buddha is that when we feel suffering, it doesn’t mean that something is wrong. What a relief.
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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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It becomes increasingly clear that we won’t be free of self-destructive patterns unless we develop a compassionate understanding of what they are.
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Enlightenment is a direct experience with reality.
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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 more neurosis the more wisdom.
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Just where you are-that's the place to start!
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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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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.
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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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Use your life to wake you up.
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Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.
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When there's a disappointment, I don't know if it's the end of the story. It may just be the beginning of a great adventure.
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