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Openness doesn’t come from resisting our fears but rather from getting to know them well.

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
Fears
Getting
Rather
Doesn
Wells
Come
Well
Resisting
Openness

More quotes by Pema Chodron

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Just where you are-that's the place to start!
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Feel the feelings and drop the story.
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Enlightenment is a direct experience with reality.
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Tonglen is a way for you to be with people who need you - beginning with yourself.
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Resisting what is happening is a major cause of suffering.
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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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My experience with forgiveness is that it sort of comes spontaneously at a certain point and to try to force it it's not really forgiveness. It's Buddhist philosophy or something spiritual jargon that you're trying to live up to but you're just using it against yourself as a reason why you're not okay.
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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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Since death is certain and the time of death is uncertain, what is the most important thing?
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True compassion does not come from wanting to help out those less fortunate than ourselves but from realizing our kinship with all beings.
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We're afraid that this anger or sorrow or loneliness is going to last forever... Instead, acting it out is what makes it last.
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The real thing that we renounce is the tenacious hope that we could be saved from being who we are.
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In a nutshell, when life is pleasant, think of others. When life is a burden, think of others.
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Never underestimate the desire to bolt.
Pema Chodron
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All you need to know is that the future is wide open and you are about to create it by what you do.
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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.
Pema Chodron
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If you see a homeless person on the street, and they need food, housing, medical attention - if you can give that, do it. But at the same time, work with tonglen, because that is how you start dissolving the barrier between you and them.
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The more neurosis the more wisdom.
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Anything we experience, no matter how challenging, can become an open pathway to awakening.
Pema Chodron
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Awareness is the key. Do we see the stories that we're telling ourselves and question their validity?
Pema Chodron