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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.

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
Move
Possible
Moving
Lives
Character
Without
Earnestly
Play
Believing
Believe
Drama

More quotes by Pema Chodron

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Sitting meditation gives us a way to move closer to our thoughts and emotions and to get in touch with our bodies.
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In truth, there is enormous space in which to live our everyday lives.
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When we resist change, it’s called suffering. But when we can completely let go and not struggle against it, when we can embrace the groundlessness of our situation and relax into it’s dynamic quality, that’s called enlightenment
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Feel the feelings and drop the story.
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If there's any possibility for enlightenment, it's right now, not at some future time. Now is the time.
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At some point, we realize that what we do for ourselves benefits others, and what we do for others benefits us.
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We have two alternatives: either we question our beliefs - or we don't. Either we accept our fixed versions of reality- or we begin to challenge them. In Buddha's opinion, to train in staying open and curious - to train in dissolving our assumptions and beliefs - is the best use of our human lives.
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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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Treat yourself as your own beloved child.
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Compassion practice is daring. It involves learning to relax and allowing ourselves to move gently toward what scares us.
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The biggest obstacle to taking a bigger perspective on life is that our emotions capture and blind us.
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What you do for yourself, any gesture of kindness, any gesture of gentleness, any gesture of honesty and clear seeing toward yourself, will affect how you experience your world. In fact, it will transform how you experience the world. 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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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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Unconditional good heart toward others is not even a possibility unless we attend to our own demons.
Pema Chodron
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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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If you work with your mind, that will alleviate all the suffering that seems to come from the outside.
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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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This is the tendency of all living things: to avoid pain and to cling to pleasure.
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You see, there really is no separation between you and everyone else.
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.
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