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There is no cultivation of patience when your pattern is to just try to seek harmony and smooth everything out. Patience implies willingness to be alive rather than trying to seek harmony.

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
Patience
Patterns
Harmony
Seek
Cultivation
Alive
Implies
Rather
Pattern
Everything
Smooth
Trying
Willingness

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That nothing is static or fixed, that all is fleeting and impermanent, is the first mark of existence. Everything is in process.
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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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Patience takes courage. It is not an ideal state of calm. In fact, when we practice patience we will see our agitation far more clearly.
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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.
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So many of us start along the spiritual path because we are suffering. But you must realize that for real healing to occur, there must first be deep compassion for yourself, especially the parts of yourself you dislike or consider ugly.
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As each breath goes out, let it be the end of that moment and the birth of something new. . .
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Buddhism itself is all about empowering yourself, not about getting what you want.
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Let difficulty transform you. And it will. In my experience, we just need help in learning how not to run away.
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The Buddha taught that we're not actually in control, which is a pretty scary idea. But when you let things be as they are, you will be a much happier, more balanced, compassionate person.
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Only in an open, nonjudgmental space can we acknowledge what we are feeling. Only in an open space where we're not all caught up in our own version of reality can we see and hear and feel who others really are, which allows us to be with them and communicate with them properly.
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A heartfelt sense of aspiring cuts through negativity about yourself it cuts through the heavy trips you lay on yourself.
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Come back to square one, just the minimum bare bones. Relaxing with the present moment, relaxing with hopelessness, relaxing with death, not resisting the fact that things end, that things pass, that things have no lasting substance, that everything is changing all the time-that is the basic message.
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Feel the feelings and drop the story.
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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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If your everyday practice is open to all your emotions, to all the people you meet, to all the situations you encounter, without closing down, trusting that you can do that - then that will take you are far as you can go. And then you'll understand all the teachings that anyone has ever taught.
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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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The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at ourselves, we feel confident and fearless about looking into someone else's eyes.
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When we feel left out, inadequate, or lonely, can we take a warrior’s perspective and contact bodhichitta?
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Anything we experience, no matter how challenging, can become an open pathway to awakening.
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