Quote

The essence of practice is always the same: instead of falling prey to a chain reaction of revenge or self-hatred, we gradually learn to catch the emotional reaction and drop the story lines.

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
Stories
Essence
Reaction
Self
Emotional
Drop
Instead
Chains
Always
Lines
Reactions
Practice
Catch
Story
Revenge
Prey
Learn
Falling
Chain
Fall
Hatred
Gradually

More quotes by Pema Chodron

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Never give up on yourself. Then you will never give up on others.
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By the way that we think and by the way that we believe in things, in that way our world is created.
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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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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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Trying to change ourselves doesn't work in the long run because we're resisting our own energy. Self-improvemen t can have temporary results, but lasting transformation occurs only when we honor ourselves as the source of wisdom and compassion.
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Tonglen is a way for you to be with people who need you - beginning with yourself.
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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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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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The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.
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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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This is the tendency of all living things: to avoid pain and to cling to pleasure.
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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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Buddhism itself is all about empowering yourself, not about getting what you want.
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Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us.
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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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So even if the hot loneliness is there, and for 1.6 seconds we sit with that restlessness when yesterday we couldn't sit for even one, that's the journey of the warrior. (68)
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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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If we knew that tonight we were going to go blind, we would take a long, last real look at every blade of grass, every cloud formation, every speck of dust, every rainbow, raindrop-everything.
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As for our inner level of obstacle, perhaps the only enemy we have is that we don't like the way reality is now and therefore wish it would go away fast. But what we need to acknowledge is that nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.
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We practice to liberate ourselves from a burden.
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