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Tonglen practice begins to dissolve the illusion that each of us is alone with this personal suffering that no one else can understand.

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
Begins
Illusion
Personal
Alone
Practice
Suffering
Understand
Else
Dissolve

More quotes by Pema Chodron

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Feel the feelings and drop the story.
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When we are willing to stay even a moment with uncomfortable energy, we gradually learn not to fear it.
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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.
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People get into a heavy-duty sin and guilt trip, feeling that if things are going wrong, that means that they did something bad and they are being punished. That's not the idea at all.
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If you aren't feeding the fire of anger or the fire of craving by talking to yourself, then the fire doesn't have anything to feed on.
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Enlightenment is a direct experience with reality.
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We sow the seeds of our future hells or happiness by the way we open or close our minds right now.
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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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All the wars, all the hatred, all the ignorance in the world come out of being so invested in our opinions.
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Whatever you are doing, take the attitude of wanting it directly or indirectly to benefit others. Take the attitude of wanting it to increase your experience of kinship with your fellow beings.
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We don’t sit in meditation to become good meditators. We sit in meditation so that we’ll be more awake in our lives.
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All situations teach you, and often it's the tough ones that teach you best.
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Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.
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To cultivate equanimity we practice catching ourselves when we feel attraction or aversion, before it hardens into grasping or negativity.
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If you're invested in security and certainty, you are on the wrong planet.
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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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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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Whole-heartedn ess is a precious gift, but no one can actually give it to you. You have to find the path that has heart and then walk it impeccably....It' s like someone laughing in your ear, challenging you to figure out what to do when you don't know what to do. It humbles you. It opens your heart.
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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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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.
Pema Chodron