Quotes from Pema Chodron

maybe the only enemy is that we don't like the way reality is *now* and therefore wish it would go away fast. but what we find as practitioners is that nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.

seeking security or perfection, rejoicing in feeling confirmed and whole, self-contained and comfortable, is some kind of death. it doesn't have any fresh air. there's no room for something to come in and interrupt all that. we are killing the moment by controlling our experience.

we think that by protecting ourselves from suffering we are being kind to ourselves. the truth is, we only become more fearful, more hardened, and more alienated.

we can regard ourselves as already awake; we can regard our world as already sacred.

there is nobody on the planet, neither those whom we see as the oppressed nor those whom we see as the oppressor, who doesn't have what it takes to wake up.

everything that occurs in our confused mind we can regard as the path.

You're the only one who knows when you're using things to protect yourself and keep your ego together and when you're opening and letting things fall apart, letting the world come as it is - working with it rather than struggling against it. You're the only one who knows.

We suffer when we want reality to be something other than it is.

283 Develop your curiosity, not caring whether the object of you inquisitiveness is bitter or sweet.~

If right now our emotional reaction to seeing a certain person or hearing certain news is to fly into a rage or to get despondent or something equally extreme, it's because we have been cultivating that particular habit for a very long time.

The still lake without ripples is an image of our minds at ease, so full of unlimited friendliness for all the junk at the bottom of the lake that we don't feel the need to churn up the waters just to avoid looking at what's there.

If you work with your mind, instead of trying to change everything on the outside, that's how your temper will cool down.

Deep down in the human spirit, there is a reservoir of courage. It is always available, always waiting to be discovered.

Like all explorers, we are drawn to discover what's out there without knowing yet if we have the courage to face it.

Since death is certain and the time of death is uncertain, what is the most important thing?

Sometimes, this broken heart gives birth to anxiety and panic, sometimes to anger, resentment and blame. But under the hardness of that armor there is a tenderness of genuine sadness. This is our link with all those who have ever loved.

Never underestimate the desire to bolt.

To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.

Anything we experience, no matter how challenging, can become an open pathway to awakening.

It's a transformative experience to simply pause instead of immediately filling up space.

Lean into the sharp points and fully experience them. The essence of bravery is being without self-deception. Wisdom is inherent in (understanding) emotions.

Peace isn't an experience free of challenges, free of rough and smooth, it's an experience that's expansive enough to include all that arises without feeling threatened.

Meditation isn't really about getting rid of thoughts, it's about changing the pattern of grasping on to things, which in our everyday experience is our thoughts.

We don't experience the world fully unless we are willing to give everything away.