The Pocket Pema Chodron (Shambhala Pocket Classics)

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A portable collection of short inspirational readings by “one of the world's wisest women”—the American Buddhist teacher and author of When Things Fall Apart ( O, the Oprah Magazine) You want it your own way. You’d just like to have a little peace; you’d like to have a little happiness, you know, just “gimme a break!” But the more you think that way, the more you try to get life to come out so that it will always suit you, the more your fear of other people and what’s outside your room grows.” While in her mid-thirties, she traveled to the French Alps and encountered Lama Chime Rinpoche, with whom she studied for several years. She became a novice nun in 1974 while studying with Lama Chime in London. His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa came to England at that time, and Ani Pema received her ordination from him.

This book—Ani Pema's first—is about saying yes to life in all of its manifestations and embracing the potent mixture of joy, suffering, brilliance, and confusion that characterizes the human experience. IMPERMANENCE means that the essence of life is fleeting. Some people are so skillful at their mindfulness practice that they can actually see each and every little movement of mind—changing, changing, changing.” A collection of short inspirational readings by “one of the world’s wisest women”– O, the Oprah Magazine. Meditation practice is not about later, when you get it all together and you’re this person you really respect.”The calligraphy reads, “Pointing directly at your own heart, you find Buddha.” Listening to talks about the dharma, or the teachings of Buddha, or practicing meditation is nothing other than studying ourselves.” WE can learn to rejoice in even the smallest blessings our life holds. It is easy to miss our own good fortune; often happiness comes in ways we don’t even notice.” We must allow ourselves to feel what we feel and not push it away. This means accepting every aspect of ourselves, even the parts we don’t like. Her view on things will really make you think. For example, I feel like I am generally a great person at this point in my life. I try and be all zen and stuff and look for the good in people and all of that. Yet reading some of her teachings, I realize how far I have to go. I think I am ALMOST enlightened then BAM I look up and it is miles and miles away.

You know that moment when you realize that you don’t even know what you don’t know? After reading Pema Chodron’s words, I was awakened to the fact that I was right there, on the edge of some exciting new discovery—I just had to unfold into that space where the unknown lived.I admire her forthrightness, her ability to distill Buddhist thought into bite-sized morsels and above all, the sense of humor that is evident from behind her words. She attended Miss Porter's School in Connecticut and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. She taught as an elementary school teacher for many years in both New Mexico and California. Pema has two children and three grandchildren. I’ve reviewed a couple of Pema’s previous books. The present book is a compendium of small extracts from her various works. When we feel” depressed, lonely, betrayed, or any unwanted feelings, this is an important moment on the spiritual path. This is when real transformation can take place.”

Your investment will help Elephant Journal invest in our editors and writers who promote your values to create the change you want to see in your world! So beautifully written that the reading is a pleasure…Chödrön's voice is gently humorous, always kind, and seemingly infinitely wise." Ani Pema first met her root guru, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in 1972. Lama Chime encouraged her to work with Trungpa, and it was with him that she ultimately made her most profound connection, studying with him from 1974 until his death in 1987. At the request of the Sixteenth Karmapa, she received the full bikshuni ordination in the Chinese lineage of Buddhism in 1981 in Hong Kong.We can learn to act and think in ways that sow seeds of our future well-being, gradually becoming more aware of what causes happiness as well as what causes distress.” Pema Chodron is an American Buddhist nun, born Deidre Bloomfield-Brown in New York, who studied intensively under the Tibetan meditation master, Chogyam Trungpa. Looking beyond religion, Pema’s interpretation of Buddhism can enrich any walk of faith.

The Path of the Bodhisattva Warrior; Wherever we are, we can train as a warrior. The practices of meditation, loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity are our tools. With the help of these practices, we can uncover the soft spot of bodhichitta, the tenderness of the awakened heart. We will find that tenderness in sorrow and in gratitude. We will find it behind the hardness of rage and in the shakiness of fear. The root of aggression and suffering is ignorance. We ignore our kinship with others. “One reason we train as warrior-bodhisattvas is to recognize our interconnectedness – to grow in understanding that when we harm another, we are harming ourselves.” I Love Pema Chadron. I really can't put my finger on it but whenever I read her I feel inspired to be a better person. She talks openly and honestly about how she fails at times to live you to the whole zen thing but she never makes you feel like you are an asshole if you are struggling to get to a higher plane of existence I guess is how I would put it. I’m not a person who gathers gurus lightly. Although I adore quite a few and quote them liberally, the only thing I do religiously is to not do anything religiously.Meditation takes us just as we are, with our confusion and our sanity. This complete acceptance of ourselves as we are is called maitri, or unconditional friendliness, a simple, direct relationship with the way we are.”