Pema Chödrön Quotes

When anyone asks me how I got involved in Buddhism, I always say it was because I was so angry with my husband... When that marriage fell apart, I tried hard—very, very hard—to go back to some kind of comfort, some kind of security, some kind of familiar resting place... I knew that annihilation of my old dependent, clinging self was the only way to go.

From this point of view, the only time we ever know what’s really going on is when the rug’s been pulled out and we can’t find anywhere to land. We use these situations either to wake ourselves up or to put ourselves to sleep.

Thinking that we can find some lasting pleasure and avoid pain is what in Buddhism is called samsara, a hopeless cycle that goes round and round endlessly and causes us to suffer greatly.

The spiritual journey is not about heaven and finally getting to a place that’s really swell. In fact, that way of looking at things is what keeps us miserable.

When things fall apart and we’re on the verge of we know not what, the test of each of us is to stay on that brink and not concretize.

Emptiness is not what we thought. Neither is mindfulness or fear. Compassion—not what we thought. Love. Buddha nature. Courage.

The trick is to keep exploring and not bail out, even when we find out that something is not what we thought... Nothing is what we thought.

In fact, anyone who stands on the edge of the unknown, fully in the present without reference point, experiences groundlessness.

Impermanence becomes vivid in the present moment; so do compassion and wonder and courage. And so does fear.

We all need to be reminded and encouraged to relax with whatever arises and bring whatever we encounter to the path.