Pema Chödrön

We base our lives on seeking happiness and avoiding suffering, but the best thing we can do for ourselves is to turn this whole way of thinking upside down.

Pema Chödrön shares why the simple practice of taking a break from our usual thoughts is the most important thing we can do with our lives.

The simple act of stopping, says Pema Chödrön, is the best way to cultivate our good qualities. Here are five ways meditation makes us better people.

To be without a reference point is the ultimate loneliness. It is also called enlightenment.

Shenpa is the urge, the hook, that triggers our habitual tendency to close down. We get hooked in that moment of tightening when we reach for relief. To get unhooked we begin by recognizing that moment of unease and learn to relax in that moment.

Pema Chödrön teaches us Tonglen, “sending and taking,” an ancient Buddhist practice to awaken compassion.

Pema Chödrön describes three ways to use our problems as the path to awakening and joy.

If you’re jealous or angry or lonely, says Pema Chödrön, don’t run from the feeling.

At the root of our suffering are the destructive emotions that Buddhism calls the kleshas, or poisons. In this exclusive excerpt from her new book, Pema Chödrön teaches us a three-step practice to transform their energy from a cause of suffering into a path to awakening.

A lo largo de tu día puedes hacer una pausa, tomar un descanso de tus pensamientos habituales, y despertar a la magia y la vastedad del mundo alrededor de ti. Pema Chödrön dice que este tipo de práctica de atención plena fácil y espaciosa es lo más importante que podemos hacer con nuestras vidas.

Si tienes celos o estás enojado, dice Pema Chödrön, no le huyas a ese sentimiento.

Pema Chödrön describes the process of looking compassionately and honestly at our own minds. In the end, she says, freeing ourselves from anger and hostility comes down to choosing which wolf we want to feed.

Rather than feeling discouraged by laziness, we could get to know laziness profoundly. This very moment of laziness becomes our personal teacher.

Make your vow to help others real with this meditation teaching from Pema Chödrön.

According to Pema Chödrön, love and compassion are like the weak spots in the walls of ego.

We can use this time of fear and insecurity, says famed Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön, to connect with the natural warmth of our heart. It has the power to heal ourselves and others.

Pema Chödrön offers a bodhicitta practice for generating love and compassion for all human beings.

Pema Chödrön habla acerca de shenpa, o la urgencia, el gancho que dispara nuestras tendencias habituales a cerrarnos. Nos enganchamos en ese momento en el que nos endurecernos cuando buscamos alivio. Para desengancharnos empezamos por reconocer ese momento de intranquilidad y aprendemos a relajarnos en ese momento.

Estar sin un punto de referencia es la soledad última. También se le llama iluminación.

Tonglen, teaches Pema Chödrön, is a method for awakening our compassion by breathing in suffering and breathing out relief.

Pema Chödrön nos enseña “tomar y dar,” una práctica budista antigua para desarrollar compasión. Con cada inhalación, tomamos el dolor de otros. Con cada exhalación, enviamos alivio.

Meditation practice awakens our trust that the wisdom and compassion that we need are already within us.

El consejo más directo sobre cómo descubrir tu verdadera naturaleza es este, dice Pema Chödrön: practica no causar daño a nadie -ni a ti mismo ni a otros- y, cada día, haz lo que puedas por ayudar.

We can suppress anger and aggression or act it out, either way making things worse for ourselves and others. Or we can practice patience.

In the difficulties of your life, says Pema Chödrön, you will discover your natural love and warmth.

The most straightforward advice on how to discover your true nature is this, says Pema Chödrön: practice not causing harm to anyone—neither yourself nor others—and every day, do what you can to help.

Pema Chödron gives a teaching on Tonglen and Lojong.

Buddhist meditation is about dissolving our fixation on ourselves, on the process of meditating, and on any result we might gain from it. Through meditation, we begin to get the hang of living with a non-grasping attitude. When you sit down to meditate, you can bring to your practice the notion of the threefold purity:…

As human beings, not only do we seek resolution, but we also feel that we deserve resolution. However, not only do we not deserve resolution, we suffer from resolution. We don’t deserve resolution; we deserve something better than that. We deserve our birthright, which is the middle way, an open state of mind that can…

Pema Chödrön shows us how we can let go of self-centered worries and become a bodhisattva-warrior. It's the greatest happiness of all.

We might think that knowing ourselves is an ego-centered thing, but by looking at ourselves, we begin to dissolve the walls that separate us from others.