PCPema Chödrön

90 collected words

Pema Chödrön

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Quotations and sayings

01Undated

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.

Pema Chödrön / quote

02Undated

Many religions have meditations on death to let it penetrate our thick skulls that life doesn’t last forever.

Pema Chödrön / quote

03Undated

In sitting meditation, we train in mindfulness and unconditional friendliness: in being steadfast with our bodies, our emotions, our thoughts.

Pema Chödrön / quote

04Undated

Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better.

Pema Chödrön / quote

05Undated

Even though there are so many teachings, so many meditations, so many instructions, the basic point of it all is just to learn to be extremely honest and also wholehearted about what exists in your mind - thoughts, emotions bodily sensations, the whole thing that adds up to what we call "me" or "I".

Pema Chödrön / quote

06Undated

In sitting meditation, our practice is to watch our thoughts arise, label them "thinking", and return to the breath.

Pema Chödrön / quote

07Undated

This meditation is called nontheistic, which doesn't have anything to do with believing in God or not believing in God, but means that nobody but yourself can tell you what to accept and what to reject.The practice of meditation helps us to get to know this basic energy really well, with tremendous honesty and warmheartedness, and we begin to figure out for ourselves what is poison and what is medicin, which means something different for each of us.

Pema Chödrön / quote

08Undated

In his talk, Suzuki Roshi says that meditation and the whole process of finding your own true nature is one continuous mistake, and that rather than that being a reason for depression or discouragement, it's actually the motivation.

Pema Chödrön / quote

09Undated

It's helpful to always remind yourself that meditation is about opening and relaxing withwhatever arises, without picking and choosing.

Pema Chödrön / quote

10Undated

Sitting meditation begins with good posture.

Pema Chödrön / quote

11Undated

Sitting meditation gives us a way to move closer to our thoughts and emotions and to get in touch with our bodies.

Pema Chödrön / quote

12Undated

Meditation practice is how we discover basic goodness and learn to cultivate bodhichitta. With this view, practice, and activity, even the most mundane situation becomes a vehicle for awakening.

Pema Chödrön / quote

13Undated

Yesterday I talked about cultivating precision, gentleness, and openess, and described how the meditation technique helps us to remember the qualities that we already possess.

Pema Chödrön / quote

14Undated

If the object of meditation were something concrete, something solid and graspable - an image or a statue or a dot on the floor or a candle - it would be much more of a concentration exercise. But the breath is very elusive; even if you wanted to give it one hundred percent attention, it would be difficult because it is so ephemeral, so light, so airy and spacious. As the object of meditation, it brings a sense of softness and gentleness.

Pema Chödrön / quote

15Undated

If we emphasized only precision, our meditation might become quite harsh and militant. (...). One thing that is very helpful is to cultivate an overall sense of relaxation while you are doing the meditation.

Pema Chödrön / quote

16Undated

The meditation technique itself cultivate precision, gentleness, and the ability to let go - qualities that are innate within us.

Pema Chödrön / quote

17Undated

Meditation is about seeing clearly the body that we have, the mind that we have, the domestic situation that we have, the job that we have, and the people who are in our lives.

Pema Chödrön / quote

18Undated

One of the main discoveries of meditation is seeing how we continually run away from the present moment, how we avoid being here just as we are.

Pema Chödrön / quote

19Undated

It's very helpful to realize that being here, sitting in meditation, doing simple everyday things like working, walking outside, talking with people, bathing, using the toilet, and eating, is actually all that we need to be fully awake, fully alive, fully human.

Pema Chödrön / quote

20Undated

While we are sitting in meditation, we are simply exploring humanity and all of creation in the form of ourselves.

Pema Chödrön / quote

21Undated

The path of meditation and the path of our lives altogether ha to do with curiosity, inquisitiveness.

Pema Chödrön / quote

22Undated

We're here to get to know and study ourselves. The path, the way to do that, our main vehicle, is going to be meditation, and some sense of general wakefulness.

Pema Chödrön / quote

23Undated

Meditation is a process of lightening up, of trusting the basic goodness of what we have and who we are, and of realizing that any wisdom that exists, exists in what we already have.

Pema Chödrön / quote

24Undated

We don't have to be harsh with ourselves when we think, sitting here, that our meditation or our oryoki or the way we are in the world is in the category of worst horse.

Pema Chödrön / quote