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40th out of 415 books
—
479 voters
Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living
by
Pema Chödrön
Start Where You Are is an indispensable handbook for cultivating fearlessness and awakening a compassionate heart. With insight and humor, Pema Chödrön presents down-to-earth guidance on how we can "start where we are"—embracing rather than denying the painful aspects of our lives. Pema Chödrön frames her teachings on compassion around fifty-nine traditional Tibetan Buddh...more
Paperback, 176 pages
Published
August 21st 2001
by Shambhala
(first published 1994)
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This is a good book overall. A lot of insights into Buddhist teachings, but while they are clearly simplified, they still may be a bit over-our-heads for most readers who don't have any previous experience in the topic.
She explains that we all armor our hearts, our "soft spots" instinctively and that to live well, we have to open that door to others, and that it is one of the most frightening things we will ever do, and that we must do it, like everything we do within ourselves, gently.
I most en...more
She explains that we all armor our hearts, our "soft spots" instinctively and that to live well, we have to open that door to others, and that it is one of the most frightening things we will ever do, and that we must do it, like everything we do within ourselves, gently.
I most en...more
I would have had a difficult time with this book if I had not been meditating and reading up on the subject for a while. It seems to have been derived from a series of talks on mind training "lojong", a certain teaching that incorporates slogans to reflect upon. Despite the jargon, she keeps up a friendly, chatty tone while presenting intense ideas about how to approach the experience of having a brain with thoughts and emotions. It's given me some new tools to work with. Thanks, Pema!
This book has a few REALLY great statements, such as:
"We work on ourselves in order to help others, but also we help others in order to work on ourselves." Oh, wait a second, that's the only one.
A major part of her instruction is to teach the reader how to work with 'slogans'. I find these extremely annoying, especially when they are not in a meaningful context for me and she begins every single paragraph with "Another slogan says..."
I picked up the book b/c she is said to frame her teachings f...more
"We work on ourselves in order to help others, but also we help others in order to work on ourselves." Oh, wait a second, that's the only one.
A major part of her instruction is to teach the reader how to work with 'slogans'. I find these extremely annoying, especially when they are not in a meaningful context for me and she begins every single paragraph with "Another slogan says..."
I picked up the book b/c she is said to frame her teachings f...more
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Reading this book is what made me say "hey, this Buddhism thing makes a whole lot of sense to me". Pema is always down to earth and sometimes earthy in her presentation of the ideas and how they relate to our lives. She approaches every subject with compassion and makes you really feel like she understands your struggles and issues because she has gone through them, and because she is still going through them. She lets you know that while the difficulties and the issues will always be there, you...more
I would have had a difficult time with this book if I had not been meditating and reading up on the subject for a while. It seems to have been derived from a series of talks on mind training "lojong", a certain teaching that incorporates slogans to reflect upon. Despite the jargon, she keeps up a friendly, chatty tone while presenting intense ideas about how to approach the experience of having a brain with thoughts and emotions. It's given me some new tools to work with. Thanks, Pema!
An early book from Pema Chodron, Start Where You Are is worthy of being called a "contemporary classic." It's her teaching based upon Lojong Training (Mind Training) which involves integrating shamatha-vipashyana (tranquility and insight) meditation, metta-bhavana (kindness/friendliness cultivation) and tonglen the uniquely Tibetan Buddhist practice of "exchanging self for other." All of these practices are integrated with 59 slogans divided into 7 categories. It's these slogans that form the he...more
A great guidebook in the tonglen practice of sending out and receiving, lojong training and shamatha-vipashyana meditation to put them to work. Pema does an excellent job of explaining the real meaning behind each of the slogans, making them very easy to understand so that you can put them to work in your practice. Using her own personal stories as well as ancient stories, she explains how these are meant to open your heart, allow you to be more compassionate and friendly with yourself and conne...more
You notice the sadness in someone's face. You realize that the man across from you is also thinking about breakfasts, because he has a resentful look on his face, which makes you (...hmm...) laugh (...) "
Again, the devil is the detail ;) I'd say to this quote from Pema... why? Because resentful looks on other people's faces are to be accepted with interest, not with laugh.
And instead of laughing at ourselves (or others, which is the same, we are all one after all... in terms of humanity) becaus...more
Again, the devil is the detail ;) I'd say to this quote from Pema... why? Because resentful looks on other people's faces are to be accepted with interest, not with laugh.
And instead of laughing at ourselves (or others, which is the same, we are all one after all... in terms of humanity) becaus...more
Some excellent and interesting advice for meditation and general interaction. My favorite part, and the heart of the book, is the early description of tonglen. Specifically I like the exercise of taking the object of desire/anger/frustration/etc., thinking about the emotions it produces, and then considering those emotions in a vacuum - how they exist in you apart from the actual object. An interesting and challenging exercise. I also thought Chodron had some good pointers for regular mindfulnes...more
I was first introduced to Chodron's work when a friend gave me a copy of When Things Fall Apart, and I was completely blown away. It seemed as if every page contained insights specific to my situation, and I couldn't put the book down. Unfortunately, I didn't have the same experience with this book. I found a great deal of the material to be helpful, but the book didn't flow, and I often found myself flipping back to previous chapters, trying to get a sense of how new topics fit into the overall...more
Straightforward and simple, I really enjoy Ani Pema's style of explaining Buddhism's concepts and practices. This book is organized in a "daily-lesson" format but a reader doesn't have to follow the book from front to back to glean its contents. There is an emphasis on logong slogans and plenty of insights both into Pema's practice and those along the way she has helped.
I have been (re)reading this book since I bought. Chödrö's presentation of Buddhist teachings is changing my life one moment at a time. From other comments I've seen, Start Where You Are goes better if the reader has some familiarity with Buddhist teachings; it would not be the book to start with if you just want to know about Buddhism.
There are three components to the teaching of this book, all of them traditional Buddhist teachings, and especially tied to Tibetan Buddhism. If you want to know...more
There are three components to the teaching of this book, all of them traditional Buddhist teachings, and especially tied to Tibetan Buddhism. If you want to know...more
You don't have to be a Buddhist to appreciate the common sense philosophy in this beautiful book--I found it life-changing. If you want to better live in the present, feel your emotions fully without letting them overwhelm you, and expand your compassion and loving kindness for others, this book is a comforting place to start.
I learned to dig deep into myself, both the parts I like and the parts I don't like, know them and live with them gracefully. I feel like a new, positive, confident person able to say and do what comes from my genuine self, my genuine open-hearted desires. A must read for anyone feeling lost or troubled.
Chodron gives the reader an extraordinary amount of insight into buddhist practice in simple terms. Her teaching is framed around 59 Buddhist maxims... and looks at them from a western standpoint, without being an idiot. Quite a feat! Anyway, a great book for anyone curious about buddhism.
This book is just so good. It is written very simply and just makes so much sense. No matter where you are at in life, this book as something for you. I would recommend this, or any book, by Pema Chodron. She is way cool.
This was my first Pema Chodron book, and I love her honesty. I'll never forget her story of throwing rocks at her ex - She became a real person to me with that one.
This is my meditation guide. I'm not consistently using the main level of meditation it prescribes, but I'm consistently meditating, which is already improving my life.
I keep re-reading chapters of the book, and each time I glean more wisdom. This is a book that will be on my 'currently reading' list for quite some time.
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This very useful book is for non-Buddhists,Aetheists,Buddhists - any body who has reached and impasse in their lives or journeys and needs a good clear mirror look in and see warts and all, and to love ourselves just as we are- whatever mess we're in. Pema Chödrön shows us how once we can truly love ourselves, then we can truly begin to understand and love those around us. When one changes, everything changes. Pema Chödrön also goes on to show us an ancient and simple but deeply effective medita...more
You know when you pick up a book to read, not know what to expect, and you realize that this is the book you NEED to read, well this is one of them.
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this is the coolest book of spiritual advice...not pushy advice...just gentle suggestions that made so much sense to me. life changer fo sho
Also recommended by my doctor to help guide in the rebuilding process of life after letting everything fall apart.
A great companion to " When Things Fall Apart" and also stands on it's own. She is remarkable!
Practical guidelines for slowing down and uncluttering our minds. The result is a kinder 'you'.
fantastic material that really speaks to the soul. if you're
"searching", def check it out
"searching", def check it out
I first found Pema Chodron through her book "When Things Fall Apart" that came to me during a particularly challenging time in my life. "Start Where You Are" is a powerful little book about awakening your compassionate heart by starting right where you are. Though I've never met her I count Pema as one of my closest friends and a dear teacher. Whether or not you are a Buddhist, this book uses the Buddhist tradition to help in one's everyday life beginning right now... where you are. I try to rea...more
This book is difficult to review. There are sentences and paragraphs that provide clarity and comfort to a degree I rarely find. But there are also parts that seem reductionist to the suffering caused by institutional oppression, where I understand what Pema is getting at, but I find her being dismissive & overly simplistic in her view of race relations, to be specific. Overall, this book was calming and full of wisdom, but it wasn't wholly there for me. But, if you find reading about Buddhi...more
This slim volume was integral to beginning a path towards the wisdom of Buddhism. At the time i was coming to a realisation that being an Atheist, or Nilist was not working for me, yet firmly knowing that the western theistic models did not ring true for me either. This book gently but persuasively guided me towards the wisdom of the East and showed me that spirituality did not rely on a belief in a creator deity, but rather was found within. I will always be grateful to Pema Chodron and her sli...more
I don't know if I'm going to finish this. I started it a few months ago, and it's interesting and well written, but I was reading it on the train, and it's much more about meditation than I'd thought when I bought it, and "meditation" does not really go well with "train". I'm pretty sure that when Chödrön says to start where you are, she wasn't imagining that where I am is in the quiet ride car crammed up against some businessman and trying not to let my too-big wet umbrella fall over on his sui...more
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Ani Pema Chödrön (Deirdre Blomfield-Brown) is an American Buddhist nun in the Tibetan tradition, closely associated with the Kagyu school and the Shambhala lineage.
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 g...more
More about Pema Chödrön...
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 g...more
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“Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both. Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energizes us. We feel connected. But if that's all that's happening, we get arrogant and start to look down on others, and there is a sense of making ourselves a big deal and being really serious about it, wanting it to be like that forever. The gloriousness becomes tinged by craving and addiction. On the other hand, wretchedness--life's painful aspect--softens us up considerably. Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person. When you are feeling a lot of grief, you can look right into somebody's eyes because you feel you haven't got anything to lose--you're just there. The wretchedness humbles us and softens us, but if we were only wretched, we would all just go down the tubes. We'd be so depressed, discouraged, and hopeless that we wouldn't have enough energy to eat an apple. Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us. They go together.”
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“If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there’s an arrow in your heart...”
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95 people liked it
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