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The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times
by
Pema Chödrön
We always have a choice, Pema Chödrön teaches: We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder. Here, Pema provides the tools to deal with the problems and difficulties that life throws our way. This wisdom is always available to us, she writes, but we usually block it with h...more
ebook, 0 pages
Published
September 14th 2010
by Shambhala Publications
(first published 2001)
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took this book to read on my first jury duty summons... Didn't realize I was reading a "self-help" book until I was done. Uplifting and encouraging... like a little Yoda in my backpack.
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As I was brushing my teeth this morning after finishing this book, this line came into my head:
When I find myself of times of trouble, Pema Chodron calls to me, speaking words of wisdom: Let it be...
Corny, huh? Totally true. I read When Things Fall Apart over a year ago when I was going through a really rough time, and when I hit a serious road block nearly two months ago, I picked this'n up. In similar fashion with my reading habits of late, I only just finished this wonderful morsel. I won't b...more
When I find myself of times of trouble, Pema Chodron calls to me, speaking words of wisdom: Let it be...
Corny, huh? Totally true. I read When Things Fall Apart over a year ago when I was going through a really rough time, and when I hit a serious road block nearly two months ago, I picked this'n up. In similar fashion with my reading habits of late, I only just finished this wonderful morsel. I won't b...more
I've always been leery of the self-help genre. I'm mistrustful of anyone who tells me how to think, feel, act. I've also seen people read self-help books like serial novels, always chasing some specter of an ideal self with the assumption that their current self is somehow inadequate or broken. These two perspectives have always repelled me from most anything self-help. Pema Chödrön's The Places That Scare You came in a time of personal need and it's been a medicine I've enjoyed taking for deal...more
In the current age of anxiety, Pema Chödrön is both a refreshing and challenging voice. Basically, she encourages us to see problems as spiritual opportunities. Instead of trying to run from discomfort, she advocates staying put and learning about ourselves. Instead of habitually reaching for whatever palliative gives relief -- always temporary -- she suggests feeling and observing our discomforts, becoming more fully present in our lives, learning how to be truly here now. Only through this pro...more
As someone who deals with anxiety disorder, I'm always on the lookout for authors who have fresh perspectives on how to quiet the mind and ease the life of fear, and shifts from euphoria to deep depression. Chodron is a Buddhist monk, and her teachings are grounded in that philosophy, but she's far from doctrinaire, and many of her teachings can be applied to regular everyday secular agnostic life. Her suggestions like living in the present moment and being able to return to a calm center are id...more
This is the first Chodron book I have read, though I have always been drawn to her titles. For example, I have been generally uncomfortable with uncertainty, and thought "I should read that book".
What I love about this book is the way she describes the practices both for moving towards compassion for ourselves and others and finding a true connection with ourselves and the world around us by training in acceptance of what is. This book could be comforting or terrifying depending on one's perspe...more
What I love about this book is the way she describes the practices both for moving towards compassion for ourselves and others and finding a true connection with ourselves and the world around us by training in acceptance of what is. This book could be comforting or terrifying depending on one's perspe...more
I have only started this short book but I am already blown away. It was recommended to me years ago, but just now picked it up when I saw it at the library. The thing about Buddhist texts is that I often find myself reading something and thinking, "wow, I have missed that point all these years!" I don't know if I have missed them, or if I just forget and then come back to them or if I just wasnt ready to hear them the first 5 times, but no matter there are some potent thoughts in this little boo...more
First the critical, then the satisfied reaction:
This book is probably not meant to be read with continuity, but rather dipped into in association with practice. That said, it is not structured in a way that facilitates practice; for example, a chapter will deal with a particular technique, such as the slogans of Atisha, without discussing the particulars in great detail. The specific slogans themselves are kept separate in an appendix in the back. Why not include them where they are actually dis...more
This book is probably not meant to be read with continuity, but rather dipped into in association with practice. That said, it is not structured in a way that facilitates practice; for example, a chapter will deal with a particular technique, such as the slogans of Atisha, without discussing the particulars in great detail. The specific slogans themselves are kept separate in an appendix in the back. Why not include them where they are actually dis...more
What scares me is how long it took me to read this tiny gem. It must be one of those books that arrive in your hands at the right time, and needed to stay there for a while too. Hot on the heels of "The Shadow Effect", this book reiterated the freedom that comes from accepting ourselves, and our pain and foibles, and sitting with those feelings rather than shutting them down. And from non-attachment (to things, people, events, and outcomes). Of sitting with life and accepting 'what is' without t...more
“Patience is the training in abiding with the restlessness of our energy and letting things evolve at their own speed.”
What are the places that scare you?.
For me, I had preconceived notions of places I was scared to go to, but want to go to, and need to visit now and again in order to be balanced and at peace. Mainly, with the recent death of my mom, I know am afraid to visit the biggest parts of the grief but know I have to and in a big way, because I am the type of person that must look deeply...more
As with too many Buddhist texts, this one is wordy and filled with lofty Eastern wisdom that many average people would find difficult to accept let alone put into practice. The teachings on compassion and lovingkindness are especially worthwhile but many of the others are bulky for this small of a book. Each topic could be a book unto itself actually.
The overall theme of the book--letting the difficult times in life provide an opportunity for personal growth-- gives the reader a lot of food for...more
The overall theme of the book--letting the difficult times in life provide an opportunity for personal growth-- gives the reader a lot of food for...more
I was at B&N looking for some other book when I mistakenly picked up this one so I placed it back on the shelf and thought nothing of it. The next day I went back to B&N to purchase a different book and I accidently pick this same book up AGAIN. SO I placed it back on the shelf (the top shelf) and continued looking. Then out of nowhere the books from the top shelf fell on my head. When I looked at the pile they were all books by Pema Chodron. So, I began picking them up and when I looked...more
This book, a gift from my friend Taylor, surprised me a bit. Its about balancing your inner self through a series of compassionate exercises. The book talks about buddhicitta, a way of awakening yourself by walking a middle path. It shows you how to sit with yourself and accept all the things that make you an individual-- the good and the bad. Just sitting around is something I don't do often and I know I need to face up to what I am rather than just being a human doing. I know I've picked up so...more
It seems to me the wisdom in this book is for people who are living life not watching it pass by you.
Chodron wants us to stay in the present and experience all the range of our emotions both good and bad. A good way to do this is through meditation. She also wants us to link every good feeling and bad feeling toward others thereby linking us to universal feeling humanity.
She describes enlightenment as being in complete moment in the present with all the happiness, sadness, and anxiety that that...more
Chodron wants us to stay in the present and experience all the range of our emotions both good and bad. A good way to do this is through meditation. She also wants us to link every good feeling and bad feeling toward others thereby linking us to universal feeling humanity.
She describes enlightenment as being in complete moment in the present with all the happiness, sadness, and anxiety that that...more
quotes:
"Do I prefer to grow up and relate to life directly, or do I choose to live and die in fear?"
"Thus we become less and less able to reside with even the most fleeting uneasiness or discomfort. We become habituated to reaching for something to ease the edginess of the moment. What begins as a slight shift of energy - a minor tightening of our stomach, a vague, indefinable feeling that something bad is about to happen - escalates into addiction. This is our way of trying to make life predict...more
"Do I prefer to grow up and relate to life directly, or do I choose to live and die in fear?"
"Thus we become less and less able to reside with even the most fleeting uneasiness or discomfort. We become habituated to reaching for something to ease the edginess of the moment. What begins as a slight shift of energy - a minor tightening of our stomach, a vague, indefinable feeling that something bad is about to happen - escalates into addiction. This is our way of trying to make life predict...more
Pema Chodron is the ultimate Buddhist writer for the Western world. Born and raised in the US and married with children, she became a Buddhist nun later in life after divorce and lots of suffering. She approaches deep and complex topics with familiarity and makes them seem second nature. You can almost feel her embrace as you read her words, never chiding or belittleing, always welcoming and instructing. Her book The Places That Scare You takes the reader into the fears we just can't bring ourse...more
From Seth Godin in his top 3 business books of all time:
http://www.fastcompany.com/1731456/se...
The Tom Peters Seminar. Tom has created so much of value, and I have trouble picking. But it's either this or the Wow book.
See You at the Top. Zig Ziglar's opus, still the most focused and personal motivational book ever.
The Places That Scare You. Please don't tell me that Pema Chodron's work doesn't qualify as a business book. For me, what I do all day is my life, and what I do all day is business. I...more
http://www.fastcompany.com/1731456/se...
The Tom Peters Seminar. Tom has created so much of value, and I have trouble picking. But it's either this or the Wow book.
See You at the Top. Zig Ziglar's opus, still the most focused and personal motivational book ever.
The Places That Scare You. Please don't tell me that Pema Chodron's work doesn't qualify as a business book. For me, what I do all day is my life, and what I do all day is business. I...more
There is so much beauty here in regards to the ideas of compassion for yourself and those around you -- even "the difficult ones" -- but for some reason I can't get out of my head one image that she mentions in passing: She walked in on her boyfriend with some other woman at a party. It was a fancy art collector's house and she looked around for something to throw at him but everything was too expensive so she just started laughing hysterically through her tears. And then in the next paragraph s...more
I was curious to read the work of Pema Chodron after reading one of her quotes posted by a facebook friend. This book is a quick and easy read. I find reading contemporary buddhist texts to be intriguing just because of the simple yet universal lesson that can be gleaned from their pages that are relatable to many religious disciplines. This book which comes with an appendix called "Practices" can easily serve as a reference point to what Chodron refers to in the book such as compassion, aspirat...more
The way Pema writes gives a clear understanding to the bare lessons of Buddhism. This book is a great source to learning more about being aware of one's own actions and feelings, especially the ones that we are so quick to mask and avoid. Important lessons I've learned: life is always changing, mixed with the good and bad; we should never avoid our feelings but remain in the moment, understand what its about and what it means about us/ourself, then move on. Then most importantly, love your neigh...more
May 05, 2011
Barbara
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
yoga-health-meditation
Pema Chodron has a way of bringing ambiguous Buddhist teachings to life in a way that one can really see how they can be immediately applied to one's day to day life. In 'The Places That Scare You' Pema provides some great tools to deal with uncertainty.
As I was reading, I could instantly apply many of the teachings directly to difficulties I'm facing in my own life, from uncertainty at work, uncertainty in my personal life, chronic and constantly evolving medical issues that I struggle to deal...more
As I was reading, I could instantly apply many of the teachings directly to difficulties I'm facing in my own life, from uncertainty at work, uncertainty in my personal life, chronic and constantly evolving medical issues that I struggle to deal...more
Pema, again, wonderful. The only issue I have here is that the ideal state of the conscious Bodhisattva warrior that she describes is so precise, so open, so non-judgmental--even when you think you're doing it--nay, as SOON as you think you're doing it right, you can't be doing it right. That said, I did a Tonglen breathing practice I learned from this book last night to alleviate a pretty devout case of nausea and was shocked that it worked. It takes so much courage to walk this path.
Back when I read this book I could not afford to buy it, so I could not fight the urge to get in my car and drive to Barnes and Noble to sit and read another couple of chapters until I had consumed every word.I read the entire book in store and wanted nothing more than to take it home. It was a great read. Soul Journey. Now that I am reminded of it, I think I will treat myself to this book and give it another read and check out her other work. Inspirational to my life and growth.
A very quiet and peaceful book that teaches you about bodichitta, which equates to something like mindfulness, I believe. But that is really a meaning you would have to find on your own. It teaches how to let go of the things you would hold close and hold compassion for all things. It is a very tender, beautiful, book and I devoured it one sitting as soon as I got home from the library. It's like a cool drink of water at the end of a long dusty trail.
Some lovely things. Many other probably lovely things that I feel I'd be better equipped to fully grasp if I had a Buddhism background. She tries to sum up a great many ancient teachings and various masters' life's work in this tiny, tiny volume, and thus there isn't exactly any room for explanation.
It makes me want to read more-- more of her books, more about Buddha, more about the other teachers... so that's good, right?
It makes me want to read more-- more of her books, more about Buddha, more about the other teachers... so that's good, right?
Dec 09, 2009
Lindsay Roberts
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
on-my-bookshelf-in-france
I have been slowly working my way through and savoring this one since around August. I have the feeling that as soon as I finish it I'll want to start it over again. It seems like there are passages that speak to me EXACTLY where I am in my life, but others, I know, will strike me when I read it again. The processes Chodron describes are very much a "work in progress" I think...you're never really finished with them.
Did I mention how much I love Pema, how as someone who, drifting through life, I found her books and felt like I had finally met someone who understood me? Just when I needed help her books appeared. That's how it is with the teachings. Also, when you read her books and Chogyam Trungpa's books, they seem to say different things at different times in your life.
Interesting, insightful, wonderfully so. Would definitely buy this book. It deals with meditation, but not in a "beginner's guide" sort of way at all. One of those books I had to put down every now and then to think about what Pema Chodron was saying, and a book I took notes on and from which I wrote down quotes to remember.
This was one of the best spiritual/self-help books I have read. So much wisdom, compassion and guidance. I love that she shares her truth and wisdom but with her understanding of the challenges of our humanness, she doesn't try to understand them for us. There is definitely a place where her work ends and mine begins.
Pema Chodron's focuses on the Buddhist principle of non-attachment in a way that (finally!) makes sense to me. This one in particular has never failed to guide me through a hard time. Her writing is so clear, so down-to-earth, so lacking in any of the pretension that can be found in other Buddhism-based books.
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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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“Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.”
—
191 people liked it
“A further sign of health is that we don't become undone by fear and trembling, but we take it as a message that it's time to stop struggling and look directly at what's threatening us. ”
—
90 people liked it
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