Welcoming the Unwelcome: Wholehearted Living in a Brokenhearted World

by Pema Chödrön

Bodhichitta, the awakened heart, begins with the wish to be free from whatever gets in the way of our helping others.

We commit to doing all it takes to free ourselves completely from all our varieties of confusion and unconscious habit and suffering, because these prevent us from being fully there for others.

Shielding ourselves from the vulnerability of all living beings—which includes our own vulnerability—cuts us off from the full experience of life. Our world shrinks. When our main goals are to gain comfort and avoid discomfort, we begin to feel disconnected from, and even threatened by, others.