The Places That Scare You Quotes

“The Buddha taught that flexibility and openness bring strength and that running from groundlessness weakens us and brings pain.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“when we sit with discomfort without trying to fix it, when we stay present to the pain of disapproval or betrayal and let it soften us, these are the times that we connect with bodhichitta. Tapping”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“Peace between countries must rest on the solid foundation of love between individuals. —MAHATMA GANDHI”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“I feel gratitude to the Buddha for pointing out that what we struggle against all our lives can be acknowledged as ordinary experience. Life does continually go up and down. People and situations are unpredictable and so is everything else. Everybody knows the pain of getting what we don’t want: saints, sinners, winners, losers. I feel gratitude that someone saw the truth and pointed out that we don’t suffer this kind of pain because of our personal inability to get things right.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“Tapping Into the Spring A human being is a part of the whole called by us “the universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening the circle of understanding and compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. —ALBERT EINSTEIN”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“Not abiding with our energy is a predictable human habit. Acting out and repressing are tactics we use to get away from our emotional pain.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“Through the process of practicing the mindfulness-awareness technique on a regular basis, we can no longer hide from ourselves. We clearly see the barriers we set up to shield us from naked experience. Although we still associate the walls we’ve erected with safety and comfort, we also begin to feel them as a restriction. This claustrophobic situation is important for a warrior. It marks the beginning of longing for an alternative to our small, familiar world. We begin to look for ventilation. We want to dissolve the barriers between ourselves and others.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“The Buddhist teachings aspire to set us free from this limited way of relating. They encourage us to relax gradually and wholeheartedly into the ordinary and obvious truth of change.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“We can try to control the uncontrollable by looking for security and predictability, always hoping to be comfortable and safe. But the truth is that we can never avoid uncertainty. This not knowing is part of the adventure, and it’s also what makes us afraid.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“As Trungpa Rinpoche put it, “Everybody loves something, even if it’s only tortillas.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“This simple way of training with pleasure and pain allows us to use what we have, wherever we are, to connect with other people. It engenders on-the-spot bravery, which is what it will take to heal ourselves and our brothers and sisters on the planet.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“This simple gesture is a seed of compassion for self and other. If we want, we can go further. We can wish that a specific person or all beings could be free of suffering and its causes. In this way our toothaches, our insomnia, our divorces, and our terror become our link with all humanity.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“on the spot, we can go beneath the words to the nonverbal experience of the emotion. What’s happening in our hearts, our shoulders, our gut? Abiding with the physical sensation is radically different from sticking to the story line. It requires appreciation for this very moment. It is a way of relaxing, a way to train in softening rather than hardening. It allows the ground of limitless joy—basic goodness—to shine through.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“When we work with neutral people, what happens to our hearts? We say the words in our practice or out on the street, “I rejoice for that man sitting comfortably in the sun.” “I am glad for the dog that was adopted at the pound.” We say the words and what happens? When we regard others with appreciation, do the barriers go up or do they come down?”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“the Zen tradition, students are taught to bow to other people as well as ordinary objects as a way of expressing their respect. They are taught to take equal care of brooms and toilets and plants in order to show their gratitude to these things. Watching Trungpa Rinpoche set the table for breakfast one morning was like watching someone arrange flowers or create a stage set. He took such care and delight in placing every detail—the place mats and napkins; the forks, knives, and spoons; the plates and the coffee cups. It took him several hours to complete the task! Since then, even though I usually have only a few minutes, I appreciate the ritual of setting the table as an opportunity to be present and rejoice.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“We train in simply being present. We open ourselves completely to the pain and the pleasure of our life. We train in precision, gentleness, and letting go. Because we see our thoughts and emotions with compassion, we stop struggling against ourselves. We learn to recognize when we’re all caught up and to trust that we can let go.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“Compassion, however, is more emotionally challenging than loving-kindness because it involves the willingness to feel pain.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“Because they challenge us to the limits of our open-mindedness, difficult relationships are in many ways the most valuable for practice. The people who irritate us are the ones who inevitably blow our cover. Through them we might come to see our defenses very clearly.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“Most of us keep strengthening our negative habits and therefore sow the seeds of our own suffering.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“We need self-compassion to stabilize our minds. We need it to work with our emotions. We need it in order to stay.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“Tapping into that shaky and tender place has a transformative effect. Being in this place may feel uncertain and edgy but it’s also a big relief. Just to stay there, even for a moment, feels like a genuine act of kindness to ourselves. Being compassionate enough to accommodate our own fears takes courage, of course, and it definitely feels counterintuitive. But it’s what we need to do.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“Standing in the checkout line, I might notice the defiant teenager in front of me and make the aspiration, “May he be free of suffering and its causes.” In the elevator with a stranger, I might notice her shoes, her hands, the expression on her face. I contemplate the fact that just like me she doesn’t want stress in her life. Just like me she has worries. Through our hopes and fears, our pleasures and pains, we are deeply interconnected. I do this sort of thing in all kinds of situations—at the breakfast table, in the meditation hall, at the dentist’s office. When I practice the aspirations on the spot, I no longer feel so separated from others.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“wishing that all beings no longer be captured by their prejudices.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“By making this compassionate aspiration, we start to free ourselves from the prison of isolation and indifference.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“May I not fall into a state of indifference or be caught in the extremes of craving and aversion. May I not be the victim of self-deception.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“become more honest and forgiving about when and how we shut down. Without justifying or condemning ourselves, we do the courageous work of opening to suffering.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“happiness.” Or again, we can put this in our own words. The seventh and final stage is to expand loving-kindness to all beings. We extend our aspiration as far as we can. We can start with those nearby and gradually widen our circle to include the neighborhood, the city, the nation, and the universe. “May all beings in the universe enjoy happiness and its causes.” This is equivalent to making the aspiration that the whole universe be at peace.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“The first step in cultivating loving-kindness is to see when we are erecting barriers between ourselves and others.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

“Clear seeing is another way of saying that we have less self-deception.”
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times