Heart Advice for Difficult Times

Pema Chödrön

2000

Pema Chödrön is an American Buddhist nun and one of the foremost students of Chögyam Trungpa. She is resident teacher at Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia, the first Tibetan monastery in North America established for Westerners. Pema Chödrön says in the preface to this beautiful book that she realized, while re-reading transcripts of talks she had given,

Gradually, as I read more, I began to see that in some way, no matter what subject I had chosen, what country I was in, or what year it was, I had taught endlessly about the same things: the great need for maitri (loving kindness toward oneself), and developing from that the awakening of a fearlessly compassionate attitude toward our own pain and that of others…The other underlying theme was dissolving the dualistic tension between us and them, this and that, good and bad, by inviting in what we usually avoid.

This she does in an effortless weaving of story and observation that is pithy and full of good humor. She is teaching the Tibetan Buddhist path in context, as if she were sitting across from you and responding to your questions about your own life. To restore perspective on your life, you might read a few pages of this before going to sleep.

The practice of Tonglen

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