In their words: Pema Chodron: Start Where You Are is an indispensable handbook for cultivating fearlessness and awakening a compassionate heart. With insight and humor, Pema presents down-to-earth guidance on how we can “start where we are” – embracing rather than denying the painful aspects of our lives. Pema frames her teachings on compassion around fifty-nine traditional Tibetan Buddhist maxims, or slogans, such as: “Always apply only a joyful state of mind,” “Don’t seek others’ pain as the limbs of your own happiness,” and “Always meditate on whatever provokes resentment.” Working with these slogans and through the practice of meditation, Start Where You Are shows how we can all develop the courage to work with our inner pain and discover joy, well-being, and confidence.
Reviews of Start Where You Are
“Pragmatic and to the point, Pema Chodron cuts to the very heart of practice, right to the tender pink spot we want to cover over and keep safe. In the context of being kind to ourselves, Start Where You Are shows how our greatest asset is our own vulnerability that we so desperately protect. Pema Chodron guides us to the understanding that, rather than hiding from or resisting the pain of our existence, we can learn to relax with the situation just as it is.” – Tantra magazine
“Pema Chodron uses modern Western idiom and lyrical language to bring to life ancient Buddhist Wisdom. She weaves a poetic tapestry which invites the reader onto a path of compassionate living which is both new and familiar.” – Loch Kelly, M. Div., C.S.W.
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