The Pocket Pema Chodron (Shambhala Pocket Classics)

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Enlightenment, being completely awake, is just the beginning of fully entering into we know not what.

This classic text, which could be said to summarize the major themes of Pema’s teachings over the years, presents ways that we can work with our own hearts and minds.

Some of the teachings are complex; some of the students are not ready; times change, receptiveness matures.

Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energizes us. Ani Pema currently teaches in the United States and Canada and plans for an increased amount of time in solitary retreat under the guidance of Venerable Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. Let compassion and fearlessness guide you and you’ll live wisely and effectively in good times and bad. One of the best ways to bring meditation off the cushion and into everyday life is to practice lojong (or mind training). Ani Pema served as the director of the Karma Dzong, in Boulder, CO, until moving in 1984 to rural Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to be the director of Gampo Abbey.I always feel weird rating this type of book, but it had several passages that stopped me in my tracks and had me re-reading/thinking about them for a while, and if that's not good enough for full marks in this kind of work than I don't know what is. She also offers practical methods for transforming life’s most challenging emotions about change and uncertainty into a path of awakening and love. I admire her forthrightness, her ability to distill Buddhist thought into bite-sized morsels and above all, the sense of humor that is evident from behind her words.

Here she presents teachings on breaking free of destructive patterns; developing patience, kindness, and joy amid our everyday struggles; becoming fearless; and unlocking our natural warmth, intelligence, and goodness. Amid our difficulties, wisdom is always available to us, but we usually block it with habitual patterns rooted in fear. In Buddha's opinion, to train in staying open and curious - to train in dissolving our assumptions and beliefs - is the best use of our human lives.

The books in this collection distill the wisdom and heart of the work Shambhala Publications has published over 50 years into a compact format that is collectible, reader-friendly, and applicable to everyday life. Whether we are violent, depressed, addicted or jealous, or even hate ourselves, these are good places to start – just where we are. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and was an elementary school teacher for many years in New Mexico and California. Here is a treasury of 108 short selections from the best-selling books of Pema Chödrön, the beloved Buddhist nun. I would recommend this book for beginners looking to explore Buddhist and even more advanced souls looking to get a momentary fix of simple lessons.

Pema tells us that we already have everything we need and are “one blink of an eye away from being fully awake. I also appreciate reading a woman's perspective since, as in most other aspects of everything, it's generally men's voices being heard; men doing the writing/teaching.

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. Pema first met her root guru, the teacher with whom she had the most profound connection, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in 1972, and she studied closely with him until his death in 1987. It helps to remember that our spiritual practice is not about accomplishing anything—not about winning or losing—but about ceasing to struggle and relaxing as it is.