Pema Chödrön
Deirdre Blomfield-Brown
1936-present • American
BuddhismTibetan Buddhism
American Tibetan Buddhist nun and author. Resident teacher at Gampo Abbey, known for accessible teachings on working with difficult emotions.
Key Works
- When Things Fall Apart
- The Places That Scare You
- Start Where You Are
114
quotes in library
Quotes by Pema Chödrön
114 quotes“The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.”
self-honestyWhen Things Fall Apart
“You are the sky. Everything else is just weather.”
consciousnessWhen Things Fall Apart
“What we resist persists; what we befriend transforms.”
surrenderWhen Things Fall Apart
“Gratitude is the antidote to fear.”
gratitudeWhen Things Fall Apart
“The way out is in.”
interiorityWhen Things Fall Apart
“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.”
learningWhen Things Fall Apart
“Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible be found in us.”
surrenderWhen Things Fall Apart
“You are the sky. Everything else — it's just the weather.”
witnessWhen Things Fall Apart
“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.”
groundlessnessWhen Things Fall Apart
“The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.”
self-honestyWhen Things Fall Apart
“Never underestimate the urge to bolt.”
awarenessWhen Things Fall Apart
“Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals.”
compassionThe Places That Scare You
“Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing.”
groundlessnessWhen Things Fall Apart
“We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved.”
groundlessnessWhen Things Fall Apart
“Everything that ends is also the beginning of something else.”
impermanenceWhen Things Fall Apart
“Pain is not a punishment; pleasure is not a reward.”
equanimityWhen Things Fall Apart
“Letting there be room for not knowing is the most important thing of all.”
unknowingThe Wisdom of No Escape
“Just as we have, at the core of our being, the fearlessness of a warrior, we also have the unbroken goodness of basic goodness.”
basic-goodnessThe Places That Scare You
“You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.”
awarenessTeachings
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