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Finding the courage to go to the places that scare us cannot happen without compassionate inquiry into the workings of ego... Openness doesn't come from resisting our fears but from getting to know them well.
Pema Chodron
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Courage involves understanding our fears rather than avoiding them.

In this quote, Pema Chodron emphasizes that true courage is rooted in a deep understanding of our fears and ego. Instead of resisting or fleeing from what scares us, we must engage in compassionate self-inquiry to truly comprehend our internal struggles. By knowing our fears intimately, we create the openness needed to face them courageously, leading to personal growth and emotional resilience.

Themes

CourageFearUnderstandingEgoOpennessSelf-Inquiry

In practice

Example use cases

During a motivational speech, one could use this quote to encourage the audience to confront their fears in personal development.

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The spiritual journey involves going beyond hope and fear, stepping into unknown territory, continually moving forward. The most important aspect of being on the spiritual path may be just to keep moving.
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It's said that when we die, the four elements - earth, air, fire and water - dissolve one by one, each into the other, and finally just dissolve into space. But while we're living, we share the energy that makes everything, from a blade of grass to an elephant, grow and live and then inevitably wear out and die. This energy, this life force, creates the whole world.
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Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already. The ground of practice is you or me or whoever we are right now, just as we are. That’s the ground, that’s what we study, that’s what we come to know with tremendous curiosity and interest.
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We have two alternatives: either we question our beliefs - or we don't. Either we accept our fixed versions of reality- or we begin to challenge them. 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.
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