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.
Pema ChodronRead
The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our greatest challenges often come from our own thoughts and decisions rather than external circumstances.
Pema Chodron emphasizes that the hardest struggles we face are frequently self-imposed, arising from our perceptions, fears, and the narratives we create about our lives. This insight encourages self-reflection and the understanding that by changing our mindset, we can alleviate much of the suffering we experience.
Themes
Self-Imposed ChallengesMental StrugglesPerceptionThoughtsInner Peace
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a mental health awareness talk to encourage people to reflect on their inner struggles.
More from Pema Chodron
All quotes →Without giving up hope—that there’s somewhere better to be, that there’s someone better to be—we will never relax with where we are or who we are.
Pema ChodronRead
When we scratch the wound and give into our addictions we do not allow the wound to heal.
Pema ChodronRead
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.
Pema ChodronRead
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.
Pema ChodronRead
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.
Pema ChodronRead
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In the scriptures, we are told you can't really understand happiness unless you understand sadness. You don't know pleasure if you don't know pain. It's part of life. So can you learn something from somebody who has gone from success to success to success? I don't think so.
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Reformers who are always compromising, have not yet grasped the idea that truth is the only safe ground to stand upon.
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