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
Never underestimate the desire to bolt.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing and acknowledging our instincts to flee from difficult situations.
Pema Chodron's quote, 'Never underestimate the desire to bolt,' serves as a reminder that our instinct to escape from uncomfortable or challenging scenarios is powerful and should not be overlooked. It speaks to the human tendency to avoid discomfort, urging us instead to confront our fears and understand our motivations, allowing for personal growth and resilience in the face of adversity.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a motivational talk to inspire others to face challenges head-on.
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.
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.
When we scratch the wound and give into our addictions we do not allow the wound to heal.
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.
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.
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.
We put fear and prejudice on trial, and fear and prejudice lost.
First it was the whites, and then their Negro message bearers. And the word was always the same: 'Tell your sons to take their names off the books. Don't show up at the courthouse voting day.'
If I was afraid of being killed, I would never speak out against the government.
Smears are not only to be expected but fought. Honor is to be earned, not bought.
Where it is permissible both to die and not to die, it is an abuse of valour to die.
In 1960, when I graduated from college, people told me a woman couldn't go to law school. And when I graduated from law school, people told me, 'Law firms won't hire you.'
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