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
A further sign of health is that we don't become undone by fear and trembling, but we take it as a message that it's time to stop struggling and look directly at what's threatening us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Facing our fears directly can lead to growth and understanding.
This quote emphasizes the importance of confronting our fears instead of allowing them to paralyze us. Pema Chodron suggests that fear can serve as a valuable signal for introspection and that acknowledging what threatens us can lead to personal growth and resilience.
Themes
FearCourageGrowthUnderstandingStruggle
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about overcoming obstacles.
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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There's a long history and a pattern of Black athletes - and Black people, period - being told to shut up and accept whatever it is they're given.
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Sometimes I hear the crowd cheering, and most of the time your body's on auto pilot, so sometimes even after I do a floor routine, I'm like, 'Did I really just do that?'
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Think of fear as a 2-year-old child who doesn't want to go grocery shopping with you. Because you must buy groceries, you'll just have to take the two year old with you. Fear is no different. In other words, acknowledge that fear exists but don't let it keep you from doing important tasks.
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To me non-violence has come to represent a panacea for all the evils that surround my people, and, therefore, I am devoting all my energies towards the establishment of a society that should be based on its principles of truth and peace.
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