Pema Chodron Life Quotations

In a nutshell, when life is pleasant, think of others. When life is a burden, think of others.

Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both...Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both.

Life is like that. We don't know anything. We call something bad; we call it good. But really we just don't know.

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.

You must learn to sit with the restless, painful energy and not let the momentum pull you under and cause you to do the same thing over and over that's ruining your life and the lives of those around you.

Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible in us be found.

To stay with that shakiness-to stay with a broken heart, with a rumbling stomach, with the feeling of hopelessness and wanting to get revenge-that is the path of true awakening. Sticking with that uncertainty, getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos, learning not to panic-this is the spiritual path.

In truth, there is enormous space in which to live our everyday lives.

Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.

Each person's life is like a mandala - a vast, limitless circle. We stand in the center of our own circle, and everything we see, hear and think forms the mandala of our life ... everything that shows up in your mandala is a vehicle for your awakening.