Pema Chödrön is an American Tibetan Buddhist. She is an ordained nun, former acharya of Shambhala Buddhism, and disciple of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Chödrön has written several dozen books and audiobooks and is the principal teacher at Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia. Here are some of the Pema Chödrön inspiring quotes about life, courage, compassion, and love.
“Feel the feelings and drop the story.”
“The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.”
“Running from the immediacy of our experience is like preferring death to life.”
“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.”
“Suffering usually relates to wanting things to be different from the way they are.”
“If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.”
“Like all explorers, we are drawn to discover what’s out there without knowing yet if we have the courage to face it.”
“We can use our difficulties and problems to awaken our hearts.”
“Things are as bad and as good as they seem. There’s no need to add anything extra.”
“The way to dissolve our resistance to life is to meet it face-to-face.”
Inspiring quotes about life from Pema Chödrön
“Live your life as an experiment.”
“Each time we drop our complaints and allow everyday good fortune to inspire us, we enter the warrior’s world.”
“Sometimes when things fall apart, well, that’s the big opportunity to change.”
“The more you try to get it your way, the less you feel at home.”
“Do I prefer to grow up and relate to life directly, or do I choose to live and die in fear?”
“We sow the seeds of our future hell or happiness by the way we open or close our minds right now.”
“We work on ourselves in order to help others, but also we help others in order to work on ourselves.”
“Without giving up hope, we will never relax with where we are or who we are.”
“Life is like that. We don’t know anything.”
“The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.”
Pema Chödrön Quotes About Love
“Without loving-kindness for ourselves, it is difficult to genuinely feel it for others.”
“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too was a gift.”
“We don’t set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people’s hearts.”
“Don’t let life harden your heart.”
Pema Chödrön on Compassion
“Be kinder to yourself.”
“True compassion does not come from wanting to help out those less fortunate than ourselves.”
“As long as our orientation is toward perfection or success, we will never learn about unconditional friendship with ourselves, nor will we find compassion.”
“None of us is ever OK, but we all get through everything just fine.”
“Impermanence is a principle of harmony. When we don’t struggle against it, we are in harmony with reality.”
Meditation Quotes from Pema Chödrön
“Meditation practice is not about later when you get it all together.”
“If you ask why we meditate, I would say it’s so we can become more flexible and tolerant to the present moment.”
“Deep down in the human spirit, there is a reservoir of courage. It is always available, always waiting to be discovered.”
“Meditation is a totally nonviolent, nonaggressive occupation.”
“Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better.”
“In practicing meditation, we’re not trying to live up to some kind of ideal.”
Pema Chödrön on Courage
“The most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.”
“We deserve our birthright, which is an open state of mind that can relax with paradox and ambiguity.”
“So the next time you encounter fear, consider yourself lucky. This is where courage comes in.”
“The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.”
“Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.”
“Every time we give, every time we practice discipline, patience, or exertion, it’s like putting down a heavy burden.”