108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion

Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and...
Pema Chodron Audio book on CD-I love this book and author,these arrived quickly,in sealed plastic in great shape!
I will treasure this!

Pema Chodron is the master of imperfection. Instead of causing the reader to pine over the apparent impossibility of enlightenment, Chodron teaches us how to learn that we are already just fine. Cultivation is only to help us remember we don't need to get anywhere, imperfection is perfect. Enlightenment is realizing that enlightenment is superfluous.

Pema Chadron is a down to earth Buddhist...she tells it in everyday language and makes it clear what one can do to be a happier more productive person. I perfer it when she reads her own books but this Woman does a pretty fair job.

This small book contains 108 short chapters taken from Pema's four main/prior books (The Wisdom of No Escape, Start Where You Are, The Places that Scare You, When Things Fall Apart). It includes her signature stories such as pp. 40-2: the 4 Maras-"turning arrows into flowers", pp. 61-2: the teaching of heaven & hell to a samurai, p. 103: the empty boat, p. 111: lions and the strawberry, and p. 115: the Demon of Now in the cave. It also some fine quotes such as: p. 25: "Resisting Life causes suffering," p. 62: "Only with equanimity can we see that everything that comes into our circle [of sacred space] has come to teach us what we need to know," and p. 91: "We cannot be in the present moment and run our story lines at the same time." Perhaps best of all, it addresses not only on-the-spot Tonglen but also on-the-spot compassion and equanimity. So, reading it may provide you with on-the-spot joy!

When emotionally stressed about family issues ( I'm a bit codependent) this book was my savior. It makes a person realize they can't fix everything and really helps with the letting go and acceptance in general.

Excellent book. A great help for anyone interested in meditation. This is a book that you would never tire of reading. An added advantage is that you can pick it up anytime and just read one chapter as you need to. This is a book not only for meditation but a guide for your journey of life. I would highly recommend it.

This is such a great book, especially for busy people. Each passage is so short that it's something doable no matter your schedule. Pema Chodron is so straightforward and has a great sense of humor to boot. Being an American herself and living a secular life for many years, she translates the Eastern philosophies into easy to digest bites, especially in this book. Highly recommended.

Comfortable with Uncertainty is changing my life in very subtle ways. It's simple format and daily 'meditations' have greatly helped me embrace the ever changing world on a very personal level. I highly recommend it.

ANYTHING Pema is BRILLIANT. Her teachings are applicable in so many areas. This book can be applied throughout all of my life. The only thing I notice in her books, is many of the teachings within are redundant, so I focus on the new teachings in each one. It creates a well-rounded supply of tools, support and edification.

A beautiful book for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. Pema Chodron's teachings are clear and concise. This book is a compilation of her teachings taken in short sections, so it can be read cover to cover or the teachings taken individually as one wishes, one day at a time, or randomly.

Pema Chodron is a Buddhist treasure. Her books have brought me solace on sleepless nights and inspire me daily. Not so this one, which sadly, simply consists of brief 1 1/2 page synopses of chapters from some of her other books, primarily "When Things Fall Apart". The chapters in that classic book are only 3-4 pages long, but perhaps Pema's publisher thought even that too long for our scattered American minds. Alas, what is cut out is the pith of each of her short teachings and we are left with some similar wording but nothing with the power to move your heart and soul. So go ahead and get "When Things Fall Apart" instead. Your life will be richer and saner because of it!

Years ago while in a period of personal turmoil, a dear friend of mine recommended a book titled `When Things Fall Apart" by female Buddhist monk Pema Chodron. I remember reading it and feeling connected to this woman's words, and enjoying her writings of introductory Buddhism for the lay person. Now many years later I find myself yearning and seeking more out of life, and am interested in delving deeper into the practice and philosophy of Buddhist thought. I picked up a copy of the author's book "Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion". This beautiful and simplistic work is for the Buddhist initiate; Buddhism 101 so to speak.

Pema details in very simple terms the philosophy of the Buddhist belief system and how it can enhance our lives if basic practices are put in place on a daily basis. She begins her writing explaining the ways of Mahayana Buddhism which relates to the "greater vehicle" path that can lead us all out of our worlds of pre-occupation and egos, into a realm of greater world fellowship with all living beings. After all, we are all connected; animals and humans alike.

Her introduction for the beginner in meditation practices that can cultivate a "Bodhichitta" lifestyle; the awakening heart of loving kindness and compassion, is not only easily understood, but enticing to the reader to start their path without hindrance. Pema leads the reader into simple silent meditation practices, and teaches us to have the courage to look inward. She urges us to investigate our fragile hearts and souls so that we can grow and expand, and learn to transform the most mundane life situations into moments of clarity and beauty. Learning to cultivate new perspectives for our lives is her goal with this book. She pulls the Buddhist student into realms that can teach each one of us how to disassemble the many depths and heights of various walls we build around us that push away fear and pain, and how to naturally and gently, dissolve them through a new way of thinking, and by bringing others into our lives that are of a similar nature that can offer us value versus the many people we surround ourselves with that drain our life's energy dry.

Her philosophy in this book is for us to learn to go beyond our current awareness and self-centeredness, to take in the pain we suffer and to turn it around with love and compassion for others who suffer similarly. She teaches breathing IN pain, and exhaling OUT love, and the benefits that this practice can bring to ourselves and others. Her instruction in basic sitting meditation is helpful and allows the student to go "softly", " breathe deeply", to "let go", and to begin a life of being grounded. A life of enlightenment, a life free of illusion that allows truth to penetrate, and to soon scatter the tumbleweeds of suffering we all bring upon ourselves unknowingly. We as humans tend to spin out of control with society as it is today. Pema Chodron will help you learn to sit back, inhale the pain, but to begin a path of exhaling and letting it all fly away. She teaches us to learn how to soar, to inherit the wind, to feel the rain on our backs and to weather the storms that the universe has chosen to give us.

This is an excellent little gem of a book that anyone interested in seeking the wisdom of life, and for those yearning to set their souls free of turmoil and suffering, can relate to. The hurt unnecessarily brought into our lives either through others, or from the damage we tend to cause ourselves when we are blinded with chaos around us, can easily be sent packing with a little bit of love and tenderness we all need so desperately. I highly recommend the author's works and am anxious to read the rest of her writings. Without a doubt, a five star read!

You either can read this book from beginning to end using it as a meditation guide for the warrior meditator, or you can drop into it and see what you get; also good.

It is unfailingly wise and compassionate in it's approach which is that meditation is not the path up the mountain but the path down into yourself and that accepting yourself as you are is what is important and difficult. This requires courage. The current ideas of changing yourself or self-improvement are yet another subtle attack on yourself.

The ironic miracle, of course, is that abandoning goals of self-improvement and accepting yourself leads to change, and you become someone you like better whether you like it or not.

Underneath all our fear of ourselves, way down deep, we find find our "wounded, softened hearts" and we discover that we, all of us, are compassionate loving beings. Now isn't that a hope for the world?

If you think this might be a good idea, then this book is a wonderful guide. It is not an answer, but it is a gentle helping hand along The Way.

This older audio book is inspired by the Buddhist tradition of the 108-day retreat, and offers insight on how to act from an awakened heart and other traditional Buddhist principles. Also included are ideas about ways that people stay stuck by always seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, how they are always trying to create security zones, and other limiting beliefs. The soothing voice of Tami Simon helps to make this audio book a success. I ended up buying the book version after istening to the tapes.

I enjoy this book. Each entry is short (two pages) and poignant. I read one or two each morning before I meditate. While I don't use this as a focus of my mediation, I find that it helps me get into the appropriate frame of mind. I also feel I am being gently supported in my practice when I read Ms Chodron's brief entries.

Five stars for the content, two stars for the "performance". The reader of this Sounds True audio edition is also the founder of Sounds True. She is senstitive to the material but her delivery is overly soft and gentle and so I had trouble keeping my attention on what she was saying. I've listened to other Pema Chodron tapes in her own voice. Pema is a wonderful speaker, very direct, humourous, warm but not "soft". Like the previous reviewer, I recommend buying the book over the audio edition.

Pema is accessible... Her writings are very helpful and exemplify the very compassion she teaches for herself and for ourselves and others...Her writing is grounded while pointing to the "ineffable". She makes Buddhism and meditation more ... well, meaningful for those in the trenches...all of us...very healing...simply good advice that she makes even clearer!!!Thank you Pema Chodron for your life and sharing so much of it. Another great book!!!