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Who is Pema Chodron

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Pema Chodron

She's funny, she has kids and grandkids, she has an opinion about how Cher looks after all the plastic surgery.  She's not your parents' Buddhist nun, in other words. 

 I'll put Pema Chodron up as the greatest Buddhist teacher today (who speaks English, anyway), including the admittedly wonderful Thich Nhat Hanh and the certainly famous and charismatic Dalai Lama.

You don't have to be a Buddhist to learn more about compassion and fearlessness from Pema Chodron.  She has Christian students, Jewish students, athiest students, and any other flavor of belief or non-belief that you can think of.  She does not show any interest in converting anyone to Buddhism, just in teaching us how to be gentler and to suffer less.

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Selected Pema quote

From time to time I'll refresh these for your reading pleasure

Recently I was talking with a man I've known for a long time. I've always considered him to be a shy, good-hearted person who spends more time than most helping other people. On this day he was completely despondent and feeling like a hopeless case. Intending to be facetious, I asked him, "Well, don't you think that somewhere on this planet there might be someone worse than you?" He answered with heartbreaking honesty, "No. If you want to know what I really feel, it's that there's no one as bad as me."

It made me think of a Gary Larson cartoon I once saw. Two women are standing behind their locked door peeking out the window at a monster standing on their doorstep. One of the ladies is saying, "Calm down, Edna. Yes, it is a giant hideous insect, but it may be a giant hideous insect in need of help."

The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves. Yet it's never too late or too early to practice loving-kindness. It's as if we had a terminal disease but might live for quite a while. Not knowing how much time we have left, we might begin to think it was important to make friends with ourselves and others in the remaining hours, months, or years.

—When Things Fall Apart

It's like lying in bed before dawn and . . .

hearing rain on the roof. This simple sound can be disappointing because we were planning a picnic. It can be pleasing because our garden is so dry. But the flexible mind of prajna doesn't draw conclusions of good or bad. It perceives the sound without adding anything extra, without judgments of happy or sad. (From Comfortable with Uncertainty)

Four fine Pema Chodron books from Amazon

The Wisdom of No Escape, which sounds like it would be depressing and isn't at all, is my favorite of these. All of them are transformative; each hits different people differently.
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Pema's article on transforming confusion into wisdom (the practice of Tonglen)

from www.shambhala.org

In order to have compassion for others, we have to have compassion for ourselves.

In particular, to care about other people who are fearful, angry, jealous, overpowered by addictions of all kinds, arrogant, proud, miserly, selfish, mean—you name it—to have compassion and to care for these people, means not to run from the pain of finding these things in ourselves. In fact, one's whole attitude toward pain can change. Instead of fending it off and hiding from it, one could open one's heart and allow oneself to feel that pain, feel it as something that will soften and purify us and make us far more . . . more >>

Buddhism is not separate from reality

Here's a recent blog post Sonia made on how the kind of everyday wisdom I've learned (ok, tried to learn) from Pema can be highly relevant in daily life. It includes my very favorite Pema quote.

You are perfectly normal. Those other people are way messed up.

Pema Chodron audio on Amazon

One of Pema's great gifts is a warm voice that conveys her great sense of humor. She has a number of audio books and recordings available--I would encourage you to check any of them out. Her speaking voice has the ability to touch your heart very directly.
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An article by Pema Chodron on the "hooked" feeling

from www.shambhalasun.com

Someone criticizes you. They criticize your work or your appearance or your child. At moments like that, what is it you feel? It has a familiar taste in your mouth, it has a familiar smell. Once you begin to notice it, you feel like this experience has been happening forever.

The Tibetan word for this is shenpa. It is usually translated "attachment," but a more descriptive translation might be "hooked." When shenpa hooks us, we're likely to get stuck. We could call shenpa "that sticky feeling." It's an everyday experience. Even a spot on your new sweater can take you there. At the subtlest level, we feel a tightening, a tensing, a sense of closing down. Then we feel a sense of withdrawing, not wanting to be where we are. That's the hooked quality. That tight feeling has the power to hook us into self-denigration, blame, anger, jealousy and other emotions which lead to words and actions that end up poisoning us. Remember the fairy tale in which toads hop out of the princess's mouth whenever she starts to say mean words? That's how being hooked can feel. Yet we don't stop—we can't stop—because . . . more >>

Pema Chodron Vids

Pema Chodron "Troublemakers"
by TheOmegaInstitute | video info

556 ratings | 197,942 views
curated content from YouTube

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Who's Sonia?

I'm a parent, a meditator, a marketer by trade and a writer by nature, a smartass and a complete goofball, an addict to systems and master of none, a being struggling with suffering and with resistance to suffering, a person who is trying to put one foot in front of the other and make as many good ripples in the pond as I can.

I invite you to come see me over on remarkable communication, where I blog about making connections and ethical business and that kind of thing.

Sit down, have a cup of tea, let me know what you're thinking

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  • Reply
    technocrone Oct 31, 2008 @ 11:48 am | delete
    Great lens on a great teacher, a woman who is a real inspiration to those of us struggling toward enlightenment and so often stuck in the mire and mess of real life. I'm especially drawn toward Chodron's teachings on tonglen practice and have found them very helpful. Thanks for creating this fine lens. *technocrone*
  • Reply
    eccles1 Sep 24, 2008 @ 8:48 pm | delete
    I'm so happy that I watched all the videos wow I really love listening to her! lensrolled it to 'women that know' thank you so much!!
  • Reply
    poutine Aug 9, 2008 @ 11:54 am | delete
    Thanks for introducing her. I honestly had never heard of her.

    Poutine
  • Reply
    cablebrit Jul 21, 2008 @ 6:54 pm | delete
    I've read most of Pema's books and was first introduced to her by audio tapes and CD's. Since she has a soothing voice and a lot of wisdom, she is a great support system to have - like during the time I had to decide who to layoff.
    Since then I have seen her speak at a retreat here in Colorado. She got everyone's attention by making it a silent retreat - a lot of silent grumbling but a very powerful learning experience.
  • Reply
    mindfulobserver Jul 15, 2008 @ 8:16 am | delete
    Hey all,

    If you're looking for more stories by Pema, she has written a lot over the years for the Shamabhala Sun Magazine. Check out Pema Chodron's stories at the Shambhala Sun
  • Reply
    ecovicki Jun 30, 2008 @ 11:25 pm | delete
    Nice lens on a great person.
  • Reply
    Jun 2, 2008 @ 12:28 am | delete
    Thanks for the great lens!
  • Reply
    Starving_Artist May 20, 2008 @ 7:28 pm | delete
    wonderful author, speaker and person glad to see a lens about her and that you support a good cause.
  • Reply
    Believer May 20, 2008 @ 11:05 am | delete
    Wonderful lens for a person who deserves the recognition. Pema's gentleness and down to earth wisdom draw you right in. I first saw her on Bill Moyers, then took an on-line course on Spirituality and Practice devoted to her books. Wonderful stuff.
  • Reply
    beeobrien Apr 17, 2008 @ 10:25 am | delete
    This is inspiring. Thank you for introducing me.
  • Reply
    Kislanya Mar 16, 2008 @ 1:08 pm | delete
    I first heard of Pema in a book called 'Re-Enchantment'. Can't remember who wrote it but the author devoted a chapter to her. When I read that she had spent 13 years high up in a cave in the snowy mountains, I was immediately fascinated. Here was someone whose words I could respect as she lived them under incredible deprivation.
    I am so pleased to find your lens here about her. She is hardly known and yet has managed to touch the world quietly.
    Wonderful site....thank you.
  • Reply
    zoezuniga Mar 8, 2008 @ 9:34 pm | delete
    What a lovely lens. I just finished listening to a pod cast by Eckhart Tolle this afternoon so I was "in the zone", so this was a nice way to end the afternnon.
  • Reply
    PatinKC Mar 8, 2008 @ 11:45 am | delete
    I love to listen to Pema and love the quote. Please join my Buddhism Group
  • Reply
    busyblogger Feb 26, 2008 @ 7:13 pm | delete
    Nice to see a nice, simple, and Zen lens on Pema Chodron. "When Things Fall Apart" offers a straightforward introduction to fundamental Buddhist principles in a way that's open to any spiritual or religious approach. Sometimes life just needs to be broken down into its simplest units of truth. Pema Chodron does just that exceptionally well.
  • Reply
    thomasz Feb 13, 2008 @ 10:30 pm | delete
    Nice lens. Great info.
  • Reply
    Graceonline Feb 8, 2008 @ 6:11 pm | delete
    I especially love your quote of Pema telling the story of the Gary Larson insect cartoon. I hope I can remember always to look upon those I fear as someone in need of help. Excellent article on shenpa, too. Beautifully done lens. Most deserving of the lens of the day. A much belated congratulations.
  • Reply
    Jan 21, 2008 @ 9:26 pm | delete
    In reading "Awakening Loving-kindness", I really like the Meditation on Precision, Gentleness, and Letting Go. I love her suggestion to accept all the parts of oneself with gentleness to help us re-discover that we have everything we need. It reminds me of an article I read many years ago by Alan Watts called "The Myth of Self-improvement". I'm just beginning to learn more about Pema. Her wisdom speaks to me.
  • Reply
    ShortSaleRealtor Jan 21, 2008 @ 6:29 pm | delete
    great lens 5 stars 4 u
  • Reply
    Jan 21, 2008 @ 5:08 pm | delete
    Really deriving much fruit from an abriged version of "The Wisdom of No Escape" (1991) called "Awakening Loving-Kindness" (Shambhala Publications). I'm looking forward to returning to learn more about Pema. I rated this as a five star sight. Fabulous Lens. Thank you so much for putting together all this wonderful information. Fabulous!!! With Loving-kindness, Robert
  • Reply
    meetyourgreensdating Jan 18, 2008 @ 10:02 am | delete
    Oh its so cool to see a lens about Pema Chodron. I recently read her book, 'The Places That Scare You'. Powerful stuff!
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