Taking the Leap : Freeing Ourselves From Old Habits and Fears

in This Book Pema Chödrön Shows Us How To Break Free Of Destructive Patterns In Our Lives And Experience A New Sense Of Freedom And Happiness. Drawing On The Buddhist Concept Of shenpa , She Helps Us To See How Certain Habits Of Mind Tend To “hook” Us And Get Us Stuck In States Of Anger, Blame, Self-hatred, And Addiction. The Good News Is That Once We Start To See These Patterns, We Can Begin To Change Our Lives For The Better. the Key Is Learning A New Way Of Facing The Inevitable Difficulties And Insecurities Of Our Daily Lives: We Must Learn How To Stay Present And Open Our Hearts. “this Path Entails Uncovering Three Basic Human Qualities,” Explains Pema. “these Qualities Have Always Been With Us But Perhaps Have Gotten Buried And Almost Forgotten. They Are Natural Intelligence, Natural Warmth, And Natural Openness. Everyone, Everywhere, All Over The Globe, Has These Qualities And Can Call On Them To Help Themselves And Others. this Book Gives Us The Insights And Practices We Can Immediately Put To Use In Our Lives To Awaken These Essential Qualities. In Her Friendly And Encouraging Style, Pema Chödrön Helps Us To Take A Bold Leap Toward A New Way Of Living—one That Will Bring About Positive Transformation For Ourselves And For Our Troubled World. publishers Weekly this Gently Encouraging Book By Popular Teacher Chödrön (when Things Fall Apart; The Places That Scare You) Applies Buddhist Wisdom To The Problems Of Deeply Ingrained Reactions. An American Buddhist Nun In The Lineage Of Tibetan Master Chogyam Trungpa, She Writes That “we Already Have What We Need” To Change And Heal. Chödrön Focuses On The Preverbal Moment—called Shenpa In Tibetan—in Which Individuals Are “hooked” Into Harmful Stories, Emotions And Actions Within The Flux Of Their Experiences. Clear Descriptions Of How This Process Works Are Accompanied By Simple Techniques To Begin To Break The Cycle. Her Suggestions Can Be Easily Practiced By Anyone At Any Time Without Meditation Training, Although She Presents The Benefits Of Sitting Meditation. With Anecdotes From Her Teachers And Examples From Her Own And Others' Lives, Chödrön Demonstrates That People Can Stop Their Suffering And Access Their Natural Intelligence, Warmth And Openness. Throughout, She Emphasizes The Global Implications Of Personal Change. Among Her Strengths Are Compassion For The Difficulty Of Human Existence And Her Willingness To Acknowledge Her Own Failings. This Short Guide Provides Valuable Tools For Change In Uncertain Times. (sept. 8) In this book Pema Chödrön shows us how to break free of destructive patterns in our lives and experience a new sense of freedom and happiness. Drawing on the Buddhist concept of shenpa, she helps us to see how certain habits of mind tend to “hook” us and get us stuck in states of anger, blame, self-hatred, and addiction. The good news is that once we start to see these patterns, we can begin to change our lives for the better.The key is learning a new way of facing the inevitable difficulties and insecurities of our daily lives: we must learn how to stay present and open our hearts. “This path entails uncovering three basic human qualities,” explains Pema. “These qualities have always been with us but perhaps have gotten buried and almost forgotten. They are natural intelligence, natural warmth, and natural openness. Everyone, everywhere, all over the globe, has these qualities and can call on them to help themselves and others."This book gives us the insights and practices we can immediately put to use in our lives to awaken these essential qualities. In her friendly and encouraging style, Pema Chödrön helps us to take a bold leap toward a new way of living—one that will bring about positive transformation for ourselves and for our troubled world. Insights and strategies for claiming victory over fear, from “one of the most remarkable and brilliant teachers of modern times” (Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart) Many of us, without even realizing it, are dominated by fear. We might be aware of some of our fears—perhaps we are afraid of public speaking, of financial hardship, or of losing a loved one. Chögyam Trungpa shows us that most of us suffer from a far more pervasive fearfulness: fear of ourselves. We feel ashamed and embarrassed to look at our feelings or acknowledge our styles of thinking and acting; we don’t want to face the reality of our moment-to-moment experience. It is this fear that keeps us trapped in cycles of suffering, despair, and distress. In Smile at Fear, Chögyam Trungpa offers us a vision of moving beyond fear to discover the innate bravery, trust, and delight in life that lies at the core of our being. Drawing on the Shambhala Buddhist teachings, he explains how we can each become a spiritual warrior—a person who faces each moment of life with openness and fearlessness. Ever feel trapped in the same old habits and painful emotions time and time again? These are patterns we all face, and sometimes they feel impossible to shake. So how can we get unstuck? Drawing on time-honored Buddhist teachings on shenpa (all the attachments and compulsions that cause us suffering), Pema Chödrön shows how certain habits of mind tend to “hook” us and get us stuck in states of anger, blame, self-hatred, addiction, and so much more—and, most of all, how we can liberate ourselves from them. “This path entails uncovering three basic human qualities,” explains Pema. “They are natural intelligence, natural warmth, and natural openness. Everyone, everywhere, all over the globe, has these qualities and can call on them to help themselves and others.” Pema shares insights and exercises from her lifetime of practice that we can immediately put to use in our lives to awaken these essential qualities and help us to take a bold leap toward a new way of living—one that will bring about positive transformation for ourselves and for our troubled world. Best-seller Pema Chdrn draws on the Buddhist concept of shenpa to help us see how certain habits of mind tend to hook us and get us stuck in states of anger, blame, self-hatred, and addiction. The good news is that once we start to recognize these patterns, they instantly begin to lose their hold on us and we can begin to change our lives for the better. This path entails uncovering three basic human qualities, explains Pema. They are natural intelligence, natural warmth, and natural openness. Everyone, everywhere, all over the globe, has these qualities and can call on them to help themselves and others. This book gives us the insights and practices we can immediately put to use in our lives to awaken these essential qualities. In her friendly and encouraging style, Pema Chdrn helps us take a bold leap toward a new way of livingone that will bring about positive transformation for ourselves and for our troubled world. Chögyam Trungpa offers us a vision of moving beyond fear to discover the innate bravery, trust, and delight in life that lies at the core of our being. Drawing on the Shambhala Buddhist teachings, he explains how we can each become a spiritual warrior: a person who faces each moment of life with openness and fearlessness. "The ultimate definition of bravery is not being afraid of who you are," writes Chögyam Trungpa. In this book he offers the insights and strategies to claim victory over fear Feeding the right wolf Learning to stay The habit of escape The natural movement of life Getting unstuck We have what we need Rejoicing in things as they are Uncovering natural openness The importance of pain Unlimited friendliness Epilogue: Taking this into the world. Discusses the Buddhist concept of shenpa to explain how to free oneself from destructive energy experienced as a sensation of tightening and negativity at moments of conflict, explaining how to replace angry or addictive responses with courage and compassion In this pithy, inspiring book, Pema Chödrön presents the Buddhist concept of shenpa -- which can be translated as "getting stuck" or "getting hooked" -- and shows you how you can liberate yourself from it