The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times (Shambhala Classics)

Beloved Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön offers guidance for coping with the difficult moments in our lives—showing us how they can soften our hearts and open us to greater kindness We always have a choice in how we react to the circumstances of our lives. We can let them harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and allow our inherent human kindness to shine through. In The Places That Scare You, Pema Chödrön provides essential tools for dealing with the many difficulties that life throws our way, teaching us how to awaken our basic human goodness and connect deeply with others—to accept ourselves and everything around us complete with faults and imperfections. Drawing from the core teachings of Buddhism, she shows the strength that comes from staying in touch with what’s happening in our lives right now and helps us unmask the ways in which our egos cause us to resist life as it is. If we go to the places that scare us, Pema suggests, we just might find the boundless life we’ve always dreamed of.

In The Places That Scare You, Pema Chödrön continues the teachings of When Things Fall Apart, showing how at the core of the most painful experiences lie the seeds of spiritual awakening. Here she presents key teachings on recognizing and cultivating the "soft spot" that is the gateway to compassion and open-heartedness. In this book she discusses:

• The four great catalysts of awakening, and how to integrate them into our lives
• Why the "soft spot" is necessary for spiritual awakening
• The basic goodness that is inherently ours
• How the three noble principles can enrich everything we do
• The maitri meditation that multiplies love
• Why an attitude of "don't know" can be wiser than the world's greatest spiritual teachings
• How to keep the heart open with equal fearlessness to both heartache and delight

Publishers Weekly

American Tibetan Buddhist nun Chodron (When Things Fall Apart) teaches an intense form of meditation in which readers are encouraged to become "warrior-bodhisattvas," those who courageously confront suffering. Warrior-bodhisattvas, according to Chodron, are willing to have their inner selves broken, while keeping their minds and hearts from shutting down. They take on suffering with compassion and loving-kindness, working through their own emotions of fear or anger to help alleviate others' pain. Chodron highlights six traditional paramitas to model (generosity, discipline, patience, enthusiasm, meditation and unconditional wisdom) and cautions that ego, self-deception, unforgiveness and a grasping for permanence all present barriers to compassion. True meditation cultivates the qualities of steadfastness, clarity of vision and attention to the present moment. Despite the title, this book is more about generating compassion than facing fears. A few humorous vignettes are interspersed with the deeply philosophical text, such as when Chodron describes discovering her boyfriend in an intimate embrace with another woman. She tried to throw something at the couple, but the thing she picked up was a priceless piece of pottery that belonged to their millionaire host. "The absurdity of the situation totally cut through my rage," she explains, noting that many times "wisdom is inherent in emotions." Moments such as these mitigate the intensity of this highly cerebral book, which will offer meaty reflections for the serious practitioner, but less guidance for the mere bookstore Buddhist. (Sept.) Forecast: This title will receive some terrific exposure this fall. Shambhala Sun will excerpt twochapters and feature Chodron on the cover of its August/September issue, and New Age Journal will run an excerpt in September. In the piece de resistance, O magazine will run a substantial profile on Chodron in the October issue. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

“A lively and accessible take on ancient techniques for transforming terror and pain into joy and compassion,” from beloved Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön ( O, The Oprah Magazine ) Lifelong guidance for changing the way we relate to the scary and difficult moments of our lives—showing us how we can use our difficulties and fears as a way to soften our hearts and open us to greater kindness We always have a choice in how we react to the circumstances of our lives. We can let them harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and allow our inherent human kindness to shine through. In The Places That Scare You , Pema Chödrön provides essential tools for dealing with the many difficulties that life throws our way, teaching us how to awaken our basic human goodness and connect deeply with others—to accept ourselves and everything around us complete with faults and imperfections. Drawing from the core teachings of Buddhism, she shows the strength that comes from staying in touch with what’s happening in our lives right now and helps us unmask the ways in which our egos cause us to resist life as it is. If we go to the places that scare us, Pema suggests, we just might find the boundless life we’ve always dreamed of. In this book Pema Ch?dr?n 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 Ch?dr?n 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 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. Lifelong guidance for learning to change the way we relate to the scary and difficult moments of our lives, showing us how we can use all of our difficulties and fears as a way to soften our hearts and open us to greater kindness. We always have a choice in how we react to the circumstances of our lives. We can let them harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and allow our inherent human kindness to shine through. Here Pema Chodrun provides essential tools for dealing with the many difficulties that life throws our way, teaching us how to awaken our basic human goodness and connect deeply with others - to accept ourselves and everything around us complete with faults and imperfections. She shows the strength that comes from staying in touch with what's happening in our lives right now and helps us unmask the ways in which our egos cause us to resist life as it is. If we go to the places that scare us, Pema suggests, we just might find the boundless life we've always dreamed of Lifelong guidance for learning to change the way we relate to the scary and difficult moments of our lives, showing us how we can use all of our difficulties and fears as a way to soften our hearts and open us to greater kindness. We always have a choice in how we react to the circumstances of our lives. We can let them harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and allow our inherent human kindness to shine through. Here Pema Chödrön provides essential tools for dealing with the many difficulties that life throws our way, teaching us how to awaken our basic human goodness and connect deeply with others-to accept ourselves and everything around us complete with faults and imperfections. She shows the strength that comes from staying in touch with what's happening in our lives right now and helps us unmask the ways in which our egos cause us to resist life as it is. If we go to the places that scare us, Pema suggests, we just might find the boundless life we've always dreamed of Front Cover 1 The Places That Scare You 5 Contents 9 Acknowledgments 11 Prologue 15 1. The Excellence of Bodhichitta 17 2. Tapping Into the Spring 25 3. The Facts of Life 36 4. Learning to Stay 45 5. Warrior Slogans 57 6. Four Limitless Qualities 65 7. Loving-Kindness 69 8. Compassion 79 9. Tonglen 87 10. Finding the Ability to Rejoice 96 11. Enhancing the Training in Joy 104 12. Thinking Bigger 107 13. Meeting the Enemy 114 14. Fresh Start 123 15. Strength 126 16. Three Kinds of Laziness 134 17. Bodhisattva Activity 140 18. Groundlessness 149 19. Heightened Neurosis 158 20. When the Going Gets Rough 163 21. The Spiritual Friend 169 22. The In-Between State 176 Concluding Aspiration 181 Appendix: Practices 183 The Mind-Training Slogans of Atisha 183 The Four Limitless Ones Chant 187 Loving-Kindness Practice 188 Compassion Practice 190 The Three-Step Aspiration 192 Bibliography 193 Resources 197

In The Places That Scare You, Pema Chödrön continues the teachings of When Things Fall Apart, showing how at the core of the most painful experiences lie the seeds of spiritual awakening. Here she presents key teachings on recognizing and cultivating the "soft spot" that is the gateway to compassion and open-heartedness. In this book she discusses: The four great catalysts of awakening, and how to integrate them into our lives Why the "soft spot" is necessary for spiritual awakening The basic goodness that is inherently ours How the three noble principles can enrich everything we do The maitri meditation that multiplies love Why an attitude of "don't know" can be wiser than the world's greatest spiritual teachings How to keep the heart open with equal fearlessness to both heartache and delight

We always have a choice, Pema ChOdrOn teaches: We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder. Here Pema provides the tools to deal with the problems and difficulties that life throws our way. This wisdom is always available to us, she teaches, but we usually block it with habitual patterns rooted in fear. Beyond that fear lies a state of openheartedness and tenderness. This book teaches us how to awaken our basic goodness and connect with others, to accept ourselves and others complete with faults and imperfections, and to stay in the present moment by seeing through the strategies of ego that cause us to resist life as it is We always have a choice, Pema Chödrön teaches: we can let the circumstances of our lives harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid--or we can let them soften us and make us kinder. Here Pema provides the tools to deal with the difficulties that life throws our way 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 The beloved American-born Buddhist nun, author of "When Things Fall Apart, " shows how at the core of the most painful experiences lie the seeds of spiritual awakening Offers advice on uncovering inner wisdom and opening one's heart while refusing to allow resentfulness and fear to block one's inner light. When I was about six years old I recieved the essential bodhichitta teaching from an old woman sitting in the sun.