Authors: Pema Chodron
ISBN-13: 9781570629211, ISBN-10: 1570629218
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Date Published: August 2002
Edition: 1ST PBK
Pema Chodron is an American Buddhist nun and one of the foremost students of Chogyam Trungpa, the renowned Tibetan meditation master. She is the author of The Wisdom of No Escape, Start Where You Are, and the bestselling When Things Fall Apart. She is the resident teacher at Gampo Abbey, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, the first Tibetan monastery in North America established for Westerners.
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:
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.
Acknowledgments | ix |
Prologue | 1 |
1. The Excellence of Bodhichitta | 3 |
2. Tapping into the Spring | 9 |
3. The Facts of Life | 17 |
4. Learning to Stay | 23 |
5. Warrior Slogans | 31 |
6. Four Limitless Qualities | 37 |
7. Loving-Kindness | 41 |
8. Compassion | 49 |
9. Tonglen | 55 |
10. Finding the Ability to Rejoice | 61 |
11. Enhancing the Training in Joy | 67 |
12. Thinking Bigger | 69 |
13. Meeting the Enemy | 75 |
14. Fresh Start | 81 |
15. Strength | 83 |
16. Three Kinds of Laziness | 89 |
17. Bodhisattva Activity | 93 |
18. Groundlessness | 99 |
19.Heightened Neurosis | 105 |
20. When the Going Gets Rough | 109 |
21. The Spiritual Friend | 113 |
22. The In-Between State | 119 |
Concluding Aspiration | 123 |
APPENDIX: PRACTICES | |
The Mind-Training Slogans of Atisha | 125 |
The Four Limitless Ones Chant | 129 |
Loving-Kindness Practice | 130 |
Compassion Practice | 131 |
The Three-Step Aspiration | 132 |
Bibliography | 133 |
Resources | 137 |