Pema Chodron Quotes About Compassion

Quotes about: Compassion

• Some of us can accept others right where they are a lot more easily than we can accept ourselves. We feel that compassion is reserved for someone else, and it never occurs to us to feel it for ourselves. My experience is that by practicing without 'shoulds,' we gradually discover our wakefulness and our confidence. Gradually, without any agenda except to be honest and kind, we assume responsibility for being here in this unpredictable world, in this unique moment, in this precious human body.

  Pema Chodron

  Responsibility, Unique, Compassion

  Pema Chodron (2000). “When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times”, p.182, Shambhala Publications

• We don't set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people's hearts.

  Pema Chodron

  Integrity, Heart, Compassion

• When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it's bottomless, that it doesn't have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast, and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space.

  Pema Chodron

  Love, Inspirational, Heart

  Pema Chodron (2001). “Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living”, p.128, Shambhala Publications

• Honesty without kindness, humor, and goodheartedness can be just mean. From the very beginning to the very end, pointing to our own hearts to discover what is true isn’t just a matter of honesty but also of compassion and respect for what we see.

  Pema Chodron

  Honesty, Kindness, Heart

  Pema Chodron (2000). “When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times”, p.98, Shambhala Publications

• Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.

  Pema Chodron

  Relationship, Real, Compassion

  Pema Chodron (2003). “Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion”, p.73, Shambhala Publications

• Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals.

  Pema Chodron

  Compassion, Empathy, Mindfulness

  Pema Chodron (2003). “Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion”, p.73, Shambhala Publications

• So many of us start along the spiritual path because we are suffering. But you must realize that for real healing to occur, there must first be deep compassion for yourself, especially the parts of yourself you dislike or consider ugly.

  Pema Chodron

  Spiritual, Real, Healing

• The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at ourselves, we feel confident and fearless about looking into someone else's eyes.

  Pema Chodron

  Peace, Buddhist, Heart

  Pema Chodron (2008). “The Pocket Pema Chodron”, p.118, Shambhala Publications

• Compassionate action involves working with ourselves as much as working with others.

  Pema Chodron

  Compassion, Working With Others, Action

• As long as our orientation is toward perfection or success, we will never learn about unconditional friendship with ourselves, nor will we find compassion.

  Pema Chodron

  Compassion, Long, Perfection

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

  Pema Chodron

  Compassion, Order, Compassion For Others

• When we practice generating compassion, we can expect to experience our fear of pain. Compassion practice is daring. It involves learning to relax and allow ourselves to move gently toward what scares us. The trick to doing this is to stay with emotional distress without tightening into aversion, to let fear soften us rather than harden into resistance.

  Pema Chodron

  Pain, Moving, Emotional

• Compassionate action starts with seeing yourself when you start to make yourself right and when you start to make yourself wrong. At that point you could just contemplate the fact that there is a larger alternative to either of those, a more tender, shaky kind of place where you could live.

  Pema Chodron

  Inspirational, Life, Spiritual

• Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.

  Pema Chodron

  Real, Compassion, Empathy

  Pema Chodron (2003). “Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion”, p.73, Shambhala Publications

• True compassion does not come from wanting to help out those less fortunate than ourselves but from realizing our kinship with all beings.

  Pema Chodron

  Inspirational, Motivational, Attitude

  Pema Chodron (2001). “Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living”, p.11, Shambhala Publications

• Compassion for others begins with kindness to ourselves.

  Pema Chodron

  Kindness, Compassion, Self

  Pema Chodron (2001). “Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living”, p.6, Shambhala Publications

• Compassion starts with making friends with ourselves.

  Pema Chodron

  Compassion, Making Friends

  Pema Chodron (2001). “Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living”, p.44, Shambhala Publications

• Compassion isn't some kind of self-improvement project or ideal that we're trying to live up to. Having compassion starts and ends with having compassion for all those unwanted parts of ourselves, all those imperfections that we don't even want to look at.

  Pema Chodron

  Compassion, Self, Imperfection

  Pema Chodron (2000). “When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times”, p.104, Shambhala Publications

• As we learn to have compassion for ourselves, the circle of compassion for others - what and whom we can work with, and how - becomes wider.

  Pema Chodron

  Inspirational, Sympathy, Wisdom

  Pema Chodron (2000). “When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times”, p.110, Shambhala Publications

• The trick is to keep exploring and not bail out, even when we find out that something is not what we thought. That's what we're going to discover again and again and again. Nothing is what we thought. I can say that with great confidence. Emptiness is not what we thought. Neither is mindfulness or fear. Compassion––not what we thought. Love. Buddha nature. Courage. These are code words for things we don't know in our minds, but any of us could experience them. These are words that point to what life really is when we let things fall apart and let ourselves be nailed to the present moment.

  Pema Chodron

  Fall, Compassion, Mind

• In tonglen practice, when we see or feel suffering, we  breathe in with the notion of completely feeling it, accepting it, and owning it. Then we breathe out, radiating compassion, lovingkindness, freshness - anything that encourages relaxation and openness.  So you're training in softening, rather than tightening, your heart. In this practice, it's not uncommon to find yourself blocked, because you come face to face with your own fear, resistance, or whatever your personal "stuckness" happens to be at that moment.

  Pema Chodron

  Heart, Compassion, Practice

• The root of compassion, is compassion for oneself.

  Pema Chodron

  Compassion, Roots, Oneself

• If we begin to get in touch with whatever we feel with some kind of kindness, our protective shells will melt, and we'll find that more areas of our lives are workable. AS we learn to have compassion for ourselves, the circle of compassion for others-what and whom we can work with, and how-becomes wider.

  Pema Chodron

  Kindness, Compassion, Circles

  Pema Chodron (2000). “When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times”, p.110, Shambhala Publications

• Having compassion starts and ends with having compassion for all those unwanted parts of ourselves. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.

  Pema Chodron

  Grief, Healing, Compassion

• For arousing compassion, the nineteenth-century yogi Patrul Rinpoche suggested imagining beings in torment - an animal about to be slaughtered, a person awaiting execution. To make it more immediate, he recommended imagining ourselves in their place. Particularly painful is his image of a mother with no arms watching as a raging river sweeps her child away. To contact the suffering of another being fully and directly is as painful as being in the woman's shoes.

  Pema Chodron

  Mother, Children, Animal

  Pema Chodron (2002). “The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times”, p.65, Shambhala Publications

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