Posts Tagged with pema chodron

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learning from difficult situations

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Recently, I was overwhelmed by a confusing and painful situation — trying to see it from all angles, trying on all of the emotions surrounding it, trying to eliminate it with distraction, flush it with tears, disassemble it with logic… but it wouldn’t let go. Then finally, at the point of screaming, “leave me alone!” I came across this quote by Buddhist teacher, Pema Chödrön. “Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know.” So, I’m going to brew another cup of tea and open my heart to hearing what I need to hear… until the tension goes away. Breathe deeply. Listen fully.

— heidi kalyani, 2016
from the *nothing is black and white* project: illustration created out of meditation with a single unbroken line

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opening or shutting

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Buddhist teacher, Pema Chödrön, says, “Each day, we’re given many opportunities to open up or shut down. The most precious opportunity presents itself when we come to the place where we think we can’t handle whatever is happening.” For me, pushing through that intense moment of “I can’t” by willfully turning it into “I can” creates a powerful and transformative spark that amazes me with its strength and simplicity every time I make it happen. That moment — when I get out of my own way, when I breathe “yes” into every cell of my being, when my heart begins to radiate in a way that illuminates everything around me, when my mind starts to glide so effortlessly that forward momentum is almost unstoppable — is like an electrifying first kiss. It’s a profound opening with no shutting down in sight.

— heidi kalyani, 2016
from the *nothing is black and white* project: illustration created out of meditation with a single unbroken line