The Pocket Pema Chodron (Shambhala Pocket Classics)

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In her mid-thirties, Ani Pema met and studied with Lama Chime Rinpoche, becoming a novice nun in 1974 in London. She received ordination from His Holiness the Sixteenth Karampa during that time. Pema first met her root guru, the teacher with whom she had the most profound connection, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in 1972, and she studied closely with him until his death in 1987. It helps to remember that our spiritual practice is not about accomplishing anything—not about winning or losing—but about ceasing to struggle and relaxing as it is.” Pema seems very focused on suffering and becoming okay with it. In many ways, there's a lot of great advice. I just personally felt she focused a bit too much on getting your mental state right with suffering, as opposed to actually working towards fixing the aspects of your life that cause you to suffer. I think there's a push and pull. On the one hand, you need mental resilience and acceptance to live through the pain life puts your through, but on the other hand, I think it's incredibly important to take life by the reins and change the things that make you unhappy. Pema seems much more focused on the first, and not at all focused on the second. She is a very privileged woman who's been able to travel the world and study with monks around the globe. There isn't anything wrong with that, but sometimes I feel like she doesn't really get what life is like for a lot of people. Ani Pema first met her root guru, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in 1972. Lama Chime encouraged her to work with Trungpa, and it was with him that she ultimately made her most profound connection, studying with him from 1974 until his death in 1987. At the request of the Sixteenth Karmapa, she received the full bikshuni ordination in the Chinese lineage of Buddhism in 1981 in Hong Kong.

She’s one of the most influential voices in contemporary spirituality, the writer whose books are passed from friend to friend."

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A collection of short inspirational readings by "one of the world's wisest women"— O, the Oprah Magazine. When we feel” depressed, lonely, betrayed, or any unwanted feelings, this is an important moment on the spiritual path. This is when real transformation can take place.” Pema tells us that we already have everything we need and are “one blink of an eye away from being fully awake.” You know that moment when you realize that you don’t even know what you don’t know? After reading Pema Chodron’s words, I was awakened to the fact that I was right there, on the edge of some exciting new discovery—I just had to unfold into that space where the unknown lived. As much as we might try to resist, endings happen in every moment—the end of a breath, the end of a day, the end of a relationship, and ultimately the end of life. And accompanying each ending is a beginning, though it may be unclear what the beginning holds. In How We Live Is How We Die, Pema Chödrön shares her wisdom for working with this flow of life—learning to live with ease, joy, and compassion through uncertainty, embracing new beginnings, and ultimately preparing for death with curiosity and openness rather than fear.

Two years ago I didn’t know much about Pema Chodron. It wasn’t until I started to write for elephant journal that I started falling in love with so many snippets of Shambhala wisdom. This book was interesting and I did learn a lot from it. I really wasn't familiar with Buddhism and I think this was a good way to dip a toe. The calligraphy reads, “Pointing directly at your own heart, you find Buddha.” Listening to talks about the dharma, or the teachings of Buddha, or practicing meditation is nothing other than studying ourselves.”Ani Pema served as the director of the Karma Dzong, in Boulder, CO, until moving in 1984 to rural Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to be the director of Gampo Abbey. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche gave her explicit instructions on establishing this monastery for western monks and nuns. Pema Chodron is an American Buddhist nun, born Deidre Bloomfield-Brown in New York, who studied intensively under the Tibetan meditation master, Chogyam Trungpa. Looking beyond religion, Pema’s interpretation of Buddhism can enrich any walk of faith. This book—Ani Pema's first—is about saying yes to life in all of its manifestations and embracing the potent mixture of joy, suffering, brilliance, and confusion that characterizes the human experience.