Places That Scare You : A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

by CHODRON, PEMA

• ISBN13: 9781590302651
• ISBN10: 1590302656
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-08-09
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

We always have a choice, Pema Chouml;drouml;n 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 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.

Author Biography

Pema Chödrön is an American Buddhist nun in the lineage of Chögyam Trungpa, the renowned Tibetan meditation master. She is resident teacher at Gampo Abbey, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, the first Tibetan monastery in North America established for Westerners. She is the author of several books including the best-selling When Things Fall Apart and The Places That Scare You.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Prologue	p. 1
The Excellence of Bodhichitta	p. 3
Tapping into the Spring	p. 9
The Facts of Life	p. 17
Learning to Stay	p. 23
Warrior Slogans	p. 31
Four Limitless Qualities	p. 37
Loving-Kindness	p. 41
Compassion	p. 49
Tonglen	p. 55
Finding the Ability to Rejoice	p. 61
Enhancing the Training in Joy	p. 67
Thinking Bigger	p. 69
Meeting the Enemy	p. 75
Fresh Start	p. 81
Strength	p. 83
Three Kinds of Laziness	p. 89
Bodhisattva Activity	p. 93
Groundlessness	p. 99
Heightened Neurosis	p. 105
When the Going Gets Rough	p. 109
The Spiritual Friend	p. 113
The In-Between State	p. 119
Concluding Aspiration	p. 123
App.: Practices
The Mind-Training Slogans of Atisha	p. 125
The Four Limitless Ones Chant	p. 129
Loving-Kindness Practice	p. 130
Compassion Practice	p. 131
The Three-Step Aspiration	p. 132
Bibliography	p. 133
Resources	p. 137
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