Hope and fear come from feeling that we lack something; they come from a sense of poverty. We can’t simply relax with ourselves. We hold on to hope, and hope robs us of the present moment. We feel that someone else knows what’s going on, but that there’s something missing in us, and therefore something is lacking in our world.
Rather than letting our negativity get the better of us, we could acknowledge that right now we feel like a piece of shit and not be squeamish about taking a good look. That’s the compassionate thing to do. That’s the brave thing to do. We can’t just jump over ourselves as if we were not there. It’s better to take a straight look at all our hopes and fears. Then some kind of confidence in our basic sanity arises.
Pema Chödron
from the book When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
Read a random quote or see all quotes by Pema Chödron.
Further quotes from the book When Things Fall Apart:
- Just being here again and again and again
- The courage to look at ourselves honestly and gently
- Opening our hearts and minds beyond limit
- Being with us
- Cultivating Peace
- It’s just like that
- The path of true awakening
- Undoing of old ways of seeing
- Awakening is essential
- Exposing ourselves to annihilation
- Negativity begets negativity
- Until we got it
- Fully alive
- Disappointment
- Become Familiar with Fear
- How are you
- Only in our own experience
- The Possibility of Egolessness
- Don’t Set Out to Save the World
- Drive all blames into oneself