When the thoughts arise it might occur to you to wonder where they come from. Where do they come from? It seems as if they come from nowhere. You’re just faithfully following your breath and—Wham!—you’re in Hawaii surfing. Where did it come from? And where does it go? Big drama, big drama’s happening, big, big, drama. And it’s 9:30 in the morning. “Oooh. Wow! This is extremely heavy.” A car horn honks, and suddenly you’re not in that drama anymore, you’re in another drama.

I was once instructed to meditate on thoughts. I investigated the nature of thought for two whole months. I can tell you firsthand that you can never find a thought. There is nothing there of substance, but with our mind we make it Extremely Big Deal.

Pema Chödron

from the book Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living

Read a random quote or see all quotes by Pema Chödron.

Further quotes from the book Start Where You Are:

• Bottomless heart
• Underneath there’s something extremely soft
• You are guaranteed to be burned
• The happiness we seek is already here
• Teachings 24/7
• Communication without agenda
• Compassion along the path
• Moving away from comfort and security
• Self-liberate even the antidote
• Learning from everything
• Gloriousness and wretchedness