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 | | Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living (Shambhala Classics) by Pema Chodron ISBN-10: 9781570628399 ISBN-10: 1-57062-839-4 ISBN-13: 9781570628399 ISBN-13: 978-1-57062-839-9 Paperback 2001-08-21 Shambhala Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description Start Where You Are is an indispensable handbook for cultivating fearlessness and awakening a compassionate heart. With insight and humor, Pema Chödrön presents down-to-earth guidance on how we can "start where we are"—embracing rather than denying the painful aspects of our lives. Pema Chödrön frames her teachings on compassion around fifty-nine traditional Tibetan Buddhist maxims, or slogans, such as: "Always apply only a joyful state of mind," "Don't seek others' pain as the limbs of your own happiness," and "Always meditate on whatever provokes resentment." Working with these slogans and through the practice of meditation, Start Where You Are shows how we can all develop the courage to work with our inner pain and discover joy, well-being, and confidence. | ||
Amazon.com Review Pema Chodron is a Buddhist nun for regular folks. Having raised a family of her own, she doesn't shy away from persistent troubles and the basic meatiness of life. In fact, in Start Where You Are, Chodron tries to get us to see that the faults and foibles in each of us now are the perfect ingredients for creating a better life. No need to wait for a quieter time or a more settled mind. The trick Chodron says is to repattern ourselves, to transform bad habits into good by first opening ourselves to the groundlessness of existence. When the cliff dissolves beneath our feet, fear has a way of actually lessening. Fearlessness opens the way to recognizing our pushy egos and that rather than being cursed with original sin, we are blessed with an original soft spot--the squishy feeling inside that we all have, that is the seat of true compassion, and that we all do our best to armor over. Chodron is the kind of teacher who has seen it all and keeps pushing us back into ourselves until there's no one left to wrestle with but a certain recalcitrant image in the mirror. --Brian Bruya | ||
Reviews | ||
Review of the CD Audio Book You should know that the CD Audio Book CDs have .WAV files on them rather than regular CD files or .MP3s. The reader is clear and easy to follow. If you liked the book, I think you'll like the CD version too. I picked this book after reading Eckart Tolle's New Earth. Pema Chodron speaks to many of the same issues from a little different perspective that, while perhaps more religious, seems clearer to me; more understandable. At the same time, I also think it's possible that many of us need to read both perspectives to gain a better understanding. I was attracted to this book by the title. Being able to Start Where You Are was an empowering notion. It was the idea that I don't need to wait till I (grow up, finish school, lose weight, get married, get divorced, get a job, retire) to (develop spiritually, be happy, find peace). Most particularly I don't need to stop suffering to be happy, or start my journey. Instead, I can use my suffering to facilitate my development & growth. The CD version is true to all of these ideas. | ||
Buddhism-lite First and foremost, you have to be open to Buddhism in order to feel comfortable with the teachings and meditation techniques presented here. I was introduced to this book by a friend and mistakenly thought this book as a self-help sort of reading material without much religious bent. I was wrong. It is definitely Buddhism, but not in-depth Buddhism either. Just some bits of advice here and there in the form of short slogans and some typical Eastern religous philosophical psychology mixed in to make it palatable for someone wanting mere self-improvement rather than the classic state of enlightenment sought in traditional Buddhism. The title aptly implies starter fare Buddhism. Starting where I am, that I don't like Buddhism, this book is not for me or anyone adverse to religion repackaged as self-help psychology. | ||
Start Where You Are This is an excellent book to start your life in the recovery mode. No longer are we living in the past, but we are living for today and this book shows us how through compassion and simple learning. | ||
Beautiful book I truly enjoyed this book as it awakened a sense of compassion for myself and others, with insight and humor Pema Chodron guided me to a state of joy, and well being. I also discovered the 59 traditional Tibetan Buddhist maxims and was able to relate them to every day life. This book reminded me of one of my favorite authors, Ariel and Shya Kane and their book Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment their short stories are inspiring and fun, and I felt a sense of ease and grace that lasted well after reading their book. | ||
Being Versus Analysis Compassion is born of the heart and served by a disciplined mind. What heals our dense energies and emotions is the capacity to embrace in our cells a sense of the seven virtues ... such as compassion. Now compassion is not allowing someone to hurt us constantly but rather it is seeing the pain in the other that provokes them to act out. And by that one can see and perceive beyond our ego's filter and into what really is going on. Often when someone hurts us it is because of their own hurt and corresponding vindictiveness to extend the pain. The Buddha once said that hate never begets hate ...only love begets hate. Detached love is still love in the agape sense ... and compassion is the key to opening the heart once more to allow this remedy to flow. It is a gift to yourself ... when you release yourself from the attachment of what you want a situation to result in. Self-love is your birthright and it is in self-love that you can experience compassion along side strong boundaries. | ||