We see how beautiful and wonderful and amazing things are, and we see how caught up we are. It isnโt that one is the bad part and one is the good part, but that itโs a kind of interesting, smelly, rich, fertile mess of stuff. When itโs all mixed up together, itโs us: humanness.
Pema ChodronThe point is that our true nature is not some ideal that we have to live up to. It's who we are right now, and that's what we can make friends with and celebrate.
Pema ChodronEverything that human beings feel, we feel. We can become extremely wise and sensitive to all of humanity and the whole universe simply by knowing ourselves, just as we are.
Pema ChodronWhat you do for yourself, you're doing for others, and what you do for others, you're doing for yourself.
Pema ChodronThe trick is to keep exploring and not bail out, even when we find out that something is not what we thought. That's what we're going to discover again and again and again. Nothing is what we thought. I can say that with great confidence. Emptiness is not what we thought. Neither is mindfulness or fear. Compassionโโnot what we thought. Love. Buddha nature. Courage. These are code words for things we don't know in our minds, but any of us could experience them. These are words that point to what life really is when we let things fall apart and let ourselves be nailed to the present moment.
Pema Chodron