9781590305850

We always have a choice, Pema Chödrön 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 the tools to deal with the difficulties that life throws our way so we can:

   • wholeheartedly accept ourselves and others, complete with imperfections
   • stay in the present moment by seeing through strategies that cause us to resist life as it is
   • tap into our natural reservoirs of humor, flexibility, courage, and wisdom
   • courageously move toward what makes us feel insecure in a way that opens our heart and connects us with others



4 CDs, 4 ½ hours, unabridged.

Pema Chödrön may have more good one-liners than a Groucho Marx retrospective, but this nun's stingers go straight to the heart: "The essence of bravery is being without self-deception"; "When we practice generosity, we become intimate with our grasping"; "Difficult people are the greatest teachers." These are the punctuations to specific teachings of fearlessness. In The Places That Scare You, Chödrön introduces a host of the compassionate warriors' tools and concepts for transforming anxieties and negative emotions into positive living. Rather than steeling ourselves against hardship, she suggests we open ourselves to vulnerability; from this comes the loving kindness and compassion that are the wellsprings of joy. How do we achieve it? Through meditation, mindfulness, slogans, aspiration, and several other practices, such as tonglen, which is taking in the pain and suffering of others while sending out happiness to all--emphasis on the all. Chödrön introduces each of these practices in turn, backing them up with succinct practical reasoning and a framework of ideas that offers fresh interpretations of familiar words like strength, laziness, and groundlessness. Chödrön is the type of person you'd like to have with you in an emergency, and to deal with the extremes of daily life. In her absence, The Places That Scare You will do nicely. --Brian Bruya

Our first response to troubled emotions is to distance ourselves from the pain. But true healing comes from doing just the opposite. In this inspiring new program, beloved Buddhist teacher Pema Chvdrvn teaches us how to embrace vulnerability and the "soft" feeling that lives in the center of our hearts to ignite our inborn bodhichitta - our power of compassion for ourselves and others. Includes basic instruction in core Buddhist teachings.