Living Beautifully: with Uncertainty and Change

by Pema Chödrön

Overview

Instant bestseller: Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön shares life-changing practices for living with wisdom, confidence, and integrity amidst confusing situations and uncertain times

We live in difficult times. Life so often seems like a turbulent river threatening to drown us and destroy our world. Why, then, shouldn’t we cling to the certainty of the comfortable—to our deep-seated habits and familiar ways? Because, Pema Chödrön teaches, that kind of fear-based clinging keeps us from the infinitely more powerful experience of being fully alive. The Buddhist teachings she presents here—known as the “Three Commitments”—provide a treasure trove of wisdom for learning to step right into the unknown, to completely and fearlessly embrace the groundlessness of being human, for people of all faiths. When we do, we begin to see not only how much better it feels to live an openhearted life, but we find that we begin to naturally and more effectively reach out to help and heal all those around us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780834828131
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	10/09/2012
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	366 KB

About the Author

Pema Chödrön is an American Buddhist nun in the lineage of Chögyam Trungpa and resident teacher at Gampo Abbey in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, the first Tibetan Buddhist monastery in North America. She is the author of numerous best-selling books, including When Things Fall Apart, Start Where You Are, and The Wisdom of No Escape.

Read an Excerpt

"The Three Commitments are three levels of working with groundlessness. Underlying them all is the basic instruction to make friends with yourself—to be honest with yourself and kind. This begins with the willingness to stay present whenever you experience uneasiness. As these feelings arise, rather than running away, you lean into them. Instead of trying to get rid of thoughts and feelings, you become curious about them. As you become accustomed to experiencing sensation free of interpretation, you will come to understand that contacting the fundamental ambiguity of being human provides a precious opportunity—the opportunity to be with life just as it is, the opportunity to experience the freedom of life without a story line."
—from Living Beautifully

Table of Contents

Preface ix

The Overview

1 The Fundamental Ambiguity of Being Human 3

2 Life without the Story Line 15

The First Commitment: Committing to Not Cause Harm

3 Laying the Foundation 25

4 Be Fully Present, Feel Your Heart, and Leap 41

5 Staying in the Middle 51

The Second Commitment: Committing to Take Care of One Another

6 Beyond Our Comfort Zone 65

7 Breathing in Pain, Breathing Our Relief 79

8 The Catalyst for Compassion 89

The Third Commitment: Committing to Embrace the World Just as it is

9 Nowhere to Hide 101

10 Awakening in the Channel Ground 117

Concluding Words

11 We are Needed 133

Acknowledgments 140

Related Readings 141

Books and Audio Pema Chödrön 143

Editorial Reviews

With her characteristic clarity, Buddhist nun Chödrön (When Things Fall Apart) once again explores how Buddhist ideas can help individuals live joyful lives. Her framework is three traditional vows: refrain from harm, take care of others, and accept the world as it is. Commitment to these principles, she argues, can address the "fundamental ambiguity of being human" which includes fear of change and an unknown future. Drawing in particular from the wisdom of her teacher, the late Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the American-born nun and popular writer shows how the "real cause of suffering is not being able to tolerate uncertainty," with the resulting struggle to cling to a "fixed identity." Strategies to address impermanence and the fear it causes include refraining from acting on negative emotions; practicing compassion; and fully acknowledging the experience of the present moment, however painful. The text, adapted from talks, includes brief practices. Chödrön's strength is her ability to communicate to a general audience that people are essentially good, that they can be free from fear, and that they can always try again when they fail. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly