Start Where You Are: How to accept yourself and others

by Pema Chodron

Paperback, 1994

Collection

Thought Transformation

Status

Available

Call number

CHO-101

Publication

Shambhala (1994), Edition: 1st, 208 pages

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.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member anitahellerworker

I turn to this book whenever I am stressed and I find peace. It's not always easy to read, because it requires self-reflection, but it's really worth it in the end.

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LibraryThing member lepapillonvert

This book is subtitled "a guide to compassionate living," that basically says it all. It is a guide to the Buddhist teachings of opening the heart and mind through tonglen meditation and lojong slogans. She presents ancient wisdom in a clear and productive way. I am grateful for this gifted teacher

and healer. Her writings are touch-stones for my life.

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LibraryThing member wrmjr66

This book is a real mixed bag, at least from my non-expert perspective. At times, Chodron's wisdom really shines through. Other times, though, she gets a bit too much into a hippy-esque tone which tends to make her ideas seem trite. The book is essentially a compilation of interpretations of

certain slogans used by the branch of Buddhism she practices. Sometimes her interpretation of a slogan seem almost intentionally perverse. It's as if she is thinking "the slogan can't mean what it says on its most literal level, so I'm free to make it mean something else." I don't know if this is a fair criticism. For all I know, there are centuries of tradition behind her interpretations. Nevertheless, I sometimes couldn't see the point she was making about the given slogan.

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LibraryThing member phoenixcomet

I suspect that I am assigning a 2 star ranking mainly because the terms Pema uses in the book are terms that a lay person wouldn't know such as tonglen. Going around terms that I didn't understand, yet understanding the concepts that she presented made the book somewhat more complicated to read and

comprehend than I originally thought it would be. That being said, Pema Chodron is a leader in bringing Buddhism to the western world.

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LibraryThing member jasoncomely

Don't let my three (and a half) star rating dissuade you from reading this. It's substantial, and I think it will help people. There was however an off-the-cuff remark about eating hotdogs or hamburgers for lunch that I found inconsistent with compassionate living, so I docked a star off.

LibraryThing member cindywho

I would have had a difficult time with this book if I had not been meditating and reading up on the subject for a while. It seems to have been derived from a series of talks on mind training "lojong", a certain teaching that incorporates slogans to reflect upon. Despite the jargon, she keeps up a

friendly, chatty tone while presenting intense ideas about how to approach the experience of having a brain with thoughts and emotions. It's given me some new tools to work with. Thanks, Pema!

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LibraryThing member streamsong

Several years ago during a very painful portion of my life, I was introduced by a therapist to Buddhist wisdom as an adjunct to my Christian faith.

I find these slogans useful and a good quiet meditation for the beginning of the day to align my heart, mind and purpose.

The chapters are very short

and I believe I would be benefited by reading them regularly.

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