Comfortable With Uncertainty
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Authors: Pema Chodron
Tags: #Health; Fitness & Dieting, #Alternative Medicine, #Meditation, #Religion & Spirituality, #Buddhism, #Rituals & Practice, #Tibetan, #New Age & Spirituality, #Other Eastern Religions & Sacred Texts, #Self-Help, #Personal Transformation, #Spiritual, #New Age
Comfortable with
Uncertainty
108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion
P
EMA
C
HÖDRÖN
Compiled and edited by
Emily Hilburn Sell
S
HAMBHALA
Boston & London
2010
SHAMBHALA PUBLICATIONS, INC.
Horticultural Hall
300 Massachusetts Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
© 2002 by Pema Chödrön and Emily Hilburn Sell
The Four Limitless Ones chant in the book epigraph is adapted from the translation by the Nālandā Translation Committee.
The translations of the lojong slogans are reprinted from
The Root
Text of the Seven Points of Training the Mind
© 1981, 1986 by Chögyam Trungpa; revised translation © 1993 by Diana J. Mukpo and the Nālandā Translation Committee.
The Dedication of Merit chant at the end of this book is translated by the Nālandā Translation Committee.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUES THE PREVIOUS EDITION OF THIS BOOK AS FOLLOWS:
Chödrön, Pema.
Comfortable with uncertainty: 108 teachings/Pema Chödrön; compiled and edited by Emily Hilburn Sell.
p. cm.
eISBN 978-0-8348-2112-5
ISBN 978-1-57062-972-3
ISBN 978-1-59030-078-7
ISBN 978-1-57062-626-0
1. Spiritual life—Buddhism. 2. Meditation—Buddhism. 3. Buddhism—Doctrines. I. Sell, Emily Hilburn. II. Title.
BQ7805 .C485 2002
294.3′444—DC21 2002003894
May all sentient beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
May we be free from suffering and the root of suffering.
May we not be separated from the great happiness devoid of suffering.
May we dwell in the great equanimity free from passion, aggression, and prejudice.
CONTENTS
Editor’s Preface
1. The Love That Will Not Die
2. The Healing Power of Bodhichitta
3. Comfortable with Uncertainty
4. The Wisdom of No Escape
5. Loving-Kindness: The Essential Practice
6. Loving-Kindness and Meditation
7. Why Meditate?
8. The Six Points of Posture
9. No Such Thing As a True Story
10. Sitting Meditation
11. Four Qualities of Maitri
12. The Root of Suffering
13. Weather and the Four Noble Truths
14. The Facts of Life: Impermanence
15. Not Causing Harm
16. The Dharma
17. The Practice of Mindfulness and Refraining
18. Relax As It Is
19. Working with Slogans
20. Slogan: “All activities should be done with one intention”
21. Turning Arrows into Flowers
22. Nothing Solid
23. The Facts of Life: Egolessness
24. Staying in the Middle
25. Slogan: “Of the two witnesses, hold the principal one”
26. Encountering the Edge
27. The Facts of Life: Suffering
28. Hope and Fear
29. Lighten Up (and Do Something Different)
30. The Four Reminders
31. Heaven and Hell
32. The Three Futile Strategies
33. The Opposite of Samsara
34. Cultivating the Four Limitless Qualities
35. The Practice of Loving-Kindness
36. Cultivating Compassion
37. The Practice of Compassion
38. Cultivating the Ability to Rejoice
39. The Practice of Equanimity
40. Thinking Bigger
41. Be Where You Are
42. Tonglen and Fearlessness
43. Tonglen: The Key to Realizing Interconnectedness
44. The Four Stages of Tonglen
45. Start Where You Are
46. Getting to Know Fear
47. Recognize Suffering
48. Slogan: “Change your attitude, but remain natural”
49. Loving-Kindness and Tonglen
50. Slogan: “If you can practice even when distracted, you are well trained”
51. Deepening Tonglen
52. The Empty Boat
53. The Three Poisons
54. On-the-Spot Tonglen
55. Start Where You Are (Again and Again)
56. Experience Your Life
57. See What Is
58. The Buddha
59. Nowness
60. The Heart of Everyday Life
61. Widening the Circle of Compassion
62. Inconvenience
63. Widening the Circle Further
64. What Is Karma?
65. Growing Up
66. Slogan: “Don’t expect applause”
67. Six Ways of Compassionate Living
68. Prajna
69. Generosity
70. Discipline
71. Patience
72. Joyous Exertion
73. Meditation
74. Letting the World Speak for Itself (“Don’t Misinterpret”)
75. Meditation and Prajna
76. Plan to Stay Open
77. Slogan: “Abandon any hope of fruition”
78. Cool Loneliness
79. Slogan: “Practice the three difficulties”
80. Communicating from the Heart
81. The Big Squeeze
82. Curiosity and the Circle of Compassion
83. Take Tonglen Further
84. Slogan: “Be grateful to everyone”
85. Obstacles as Questions
86. Six Ways to Be Lonely
87. Thoroughly Processed
88. Commitment
89. Three Methods for Working with Chaos
90. On-the-Spot Equanimity
91. The Truth Is Inconvenient
92. Abiding in the Fearless State
93. The Essential Paradox
94. Nothing to Hold On To
95. Slogan: “Drive all blames into one”
96. This Very Moment Is the Perfect Teacher
97. Inviting Your Unfinished Business
98. Four Methods for Holding Your Seat
99. Cultivating Forgiveness
100. Containing the Paradox
101. The Sangha
102. Just Like Me (On-the-Spot Compassion)
103. Slogan: “Practice the five strengths, the condensed heart instructions”
104. Reversing the Wheel of Samsara
105. The Path Is the Goal
106. Heightened Neurosis
107. Compassionate Inquiry
108. Slogan: “Always maintain only a joyful mind”
Dedication of Merit
Glossary