Being satisfied with what we already have is a magical golden key to being alive in a full unrestricted, and inspired way. One of the major obstacles to what is traditionally called enlightenment is resentment, feeling cheated, holding a grudge about who you are, where you are, what you are. This is why we talk so much about making friends with ourselves, because for some reason or other, we don’t feel that kind of satisfaction in a full and complete way.
Meditation is a process of lightening up, of trusting the basic goodness of what we have and who we are, and of realizing that any wisdom that exists, exists in what we already have. Our wisdom is all mixed up with what we call our neurosis. Our brilliance, our juiciness, our spiciness, is all mixed up with our craziness and our confusion and therefore it doesn’t do any good to try to get rid of our so-called negative aspects, because in that process we also get rid of our basic wonderfulness. We can lead our life so as to become more awake to who we are and what we’re doing rather than trying to improve or change or get rid of who we are or what we’re doing. The key is to wake up, to become more alert, more inquisitive and curious about ourselves. — Pema Chodron from The Wisdom of No Escape: And the Path of Loving-Kindness
These are my two favorite books by Pema, though I think everything I’ve read speaks to me:
- **When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
- **The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times
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Recently a friend gifted me these CDs and they were incredibly helpful as well:
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Discover more from Beyond Meds: Alternatives to Psychiatry
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