Pema Chödrön

Pema Chödrön

With her powerful teachings, bestselling books, and retreats attended by thousands, Pema Chödrön is today’s most popular American-born teacher of Buddhism. In The Wisdom of No Escape, The Places that Scare You, and other important books, she has helped us discover how difficulty and uncertainty can be opportunities for awakening. She serves as resident teacher at Gampo Abbey Monastery in Nova Scotia and is a student of Dzigar Kongtrul, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, and the late Chögyam Trungpa. For more, visit pemachodronfoundation.org.

Books

Recent Articles

5 Reasons to Meditate

The simple act of stopping, says Pema Chödrön, is the best way to cultivate our good qualities. Here are five ways meditation makes us better people.

Pema Chödrön’s Wisdom for Waking Up to Your World

Pema Chödrön shares why the simple practice of taking a break from our usual thoughts is the most important thing we can do with our lives.

Silhouette of a woman.

Pema Chödrön’s Six Kinds of Loneliness

To be without a reference point is the ultimate loneliness. It is also called enlightenment.

hook shenpa pema chodron Lion's Roar Buddhism Shambhala Sun

How We Get Hooked and How We Get Unhooked

Shenpa is the urge, the hook, that triggers our habitual tendency to close down. We get hooked in that moment of tightening when we reach for relief. To get unhooked we begin by recognizing that moment of unease and learn to relax in that moment.

Tonglen.

How to Practice Tonglen

Pema Chödrön teaches us Tonglen, “sending and taking,” an ancient Buddhist practice to awaken compassion.

Churning waves.

Pema Chödrön’s Three Methods for Working with Chaos

Pema Chödrön describes three ways to use our problems as the path to awakening and joy.

Showing Up for Your Life

If you’re jealous or angry or lonely, says Pema Chödrön, don’t run from the feeling.

Pema Chödrön’s 3 Ways to Transform Your Emotions

At the root of our suffering are the destructive emotions that Buddhism calls the kleshas, or poisons. In this exclusive excerpt from her new book, Pema Chödrön teaches us a three-step practice to transform their energy from a cause of suffering into a path to awakening.

Despertando a tu mundo

A lo largo de tu día puedes hacer una pausa, tomar un descanso de tus pensamientos habituales, y despertar a la magia y la vastedad del mundo alrededor de ti. Pema Chödrön dice que este tipo de práctica de atención plena fácil y espaciosa es lo más importante que podemos hacer con nuestras vidas.

Preséntate a tu vida

Si tienes celos o estás enojado, dice Pema Chödrön, no le huyas a ese sentimiento.

Three white wolves.

Feed the Right Wolf

Pema Chödrön describes the process of looking compassionately and honestly at our own minds. In the end, she says, freeing ourselves from anger and hostility comes down to choosing which wolf we want to feed.

Turn Your Thinking Upside Down

We base our lives on seeking happiness and avoiding suffering, but the best thing we can do for ourselves is to turn this whole way of thinking upside down.

Lazy cat lying on the couch.

Looking Into Laziness

Rather than feeling discouraged by laziness, we could get to know laziness profoundly. This very moment of laziness becomes our personal teacher.

Helping Others – and Yourself – through Tonglen Meditation

Make your vow to help others real with this meditation teaching from Pema Chödrön.

Everybody Loves Something

According to Pema Chödrön, love and compassion are like the weak spots in the walls of ego.

Discover the Healing Power in Your Heart

We can use this time of fear and insecurity, says famed Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön, to connect with the natural warmth of our heart. It has the power to heal ourselves and others.

Be Free of Suffering

Pema Chödrön offers a bodhicitta practice for generating love and compassion for all human beings.

Cómo nos enganchamos y cómo nos desenganchamos

Pema Chödrön habla acerca de shenpa, o la urgencia, el gancho que dispara nuestras tendencias habituales a cerrarnos. Nos enganchamos en ese momento en el que nos endurecernos cuando buscamos alivio. Para desengancharnos empezamos por reconocer ese momento de intranquilidad y aprendemos a relajarnos en ese momento.

Seis tipos de soledad

Estar sin un punto de referencia es la soledad última. También se le llama iluminación.

Awakening Compassion

Tonglen, teaches Pema Chödrön, is a method for awakening our compassion by breathing in suffering and breathing out relief.

Cómo practicar Tonglen

Pema Chödrön nos enseña “tomar y dar,” una práctica budista antigua para desarrollar compasión. Con cada inhalación, tomamos el dolor de otros. Con cada exhalación, enviamos alivio.

Meditation is the Key to Knowing Yourself

Meditation practice awakens our trust that the wisdom and compassion that we need are already within us.

Mantenerse en su lugar cuando la cosa se pone difícil

El consejo más directo sobre cómo descubrir tu verdadera naturaleza es este, dice Pema Chödrön: practica no causar daño a nadie -ni a ti mismo ni a otros- y, cada día, haz lo que puedas por ayudar.

The Answer to Anger & Aggression is Patience

We can suppress anger and aggression or act it out, either way making things worse for ourselves and others. Or we can practice patience.

The Natural Warmth of the Heart

In the difficulties of your life, says Pema Chödrön, you will discover your natural love and warmth.

Holding Your Seat When The Going Gets Rough

The most straightforward advice on how to discover your true nature is this, says Pema Chödrön: practice not causing harm to anyone—neither yourself nor others—and every day, do what you can to help.

Reversing Ego’s Logic

Pema Chödron gives a teaching on Tonglen and Lojong.

Dissolve Your Fixation On Yourself

Buddhist meditation is about dissolving our fixation on ourselves, on the process of meditating, and on any result we might gain from it. Through meditation, we begin to get the hang of living with a non-grasping attitude. When you sit down to meditate, you can bring to your practice the notion of the threefold purity:…

Pema Chödrön on Meditation and the Middle Way

As human beings, not only do we seek resolution, but we also feel that we deserve resolution. However, not only do we not deserve resolution, we suffer from resolution. We don’t deserve resolution; we deserve something better than that. We deserve our birthright, which is the middle way, an open state of mind that can…

Warrior toad.

Making the Warrior Commitment

Pema Chödrön shows us how we can let go of self-centered worries and become a bodhisattva-warrior. It's the greatest happiness of all.

To Know Yourself is to Forget Yourself

We might think that knowing ourselves is an ego-centered thing, but by looking at ourselves, we begin to dissolve the walls that separate us from others.