![]() Move closer, lean in, get curious even for a moment experience the feelings beyond labels, beyond being good or bad. ".So that's what I learned: take an interest in your pain and your fear. Instead we stay caught in a fearful, narrow holding pattern of avoiding any pain and continually seeking comfort. Unconsciously we expect that if we could just get the right job, the right partner, the right something, our lives would run smoothly.We are never encouraged to experience the ebb and flow of our moods, of our health, of the weather of outer events-pleasant and unpleasant-in their fullness. "The source of our unease is the unfulfillable longing for a lasting certainty and security, for something solid to hold on to. ![]() I enjoyed "Taking the Leap." It is a quick read, and one that I thought might be helpful in this time in my life. There is something about that, that makes me want to give every other person on the planet a hug today. ![]() Maybe not at the same time, or for the same reasons, but pain, disappointment and anger - they all feel the same in all of us. that every other living being on this planet feels emotions pretty much exactly the same way I do. And most importantly, remember the one underlying theme that grabbed me the most. I definitely want to read more by this author!! But for now, I need to breathe a bit deeper, sit a bit more often, and recognise 'Shenpa' as it arises in my life. For someone desperate to achieve some minimalism in my life, this story was also helpful in allowing me to understand the 'stories' we attach to inanimate objects, and how we can allow those to dictate our lives in unhelpful ways. Wonderful insights.ĭitto, her story about having to sort out her mother's belongings after she passed away. To find out the story that underlies it, to see if I can't manage it in a different way - and change the stories going forward. I'm spotting Shenpa before it overwhelms me now, and giving it my attention. A moment of recognition, and that split second of turning reaction, into thoughtful recognition, acknowledgement, understanding and finally, choice, instead. The emotions that rise up in us (rage, frustration, greed, boredom) and which we usually act on with mindless repetition, and usually with extremely unproductive results. I loved this one for the introduction to the concept of 'Shenpa'. It's funny how you do make the time for books, right when you are ready to recieve their message. Why the delay, I wonder? I suspect I was a little reluctant to actually let go of a few old habits. Now this little book took me a while to get into, I started it, got busy, tried again, got distracted - until finally I did take the leap, and put all else aside and read it last week. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche gave her explicit instructions on establishing this monastery for western monks and nuns.Īni Pema currently teaches in the United States and Canada and plans for an increased amount of time in solitary retreat under the guidance of Venerable Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. At the request of the Sixteenth Karmapa, she received the full bikshuni ordination in the Chinese lineage of Buddhism in 1981 in Hong Kong.Īni Pema served as the director of the Karma Dzong, in Boulder, CO, until moving in 1984 to rural Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to be the director of Gampo Abbey. Lama Chime encouraged her to work with Trungpa, and it was with him that she ultimately made her most profound connection, studying with him from 1974 until his death in 1987. His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa came to England at that time, and Ani Pema received her ordination from him.Īni Pema first met her root guru, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in 1972. She became a novice nun in 1974 while studying with Lama Chime in London. While in her mid-thirties, she traveled to the French Alps and encountered Lama Chime Rinpoche, with whom she studied for several years. Pema has two children and three grandchildren. She taught as an elementary school teacher for many years in both New Mexico and California. She attended Miss Porter's School in Connecticut and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. Ani Pema Chödrön ( Deirdre Blomfield-Brown) is an American Buddhist nun in the Tibetan tradition, closely associated with the Kagyu school and the Shambhala lineage.
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