Living Beautifully: with Uncertainty and Change Paperback – October 8, 2013

If you know Chödrön’s work, you already know of her excellence. If you don’t - do yourself a favor and start reading her. I’m not sure this is the best book for a beginner; she delves into some deep waters. Deep, but not treacherous, so start here if you want. Essentially, she covers practices relating to the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana Buddhist traditions. That’s a pretty steep curve for one short book. Certainly if you want to look into the Vajrayana, get some expert guidance. Heed her teaching that the first two steps cannot be skipped or rushed. As always, she is clear, humane, often funny, and deeply kind. The book is a jewel.

The framework of "Living Beautifully" is a three-step Buddhist process. However, if you aren't specifically seeking a Buddhist point of view, don't let that deter you from reading this book.There are practical suggestions on how to deal with and accept yourself and others--both what we might label as the "good" and "bad." Pema Chodron shares examples from her own life in which she thought she was behaving in one way and in which others had a different perception. For me, that self-revealing gave me hope and helped me feel connected with her and others. Of course, that is the point: we are all connected.I like her approach because she doesn't pretend that living is easy or that following the three-step process is easy. She doesn't pretend that she or you or I will be able to follow these steps perfectly every minute, every day.She accepts that we live in uncertainty and change. I agree; I surely do. While I cannot control external factors, I can work on how I understand, accept and respond to those factors.I really appreciate this no-nonsense approach. I appreciate that she appreciates the life can be challenging.I have this book on my Kindle with bookmarks and sections highlighted. It will be a reference and refuge for me going forward.

This book is one of those I can imagine myself rereading over and over for the rest of my life. I also can see myself recommending so much of it to future therapy clients. There are so many nuggets of wisdom offered either as ancient teachings or the author’s own person anecdotes. Each section is easily read as a stand alone chapter or as a progression of all previous chapters so the reader can be reminded of what they need based on the subject. My favorite aspect we’re the “guided meditations” at the end of each chapter. I loved reading the theory but the suggestions of how to put it into practice is invaluable. Guaranteed my meditation practice and hopefully my entire life view will be changed by this book.

Pema Chödrön is a favorite Buddhist writer and this slim volume is packed with good reading and rereading. She writes that we suffer because we “keep trying to get away from the fundamental ambiguity of being human, and we can’t. . . We may feel lonely or depressed or angry. Most of us want to avoid emotions that make us feel vulnerable, so we’ll do almost anything to get away from them. . . But if, instead of thinking of these feelings at bad, we could think of them as road signs or barometers that tell us we’re in touch with groundlessness, then we would see the feelings for what they really are: the gateway to liberation, an open doorway to freedom from suffering, the path to our deepest well-being and joy. We have a choice. We can spend our whole life suffering because we can’t relax with how things really are, or we can relax and embrace the open-endedness of the human situation, which is fresh, unfixated, unbiased.”In other words, stop making excuses. Accept what is, sit with the pain, find the joy, cultivate equanimity, and choose to be happy. Happiness is a choice.

I love all of Pema Chodron's books so much and this one really dove deep into areas I wanted to learn more about. Having a deeper understanding of the teachings is so helpful in creating my own strategy for self-care and love for the world.

Pema Chödrön introduces this section by describing the first of the Three Commitments, traditionally called the Pratimoksha Vow, the foundation for personal liberation. “This is a commitment to doing our best to not cause harm with our actions or words or thoughts, a commitment to being good to each other. It provides a structure within which we learn to work with our thoughts and emotions, and to refrain from speaking or acting out of confusion.” She edifies the reader to understand the purpose of the precepts as a means to get at something deeper, known as outer renunciation. She elaborates by describing fixed identity or “ego clinging” as the cause of our suffering, providing practices to cultivate mindfulness, paying attention to all details of your life.“The first commitment is a vow to know your triggers, a vow that whatever it takes, you’ll compassionately acknowledge when you’re hooked by the eight worldly concerns-or indeed, hooked by anything.” She completes the first section by emphasizing that awakening is not a process of building ourselves up, rather it’s a process of letting go.Part Two: The Second Commitment: Committing to Take Care of One AnotherIn the next section, the author lays out the second commitment traditionally known as the Bodhisattva Vow; a commitment dedicating our lives to keeping our hearts and minds open and to nurturing our compassion with the longing to ease the suffering of the world. Ani Pema describes the second commitment as stepping further into groundlessness as a source of awakening rather than a source of dread, as a path to fearlessness rather than a threat to survival. In this section She introduces the reader to Tonglen meditation, teaching the four stages as a core practice for cultivating courage and compassion, thus accessing our interconnectedness with all beings.Part Three: The Third Commitment: Committing to Embrace the World Just as It IsIn part three, Pema Chödrön presents what is traditionally known as the Samaya Vow, the commitment to not reject anything, surrendering to life as it is. The author states the following, “Simply put, the practice at this stage is to turn toward your experience, all of it, and never turn away.” The Samaya Vow, engaging with the simplicity of life just as it comes, is taken after the cultivation of the first two commitments; much of which involves minimizing our tendency to pin labels and preconceptions, views and opinions, on everything we perceive.Part Four: Concluding WordsAt the conclusion of the book, Pema Chödrön leaves the reader with the following question: “Are you ready to make a commitment?” In closing, we are encouraged to maintain these commitments, thus embarking on the journey of embracing the positive groundlessness of life for the sake of our loved ones, our enemies, and ourselves.

Well written, full of wisdom, ,a great addition to any spiritual book collection.

Oh wow.... It's very nice... Lemme quote my fav. Sentence from this book : Emotions stay on and on when we fuel them with words...

Mi primer libro se la autora y me encanto! Muy buen libro!

Gerade in den jetzigen unsicheren Zeiten ein ganz wertvoller Ratgeber. Sehr zu empfehlen und eines dieser Bücher, auf die man immer wieder zurückgreifen kann, wenn es die Lebenssituation gerade verlangt. Hat mein Leben verbessert, sehr zu empfehlen.

I keep this book by my bedside. One of my favourites from Pema Chodron.