Pure Meditation by Pema Chodron

Listening to Pema Chödrön is like hearing the Dalai Lama being interviewed by Oprah. But I mean that in a good way.

Coming from an SKS background, I get a bit impatient with traditional teachers whose teachings are completely abstract, full of descriptions of "emptiness" and "the absolute" and nothing that seems to relate to the life I know. And I get really impatient with "self help" or "pop psychology" teachings that seem to feel that the highest goal in life is to relax, feel good about yourself, and lose weight. Pema Chödrön combines the best of both worlds. She tells humorous stories about herself, refers to songs I've heard, and emphasizes catchy modern phrases like "open heart" and "emotional honesty"...but all grounded firmly in the thousand-year legacy of Tibetan Buddhism that she received from her teachers, most notably Chögyyam Trungpa.

Maybe the best way to explain this is with an example. She tells a story about how she would get very sleepy during meditation. One of her teachers, a sort of "crazy wisdom" lama, gave her this advice: when you find yourself nodding off, yell "Pot!" She knew that would work. But the next time she found herself all alone, meditating, getting drowsy, she also found something else: "I didn't want to yell Pot." She lay down and tried to nap instead.

It's a funny and personal story, and she never hesitates to laugh at herself. But the point behind the story is a subtle one. We feel like we are doing everything we can to attain our spiritual goals, and falling short of the mark because they are so very hard to attain. But the reality is, something inside us does not want to attain those goals...resists even the simplest suggestions, not because they are difficult, but because they might work. And the story (or rather, the way she tells the story) also contains her advice for how to deal with those parts of ourselves. Don't tense up, yell at yourself, curse the ego. Be honest about yourself, be gentle with yourself, and laugh about it. She repeats often the words she learned from her master: "No big deal." Having a profound spiritual experience? "No big deal." Getting bored, stiff, tired, and having lousy meditations? "No big deal." Just keep meditating.


Pure Meditation by Pema Chödrön Listening to Pema Chödrön is like hearing the Dalai Lama being interviewed by Oprah. But I mean that in a good way. Coming from an SKS background, I get a bit impatient with traditional teachers whose teachings are completely abstract, full of descriptions of "emptiness" and "the absolute" and nothing that seems to relate to the life I know. And I get really impatient with "self help" or "pop psychology" teachings that seem to feel that the highest goal in life is to relax, feel good about yourself, and lose weight. Pema Chödrön combines the best of both worlds. She tells humorous stories about herself, refers to songs I've heard, and emphasizes catchy modern phrases like "open heart" and "emotional honesty"...but all grounded firmly in the thousand-year legacy of Tibetan Buddhism that she received from her teachers, most notably Chögyyam Trungpa. Maybe the best way to explain this is with an example. She tells a story about how she would get very sleepy during meditation. One of her teachers, a sort of "crazy wisdom" lama, gave her this advice: when you find yourself nodding off, yell "Pot!" She knew that would work. But the next time she found herself all alone, meditating, getting drowsy, she also found something else: "I didn't want to yell Pot." She lay down and tried to nap instead. It's a funny and personal story, and she never hesitates to laugh at herself. But the point behind the story is a subtle one. We feel like we are doing everything we can to attain our spiritual goals, and falling short of the mark because they are so very hard to attain. But the reality is, something inside us does not want to attain those goals...resists even the simplest suggestions, not because they are difficult, but because they might work. And the story (or rather, the way she tells the story) also contains her advice for how to deal with those parts of ourselves. Don't tense up, yell at yourself, curse the ego. Be honest about yourself, be gentle with yourself, and laugh about it. She repeats often the words she learned from her master: "No big deal." Having a profound spiritual experience? "No big deal." Getting bored, stiff, tired, and having lousy meditations? "No big deal." Just keep meditating.
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