Heart-Centered Meditations for Opening to the Depths of All Your Experience
Pain, loss, shame, sadness-suffering is an unavoidable part of being human. The practice of tonglen offers us a way to transform our relationship with suffering-our own and that which is all around us. In The Courage to Love the World, beloved teacher Pema Chödrön shares insightful and heartfelt stories about tonglen, along with direct instruction and guided practice. Recorded on retreat with an intimate group of students, this four-part series presents:
Pema's step-by-step guidance in the formal practice of tonglen
• The importance of becoming a "Modern-Day Bodhisattva"-awaken your heart and be of benefit to beings
• The practice of "compassionate abiding" in everyday life
• Q&A with retreat participants addressing the most common questions that arise with practice
• Tonglen as a practical skill for survival in today's world
"The practice of tonglen is one of bravery," teaches Pema, "It takes courage to develop a new relationship with suffering." Now, each of us can immerse ourselves in this ancient Tibetan practice for cultivating kindness and compassion under the guidance of one of our most beloved teachers. Cultivate compassion and courage through the revered Tibetan practice of tonglen, as taught by Pema Chödrön.
Pema Chödrön
Ani Pema Chödrön was born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown in 1936, in New York City. She attended Miss Porter's School in Connecticut and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. She taught as an elementary school teacher for many years in both New Mexico and California. Pema has two children and three grandchildren.
While in her mid-thirties, Ani Pema traveled to the French Alps and encountered Lama Chime Rinpoche, with whom she studied for several years. She became a novice nun in 1974 while studying with Lama Chime in London. His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa came to Scotland at that time, and Ani Pema received her ordination from him.
Pema first met her root guru, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in 1972. Lama Chime encouraged her to work with Rinpoche, and it was with him that she ultimately made her most profound connection, studying with him from 1974 until his death in 1987. At the request of the Sixteenth Karmapa, she received the full bikshuni ordination in the Chinese lineage of Buddhism in 1981 in Hong Kong.
Ani Pema served as the director of Karma Dzong in Boulder, Colorado, until moving in 1984 to rural Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, to be the director of Gampo Abbey. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche gave her explicit instructions on establishing this monastery for Western monks and nuns.
Ani 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.
Ani Pema is interested in helping establish Tibetan Buddhist monasticism in the West, as well as continuing her work with Western Buddhists of all traditions, sharing ideas and teachings. Her nonprofit, The Pema Chödrön Foundation, was set up to assist in this purpose.
She has written several books: The Wisdom of No Escape, Start Where You Are, When Things Fall Apart, The Places That Scare You, No Time to Lose, Practicing Peace in Times of War, How to Meditate, and Living Beautifully. All are available from Shambhala Publications and Sounds True.
