About the Book
It's one thing to hear a life-changing truth or to have a conceptual grasp on spiritual wisdom. But it's another thing to walk the walk--or to put into practice the good advice we've been given. What does it mean to walk the walk in our everyday lives? According to Pema Chödrön, it means being down-to-earth, genuine, and perhaps most importantly, it means engaging in the teachings in order to actively confront anything and everything we've heretofore rejected in our attempts to find happiness. Created to help us respond with compassion and authenticity when our spiritual ideals are put to the test, Walking the Walk brings you four inspirational sessions with Pema Chödrön, as you explore:
Stabilizing the Mind--awareness, presence, and the foundation of the spiritual path
- Unconditional Friendship with Yourself--getting unstuck from the patterns that create our own misery
- Freedom from Fixed Mind--how to release biases and prejudices to revitalize your everyday experiences
- Taking Care of One Another--essential guidance in the ability to truly be there for others
The teachings in these sessions are not about perfection or unrealistic standards. Baby steps are okay when learning to walk the walk, explains Pema. No matter the situation you find yourself in, here is a program for remaining true to the values we seek to live by, and staying open to the kindness and love that is always available to support us. Course objectives: Discuss how the practice of Stabilizing the Mind, through awareness and presence, is the foundation of the spiritual path.
- Define and practice Unconditional Friendship with Yourself as a way to get unstuck from the patterns that create suffering, while opening to the kindness and love that is always available to support us
- Summarize how the practice of Freedom from Fixed Mind invites you to release biases and prejudices to revitalize your everyday experiences
- Discuss the practice of Taking Care of One Another as essential guidance in the ability to truly be there for ourselves and others
About the Author:
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. She is also a student of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, the oldest son and lineage holder of Chögyam Trungpa 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 non-profit, 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.
