Pema Chödrön: Moving Beyond Self-Protection

Photo by Molly

Moving Beyond Self-Protection

We think that by protecting ourselves from suffering we are being kind to ourselves. The truth is, we only become more fearful, more hardened, and more alienated. We experience ourselves as being separate from the whole. This separateness becomes like a prison for us, a prison that restricts us to our personal hopes and fears and to caring only for the people nearest to us. Curiously enough, if we primarily try to shield ourselves from discomfort, we suffer. Yet when we don't close off and we let our hearts break open, we discover our kinship with all beings.

— Pema Chödrön

From When Things Fall Apart

and 

The Pocket Pema Chödrön