The Pocket Pema Chodron

Lovely little book that really does fit in your pocket. You can randomly flip to any page and there will be something that will apply to you--in a gentle, clear, kind way. Chodron writes in such a simple, understandable, plain-English way, and makes you feel like you're not the only one suffering. Her carefully chosen, beautifully written words offer encouragement when you most need it. This book makes a thoughtful present--to yourself as well as to others!

Even if you have all of Pema's books, you'll want this little treasure. It's the best of Pema distilled into pure golden nuggets of wisdom. Everyone should have some Pema for their pocket!

I read a little of this book every night before bed. It think it gets my mind in the right frame for good dreaming! Only problem is that the short exerpts always make me wanting more. It's a handy book with great reminders for daily reading.

This is one of the best times I can have while reading this small pocket-book. I keep it in my car most of the time; when ever I'm stressed because of heavy traffic, stressful day, . . . . whatever it may be, Pema Chodron brings me back down to earth, with my feet on the cool, refreshing ground, and my mind sinks into blissfulness. Every different one I read, brings me happiness and within my soul.

Part outline, part entree, part reminder of all that we have read earlier from Pema, the notes we would have taken in her class (were we enlightened enough to do so). The more extended teachings -- on happiness, fear, uncertainty, on identifying the hook of habitual behaviors and choosing otherwise, on seeking out rather than avoiding the life in which you are "continually thrown out of the nest," on the difference between repressing and refraining -- remain essential, and references to those sources are provided in the back of this little pocket book. Yet this diminutive, pithy collection is like an extended slogan, or the stone pocketed on the shore during your last night at retreat, a convenient yet powerful reminder of something good and sane that can help guide you through times -- such as these -- when goodness and sanity are up against some pretty ancient thinking and habits. It's the nature of things to change, Pema tells us, "and you don't have to freak out about it." Said another way, that might take a book's worth of observation and explication. The reader should come to this collection aware that it is a sampling, a distillation. Some of the teachings are complex; some of the students are not ready; times change, receptiveness matures. Pema wouldn't tell you to "abandon hope," if it were not good for you, so be willing to learn more about that, if it seems at odds with your expectations. Start here, and then use the references to read further.