Pema Chodron

The great Buddhist classic known as The Way of the Bodhisattva has long been treasured as an indispensable guide to enlightened living. Written in the eighth century by the scholar and saint Shantideva, it has inspired many of the Mahayana tradition’s greatest teachers—and despite its antiquity, it remains a remarkable source of insight on the means by which we may heal ourselves and our troubled world.

Comfortable with Uncertainty offers short, stand-alone teachings designed to help us cultivate compassion and awareness amid the challenges of daily living. Gleaned from Pema Chödrön's best-selling books, these passages explore topics of loving-kindness, mindfulness, "nowness," letting go, and working with painful emotions. They also offer meditation instructions for heightening awareness and overcoming habitual patterns that block happiness. By the end of the cycle of teachings, the listener will have completed the basic training for becoming a "warrior-bodhisattva," one who courageously takes up the path of awakening compassion.

This book is about saying yes to life in all its manifestations—embracing the potent mixture of joy, suffering, brilliance, and confusion that characterizes the human experience. Pema Chödrön shows us the profound value of our situation of "no escape" from the ups and downs of life.

It's true, as they say, that we can only love others when we first love ourselves, and we can only experience real joy when we stop running from pain. The key to understanding these truisms lies in remaining open to life in all circumstances, and here Pema Chödrön shows us how. When we embrace the happiness and suffering, intelligence and confusion that are a natural part of life, we can begin to discover a wellspring of courageous love within our hearts.