When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

Pema Chödrön is the first Western woman to take monastic vows in Buddhism, an outstanding student of the great Tibetan master Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. She is the abbess of Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia, the first Tibetan monastery in North America. She has written many books and audiobooks on spiritual development. The purpose of her work is to make Buddhist teachings applicable in everyday life. This book offers radical advice for those times when your life has entered a dark streak. It is commonly believed that the best thing is to overcome grief, because that makes us stronger. But the author says that by wanting to get rid of an unpleasant feeling, we generate aggression toward ourselves. She believes that the only right way is to allow grief to enter your life completely. Savor it, though at first it will be difficult. This is what will help you listen to yourself and understand what feelings prevent you from developing love toward every moment. The author offers the methods of tonglen and maitri—spiritual practices aimed at developing this approach to perceiving difficulties—and teaches how to apply them in everyday life. This book will give you simple recipes for wisdom and peace—recipes tested by time and by thousands of people around the world.