Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears Author: Visit Amazon's Pema Chodron Page | Language: English | ISBN:
1590309812 | Format: PDF
Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears Description
From Publishers Weekly
This gently encouraging book by popular teacher Chödrön (
When Things Fall Apart;
The Places That Scare You) applies Buddhist wisdom to the problems of deeply ingrained reactions. An American Buddhist nun in the lineage of Tibetan master Chogyam Trungpa, she writes that we already have what we need to change and heal. Chödrön focuses on the preverbal moment—called
shenpa in Tibetan—in which individuals are hooked into harmful stories, emotions and actions within the flux of their experiences. Clear descriptions of how this process works are accompanied by simple techniques to begin to break the cycle. Her suggestions can be easily practiced by anyone at any time without meditation training, although she presents the benefits of sitting meditation. With anecdotes from her teachers and examples from her own and others' lives, Chödrön demonstrates that people can stop their suffering and access their natural intelligence, warmth and openness. Throughout, she emphasizes the global implications of personal change. Among her strengths are compassion for the difficulty of human existence and her willingness to acknowledge her own failings. This short guide provides valuable tools for change in uncertain times.
(Sept. 8)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
“This short guide provides valuable tools for change in uncertain times.”—
Publishers Weekly See all Editorial Reviews
- Series: Shambhala Library
- Hardcover: 128 pages
- Publisher: Shambhala Library; Reprint edition (September 11, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1590309812
- ISBN-13: 978-1590309810
- Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.6 x 0.6 inches
- Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
I have long admired the writings of Pema Chodron, and I think she has done it again with this book. She excels at making teachings from the Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhist tradition of her root teacher Chogyam Trungpa accessible to anyone and relevant to daily life. In this book she presents teachings on 'shenpa', which is often translated as 'attachment' but which she suggests might better be understood as "what it feels like to get hooked." As she puts it:
"Somebody says a harsh word and something in you tightens: instantly you're hooked. That tightness quickly spirals into blaming the person or denigrating yourself. The chain reaction of speaking or acting or obsessing happens fast. Maybe if you have strong addictions, you go right for your addiction to cover over the uncomfortable feelings."
The focus of Taking the Leap is how we can learn to recognize when we are hooked, and how we can work with and transform the energy generated when this occurs. Instead of judging or battling within ourselves, we can learn to see each occurrence of shenpa as an opportunity - an opportunity for awakening. This process is about more than just our personal happiness, for shenpa is the source of bigotry and violence in our world. Ani Pema says:
"Each of us can be an active participant in creating a nonviolent future simply by how we work with shenpa when it arises. How individuals like you and I relate to being hooked, these days, has global implications."
The key to working with shenpa in a different way is to remain open and even curious about the energy that arises when we are 'hooked', instead of acting out or seeking to distract ourselves.
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