148 pp.
# WHTHFA - $ 12.95

WHEN THINGS FALL APART: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

by Pema Chodron

There is a fundamental opportunity for happiness right within our reach, yet we usually miss it--ironically, while we are caught up in attempts to escape pain and suffering. Drawn from traditional Buddhist wisdom, Pema Chodron's radical and compassionate advice for what to do when things fall apart in our lives goes against the grain of our usual habits and expectations. There is only one approach to suffering that is of lasting benefit, Pema teaches, and that approach involves moving toward painful situations with friendliness and curiosity, relaxing into the essential groundlessness of our entire situation. It is there, in the midst of chaos, that we can discover the truth and love that are indestructible. Included in the book are:
  • Ways to use painful emotions to cultivate wisdom, compassion, and courage
  • Methods of communicating that lead to openness and true intimacy with others
  • Practices for reversing negative habitual patterns
  • Techniques for working with chaotic situations
  • Tools for cultivating compassionate, energetic social action
Pema Chodron's radical advice on what to do when things fall apart goes against the grain of our usual habits but throws us into the center of Buddhist wisdom. It is in the midst of chaos that we can discover the truth and love that are indestructible. This is a good read and a great practice.

"The Tibetan Buddhist equivalent of Harold Kushner's When Bad Things Happen to Good People.... Chodron demonstrates how effective the Buddhist point of view can be in bringing order into disordered lives."--Publishers Weekly

"The advice Chodron offers is radically different from other self-help prescriptions on the market. This book could serve you for a lifetime."--Natural Health Magazine

Pema Chodron is an American Buddhist nun and one of the foremost students of Chogyam Trungpa, the renowned meditation master. She is the author of The Wisdom of No Escape and Start Where You Are, as well as the resident teacher at Gampo Abbey in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, the first Tibetan monastery in North America established for Westerners.