We all want to be fearless, joyful, and fully alive. And we all know that it's not so easy. We're bombarded every day with false promises of ways to make our lives better--buy this, go here, eat this, don't do that; the list goes on and on. But Pema Chodron shows that, until we get to the heart of who we are and really make friends with ourselves, everything we do will always be superficial. Here she offers down-to-earth guidance on how we can go beyond the fleeting attempts to "fix" our pain and, instead, to take our lives as they are as the only path to achieve what we all yearn for most deeply--to embrace rather than deny the difficulties of our lives. These teachings, framed around fifty-nine traditional Tibetan Buddhist maxims, point us directly to our own hearts and minds, such as "Always meditate on whatever provokes resentment," "Be grateful to everyone," and "Don't expect applause." By working with these slogans as everyday meditations, Start Where You Are shows how we can all develop the courage to work with our own inner pain and discover true joy, holistic well-being, and unshakeable confidence.
Start Where You Are, Pema Chodron, Shambhala Publications, Paperback, 157 pages, $16.95

Pema Chodron is an American Buddhist nun and one of the foremost students of Chogyam Trungpa, the renowned meditation master. She is director of Gampo Abbey, in Nova Scotia, the first Tibetan monastery in North America establied for Westerners. Ani (a Tibetan honorific for a nun) has written many books, and has recorded on DVD, Video, Cd's and Cassettes many teachings, such as The Places That Scare You, Comfortable With Uncertainty, The Wisdom of No Escape, Start Where You Are, and the best seller, When Things Fall Apart.

CONTENTS: Start Where You Are: a Guide to Compassionate Living
Preface		ix
Acknowledgments		xiii
1.	No Escape, No Problem	3
2.	No Big Deal	11
3.	Pulling Out the Rug	17
4.	Let the World Speak for Itself	22
5.	Poison as Medicine	28
6.	Start Where You Are	33
7.	Bringing All That We Meet to the Path	44
8.	Drive All Blames into One	50
9.	Be Grateful to Everyone	56
10.	Cutting the Solidity of Thoughts	63
11.	Overcoming Resistance	70
12.	Empty Boat	78
13.	Teaching for Life and Death	82
14.	Loving-Kindness and Compassion	88
15.	Lighten Up	92
16.	Abandon Any Hope of Fruition	96
17.	Compassionate Action	101
18.	Taking Responsibility for Your Own Actions	109
19.	Communication from the Heart	115
20.	The Big Squeeze	122
21.	High-Stakes Practice	132
22.	Train Wholeheartedly	140
Appendix: The Root Text of the Seven Points of Training the Mind		145
Bibliography		149
Resources		151
Index of Slogans		155
Study Guide		157