Ani Pema Chodron was born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown in 1936, in New York City. She attended Miss Porter's School in Connecticut and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. She taught as an elementary school teacher for many years in both New Mexico and California. Pema has two children and three grandchildren.
While in her mid-thirties, Ani Pema traveled to the French Alps and encountered Lama Chime Rinpoche, with whom she studied for several years. She became a novice nun in 1974 while studying with Lama Chime in London. His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa came to Scotland at that time, and Ani Pema received her ordination from him.
Pema first met her root guru, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in 1972. Lama Chime encouraged her to work with Rinpoche, and it was with him that she ultimately made her most profound connection, studying with him from 1974 until his death in 1987. At the request of the Sixteenth Karmapa, she received the full bikshuni ordination in the Chinese lineage of Buddhism in 1981 in Hong Kong.
Ani Pema served as the director of Karma Dzong in Boulder, Colorado until moving in 1984 to rural Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to be the director of Gampo Abbey. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche gave her explicit instructions on establishing this monastery for western monks and nuns.
Ani Pema currently teaches in the United States and Canada and plans for an increased amount of time in solitary retreat under the guidance of Venerable Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. She is also a student of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, the oldest son and lineage holder of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Ani Pema is interested in helping establish Tibetan Buddhist monasticism in the West, as well as continuing her work with western Buddhists of all traditions, sharing ideas and teachings. Her non-profit, The Pema Chodron Foundation, was set up to assist in this purpose.
She has written several books: The Wisdom of No Escape, Start Where You Are, When Things Fall Apart, The Places that Scare You, No Time To Lose, Practicing Peace in Times of War, How to Meditate, and Living Beautifully. All are available from Shambhala Publications and Sounds True.
Preface ix
Introduction: Choosing to Live Wholeheartedly 1
Part 1 The Technique of Meditation
1. Preparing for Practice and Making the Commitment 17
2. Stabilizing the Mind 23
3. The Six Points of Posture 29
4. Breath: The Practice of Letting Go 37
5. Attitude: Keep Coming Back 41
6. Unconditional Friendliness 47
7. You Are Your Own Meditation Instructor 53
Part 2 Working with Thoughts
8. The Monkey Mind 61
9. The Three Levels of Discursive Thought 63
10. Thoughts as the Object of Meditation 69
11. Regard All Dharmas as Dreams 73
Part 3 Working with Emotions
12. Becoming Intimate with Our Emotions 79
13. The Space within the Emotion 85
14. Emotions as the Object of Meditation 87
15. Getting Our Hands Dirty 93
16. Hold the Experience 99
17. Breathing with the Emotion 103
18. Drop the Story and Find the Feeling 107
Part 4 Working With Sense Perceptions
19. The Sense Perceptions 115
20. The Interconnection of All Perceptions 133
Part 5 Opening Your Heart to Include Everything
21. Giving Up the Struggle 139
22. The Seven Delights 145
23. The Bearable Lightness of Being 153
24. Beliefs 157
25. Relaxing with Groundlessness 161
26. Create a Circle of Practitioners 165
27. Cultivate a Sense of Wonder 167
28. The Way of the Bodhisattva 171
