Vous voulez voir cette page en français ? Cliquez ici.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
31 used & new from CDN$ 7.05

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living
 
See larger image
 

Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living (Paperback)

by Pema Chodron (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 17.95
Price: CDN$ 13.10 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
You Save: CDN$ 4.85 (27%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca. Gift-wrap available.

21 new from CDN$ 7.94 10 used from CDN$ 7.05

Frequently Bought Together

Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living + When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times + The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times
Total List Price: CDN$ 60.85
Price For All Three: CDN$ 44.41

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living by Pema Chodron

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details

  • When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chodron

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details

  • The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times by Pema Chodron

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Wisdom of No Escape: And the Path of Loving Kindness

The Wisdom of No Escape: And the Path of Loving Kindness

by Pema Chodron
5.0 out of 5 stars (9)  CDN$ 14.56
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

by Pema Chodron
4.4 out of 5 stars (67)  CDN$ 14.56
The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

by Pema Chodron
4.4 out of 5 stars (25)  CDN$ 16.75
Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears

Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears

by Pema Chodron
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  CDN$ 16.98
Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion

Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion

by Pema Chodron
4.1 out of 5 stars (7)  CDN$ 12.37
Explore similar items

Product Details


Product Description

From Amazon.com

Pema Chodron is a Buddhist nun for regular folks. Having raised a family of her own, she doesn't shy away from persistent troubles and the basic meatiness of life. In fact, in Start Where You Are, Chodron tries to get us to see that the faults and foibles in each of us now are the perfect ingredients for creating a better life. No need to wait for a quieter time or a more settled mind. The trick Chodron says is to repattern ourselves, to transform bad habits into good by first opening ourselves to the groundlessness of existence. When the cliff dissolves beneath our feet, fear has a way of actually lessening. Fearlessness opens the way to recognizing our pushy egos and that rather than being cursed with original sin, we are blessed with an original soft spot--the squishy feeling inside that we all have, that is the seat of true compassion, and that we all do our best to armor over. Chodron is the kind of teacher who has seen it all and keeps pushing us back into ourselves until there's no one left to wrestle with but a certain recalcitrant image in the mirror. --Brian Bruya --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.


From Publishers Weekly

"This book is about awakening the heart," writes the American Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chodron. "If you have every wondered how to awaken your genuine compassionate heart, this book will serve you as a guide." This is a broad and simple statement, and those unfamiliar with When Things Fall Apart or other titles by Chodron may rightfully fear that a volley of nonsensical fuzzballs is on the way. Good bedtime reading, perhaps, but in the decade since its original 1994 publication, there seems to be even less grounds to claim that all humans are innately capable of openness, clarity and compassion (or "bodhichitta"). What follows, however, is a savvy, down-to-earth contemporary version of an old Tibetan Buddhist technique for mind training, or "lojong," supported by instructions in basic sitting meditation practice (to cultivate tranquility and insight) and "tonglen"—a meditative technique that involves taking in the dark, heavy, negative emotions and sending out an attitude of light, compassionate embrace, a warm spaciousness, in its place. Chodron supplies a pithy contemporary analysis for each of 59 "slogans" that make up the teaching behind this practice. "There is a saying that is the underlying principle of tonglen and slogan practice: ‘Gain and victory to others, loss and defeat to myself,’" she writes. Far from being as masochistic as this may sound to Western ears, however, the aim is get people to unclench the heart and mind, to dare to taste defeat. Although far from easy, Chodron’s humane, incisive approach can help any sincere reader learn to relate to fear and pain and pleasure and joy in a way that will open their hearts to the richness of their own lives and all life.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?


 

Customer Reviews

19 Reviews
5 star:
 (17)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most helpful customer reviews

 
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of ten books to take on a desert isle, Jan 1 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Start Where You Are (Paperback)
I'm not a Buddhist and I'm allergic to meditation, but I work in a bookstore. Seeing lots of Pema Chodron books (and a lot of different kinds of people buying them), I decided to take a peek one day. I wound up buying this book, reading a chapter or two that night. I slept more peacefully than I had in years.

Also, unlike a lot of other books on Eastern religion that I've read, she uses really western metaphors, which makes the book very accessible.

Besides, how could you NOT like a book that contains the line:

"One of my favorite dharma teachers is Dr. Seuss; he captures the human condition so beautifully."

So, if you'd like to know what Star-Belly Sneetches have to do with compassionate living with an open heart, this is definitely the book for you.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Simple Truth, Dec 21 2002
By David Enzel (Chevy Chase, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book is extraordinarly well written in plain, simple, accessible English. It is like Pema Chodron is sitting at your kitchen table explaining life in clear and easy to understand language, And the message is even better: pure simple truth about what is important in life. Pema Chodron has great wisdom and shares it through this wonderful book. A book worth reading and re-reading.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Start Where You Are by Pema Chodron, Mar 9 2002
By James Durden (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
This book takes a lay person through a wonderful journey of ones self. It enlightens one to unlock your own compassion that is trapped beneath this wonderfully crazy exterior we show everyone. This book will teach you how to live NOW. It will teach you how to separate yourself from anger. The book instructs you on a few basic types of meditation and how to change the way you react to everything. Most of all, it awakens a part of you that you may have never have known. This is my favorite book. I highly recommend it to everyone regardless of your religious views, the teachings in this book are valid for all of us as humans.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Stars Plus! This book changed my life!
Pema Chodron does an amazing job of being down to earth, yet on a whole different plane of thinking and feeling. Read more
Published on April 1 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars teachings for better living
Pema Chodron's writing style is brilliant, straightforward, conversation, easy, warm. & in this book writing in that style she gives so many great teachings that will make... Read more
Published on April 5 2003 by I X Key

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightenment in One's Grasp !!!
This book needs to have little said about it, in that it basically does the talking for itself. A truely spiritual book from an enlightened individual. Read more
Published on Jun 12 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars Start Where You Are Was my Bible
I highly recommend Start Where You Are for anyone who is serious about meditation practice and wants an earthy, no frills, no pretentions guide to compassionate living. Read more
Published on Mar 3 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful read
This was the first book recommended to me on Buddhism. It is a wonderful, insightful, simple and direct book about accepting who you are. Read more
Published on Jan 4 2002 by D. Rabinowitz

3.0 out of 5 stars start where you are...but bring a pen and a notebook
i've had this book for over a year now, and periodically peruse it whenever i feel spiritually listless (which is often). Read more
Published on Jul 22 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, insightful, useful
I absolutely loved this book. I read it for a class about wisdom and of the 10 books we had to read I'm only keeping three; this is one. Read more
Published on Dec 26 2000 by KTB

5.0 out of 5 stars Starting a journey of the heart.
I read this book after first reading Pema Chodron's more recent dharma book, WHEN THINGS FALL APART (1997). Read more
Published on Sep 17 2000 by G. Merritt

5.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful
Most of what I could say has already been said. I would just like to add my voice and say this was the most helpful book I have yet read on Buddhism.
Published on Sep 13 2000 by Brian

5.0 out of 5 stars A gift
This is the most meaningful Buddhist book I've read. She clarifies so much, e.g., how to deal with unsettling thoughts--like "bubbles" she... Read more
Published on April 28 2000 by Molly Pickett-Harner

Only search this product's reviews



Look for similar items by category


Look for similar items by subject


Feedback


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.