Here is a treasury of 108 short selections from the best-selling books of Pema Chödrön, the beloved Buddhist nun.

Her practical, down-to-earth, peaceful teachings and encouragement are for those from all walks of life, backgrounds, and faiths. The only way to do this is to open, be curious, and develop some sense of sympathy for everything that comes along, to get to know its nature and let it teach you what it will.At The Beginning and At the End; In the morning when you wake up, reflect on the day ahead and aspire to use it to keep a wide open heart and mind. Even if you have all her full-length books like I do, this pocket-sized copy of excerpts is wonderfully arranged, includes references so you know where the excerpt came from, and is perfect for picking up to read at any time, anywhere. There isn't anything wrong with that, but sometimes I feel like she doesn't really get what life is like for a lot of people.

I am not preaching or trying to tell anyone else to read this, but it is doing wonders for me, because it is truthful for me.Here she focuses on its primary subject, the enlightened heart and mind (bodhichitta), showing us how this awakened state, which often seems infinitely far out of our grasp, is always available to us right where we are.

To lead a life that goes beyond pettiness and prejudice and always wanting to make sure that everything turns out on our own terms, to lead a more passionate, full, and delightful life than that, we must realize that we can endure a lot of pain and pleasure for the sake of finding out who we are and what this world is, how we tick and how our world ticks, how the whole thing just is. She is the author of many books and audiobooks, including the best-selling When Things Fall Apart and Don't Bite the Hook. The limitless qualities of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity are your deep-down, ultimate reality, and those are qualities that can’t be improved upon. But we can’t just pretend, making a big display of disrobing, then putting everything back on when no one’s looking.I appreciate that she reminds us that just because we're seeking enlightenment and on this path to awakening to life and knowing ourselves that it won't be perfect and that we'll still have pain and suffering and difficulty.