The spiritual journey involves going beyond hope and fear, stepping into unknown territory, continually moving forward. The most important aspect of being on the spiritual path may be just to keep moving.
Pema ChodronRead
At the root of all the harm we cause is ignorance.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Ignorance is the fundamental cause of the harm we inflict on others.
This quote by Pema Chodron suggests that many negative actions and consequences arise not from malice but from a lack of understanding or awareness. Ignorance can lead to misunderstandings and harm, highlighting the importance of knowledge and compassion in our interactions with others.
Themes
IgnoranceHarmUnderstandingAwarenessCompassion
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a speech about the importance of education and understanding.
More from Pema Chodron
All quotes →Without giving up hope—that there’s somewhere better to be, that there’s someone better to be—we will never relax with where we are or who we are.
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When we scratch the wound and give into our addictions we do not allow the wound to heal.
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It's said that when we die, the four elements - earth, air, fire and water - dissolve one by one, each into the other, and finally just dissolve into space. But while we're living, we share the energy that makes everything, from a blade of grass to an elephant, grow and live and then inevitably wear out and die. This energy, this life force, creates the whole world.
Pema ChodronRead
Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already. The ground of practice is you or me or whoever we are right now, just as we are. That’s the ground, that’s what we study, that’s what we come to know with tremendous curiosity and interest.
Pema ChodronRead
We have two alternatives: either we question our beliefs - or we don't. Either we accept our fixed versions of reality- or we begin to challenge them. In Buddha's opinion, to train in staying open and curious - to train in dissolving our assumptions and beliefs - is the best use of our human lives.
Pema ChodronRead
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Some things come with their own punishments. Like bedrooms with built-in cupboards. They would all learn more about punishments soon. That they came in different sizes. That some were so big they were like cupboards with built-in bedrooms. You could spend your whole life in them, wandering through dark shelving.
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Both in thought and in feeling, even though time be real, to realise the unimportance of time is the gate of wisdom.
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It is not when truth is dirty, but when it is shallow, that the lover of knowledge is reluctant to step into its waters.
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To speak and to speak well are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks.
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I like a person who knows his own mind and sticks to it; who sees at once what, in given circumstances, is to be done, and does it.
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The two maxims of any great man at court are, always to keep his countenance, and never to keep his word.
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