“Reaching our limit is not some kind of punishment.
It’s actually a sign of health that, when we meet the place where we are about to die, we feel fear and trembling.
A further sign of health is that we don’t become undone by fear and trembling, but we take it as a message that it’s time to stop struggling and look directly at what’s threatening us.
disappointment and anxiety are messengers that we’re about to go into unknown territory”
Pema Chödrön
“when we reach our limit, we freeze in terror. Our bodies freeze and so do our minds.
How do we work with our minds when we meet our match?
Rather than indulge or reject our experience, we can somehow let the energy of the emotion, the quality of what we’re feeling, pierce us to the heart.
This is easier said than done, but it’s a noble way to live.
It’s definitely the path of compassion—the path of cultivating human bravery and kindheartedness.”
“When we reach our limit, if we aspire to know that place fully—
a hardness in us will dissolve. We will be softened by the sheer force of whatever energy arises—the energy of anger, the energy of disappointment, the energy of fear.
When it’s not solidified in one direction or another, that very energy pierces us to the heart, and it opens us."
"This is the discovery of egolessness. It’s when all our usual schemes fall apart. Reaching our limit is like finding a doorway to sanity and the unconditional goodness of humanity, rather than meeting an obstacle or a punishment.”
Pema Chödron