Several years ago during a very painful portion of my life, I was introduced by a therapist to Buddhist wisdom as an adjunct to my Christian faith.

I find these slogans useful and a good quiet meditation for the beginning of the day to align my heart, mind and purpose.

The chapters are very short and I believe I would be benefited by reading them regularly. ( )

Pema never disappoints. Lots of chewy goodness here. ( )

I am pretty sure I have read this before but for some reason I can't find any record of it on my goodreads account. Pema Chodron is a Buddhist nun of some repute and has written a variety of English language books. This particular book is about learning to accept yourself and your situation whatever that may be, and how to develop compassion for others in even the most trying of circumstances. Many of Chodron's books are very accessible and approach things in a very practical and pragmatic modern way. This book however isn't one of those, it digs deeper into some of the more esoteric Buddhist ways. This doesn't mean that there is nothing of practical value, in fact there is plenty, but I personally prefer not to have to rely on belief to get results.

This isn't a bad book, it just isn't quite what I was hoping it was. ( )

I would have had a difficult time with this book if I had not been meditating and reading up on the subject for a while. It seems to have been derived from a series of talks on mind training "lojong", a certain teaching that incorporates slogans to reflect upon. Despite the jargon, she keeps up a friendly, chatty tone while presenting intense ideas about how to approach the experience of having a brain with thoughts and emotions. It's given me some new tools to work with. Thanks, Pema! ( )

Don't let my three (and a half) star rating dissuade you from reading this. It's substantial, and I think it will help people. There was however an off-the-cuff remark about eating hotdogs or hamburgers for lunch that I found inconsistent with compassionate living, so I docked a star off. ( )