Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings [Hardcover]

Pema Chodron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 13, 2002

In this book Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön offers short, stand-alone readings designed to help us cultivate compassion and awareness amid the challenges of daily living. More than a collection of thoughts for the day, Comfortable with Uncertainty offers a progressive program of spiritual study. Inspired by the Buddhist tradition of the 108-day retreat, the book leads the reader through essential concepts, themes, and practices on the Buddhist path. Comfortable with Uncertainty does not assume prior knowledge of Buddhist thought or practice, making it a perfect introduction to Chödrön's teaching. It features the most essential and stirring passages from Chödrön's previous books, exploring topics such as lovingkindness, meditation, mindfulness, "nowness," letting go, and working with fear and other painful emotions. Through the course of this book, readers will learn practical methods for heightening awareness and overcoming habitual patterns that block compassion. Comfortable with Uncertainty, like a set of prayer beads, strings together 108 gems that will guide and inspire us.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Comfortable with Uncertainty reads like a perfect companion guide to the traditional 108-day Buddhist retreat. In a day-by-day format, author Pema Chödrön dives into the soothing wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism, reminding us that groundlessness is the only ground we have to stand on. Each of her 108 teachings are brief (about two pages), and all of them are excerpted from longer discussions in Chödrön's previous bestselling books (The Places That Scare You and When Things Fall Apart). Nonetheless, newcomers as well as seasoned fans of Chödrön's writing will glean much from this training program for becoming a "warrior bodhisattva"--a term which, simply put, means one who aspires to act from an awakened heart.

Gradually, Chödrön guides readers beyond the tunnel vision of the self, expanding outward to include compassion for all of humanity. In the 12th teaching, "The Root of Suffering," Chödrön writes: "What keeps us unhappy and stuck in a limited view of reality is our tendency to seek pleasure and avoid pain, to seek security and avoid groundlessness, to seek comfort and avoid discomfort." In the 77th teaching, "Cool Loneliness," she suggests that the next time readers wake up in the morning feeling the "heartache of alienation" they try to "relax and touch the limitless space of the human heart." By the 101st teaching, Chödrön speaks to "taking refuge in the Sangha," meaning becoming warriors who are not only committed to taking off their own armors of self-pity, but are also committed to gently helping others do the same. Student warriors will also appreciate the glossary, bibliography, and resource guide in the back. --Gail Hudson

Review

"Marked by an unpretentious wisdom."— Boston Globe "Compiles short, inspirational readings for daily contemplation or sustained study."— Publishers Weekly

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala; 1st edition (August 13, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570629722
• ISBN-13: 978-1570629723
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #173,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for everyone, March 30, 2005

By 

Brett Shand (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion (Paperback)

You either can read this book from beginning to end using it as a meditation guide for the warrior meditator, or you can drop into it and see what you get; also good.

It is unfailingly wise and compassionate in it's approach which is that meditation is not the path up the mountain but the path down into yourself and that accepting yourself as you are is what is important and difficult. This requires courage. The current ideas of changing yourself or self-improvement are yet another subtle attack on yourself.

The ironic miracle, of course, is that abandoning goals of self-improvement and accepting yourself leads to change, and you become someone you like better whether you like it or not.

Underneath all our fear of ourselves, way down deep, we find find our "wounded, softened hearts" and we discover that we, all of us, are compassionate loving beings. Now isn't that a hope for the world?

If you think this might be a good idea, then this book is a wonderful guide. It is not an answer, but it is a gentle helping hand along The Way.

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good content, bad reader, December 18, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings (Hardcover)

Pema Chodron is one of my favorite Buddhist authors. She has a way of articulating subtle ideas that really resonates with me. I bought this book and enjoyed it, although much of the content was familiar from her previous books. I picked up the cassette version of the book to listen to while driving, and I didn't make it halfway through the first side of the first tape. The reader's overly emotive, breathy narration is grating. I thought I'd get used to it and focus more on the text, but it didn't happen. This is the same reader who did the audio version of "The Places That Scare You," which was equally unlistenable. It is a shame that the publisher, who coincidentally is also the reader, can't recognize the great gulf between her work and the author's. Can you say "ego"?

71 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 108 short teachings from her 4 main books--worth 4.5 stars, February 22, 2005

By 

Neal J. Pollock (VA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion (Paperback)

This small book contains 108 short chapters taken from Pema's four main/prior books (The Wisdom of No Escape, Start Where You Are, The Places that Scare You, When Things Fall Apart). It includes her signature stories such as pp. 40-2: the 4 Maras-"turning arrows into flowers", pp. 61-2: the teaching of heaven & hell to a samurai, p. 103: the empty boat, p. 111: lions and the strawberry, and p. 115: the Demon of Now in the cave. It also some fine quotes such as: p. 25: "Resisting Life causes suffering," p. 62: "Only with equanimity can we see that everything that comes into our circle [of sacred space] has come to teach us what we need to know," and p. 91: "We cannot be in the present moment and run our story lines at the same time." Perhaps best of all, it addresses not only on-the-spot Tonglen but also on-the-spot compassion and equanimity. So, reading it may provide you with on-the-spot joy!