Pema Chodron and Alice Walker in Conversation: On the Meaning of Suffering and the Mystery of Joy [Audio Cassette]

Pema Chodron (Author), Alice Walker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1999

Take a front-row seat as the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker and Buddhist nun Pema Chodron reflect on anger, joy, fear, and the union of spirituality and social activism. Hear their personal experiences of tonglen – the "giving and taking" meditation – and how it has helped heal their lives. Let their combined wisdom illuminate the realm, available to us all, where the barriers between self and others dissolve. Audio includes a lively Q & A session available nowhere else. Recorded Live at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Recorded live at the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts, this conversation provides a concise introduction to the meditation practice of tonglen. Chodron is the first American woman to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun and has taught and written about tonglen for nearly two decades. Novelist, poet, and commentator Walker was introduced to the practice and to Chodron several years ago. Simply put, the meditation is performed by breathing in suffering and breathing out relief. Chodron and Walker talk about the effect of this give and take on their lives; they are comfortable with one another, and the dialog flows smoothly. The tape comes with an excerpt from Chodron's book When Things Fall Apart that further explains how to practice this ancient technique.
-Nann Blaine Hilyard, Lake Villa Dist. Lib., IL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description

Documents their first encounter - an intimate & unforgettable sharing on how to celebrate the human condition

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Sounds True, Incorporated (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564556700
• ISBN-13: 978-1564556707
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,267,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Books on Cassette > Authors, A-Z > ( W ) > Walker, Alice

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pema Chodron & Purple Color--new & better PC, April 15, 2007

By 

Neal J. Pollock (VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pema Chodron and Alice Walker in Conversation: On the Meaning of Suffering and the Mystery of Joy (Audio CD)

A 70:45 min. live discussion @ a 1999 Shambhala International session (it & CD raised funds) between the 1st fully ordained Tibetan Buddhist nun Bhikshuni Pema Chödrön & Pulitzer prizewinning author Alice Walker ("The Color Purple" also a movie) with audience Q&A, Introduction by Naropa Institute's James Meadows, & Judy Leach narration. Both Shambhala & Naropa were created by Pema's lama Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoché. Walker discovered Pema's teachings through "Awakening Compassion," & they display mutual admiration in this CD. Both are down-to-earth, upbeat (while addressing "suffering"), & provide lots of laughter. The CD has 9 Tracks: (1) Introduction; (2) James Meadows' Introduction; (3) The use of suffering; (4) negative negativity; (5) opening & closing; (6) relating directly with yourself; (7) life as an experiment; (8) Questions & Answers part 1; (9) Q & A pt. 2.

The topic is Tonglen, "giving & taking" or "sending & receiving" a Lojong mind training technique for which Pema is famous. In Tonglen one breathes in others' negativities & breathes out positive feelings/wishes to others. Pema says to dispense with `shoulds', to experience ebb & flow, "start from your own feeling & make it meaningful, & to use yourself as a reference." She says that compassion will automatically arise out of this practice, & one will overcome one's fear of suffering or dissatisfaction. Per Trungpa, "Live your life as an experiment." A twice-divorced (with 2 kids) former elementary school teacher, she says that "Western teachers...see things differently." Interestingly, but in her own words, Alice Walker addresses taking back shadow projections--a la Jung. Where the CD is short on details on Tonglen, the 6-page accompanying booklet succinctly does, excerpting Pema's "When Things Fall Apart," including: attuning to others' feelings, on-the-spot Tonglen, changing poison to medicine, & the 4 steps of Tonglen: (1) openness & absolute Bodhichitta; (2) breathe in though whole body including pores: hot, dark, heavy, claustrophobic then breathe out cool, bright, light, openness; (3) focus on person to be helped or on those feeling what you are feeling; (4) extend focus to everyone.

It also includes Lojong, from Pema's "Start Where You Are" & "Awakening Compassion"--"The basic notion of lojong is that we can make friends with what we reject, what we see as `bad' in ourselves & in other people [shadow] at the same time, we could learn to be generous with what we cherish, what we see as `good.' Also, "give up all hope of fruition." There's also a short Glossary. Overall, it's an enjoyable, very human introduction to simple, yet profound & efficacious, techniques to increase joy & reduce suffering for individuals & society.
Also available on tape: Pema Chodron & Alice Walker: In Conversation on the Meaning of Suffering and the Mystery of Joy and VHS
Pema Chodron & Alice Walker in Conversation

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "good stuff" - but not life changing, October 31, 2001

By 

Lisa Johnson (Bowdon, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pema Chodron and Alice Walker in Conversation: On the Meaning of Suffering and the Mystery of Joy (Audio Cassette)

I have listened to this book on tape several times, and I have found many evocative concepts laid out by these women on handling conflict and interpersonal communication with more aplomb. Both authors have done great work separately as well, perhaps better than together. Too many times difficult concepts and moments of possibly productive diverging perspectives defuse into murmurs of agreement, sounding a little too much like the public radio skit on Saturday Night Live. That said, there are insights to be had in this conversation between feminist luminaries, and there's something to be said for a tape I can listen to when bedridden with migraine to be instructed and soothed at the same time.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, Inspiring, Commonsensible, May 5, 2000

By 

Molly Pickett-Harner - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pema Chodron and Alice Walker in Conversation: On the Meaning of Suffering and the Mystery of Joy (Audio Cassette)

This delightful tape reassures that one can "fall of f the meditation/Tonglen bandwagon" periodically & still be ok. That's why it's called "practice," Pema says. For a few dollars, you participate in dialogue that will follow you about for weeks.