Pema Chodron Quotes

I think it's like, you know, you can't get ahead of yourself, because no amount of success or exposure or opportunity is going to really matter or be ultimately fulfilling unless you can be totally present in what you're doing right now.

If we do not find happiness in the present moment, in what shall we find it?

All the happiness and fulfillment that humans yearn for exists in the present moment.

If you want to know what it means to be happy, look at a flower, a bird, a child; they are perfect images of the kingdom. For they live from moment to moment in the eternal now with no past and no future.

Happiness is not something that you pursue; it is something that you allow. Happiness is just being.

Right now, and in every now-moment, you are either closing or opening. You are either stressfully waiting for something - more money, security, affection - or you are living from your deep heart, opening as the entire moment, and giving what you most deeply desire to give, without waiting.

I travel so much and am always living out of a suitcase, so my favorite saying is 'Wherever you go, there you are'. I love it because it's reassuring to me that you have to live in the moment wherever you happen to be.

I'm finally locked into the now, and it's great.

The only thing that holds true happiness is that moment when you're in it. Nothing can be controlled.

I don't want to go anywhere; I don't want to leave anybody behind. Happiness is right here, right now, in this world, in this room. I am happiest wherever it is that I am.

Don't wait to be successful at some future point. Have a successful relationship with the present moment and be fully present in whatever you are doing. That is success.

Happiness is found by deeply experiencing the exact moment we are in.

I've just learned to enjoy every moment for what it is and take it all in.

Our thinking minds deprive us of the happiness that comes when we are living fully in the moment.

If I'm going to die, the best way to prepare is to quiet my mind and open my heart. If I'm going to live, the best way to prepare for it is to quiet my mind and open my heart.

I made up my mind not to care so much about the destination, and simply enjoy the journey.

At some point in life the world's beauty becomes enough. You don't need to photograph, paint or even remember it. It is enough. No record of it needs to be kept and you don't need someone to share it with or tell it to. When that happens — that letting go — you let go because you can.

You cannot be both unhappy, and fully present in the Now.

Happiness is found in the absence of expectation and a continuous focus on appreciation.

A happy man is too satisfied with the present to dwell too much on the future.

Without our stories, we are not only able to act clearly and fearlessly, we are also a friend, a listener. We are people living happy lives. We are appreciation and gratitude that have become as natural as breath itself. Happiness is the natural state for someone who knows that there's nothing to know and that we already have everything we need, right here now.

I like wherever I am. That's my big secret.

The foundation of greatness is honoring the small things of the present moment, instead of pursuing the idea of greatness.

As soon as you honor the present moment, all unhappiness and struggle dissolve, and life begins to flow with joy and ease. When you act out the present-moment awareness, whatever you do becomes imbued with a sense of quality, care, and love - even the most simple action.

Let your mind, happily contented with the present, care not what the morrow will bring with it.