I firmly believe that negativity doesn’t work.
Pema Chödrön’s tonglen meditation has strengthened this conviction by teaching me how to use the power of visualization to breathe in suffering and breathe out joy.
Whenever I practice this technique, I’m able to release negative emotions, overcome fears, and embrace the uncertainty of what might happen next. I first learned tonglen from Comfortable with Uncertainty, a book I love and highly recommend. But it’s not the only one. In this article, I’ll share five best Pema Chödrön books on cultivating fearlessness in the face of uncertainty.
1. Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion
FREE Self-Test: How Spiritual Are You?
This book 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, leading 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.
2. The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times
We always have a choice in how we react to the circumstances of our lives. We can let them harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and allow our inherent human kindness to shine through.
In The Places That Scare You, Pema Chödrön provides essential tools for dealing with the many difficulties that life throws our way, teaching us how to awaken our basic human goodness and connect deeply with others—to accept ourselves and everything around us complete with faults and imperfections.
She shows the strength that comes from staying in touch with what’s happening in our lives right now and helps us unmask the ways in which our egos cause us to resist life as it is.
If we go to the places that scare us, Pema suggests, we just might find the boundless life we’ve always dreamed of.
3. Living Beautifully: with Uncertainty and Change
Is it possible to live well when the very ground we stand on is shaky? Yes, says everyone’s favorite Buddhist nun, it’s even possible to live beautifully, compassionately, and happily on shaky ground—and the secret is: the ground is always shaky.
In Living Beautifully With Uncertainty and Change, Pema shows how using a traditional Buddhist practice called the Three Vows or Three Commitments, offering us a way to relax into profound sanity in the midst of whatever non-sanity is happening around us.
Just making these simple aspirations can change the way we look at the world and can provide us with a lifetime of material for spiritual practice.
The Three Commitments are three methods for embracing the chaotic, uncertain, dynamic, challenging nature of our situation as a path to awakening.
The first of the commitments, traditionally called the Pratimoksha Vow, is the foundation for personal liberation. This is a commitment to doing our best to not cause harm with our actions or words or thoughts, a commitment to being good to each other. It provides a structure within which we learn to work with our thoughts and emotions, and to refrain from speaking or acting out of confusion.
The next step toward being comfortable with groundlessness is a commitment to helping others, traditionally called the Bodhisattva Vow. It is a commitment to dedicate our lives to keeping our hearts and minds open, and nurturing our compassion with the longing to ease the suffering of the world.
The last of the three commitments, traditionally known as the Samaya Vow, is a resolve to embrace the world just as it is, without bias; a resolve to see everything we encounter, good and bad, pleasant and painful, as a manifestation of awakened energy. It is a commitment to see everything and anything as a means by which we can awaken further.
4. Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears
In Taking the Leap, Pema Chödrön shows us how to break free of destructive patterns in our lives and experience a new sense of freedom and happiness.
Drawing on the Buddhist concept of shenpa, she helps us to see how certain habits of mind tend to “hook” us and get us stuck in states of anger, blame, self-hatred, and addiction.
The good news is that once we start to see these patterns, we can begin to change our lives for the better.
The key is learning a new way of facing the inevitable difficulties and insecurities of our daily lives: we must learn how to stay present and open our hearts.
“This path entails uncovering three basic human qualities,” explains Pema. “These qualities have always been with us but perhaps have gotten buried and almost forgotten. They are natural intelligence, natural warmth, and natural openness. Everyone, everywhere, all over the globe, has these qualities and can call on them to help themselves and others.”
This book gives us the insights and practices we can immediately put to use in our lives to awaken these essential qualities. In her friendly and encouraging style, Pema Chödrön helps us to take a bold leap toward a new way of living—one that will bring about positive transformation for ourselves and for our troubled world.
5. Welcoming the Unwelcome: Wholehearted Living in a Brokenhearted World
In Welcoming the Unwelcome, Pema Chödrön offers a combination of wisdom, heartfelt reflections, and the signature mix of humor and insight that have made her a beloved figure to turn to during times of change.
In an increasingly polarized world, Pema shows us how to strengthen our abilities to find common ground, even when we disagree, and influence our environment in positive ways.
Sharing never-before told personal stories from her remarkable life, simple and powerful everyday practices, and directly relatable advice, Pema encourages us all to become triumphant bodhisattvas — compassionate beings — in times of hardship.
Welcoming the Unwelcome includes teachings on the true meaning of karma, recognizing the basic goodness in ourselves and the people we share our lives with — even the most challenging ones, transforming adversity into opportunities for growth, and freeing ourselves from the empty and illusory labels that separate us.
Pema also provides step-by-step guides to a basic sitting meditation and a compassion meditation that anyone can use to bring light to the darkness we face, wherever and whatever it may be.
Complement this list of five best books on fearlessness in the face of uncertainty by Pema Chodron with Eckhart Tolle on the three powerful ways to overcome challenges in life, guided meditation on how to access the power of now, and then revisit Chodron’s on-the-spot compassion practice “Just Like Me.”
FREE mindfulness resources for stress relief
About the books’ author: Pema Chödrön is an American Buddhist nun who has inspired millions worldwide with her relatable message of practicing peace during turbulent times. In the 1970s, she became a student of Tibetan master Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a relationship that eventually led to her role as director of Gampo Abbey, a monastery in Nova Scotia for Western men and women. The first American to be ordained as a Buddhist nun in the Vajrayana tradition, Chödrön emphasizes compassion and fearlessness as essential qualities on the spiritual path. She’s the author of When Things Fall Apart and Welcoming the Unwelcome.
I’m a freelance writer and mindfulness advocate behind this blog. I started my meditation practice in 2014, and in 2017 I launched this website to share what I learn with others. Here are the three things you can do here:
1. Schedule a free consult if you want to learn Buddhist meditation.
2. Download free mindfulness resources for stress relief
3. Join Patreon for exclusive content and community meetings.
