Chogyam Trungpa (1939-1987) brought Tibetan Buddhism to our country as the founder of the Boulder Shambhala Center and Naropa University. In the Foreward to this new edition of his book, Trungpa Rinpoche's student, Pema Chodron (WHEN THINGS FALL APART, THE PLACES THAT SCARE YOU) writes: "When I took to heart the teachings presented here, a curious change slowly began to take place. I became far more open to the pain of myself and others; far more open to laughing and crying; far more able to love and accept and see my interconnectedness with all beings. As the years go by, I gradually become more and more at home in the world with its inevitable ups and downs."

In his 179-page book, Trungpa teaches us how to know ourselves through meditation. "Meditation in the beginning is not an attempt to achieve happiness," he tells us, "nor is it an attempt to achieve mental calm or peace, though they could be by-products of meditation. Meditation should not be regarded as a vacation from irritation" (p. 46). While we may believe we are free to pursue our dreams, achieve our goals, and satisy our desires, Trungpa shows us how we are instead enslaved to our habitual patterns and negative emotions such as self-absorption (pp. 23-28), paranoia (pp. 28-29), passion (pp. 29-32), stupidity (pp. 32-35), povery (pp. 35-37) and anger (pp. 37-40). "We must be willing to be completely ordinary people," he observes, "which means accepting ourselves as we are without trying to become greater, purer, more spiritual, more insightful. If we can accept our imperfections as they are, quite ordinarily, then we can use them as part of the path. But if we try to get rid of our imperfections, then they will be enemies, obstacles on the road to our 'self-improvement'" (p. 44). And in this highly-recommended book, Trungpa teaches us how to cut through the barriers separating us from the rest of the world.

G. Merritt

This is the sequel to "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism". Are you gay? Are you a crossdresser? Do you cheat on your taxes? Did you hit one of your children? The point of Trungpa's teaching seems to hammer agin and again at the main human condition. That we are afraid of being human. We are "embarassed" at being human. One woman was reported as having choked to death in a restuarant. Why? Because she was too embarrassed to cough! Through his behavior and his teachings, Trungpa kept hammering this message home at his students. "The Myth of Freedom" takes us from the beginning of the Hinayana Journey (in the Tibetan sense, not to put down Theravada Buddhism which is also called 'Hinayana') all the way to the Vajrayana teachings where there is direct transmission from the Spiritual Guide. Trungpa goes through the technicalities, but you must remember that these are lectures to his students. I shared the same block as Trungpa. He was giving a lecture in LA in December 1980. I was too embarrassed to go inside. I might stammer when I met him. I might "goof up" (as he called it). Maybe I would say something "stupid". I was embarrased. I was embarrassed until his teachings sank in. Then I began to loosen up. Unfortanately, I went back to my "cocoon", as he called it. I've read this book three times. You will love it! Just don't balk when you read other books on Tibetan Buddhism where there are very many rules. The message of Trungpa was "Stop being embarrased about yourself!". And he showed this example by indulging in the worst behavior imaginable. But, yes, you can sneeze in front of a group of people. You can leave your zipper down accidentally if you are a male. Or don't put on a bra if you are a female and then find that you clearly "see" through while you give a lecture! According to Trungpa, it this embarrassment which he referred to as "negative negativity". He pounces on this concept throughout this book and his others. Negativity is alright in itself. I get angry. But then I am embarrassed for BEING angry. So I gulp it down or explode. If we accept the basic negativity, feel it, then this is negativity. But if we shame ourselves for having it - then this manufactures even more anger or Negative Negativity. Which can eventually result in being a mass murderer. Everything is being projected outside on the world. You are not "eating your past" so to speak. This is the message of the book. BUY IY! And buy "Spiritual Materialism". Thannk you (mispelling intentional).

Incisive teachings by one of the most influential Tibetan Buddhist teachers in the West. A central theme: giving up our hopes that meditation will bring us bliss or tranquility or make us better or wiser people or otherwise serve our ego's purposes, and realizing the liberation that is right here within our pain and confusion and neurosis. Trungpa's "Cutting through Spiritual Materialism" seems to be more widely known and more often recommended, but I like "The Myth of Freedom" even better, and I think it's a more suitable book for folks who are new to meditation. (Also recommended: "The Wisdom of No Escape" by Trungpa's student Pema Chödrön.)

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.

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.

I've read this book three times in two weeks. I read so many books about wisdom. The Four Agreements (not so good), meditation by Jack Kornfeld books, Nietzche, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff. I've read Pema Chodron's previous books, and those didn't speak to me as deeply as this one does. I don't read just to pass the time. I read to find wisdom. This book contains deep wisdom.
The author lays out ways to analyze ourselves, our emotions and our thoughts. She discusses how we as humans react to our thoughts and pain. Her book analyzes the causes and roots of suffering. She then asks "why do must people suffer in such a similar way?". Decades of acquired wisdom are then offered.
The causes and roots of suffering are our fleeing from pain, running for comfort. Fleeing without knowing why, fleeing without knowing where we are going. The descriptions of human behaivor are spot on accurate. This describes so many Western philosophers, political reformers, talented artists, and many people who are looking to find 'the one true way'.
After laying out the causes of suffering, she distills her understanding of human behaivor, and gives us ways to approach these problems. Practical, approachable ways that you can build on over time. This isn't a set of principles of "Look at the world with happiness, and you too will be happy", or a collection of trite sayings to convince yourself "You're good enough, you're smart enough, and doggone it, people like you". Slogans don't allow us to analyze and understand the root causes of our pain and suffering. This book lays out those causes. And it lays out ways we can study suffering, and use our efforts to transform our lives from unsure, troubled beings to people who have a firm grasp of themselves. This self understanding leads to lots of confidence. And she uses a scientific method for this analysis.
There are two books i read over and over. "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind", which i've been learning from regularly for 4 years. And now this one.
Suzuki Roshi said 'We are always looking for something, without knowing what we are doing'. We are looking for happiness. This book studies what is happiness, what is suffering, why is it so temporal, and what can i do about attaining it.
And it helps us understand what we are doing.

May you benefit from this wisdom as much as I have.

"Science is best defined as a careful, disciplined, logical search for knowledge about any and all aspects of the universe, obtained by examination of the best available evidence and always subject to correction and improvement upon discovery of better evidence. What's left is magic. And it doesn't work."
--James Randi

In the current age of anxiety, Pema Chödrön is both a refreshing and challenging voice. Basically, she encourages us to see problems as spiritual opportunities. Instead of trying to run from discomfort, she advocates staying put and learning about ourselves. Instead of habitually reaching for whatever palliative gives relief -- always temporary -- she suggests feeling and observing our discomforts, becoming more fully present in our lives, learning how to be truly here now. Only through this process, she says, can we experience the deep joy of being alive.

This is a great companion volume to her book "When Things Fall Apart." It elaborates on themes introduced there, describing several practices of Tibetan Buddhism, some ancient and long forgotten, which help us not only cope with anxiety but use it to overcome fearfulness. This is an important spiritual effort because while we typically think of hate as the enemy of love, it is really fear that makes love difficult. Fear immobilizes us, makes us pull the covers over our heads, and isolates us from others.

Chödrön, a student of Chögyam Trungpa, encourages the consistent practice of meditation. And she discounts the usual results-driven expectations people associate with it, pointing out that as we confront our true selves in meditation, it often becomes more and more difficult, not easier. And for those who have found meditation fiercely frustrating, as I have, she has alternatives. The practice of "tonglen" is one simple spiritual ritual that can be done anywhere, anytime, providing a dramatic and freeing shift in emotional perspective. Learning not to let disappointment, anger, and hurt trigger our personal melodramas, which sap our energy, we can find our way to greater equanimity and become a less destructive presence in the world.

I strongly recommend this book as a welcome spiritual tonic in troubled times, whether that trouble originates elsewhere or from within. As with her other books, you can read and reread it, each time discovering much to learn and reflect on -- and in her words, "this is news you can use."

Pema Chodron's latest book, "The Places That Scare You," was released just before the world experienced the embodiment of all the places that scare us: the inconceivable catastrophic events of September 11 and their aftermath. Of course, we must not pass over the monumental suffering cause by these events. However, the real message of September 11 is to point out the insecurity that constantly lies beneath the surface of our existence, the groundlessness that we fear and either try to ignore or to flee. Fear ordinarily shuts down our hearts and minds; it makes our world smaller. But when we begin to relate to our fear fully and properly, the vulnerability that we ourselves experience is transformed into genuine caring for others and for our world. In her book, Pema presents various tools for facing up to fear as a springboard for giving birth to bodhichitta, the awakened heart of love and compassion. These include mindfulness meditation, training in the four limitless ones (loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity), and the practice of tonglen (exchanging ourselves for others). For people interested in learning more about tonglen, Pema has written another book called "Tonglen: The Path of Transformation," which is available from Vajradhatu Publications.

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"?

Five stars for the content, two stars for the "performance". The reader of this Sounds True audio edition is also the founder of Sounds True. She is senstitive to the material but her delivery is overly soft and gentle and so I had trouble keeping my attention on what she was saying. I've listened to other Pema Chodron tapes in her own voice. Pema is a wonderful speaker, very direct, humourous, warm but not "soft". Like the previous reviewer, I recommend buying the book over the audio edition.

I write this review because I think the other reviews herein did not do justice to this exquiste gem of Buddhist teaching. Ms Chodorn is eloquent and articulate in her delivery of helpful insights into the human condition and gentle and simple in her understanding of what may restore balance. The book can be read piecemeal or from beginning to end. The glossary offers edification on Buddhist Sanskrit meanings, which I found helpful, since I am a beginner to Buddhism and not a student of Sanskrit. This book offers a path of healing and wholeness. To see it without this meaning is to miss the point. I have recommended it to many people, beginners and scholars of Buddhism alike. Without exception the book was well received. Buy the book -- forget the audiobook. This is one book you will want to hold and leaf through the pages. I would give it much more than a five star rating were it possible.