Each morning I try to read something inspiring, enlightening and insightful, a challenge for my mind. Today I happened upon Pemba Chodron’s book, The Wisdom of No Escape. It’s a book of short chapters on teachings given during a one-month practice in Gampo Abbey in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia in 1989.
The first talk is about Loving Kindness to ourselves. It stresses the importance of accepting that we have an ego and that rather than avoiding our ego, or having an ego-ectomy, we need to accept it as part of who we are. “It’s about befriending who we already are right now, just as we are. …The idea isn’t to get rid of ego but actually to begin to take an interest in ourselves, to investigate and be inquisitive about ourselves.” I find this way of thinking extremely freeing. I think we are all very critical and judgemental of ourselves and our failings. But Chodron challenges us to accept our failings and imperfections so that we can also accept the imperfections of others. Yes, that makes a lot of sense and this will be my challenge today.
