Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living

Difficulty, irritation and fear are treated here as material to work with rather than as problems to be removed. Start Where You Are draws on lojong, the Tibetan Buddhist practice of mind-training slogans, presenting short teachings that can be taken one at a time. Pema Chödrön places the emphasis on meeting one's own experience honestly, softening habitual self-criticism, and extending the same attention outward to other people. Instructions are plain and the chapters brief. The book offers reflection and practice, not clinical advice, and anyone managing a diagnosed condition should also work with a qualified professional. Before it reaches your shelf: • Short chapters built around traditional mind-training slogans • Plain-language instruction on compassion and self-acceptance • Structured for daily reading rather than one long sitting • Accessible to beginners and to longer-term practitioners For readers of mindfulness, meditation and contemplative writing, stocked at Boipoka.