Contemplative Monday

The following quote is taken from 'Heart Advice, Weekly Quotes from Pema Chodron':

DISSOLVING OUR SELF-IMPORTANCE

"The fixed idea that we have about ourselves as solid and separate

from each other is painfully limiting.

It is possible to move through the drama of our lives without

believing so earnestly in the character that we play.

 That we take ourselves so seriously, that we are so absurdly important

in our own minds, is a problem for us.

We feel justified in being annoyed with everything.

We feel justified denigrating ourselves or in the feeling

that we are more clever than other people.

Self-importance hurts us, limiting us to the narrow world 

of our likes and dislikes.

We end up bored to death with ourselves and our world.

We end up never satisfied.

We have two alternatives: either we question our beliefs----

or we don't.

Either we accept our fixed versions of reality,

or we begin to challenge them.

In Buddha's opinion, to train in staying open and curious-----

to train in dissolving our assumptions and beliefs------

is the best use of our human lives."