This Is Why I Find Pema Chödrön So Essential
5/15/20261 hr 13 min
What do you do when you feel anxious or insecure? Many of us try to push the feeling away, or we ruminate on it, or try to solve it, or avoid the thought altogether. But what would happen if we did the exact opposite?
The Buddhist nun and teacher Pema Chödrön is the author of many beloved books, including “When Things Fall Apart,” “Welcoming the Unwelcome” and — my personal favorite — “Comfortable With Uncertainty.” And she has a way of inviting people to befriend the parts of life that typically induce dread — from uncertainty and suffering to loss and discomfort. And she argues that the process of sitting with these experiences and emotions actually releases their power over us. In a time as chaotic and tumultuous as ours, she has so much practical wisdom to share.
In this conversation, she shares what it looks like to actually let go of difficult emotions, the art of “collaborating with reality” when things don’t go as expected, and how to awaken yourself to the “nowness” of life.
Mentioned:
Comfortable with Uncertainty by Pema Chödrön
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön
Welcoming the Unwelcome by Pema Chödrön
Another Kind of Freedom by Pema Chödrön
Book Recommendations:
Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chögyam Trungpa
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
Enlightened Vagabond by Matthieu Ricard
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.
You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Kristin Lin. Fact-checking by Kim Freda. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Johnny Simon. Our recording engineer is Johnny Simon. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Annie Galvin, Michelle Harris, Rollin Hu, Emma Kehlbeck, Jack McCordick, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Diane Wong, Dan Powell and Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJuliet0:00
Hi, I'm Juliet from New York Times Games, and I'm here talking to fans about our games. So you play New York Times Games?
Mariah Carey· Soundbite0:06
Yes.
Juliet0:06
Do you have a favorite?
Mariah Carey· Soundbite0:07
Connections. It just scratches an itch in my brain. It's really out of the box thinking with that game. I play with my husband every night.
Juliet0:13
Aw.
Mariah Carey· Soundbite0:14
I refuse to let him play it without me. He will always get the purple first. [laughs] And I always get, like, the fun ones that he doesn't think about.
Juliet0:21
I love that it's, like, a real-life connection- Yes ... while you guys play Connections.
Mariah Carey· Soundbite0:24
Yes.
Juliet0:24
Very sweet.
Mariah Carey· Soundbite0:25
I promise I didn't plan that.
Juliet0:26
[laughs] [laughs] You can play all New York Times Games at nytimes.com/games or on our app.
Ezra Klein· Host0:32
[gentle music] There's this book I love, and I go back to and back to, called Comfortable With Uncertainty. It's by the Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön, who has also written really, really, really well-known beloved books, like When Things Fall Apart and Welcoming the Unwelcome, but this particular book resonates with me in part because of the title. It has been [laughs] a real revelation of my own life