Start Where You Are

A Guide to Compassionate Living

Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living by Pema Chödrön is a profound and accessible guide to embracing life's challenges with openness, courage, and compassion. Drawing from Tibetan Buddhist teachings, Chödrön explores the practice of lojong (mind training), a series of 59 slogans designed to cultivate wisdom, mindfulness, and a compassionate heart.

Through practical advice and deeply insightful reflections, she teaches readers how to transform pain, fear, and difficulties into opportunities for growth. She emphasizes the importance of accepting oneself fully, staying present in the moment, and developing unconditional compassion for others—even in the face of suffering.

One of the book’s core messages is that true change and healing begin exactly where we are—not in some idealized future but in the messy, imperfect reality of our lives. Chödrön encourages readers to drop self-judgment, lean into discomfort, and use life’s challenges as a path to awakening.

With her characteristic warmth and clarity, Chödrön blends Buddhist wisdom with real-life experiences, offering readers a practical roadmap to cultivating inner peace, resilience, and boundless kindness in their everyday lives.