When Things Fall Apart

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Essential reading - Rated
This book is a life-saver, I have already worn out my first copy and am on to the second. I can honestly say that it is the most helpful book I have ever read. Pema Chodron gets to the heart of life's problems and gives genuine, useful, sane advice. Buy it!

Comfort in a Book - Rated
A very gentle, calming, comfortable read, this book is taken from the transcripts of various talks which Chodron edited while taking a year out. She looks in detail at suffering and how to live with it rather than how to obliterate it. She mentions loss, addiction, distraction, boredom - the whole picture of what might be described as negativity. Not once does she say, 'Pull yourself together.' Instead the advice is to sit with your feelings, make friends with them and yourself, label your thoughts, meditate, treat yourself (and others) with loving-kindness. I feel like I've been hugged by a very wise and very compassionate being and will seek out more of her work.

Excellent - Rated
Amazing book in that everything the author wrote really connected with what I was feeling. You don't have to know anything about Buddhism to read this book - it is a great book for anyone who is struggling with life and looking for happiness.

A delight to read - Rated
I found this book lying around a house I've recently moved from. I don't know who bought it or what it was doing there, but the timing for finding it couldn't be better. I was having a bit of a hard time, and life was generally pants. I picked up the book as the title intrigued me, and to be honest, it was the best medicine I could have hoped for. No matter who you are, or where you come from, there's is guaranteed to be something to relate to in here. I personally read so much that rang true, it made me feel glad to be part of this world.

I read the book a while ago, and will definately be buying it for myself, it's enlightening to read, no words can describe how wonderful it is.

A life changing book that I read time and time again - Rated
I bought this book eighteen months ago when I was struggling with life. Pema Chodron's compassion, experience and wisdom provided immediate comfort, transformed my outlook on life and started me on the road to learning more about meditation and later Buddhism. I often re-read chapters and have sent several copies to friends who have found it equally rewarding. The cassette tape version provides a useful alternative method of 'reading' the same book and complements the hardcopy version. A 'must have' for anyone in a hard place.