Book Tag - fun to play

When I decided to do some early morning 'desk peeping', I saw this over at Kootoyoo's and decided to do it instead. But oh no, I don't have too many 'reading' books near the computer. This is one of the few that are not computer books. Pema Chodron's When Things Fall Apart was my purse book (4.5x7")till I went to a smaller purse;I think I'll try and squeeze it in because it is great for a few minutes reading, esp when having to wait.


1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.

Rather than beating ourselves up, we can use our personal stuckness as a stepping stone to understanding what people are up against all over the world. Breathe in for all of us and breathe out for all of us. Use what seems like poison as medicine.
Cheating! here's the final sentence of the paragraph...We can use our personal suffering as the path to compassion for all beings.

Over the years, I have really appreciated the simple, down to earth writings of Joko Beck and Pema Chodren. Perhaps it's because they are western women, that the make Buddhist teaching understandable and real to this very western woman. The above quote is about the practice of tonglen.