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HOW TO MOVE FORWARD ONCE

YOU’VE HIT BOTTOM

Pema Chödrön tells the story of when, having
hit rock bottom, she asked her teacher what And here is the advice Trungpa Rinpoche gave me. He said,
to do. Pema Chödrön is today’s most popular “Well, it’s a lot like walking into the ocean, and a big wave
American-born teacher of Buddhism. In The comes and knocks you over. And you find yourself lying on the
Wisdom of No Escape, The Places that Scare bottom with sand in your nose and in your mouth. And you are
You, and other important books, she has helped lying there, and you have a choice. You can either lie there, or
us discover how difficulty and uncertainty can you can stand up and start to keep walking out to sea.”
be opportunities for awakening. For more, visit
pemachodronfoundation.org.
So, basically, you stand up, because the “lying there” choice
equals dying.
I thought I would tell you this little story about
Naropa University’s founder, Chögyam Trungpa Metaphorically lying there is what a lot of us choose to do at
Rinpoche, and my very first one-on-one interview that point. But you can choose to stand up and start walk-
with him. This interview occurred during the time when my ing, and after a while another big wave comes and knocks you
life was completely falling apart, and I went there because down.
I wanted to talk about the fact that I was feeling like such a
failure and so raw. But when I sat down in front of him, he You find yourself at the bottom of the ocean with sand in your
said, “How is your meditation?” nose and sand in your mouth, and again you have the choice to
lie there or to stand up and start walking forward.
I said, “Fine.”
“So the waves keep coming,” he said. “And you keep cultivat-
And then we just started talking, superficial chatter, until he ing your courage and bravery and sense of humor to relate to
stood up and said, “It was very nice to meet you,” and started this situation of the waves, and you keep getting up and going
walking me to the door. In other words, the interview was forward.”
over.
This was his advice to me.
And so at that point, realizing the interview was over, I just
blurted out my whole story: Trungpa then said, “After a while, it will begin to seem to you
that the waves are getting smaller and smaller. And they won’t
My life is over. knock you over anymore.”
I have hit the bottom.
I don’t know what to do. ...continued on page 28
Please help me.

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