"In the language of Buddhism, our ultimate commitment is to attain 'enlightenment.' In essence, this means knowing fully who we really are. When we are enlightened, we will be fully awake to our deepest nature, which is fundamentally open-hearted, open-minded. and available for others … In this state, we will possess the greatest wisdom and skill with which we can benefit others and help them to awaken completely themselves." This is how bestselling Buddhist author and teacher Pema Chodron describes the aspiration and commitment of bodhichitta — the awakened heart.

Our challenge in life is to learn all we can about our heart and mind; in the process, we come to see that everything is meaningful. All of these understandings feed into our attempts to live a virtuous life. Trungpa Rinpoche, Chodron's spiritual teacher, stated: "Any experience can be made into a further blockage or can become a way of freeing ourselves." Each and every day, all that we do — positive or negative — and all that we encounter, including things that break out heart — are a fertile ground for spiritual training.

In these contentious times, it is good to read Chodron's advice on dealing with the critical, judgmental, angry, and dehumanizing dimensions of polarization — especially in the political arena. She offers ways to shift our focus in chapters on the fine art of failure, embracing all aspects of ourselves, and the practice of moving beyond dualism.

Many dedicated spiritual activists are shattered and stopped in their tracks by loss of heart and an inability to maintain their view of the basic goodness of people. When this happens, they need both resilience practices and the support of those who share their desire to make important contributions to the world.

Chodron contends that Bodhisattva speech comes from the heart and communicates respect for yourself and others. She offers fascinating overviews of moving beyond one's comfort zone and dealing with what happens when your bubble bursts. The idea, she notes, "is to become conscious of ego and how it works." Living without ego is not easy but when we do these practices, we learn 'how to let go, relax, take a chance, wait and see, and never sum ourselves up."

Welcoming the Unwelcome is another practical and deep-minded spiritual work by a gifted teacher who has much to offer us with her personal observations and experiences of the interplay between the inner and the outer. What does she mean by "welcoming?" It means being open to what happens, including discomfort, as part of the texture of human life. "It means understanding that, if we want to become fully awakened human beings, we have to learn how not to shy away from or reject any human experience." But it doesn't mean that we have to like everything that happens.

Near the end, she concludes:

"Things seem like they're spinning out of control. We can respond to this state of affairs with fear, aggression, and selfishness, or we can respond out of trust in our vast, open, basically good mind, which is timelessly aware, yet empty of imputed meanings. How we respond will determine the way the world will go. As citizens of our world, we can help things go in the direction of wisdom, caring, and compassion."