There are times in our lives when things fall apart and we feel unable to control what is happening to us. Our first impulse may be to flee from these situations. We don't want to be uncomfortable. Buddhist teacher and retreat leader Pema Chodron counsels us to do just the opposite: stop running away from fear and welcome chaos. The things we face in difficult times have much to teach us. They can open us up and soften our hearts.

Pema Chodron is one of those spiritual teachers who brings ancient wisdom to bear upon our daily triumphs and tragedies. She believes that we must stop struggling and look directly at what's threatening to us. Intimacy with difficulty is the beginning of wisdom. In this incredibly wise and poignantly practical series of 96 lectures given between 1987 and 1994, Chodron discusses meditation, developing loving kindness, the dharmic practice of reframing, poison as medicine, the art of peacemaking, and widening the circle of compassion. One of her key insights is "Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know."