Authentic joy is a state of appreciation that allows us to participate fully in our lives. We train in rejoicing in the good fortune of self and others.
Pema Chödrön

Authentic Joy
Topic: Joy & Happiness
Authentic joy is not a euphoric state or a feeling of being high. Rather, it is a state of appreciation that allows us to participate fully in our lives. We train in rejoicing in the good fortune of self and others.
Pema Chödrön, born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown on July 14, 1936, in New York City, grew up on a farm in New Jersey. She attended Miss Porter's School before earning a degree in English literature from Sarah Lawrence College and a master’s in elementary education from the University of California, Berkeley. She married at 21 and had two children before experiencing two divorces. Her spiritual journey led her to study Buddhism with Lama Chime Rinpoche in London and Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in the United States. In 1974, she was ordained as a novice nun by the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, and in 1981, became the first American woman fully ordained in the Vajrayana tradition.
Chödrön played a key role in bringing Tibetan Buddhism to the West. In the early 1980s, Trungpa Rinpoche appointed her director of the Boulder Shambhala Center in Colorado. She later moved to Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia, the first Tibetan Buddhist monastery in North America for Western students, becoming its director in 1986. Recognized as an acharya (senior teacher) in 1993, she continued teaching despite health challenges, including chronic fatigue syndrome. Her books, such as When Things Fall Apart (1996) and No Time to Lose (2005), explore resilience, mindfulness, and compassion, emphasizing shenpa, the habitual grasping that leads to suffering.
In 2020, Chödrön retired from her role as acharya within Shambhala International, citing concerns over the organization’s direction. She continues to teach, lead retreats, and study with her teacher, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. Recognized for her contributions to Buddhist practice, she received the Global Bhikkhuni Award in 2016. Though she stepped back from institutional leadership, she remains a guiding voice in contemporary Buddhism, emphasizing the power of mindfulness and compassion in daily life.
The Places That Scare You
Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times, Shambhala Publications, 2001.

Pema Chödrön
Theme: Joy
About This Pema Chödrön Quote [Commentary]
Pema Chödrön’s reflection on “authentic joy” redefines common ideas of happiness, shifting the focus from fleeting pleasure to a steady state of appreciation. She explains that authentic joy is not momentary elation but a cultivated capacity for presence and gratitude. This perspective allows individuals to engage fully in life, finding value in both personal triumphs and the success of others. By nurturing this deeper form of joy, Chödrön encourages a shift from seeking external validation to fostering an inner state of contentment rooted in awareness.
Central to Chödrön’s teaching is the practice of “rejoicing in the good fortune of self and others.” This emphasizes joy as a shared experience that fosters a sense of connection. Instead of viewing life through comparison or envy, Chödrön advocates for an appreciative mindset that celebrates collective success. This practice transforms perspectives from isolation to community, cultivating personal joy while enriching relationships.
Chödrön’s insight highlights that authentic joy is an active, conscious effort. It requires “training,” a consistent return to mindfulness and appreciation, even amid challenges. This practice balances the recognition of both positives and hardships, integrating joy into daily life. By rooting joy in appreciation, individuals create a foundation for presence and fulfillment that endures.
Pema Chodron—Finding The Ability To Rejoice
“As we train in the bodhichitta practices, we gradually feel more joy, the joy that comes from a growing appreciation of our basic goodness. We still experience strong conflicting emotions, we still experience the illusion of separateness, but there’s a fundamental openness that we begin to trust. This trust in our fresh, unbiased nature brings us unlimited joy—a happiness that’s completely devoid of clinging and craving. This is the joy of happiness without a hangover.
How do we cultivate the conditions for joy to expand? We train in staying present. In sitting meditation, we train in mindfulness and maitri: in being steadfast with our bodies, our emotions, our thoughts. We stay with our own little plot of earth and trust that it can be cultivated, that cultivation will bring it to it’s full potential. Even though it’s full of rocks and the soil is dry, we begin to plow this plot with patience. We let the process evolve naturally…
But as we use the bodhichitta practices to train, we may come to the point where we see the magic of the present moment; we may gradually wake up to the truth that we have always been warriors living in a sacred world. This is the ongoing experience of limitless joy. We won’t always experience this, it’s true. But year by year it becomes more and more accessible.”
—Pema Chödrön, “The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times”, Shambhala Publications, 2001. Pp. 61 & 65.
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