Rating: 
Summary: Great for serious practicioners
Review: A good book, by a good writer. I would caution however that unless you are very familiar with Buddhism in general, this book could easily lose you. I have dabbled in Buddhism for many years and had trouble grasping some of her concepts. I had to read some sections several times to get their meaning. But overall it's very good.
Rating:
Summary: Spiritual Friend
Review: A guru, teacher, master etc. in Tibetan Buddhism is often called a "spiritual friend." Indeed, one of the great contemporary classics in this genre is "Advice from a Spiritual Friend" (a fine book, too). Pema Chodron's style typifies such a friend. Of course, a Buddha is supposed to have the rare ability to perceive what another person needs (vs. wants). A guru is supposed to try and do that. In a book, it's impossible to personalize the instruction. (Though you could get her wonderful 6-cassette set, "Awakening Compassion" which covers much of the same material = Lojong mind training). Nevertheless, her writing style makes it easy to read her books and her empathy seems to me to shine through her writing so that one can more easily adjust ones perspective to attune to the book and the point she is making. In this particular book she addresses the Lojong mind training she received from Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, her Guru. It includes many very helpful and useful precepts. This is a great book, but I did like some of her others a bit better. I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally A Book That Supports the Embracing of Humaness!
Review: Chodron's book was such a fresh breath! While most books are giving us the top ten reasons why we should deny, hide or get rid of our not-so-good feelings and emotions, she suggests that we start right there and breathe them in. She points out that as our feelings are shared simultaneously with millions of others, we are never alone. This is so obvious, but the point is rarely made. Chodron teaches us that the self-improvement market can join the human experience! We are worthy as is.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, insightful, useful
Review: I absolutely loved this book. I read it for a class about wisdom and of the 10 books we had to read I'm only keeping three; this is one. I didn't know anything about Buddhism before reading this and I don't feel that I need to be a Buddhist in order to benefit from Pema's insights. Her advice for living (taken right from lojong slogans from Buddhist traditions) can be taken on many different levels. I don't feel that you need to go deep into the practice in order to benefit from any of this books teachings. You take from it what you need to. I'm adding my voice to the many here who have praised her, Pema Chodron has written a wonderful, helpful book. If you're in pain emotionally I highly recommend it. If you just want to get some peace in your life I highly recommend it. Everyone needs help coping with living, even if it's just a little. Pema has given us a guide to one way of coping.
Rating:
Summary: Start Where You Are Was my Bible
Review: I highly recommend Start Where You Are for anyone who is serious about meditation practice and wants an earthy, no frills, no pretentions guide to compassionate living. Pema Chodron stresses that in order to act with compassion toward others, one must start with themselves, openning up that can of worms full of all the messy stuff that we would all rather not fess up to. At a very difficult time in my life, I just kept starting at the beginning every time I finished reading it. I felt as if I knew Pema Chodron personally by reading her books. And having read everything of Chogyam Trungpa's that I could find prior, I had a strong grasp of the foundation from which she learned, but that is certainly not a prerequisite to benefiting from her teachings. I would also strongly recommend her earlier book: The Wisdom of No Escape.
Rating:
Summary: Starting a journey of the heart.
Review: I read this book after first reading Pema Chodron's more recent dharma book, WHEN THINGS FALL APART (1997). In both of her books, Chodron explains that life's obstacles are actually fine opportunities for wakefulness. I recommend both books, despite their overlap in subject matter. Working with numerous lojong "slogans," this book is about awakening one's heart through tonglen meditation practice. Chodron writes in the Preface of her book, "if you have ever wondered how to awaken your genuine compassionate heart, this book will serve as a guide" (p. ix). We learn that through tonglen practice, "everything we meet has the potential to help us cultivate compassion and reconnect with the spacious, open quality of our minds" (p. 81). Life is full of "raw material for waking up" (p. 64). However, it's also up to each of us to wake up, Chodron observes (p. 69). Starting wherever we are in life, Chodron's instructive teachings encourage us to "lighten up" (p. 17; Chapter 15) and allow the world to speak for itself (pp. 25; 29-30). Chodron challenges us to contemplate lojong slogans including: "Always maintain a joyful mind" (p. 92). "Be grateful to everyone" (pp. 8, 56). "Drive all blames into one" (p. 50). Reading this insightful book is like having a heartfelt conversation with a wise friend. For me, this is what makes reading Pema Chodron such a rewarding experience. If you like the engagement this book offers, I also recommend Jack Kornfield's A PATH WITH HEART and AFTER THE ECSTASY, THE LAUNDRY. G. Merritt
Rating:
Summary: One of ten books to take on a desert isle
Review: I'm not a Buddhist and I'm allergic to meditation, but I work in a bookstore. Seeing lots of Pema Chodron books (and a lot of different kinds of people buying them), I decided to take a peek one day. I wound up buying this book, reading a chapter or two that night. I slept more peacefully than I had in years. Also, unlike a lot of other books on Eastern religion that I've read, she uses really western metaphors, which makes the book very accessible. Besides, how could you NOT like a book that contains the line: "One of my favorite dharma teachers is Dr. Seuss; he captures the human condition so beautifully." So, if you'd like to know what Star-Belly Sneetches have to do with compassionate living with an open heart, this is definitely the book for you.
Rating: 
Summary: start where you are...but bring a pen and a notebook
Review: i've had this book for over a year now, and periodically peruse it whenever i feel spiritually listless (which is often). now some might argue that if i say that this book hasn't really helped me much, i'm missing the point. start where you are! stay with the discomfort! open your eyes and see! well, yeah, but i can't help but feel that in the end, all the listing of the numerous compassions and the tibetan terms and listing and labeling this and that gets so confusing that it won't be of much help unless you write it down and study 'em with the devotion of a true believer. it's just too much: different kinds of emotions, different kinds of reaction, in her other book, she lists 6 different kinds of loneliness. ach, my head hurts! i'm not so wary of chodron as i am of other westerners who have joined the mystic east bandwagon in search of spiritual enlightenment, because she does seem to be practical. but still, for me the question is HOW to practice, not a bunch of half-obvious truths that i can agree with but can't apply. i think we just need to sit and stop reading. i mean, how can you go through a day if you're thinking about labeling something as boddicitta or prajna or some other strange term??? might as well go back to the Catholic catechism and start memorizing the saints again. so i'm happy for all those who find it inspiring and helpful. i, too, turn to it every now and then to reaffirm that all is not lost. but still, i can't say that it is very helpful in the long-term.
Rating:
Summary: Very helpful
Review: Most of what I could say has already been said. I would just like to add my voice and say this was the most helpful book I have yet read on Buddhism.
Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars Plus! This book changed my life!
Review: Pema Chodron does an amazing job of being down to earth, yet on a whole different plane of thinking and feeling. Her writings made me question the way I see the world, the way I feel about the world and the way I feel about myself. Through her words and practices, I learned to be at peace with myself and the world around me.
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