Authors Like
By Lisanne Swart · 6 authors · Buddhism & Groundlessness · Updated July 2026
Pema Chödrön became a Buddhist nun after two divorces left her with nowhere left to hide from herself, and that firsthand experience of groundlessness runs through everything she's written since: the conviction that falling apart is the actual starting point of spiritual practice, not a problem to fix. Her voice is warm and plainspoken, entirely free of jargon. The writers below share her willingness to sit with genuine difficulty rather than rushing past it toward comfort.
Readers who enjoy Pema Chödrön often turn to Thich Nhat Hanh for a similarly warm, practical Buddhist voice, Ram Dass for devotional warmth from an American countercultural path, Eckhart Tolle for related but more secular teaching on presence and ego, Sharon Salzberg for Buddhist teaching centered on loving-kindness practice, Byron Katie for a plain, practical method of questioning painful thoughts, and Alan Watts for the wittier, more intellectual introduction to related Buddhist and Vedanta ideas.
Similar Voice & Approach
Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat Hanh shares Chödrön's gift for making Buddhist practice feel immediately usable rather than abstract, insisting on bringing everyday actions back to genuine presence, in a gentler, more explicitly devotional register than Chödrön's own direct address of difficulty.
Read Thich Nhat Hanh for Chödrön's practical warmth applied to everyday mindfulness rather than specifically to crisis and groundlessness. Peace Is Every Step is essential.
→ Read more about Thich Nhat HanhRam Dass
Ram Dass shares Chödrön's warmth and willingness to speak openly about personal breakdown and transformation, having undergone his own dramatic reinvention from Harvard psychologist Richard Alpert into a devoted spiritual teacher, sharing her conviction that falling apart can be the beginning rather than the end.
Read Ram Dass for devotional warmth from an American countercultural path, closely related to Chödrön's own personal transformation. Be Here Now is essential.
Eckhart Tolle
Tolle addresses related questions about ego, suffering, and presence through a secular, contemporary framework rather than Chödrön's explicitly Buddhist one, both writers ultimately arguing that identifying less rigidly with thought and circumstance is the path through difficulty.
Read Tolle for related teaching on presence and ego through a more secular, contemporary lens than Chödrön's Buddhist framework. The Power of Now is essential.
→ See all books written by Eckhart TolleSharon Salzberg
Salzberg, a co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society, shares Chödrön's warm, accessible approach to Buddhist practice, centering her teaching specifically on loving-kindness meditation as a direct antidote to fear and self-criticism.
Read Salzberg for Buddhist teaching centered specifically on loving-kindness practice, a natural companion to Chödrön's own compassion-focused teaching. Lovingkindness is essential.
Byron Katie
Byron Katie's four-question method for questioning stressful thoughts shares Chödrön's conviction that difficulty is workable material rather than something to escape, offering a plain, procedural technique without Chödrön's Buddhist framing or terminology.
Read Byron Katie for a plain, practical method of questioning painful thoughts, stripped of Chödrön's Buddhist vocabulary but working similar territory. Loving What Is is essential.
Alan Watts
Watts shares Chödrön's interest in insecurity and groundlessness as genuine spiritual material rather than problems to solve, though his register is wittier and more intellectually playful than Chödrön's warm, direct address of personal difficulty.
Read Watts for a wittier, more intellectual introduction to related Buddhist and Vedanta ideas about insecurity and groundlessness. The Wisdom of Insecurity is essential.
→ See all books by Alan WattsMore from the shelf
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Pema Chödrön Books, In Order
Her full bibliography, ranked.
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Frequently asked questions about authors like Pema Chödrön
Who should I read if I like Pema Chödrön?
Readers who enjoy Pema Chödrön often turn to Thich Nhat Hanh for a similarly warm, practical Buddhist voice, Ram Dass for devotional warmth from an American countercultural path, Eckhart Tolle for related but more secular teaching on presence and ego, Sharon Salzberg for Buddhist teaching centered on loving-kindness practice, Byron Katie for a plain, practical method of questioning painful thoughts, and Alan Watts for the wittier, more intellectual introduction to related Buddhist and Vedanta ideas.
Is Thich Nhat Hanh similar to Pema Chödrön?
Both share a gift for making Buddhist practice feel immediately usable rather than abstract, though Thich Nhat Hanh's register is gentler and more explicitly devotional, focused on ordinary daily actions, while Chödrön addresses crisis and groundlessness more directly through the lens of her own personal breakdown and transformation.
What should I read after When Things Fall Apart?
Sharon Salzberg's Lovingkindness offers Buddhist teaching centered specifically on compassion practice. Ram Dass's Be Here Now shares Chödrön's warmth and openness about personal transformation. For a secular, practical method of questioning painful thoughts, Byron Katie's Loving What Is is an essential complement.
Is Byron Katie's method similar to Pema Chödrön's teaching?
Both share the conviction that difficulty is workable material rather than something to avoid or escape. Byron Katie's four-question method for questioning stressful thoughts strips away Buddhist terminology and framing entirely, offering a plain, procedural technique, while Chödrön's teaching stays rooted in traditional Buddhist practice and vocabulary.
