Print Friendly, PDF & Email

The purpose of developing concentration

The purpose of developing concentration

A talk given during Sravasti Abbey’s annual Exploring Monastic Life program in 2009.

  • Remembering Buddha’s qualities to counteract the tight mind
  • Different levels of Buddhist vows
  • Ethical conduct lays the foundation for developing concentration and realizations
  • Continuation of commentary on the Noble Search Sutta (MN 26)1
    • Why the Buddha was reluctant to teach after enlightenment
    • What Mara symbolizes
  • Questions and answers
    • Difference between a Buddha and an arhat
    • Was Mara a sentient being?
    • Different types of god realms
    • Source of our thoughts

Exploring Monastic Life 2009: Session 6 (download)


  1. In the references to the sutras MN refers to the Majjhima Nikaya, the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. DN refers to the Digha Nikaya, the Long Discourses of the Buddha

Venerable Thubten Chodron

Venerable Chodron emphasizes the practical application of Buddha’s teachings in our daily lives and is especially skilled at explaining them in ways easily understood and practiced by Westerners. She is well known for her warm, humorous, and lucid teachings. She was ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1977 by Kyabje Ling Rinpoche in Dharamsala, India, and in 1986 she received bhikshuni (full) ordination in Taiwan. Read her full bio.