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.

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Statue of 1000 armed Chenrezig made of wood.
108 Verses on Compassion

Discussion on kindness of others

Discussion on how we focus on self due to many factors and importance of caring…

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Statue of 1000 armed Chenrezig made of wood.
108 Verses on Compassion

Methods to cultivate compassion

Techniques to transform our mind from cherishing self to cherishing others for cultivating compassion.

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Statue of 1000 armed Chenrezig made of wood.
108 Verses on Compassion

Guided meditation on cyclic existence

Developing the aspiration to be free by examining the sufferings we have because of various…

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Picture of Venerable Chonyi, Jigme and Chodron smiling happily
The Eight Mahayana Precepts

Motivation for taking the eight Mahayana precepts

A description of the benefits of taking each of the eight Mahayana precepts and the…

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Statue of 1000 armed Chenrezig made of wood.
108 Verses on Compassion

108 Verses: Verse 7

Importance of deeply looking at our sufferings and developing the motivation to overcome them for…

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Statue of 1000 armed Chenrezig made of wood.
108 Verses on Compassion

108 Verses: Verses 1-6

How great compassion is central to the practice and guides the practitioners through the full…

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New to Buddhism

Vesak and the Buddha’s life

The story behind Vesak, the holiest day of the year for Buddhists, and how we…

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Karma unloading next winter's firewood from the Abbey truck.
Young Adults Explore Buddhism 2006

Uncovering inner beauty

A young adult week participant reflects on how he grew in self-confidence by connecting authentically…

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Venerable Chodron sitting with a group of retreatants from Youth Week 2006.
Young Adults Explore Buddhism 2006

Living an authentic life

Overcoming afflictions enables us to stop living under their control, and to gain clarity and…

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Retreatants from Youth Week 2006 standing together outside.
Young Adults Explore Buddhism 2006

Karma and decision-making

Understanding karma shapes the decisions that we make regarding our body, speech and mind.

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