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Venerable Thubten Chodron

Pioneering American Buddhist teacher and founder of Sravasti Abbey, co-author of The Library of Wisdom and Compassion book series with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

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Teachings from the 2026 Good Karma Retreat

Watch this recent talk by Venerable Thubten Chodron exploring the importance of renouncing worldly concerns.

When we see that our situation in samsara is unsatisfactory, that there's no true happiness in cyclic existence, then we shift our outlook to creating the causes for liberation. But that's not enough; it leaves out everyone else.”
Our initial step is to abandon negativity so we can create the karma to have a good rebirth. But then we take it a step further because when we just take care of ourselves, we're still creating the causes to be born in samsara.”
We have all this pleasure for the taking around us everywhere we look, but how long does any of it last? None of it gives us lasting happiness. And look at all the negative things we do to get this temporary worldly happiness.”

Featured Teachings

Check out highlights from Venerable Thubten Chodron's extensive teaching archive.

Parting from the Four Clingings

Samsara is not a vacation

Seeing the kindness of others motivates us to work towards…

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Contentment and Happiness

Impermanence and change

How understanding impermanence can help us to cope with change.

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How to See Yourself As You Really Are

Understanding our situation in samsara

Speaking on the importance of seeing sentient beings as precious…

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Wisdom

Generating the awakening mind

The importance of generating the awakening mind and how one…

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Easy Path to Travel to Omniscience

The first noble truth: Our situation in samsara

Looking at the reality of our present situation will motivate…

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Volume 3 Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature

Buddhahood depends on sentient beings

Reviewing Chapter 12, "The Mind and Its Potential", describing how…

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Latest Posts

Keep up with recent teachings by Venerable Thubten Chodron and other Sravasti Abbey monastics.

Teachings by Geshe Yeshe Thabkhe

Refuting inherence in inner and outer objects

Geshe Yeshe Thabkhe discusses the refutation of inherent existence of…

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Good Karma Annual Retreat

Overcoming our rules of the universe

Examining our "rules of the universe" and how we create…

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Good Karma Annual Retreat

Overcoming the internal enemies

How to overcome polluted karma, hinderances and false conception.

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Good Karma Annual Retreat

The enemy of self-grasping and self-centeredness

How we can identify and work with self-grasping and self-centeredness.

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Good Karma Annual Retreat

Seize the enemy!

Giving our suffering to the self-centered thought and calling upon…

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Good Karma Annual Retreat

Renouncing worldly life

Why renunciation is crucial and how to identify self-grasping and…

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Volume 4 Following in the Buddha's Footsteps

The 37 Harmonies and Good Karma verses 45-46

Explaining verses 45-46 from "Good Karma" and describing 37 Harmonies…

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Stages of the Path

Logical Proof of Dependent Arising

Applying reasoning to refute inherent existence of phenomena.

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Monastic Life

Leaving home: Different doors to renunciation

What modern practitioners can learn about renunciation from Ratthapala and…

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Upcoming Live Teachings

Follow Venerable Thubten Chodron's teachings at Sravasti Abbey, online, and worldwide.

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Books

Learn more about Buddhist books written and edited by Venerable Thubten Chodron as well as other Sravasti Abbey teachers.

Book cover of Buddhism for Beginners

Buddhism for Beginners

An accessible and engaging introduction to some of the most commonly asked questions about the es...

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Book cover of Guided Buddhist Meditations

Guided Buddhist Meditations

This invaluable resource provides Dharma practitioners with clear explanations of the stages of t...

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Working with Anger

A variety of Buddhist methods for subduing anger, not by changing what is happening, but by worki...

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Front cover of "Driving the Dharma Home"

Driving the Dharma Home

Just as a driver’s manual steers us to travel safely, “Driving the Dharma Home”...

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The Key of Compassion by Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron. A row of gray prison cells with golden flowers blooming through the bars of one cell.

The Key of Compassion

Evidence of the power of compassion in the lives of incarcerated people, from the experience of t...

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Book cover of Pearl of Wisdom I

Pearl of Wisdom, Book I

A compilation of prayers and practices commonly taught to people beginning to study and practice ...

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Cover of the book

Awakening the Kind Heart

Consideration for others helps make our relationships and interactions with others more satisfyin...

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Book cover of Appearing and Empty

Appearing and Empty

In this third and final volume on emptiness, the authors impart the Prasangika view of the ultima...

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Book cover of "Vajrayana and the Culmination of the Path"

Vajrayana and the Culmination of the Path

The final volume of the Library of Wisdom and Compassion by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Vener...

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