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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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Facing Difficulties with Joy and Equanimity

Watch Venerable Thubten Chodron’s recent talk exploring how we can find happiness by transforming our mind.

Our basic thought is 'What can I get that will make me happy and what can I be free of that won't make me happy.' And that's universal for all sentient beings, humans and animals.”

We look at things like the happiness or misery is in that outside person or external object. That's why we'd like to control everyone and everything. But we can't control the external world.”

The only thing we can control is our mind. We can train it to look at situations in different ways. We need to pay more attention to our attitude, thoughts, and how we interpret things.”

Featured Teachings

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

Building confidence and resilience with joy

Learn to base your confidence on your good motivation instead…

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Empathetic joy: The third immeasurable thought

An in-depth look at the third immeasurable: empathetic joy.

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Making effort, joyfully

Commentary to verses 68-76 of Chapter 7, "Enthusiasm". How to…

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Joyfully engaging in virtue

Discussing ways to think, speak and act in order to…

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We create the causes for joy and sorrow

Teaching on how we are responsible for creating the causes…

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The joy of living as a monk or nun

Part of a series of interviews with Venerable Thubten Chodron.

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Latest Posts

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

Facing difficulties with joy and equanimity

How to approach problems without being overwhelmed by emotions.

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Review of the perfection of wisdom

Review and discussion of the perfection of wisdom.

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Dependent arising

Examining characteristics and different presentations of dependent arising.

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Superknowledges 2 – 6

Explaining the second through six superknowledges, continuing the teaching from…

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Review of the perfection of meditative stabilization

How meditative stabilization benefits ourselves and others.

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Anger or forgiveness?

How forgiveness benefits ourselves and others.

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Meditation on anger is not effective for social change

Guided meditation on replacing anger with compassion to address injustice.

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Taming the monkey mind

How the Buddhist view of life can be applied to…

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Intro to superknowledges

Providing an overview of the superknowledges and explaining the first…

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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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Cover of the book

How to Meditate on the Stages of the Path

Deepen your meditation by diving into the lamrim—the stages of the path to enlightenment. This bo...

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Book cover of Searching for the Self

Searching for the Self

Volume 7 of The Library of Wisdom and Compassion explores emptiness and leads us to delve deeply ...

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Cover of 365 Gems of Wisdom

365 Gems of Wisdom

Reflections by Venerable Thubten Chodron and other Sravasti Abbey monastics to guide us in settin...

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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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