The purpose of monastic precepts
Venerable Thubten Chodron 
Exploring Monastic Life 2007 
Aug 18, 2007 A talk given during Sravasti Abbey's annual Exploring Monastic Life program in 2007.
Monastic ordination and precepts
- Precepts are taken voluntarily
- Difference between precepts and commandments
- Precepts as a support
- Protection taken voluntarily, not rules that are imposed involuntarily
- History behind some precepts
- On owning possessions and using money
- On buying and selling
Exploring Monastic Life 2007: Session 6 (download)
Questions and answers
- Handling gold and silver
- Donations
- Conditions of taking precepts
- Where to obtain more information about ordination
- Role of lay practitioners when monastics misbehave
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.
