Trip to India

  • The opportunity to share research on offering the bhikshuni ordination in the Tibetan tradition
  • Watching the nuns participate in their annual debate and meeting with the former prime minister of Tibet
  • Having patience with the process of re-establishing the bhikshuni lineage

  • Helping Eastern scholars research with Western methods
  • Meeting with the community of nuns in Dharamsala
  • The opportunity to visit with Geshe Sonam Rinchen, one of Venerable Chodron’s first teachers

  • Importance of internet and cellphones regulation in the monasteries and how that could affect the practice of younger monks
  • Touching moments of saying goodbye to one of her teachers
  • Importance for the monks in the monastery to keep studying/practicing and eventually teaching and sharing the Dharma

  • The importance of incorporating more science programs as part of the monastics education
  • The relationship between Buddhism and science

  • The nourishment of being in a group gathered to learn the Dharma from His Holiness the Dalai Lama
  • How being part of such a group affects karma and differs from other groups to which we might belong
  • The joy of celebrating Lama Tsongkhapa day with the multitude of practitioners in India

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.