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Transforming hindrances and adversity

Shantideva’s “Engaging in the Bodhisattva’s Deeds,” Chapter 6, Verses 103-118

A series of teachings given at various venues in Mexico in April 2015. The teachings are in English with Spanish translation. This talk took place in Xalapa and was organized by Rechung Dorje Dragpa Center.

  • Working with anger when others hinder our accumulation of merit
  • Transforming our view of what appear to be hindrances to our practice
  • Respecting people who cause us difficulties
  • How serving sentient beings, not just the buddhas, is essential for our spiritual progress
  • Bodhicitta depends on having great compassion for all sentient beings
  • Sentient beings and buddhas are equal in the sense of helping us to attain a buddha’s qualities, even though they do not have the same qualities
  • Questions and answers
    • Compassion for cockroaches
    • How a child’s illness relates to the parents’ and child’s karma
    • Whether we should strive for what we want or accept what we receive to cultivate good qualities
    • Whether we should stop those who are harming us from creating negative actions

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.