Family life

Family life

Part of a series of teachings given during Sravasti Abbey’s annual Exploring Monastic Life program in 2017.

  • No security in samsara
  • Being creatures of habit
  • What we do now influences our state of death
  • Advice from the Acharya
  • Cutting hair and leaving family
  • Generating an expansive mind and following the model of the Buddha
  • Becoming responsible for our emotional well-being

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.