Structuring the meditation session
Venerable Thubten Chodron 
Cultivating Concentration Retreat 2020 
Sep 6, 2020 Part of a series of teachings given during the 3-day online Meditative Concentration Retreat at Sravasti Abbey from September 5 to 7, 2020.
- Six preliminary practices before meditation
- The importance of purification and merit
- Why the goal-oriented approach to spiritual practice doesn’t work
- Visualizing the Buddha
- Mini-sessions with breaks
- Keeping the mind balanced
- The five hindrances to developing concentration
- Nagarjuna’s analogy for the hindrance of sensual desire
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.
