The path to cultivate

43 Middle-Length Lamrim

Part of a series of weekly teachings on Lama Tsongkhapa's Middle-Length Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment.

  • Meditation on understanding samsara by looking at the three types of suffering
  • The pervasive suffering of conditioning is only recognized by Buddhism
  • Bodhisattvas must avoid the two extremes—samsara and personal peace
  • Do bodhisattvas experience suffering?
  • The kind of life through which cyclic existence is averted
  • The path to cultivate to avert cyclic existence
  • The four causes for infractions and their antidotes

Refer to the handout for the teaching

Venerable Sangye Khadro

California-born, Venerable Sangye Khadro ordained as a Buddhist nun at Kopan Monastery in 1974 and is a longtime friend and colleague of Abbey founder Venerable Thubten Chodron. She took bhikshuni (full) ordination in 1988. While studying at Nalanda Monastery in France in the 1980s, she helped to start the Dorje Pamo Nunnery, along with Venerable Chodron. Venerable Sangye Khadro has studied with many Buddhist masters including Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lama Yeshe, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, and Khensur Jampa Tegchok. At her teachers’ request, she began teaching in 1980 and has since taught in countries around the world, occasionally taking time off for personal retreats. She served as resident teacher in Buddha House, Australia, Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore, and the FPMT centre in Denmark. From 2008-2015, she followed the Masters Program at the Lama Tsong Khapa Institute in Italy. Venerable has authored a number books found here, including the best-selling How to Meditate. She has taught at Sravasti Abbey since 2017 and is now a full-time resident.

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