Freedom behind bars
Buddhist Prison Chaplaincy
Venerable Thubten Chodron 
Prison Dharma 
Jul 2, 2025 An interview with Venerable Thubten Chodron and the Prison Dharma Outreach team for the Clear Mountain Monastery Podcast
- Background on the Prison Dharma Outreach program
- Topics that resonate most with people in prison
- A letter from a practitioner in prison
- How Dharma practice has benefited participants
- Advice for people wanting to volunteer in prisons
- The “hell realm” of prison and the power to change
- The importance of shifting one’s perspective
- The outreach team’s reflections on the project
- Venerable Thubten Chodron discusses The Key of Compassion
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.
