Origin of the Mahayana sutras
Venerable Thubten Chodron 
Exploring Monastic Life 2006 
Aug 13, 2006 A talk given during Sravasti Abbey's annual Exploring Monastic Life program in 2006.
Oral and written tradition
- How oral tradition becomes written tradition
- Effects of having a written tradition
Exploring Monastic Life 2006: Session 9, 1-3 (download)
Origin of the Mahayana sutras
- How they originated
- Refuting the idea that scholastic study and meditation/practice are separate
Exploring Monastic Life 2006: Session 9, 2-3 (download)
Questions and answers
- Qualifications of a commentary author
- What does it mean to say that the teachings are in a pure form?
- Clarification: two versions of Abhidharma
- Writing style of the Mahayana sutras
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.
