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.
Featured Series

37 Practices of Bodhisattvas with Venerable Sangye Khadro (2019)
Short talks by Venerable Sangye Khadro on "The 37 Practices of Bodhisattvas" by Gyelsay Togmay Zangpo.
View Series70 Topics with Venerable Sangye Khadro (2022)
70 Topics is an important study of the entire sutra path to enlightenment as presented in Maitreya's "Ornament for Clear Realization," including all the fundamental features of the basis, path and goal in the Mahayana.
View SeriesArt of Transforming Suffering Retreat with Venerable Sangye Khadro (2017)
Teachings by Venerable Sangye Khadro on the art of transforming suffering given at Sravasti Abbey in July 2017.
View SeriesKnow Your Mind with Venerable Sangye Khadro (2021)
An introduction to Buddhist psychology by Venerable Sangye Khadro. The course explores topics such as what the mind is, perception and conception, types of awareness, and the mental factors.
View SeriesMeditation 101 by Venerable Sangye Khadro (2021)
Teachings by Venerable Sangye Khadro suitable for people encountering both meditation and Buddhism for the first time.
View SeriesMind and Mental Factors with Venerable Sangye Khadro (2019)
An overview of the Buddhist psychology of mind and mental factors given during a course on Buddhist reasoning and debate in 2019.
View SeriesSeven Kinds of Awareness with Venerable Sangye Khadro (2019)
An overview of the seven kinds of awareness according to the Buddhist philosophy of mind taught as part of a course on Buddhist reasoning and debate in 2019.
View SeriesTenets with Venerable Sangye Khadro (2022)
Weekly teachings on the text "Presentation of Tenets" by Jetsun Chokyi Gyaltsen by Venerable Sangye Khadro.
View SeriesFeatured Posts
How to Meditate: Advice for daily practice
More antidotes to obstacles and how to support a daily practice.
View PostBuddhist perspectives on death
What the Buddha taught about death and the benefits of meditat...
View PostResearching the bhikshuni lineage
Can the bhikshuni ordination be traced back to the time of the...
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Meditation on giving your body away
A guided meditation on thought transformation in which we dedicate the four elements of our…
View PostReview of Chapter 3
Venerable Sangye Khadro reviews Verses 1-21 of Chapter 3 and leads a meditation on the…
View PostThe 37 Practices of Bodhisattvas: Verse 22
The way phenomena appear to us is dependent on our mind. A look at how…
View PostReview of Chapter 2
Venerable Sangye Khadro leads a review of Chapter 2, covering the confession of negativities, including…
View PostReview of Chapter 1
Venerable Sangye Khadro leads a review of Chapter 1 of Shantideva's text, Engaging in the…
View PostReview session: Identifying the root of samsara
A review of topics including identifying the correct root cause of samsara and the different…
View PostReview session: Coarse and subtle selflessness
A review of Chandrakirti's assertions that hearer and solitary realizer arhats realize the emptiness of…
View PostReview session: Bodhisattvas outshine through intell...
A review of the attainments of seventh ground bodhisattvas and the different levels of selflessness.
View PostReview session: Bodhisattva paths and grounds
How the continuum of wisdom is divided into ten bodhisattva grounds.
View PostReview session: Three types of compassion
A review session on the three types of compassion, including the analogy of the bucket…
View PostMeditation on cultivating the four immeasurable thou...
The more we familiarize ourselves with the four immeasurable thoughts—love, compassion, joy and equanimity—the more…
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