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.

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Volume 3 Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature

The mind’s potential in the Pali tradition

Starting Chapter 13, "Buddha Nature", covering the potential of the mind from the section, "The…

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A person sitting on top of a moutain, meditating.
Preliminary Practices

Seven-limb Prayer

Purifying and creating positive potential prepare our minds to grow in wisdom and understanding.

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Exploring Monastic Life 2023

Ordination for women across traditions part 2

Q&A about Venerable Chodron's experience as a woman in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition continues.

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Exploring Monastic Life 2023

Ordination for women across traditions part 1

Q&A about Venerable Chodron's experience as a woman in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

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Volume 3 Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature

The purity of emptiness

Explaining the emptiness of afflictive mind and the emptiness of purified mind, reviewing the section,…

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Exploring Monastic Life 2023

Transgressing precepts of individual liberation

Explanation of the line in the General Confession, “I have transgressed the precepts of Individual…

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Exploring Monastic Life 2023

Explanation of the general confession

The General Confession line by line, reminding us that there’s not a single day that…

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Exploring Monastic Life 2023

The Buddha’s life story part 2

Continues with the Buddha’s life story, and discusses the motivation for ordaining.

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Exploring Monastic Life 2023

The Buddha’s life story part 1

How the Buddha’s life story parallels our own story of spiritual yearning.

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Volume 3 Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature

Cultivating excellent qualities

Describing the three factors that make the cultivation of excellent qualities, reviewing the sections, "Excellent…

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