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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Essence of a Human Life

Making wise decisions

Key principles that we can use to make decisions that will create the causes of…

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Essence of a Human Life

Gambling and other addictions

Expanding on the precept not to take intoxicants to include other activities, such as gambling,…

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Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions

Chapter 5: Concentration: Sanskrit and Chinese tradi...

Meditative absorptions beyond the ninth stage of sustained attention, and meditative paths to the union…

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Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions

Chapter 5: Concentration: Sanskrit tradition

Advantageous preparations, postural position, and objects for meditation, and five faults that interfere with attaining…

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Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions

Chapter 5: Concentration: Pali teachings

Eight meditative liberations that temporarily suppress afflictions, and the super-knowledges and their compassionate purpose.

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Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions

Chapter 5: Higher training in concentration

Realms of existence and spheres of consciousness in gaining samadhi, and bodhisattva and tantric ethics…

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Gomchen Lamrim

Avoiding rebirth in the lower realms

Reflecting on the possibility of a lower rebirth motivates us to make wise decisions and…

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