Singapore: Practicing the Dharma in Difficult Times
Venerable Thubten Damcho 
Nov 3, 2022 
2 hours
In Person
Practicing the Dharma in Difficult Times
Friday, December 16
7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
In-person talk hosted by The Buddhist Library
If the Dharma works, why am I still suffering? Well, don’t throw in the towel just yet. Venerable Thubten Chodron explains how to take the difficulties that are part of life in cyclic existence into our spiritual practice. By following the Buddha’s teachings, we can transform whatever challenges we face into the causes for personal growth, liberation, and awakening.
Venerable Thubten Damcho
Ven. Damcho (Ruby Xuequn Pan) met the Dharma through the Buddhist Students’ Group at Princeton University. After graduating in 2006, she returned to Singapore and took refuge at Kong Meng San Phor Kark See (KMSPKS) Monastery in 2007, where she served as a Sunday School teacher. Struck by the aspiration to ordain, she attended a novitiate retreat in the Theravada tradition in 2007, and attended an 8-Precepts retreat in Bodhgaya and a Nyung Ne retreat in Kathmandu in 2008. Inspired after meeting Ven. Chodron in Singapore in 2008 and attending the one-month course at Kopan Monastery in 2009, Ven. Damcho visited Sravasti Abbey for 2 weeks in 2010. She was shocked to discover that monastics did not live in blissful retreat, but worked extremely hard! Confused about her aspirations, she took refuge in her job in the Singapore civil service, where she served as a high school English teacher and a public policy analyst. Offering service as Ven. Chodron’s attendant in Indonesia in 2012 was a wake-up call. After attending the Exploring Monastic Life Program, Ven. Damcho quickly moved to the Abbey to train as an Anagarika in December 2012. She ordained on October 2, 2013 and is the Abbey’s current video manager. Ven. Damcho also manages Ven. Chodron’s schedule and website, helps with editing and publicity for Venerable’s books, and supports the care of the forest and vegetable garden.