Background
Chodron was born on September 18, 1950, in Chicago, Illinois, United States. She is the daughter of Bernard and Adele Greene. Thubten Chodron grew up in a "non-religious Jewish" family near Los Angeles, California.
University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States
Thubten Chodron graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1971.
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States
Thubten Chodron did post-graduate work in education at the University of Southern California.
Thubten Chodron
Thubten Chodron
Thubten Chodron
Thubten Chodron
Thubten Chodron
Thubten Chodron
(This practical introduction to Buddhism focuses on the ap...)
This practical introduction to Buddhism focuses on the application of Buddhist psychology to modern life. Thubten Chodron, an American Buddhist nun, presents the basic points of this path for understanding ourselves and improving the quality of our lives. In a straightforward style and with warmth and humor, Chodron gives us the fundamental points of the Buddha's teaching on transforming habitual attitudes and realizing our full human potential.
https://www.amazon.com/Open-Heart-Clear-Mind-Introduction/dp/0937938874/?tag=2022091-20
1990
(In recent years, Buddhist nuns from Asia and the West hav...)
In recent years, Buddhist nuns from Asia and the West have met together to become more active in improving their status in the female sangha. At "Life As A Buddhist Nun," the 1996 conference in Dharamsala, His Holiness the Dalai Lama supported this effort of Buddhist nuns to clarify their purpose in taking vows, widening their context, broadening community beyond their own abbeys, and supporting one another on their quest to achieve greater equality. This book gathers some of the presentations and teaching at this conference. Coming from many different countries and backgrounds, these women show ways they have found to embrace group practice in an era when most societies extol individualism.
https://www.amazon.com/Blossoms-Dharma-Living-Buddhist-Nun/dp/1556433255/?tag=2022091-20
1999
(Buddhism for Beginners is an ideal first book on the subj...)
Buddhism for Beginners is an ideal first book on the subject for anyone, but it’s also a wonderful resource for seasoned students since the question-and-answer format makes it easy to find just the topic you’re looking for.
https://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Beginners-Thubten-Chodron/dp/1559391537/?tag=2022091-20
2001
(Choosing Simplicity discusses the precepts and lifestyle ...)
Choosing Simplicity discusses the precepts and lifestyle of fully ordained nuns within the Buddhist tradition. The ordination vows act as guidelines to promote harmony both within the individual and within the community by regulating and thereby simplifying one's relationships to other sangha members and laypeople, as well as to the needs of daily life.
https://www.amazon.com/Choosing-Simplicity-Commentary-Bhikshuni-Pratimoksha-ebook/dp/B003BIFNO6/?tag=2022091-20
2001
(Anger plagues all of us on a personal, national, and inte...)
Anger plagues all of us on a personal, national, and international level. Yet we see people, such as the Dalai Lama, who have faced circumstances far worse than many of us have faced - including exile, persecution, and the loss of many loved ones - but who do not burn with rage or seek revenge. How do they do it? Working with Anger presents a variety of Buddhist methods for subduing and preventing anger not by changing what is happening, but by framing it differently. No matter what our religion, learning to work with our anger is effective for everyone seeking personal happiness as well as world peace.
https://www.amazon.com/Working-Anger-Thubten-Chodron/dp/1559391634/?tag=2022091-20
2001
(Chodron offers practical techniques to help us gain a mor...)
Chodron offers practical techniques to help us gain a more spacious perspective on relationships, whether they be between lovers, parent and child, employer and employee, friends, or spiritual teacher and student. Guidelines are given for how to practice freeing ourselves from habitually blaming others for our problems and learning to be on the spot and take responsibility for our lives. This book describes how our mind/heart, not the external world, is the ultimate source of our happiness.
https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Mind-Thubten-Chodron/dp/1559392215/?tag=2022091-20
2004
(Tara, the feminine embodiment of enlightened activity, is...)
Tara, the feminine embodiment of enlightened activity, is a Buddhist deity whose Tibetan name means "liberator," signaling her ability to liberate beings from the delusion and ignorance that keep them trapped in ever-recurring patterns of negativity.
https://www.amazon.com/How-Free-Your-Mind-Liberator/dp/155939398X/?tag=2022091-20
2005
(A practical and inspiring guide for developing our abilit...)
A practical and inspiring guide for developing our ability to be happy and benefit others this commentary on The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas by Gyalsay Togme Sangpo is studied by followers of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The root text gives in thirty-seven short verses the essential practices leading to enlightenment.
https://www.amazon.com/Transforming-Adversity-into-Joy-Courage/dp/1559392320/?tag=2022091-20
2005
(The book starts with the Thousand-Armed Chenrezig visuali...)
The book starts with the Thousand-Armed Chenrezig visualization and the preliminary prayers found in most sadhanas and the long mantra of Chenrezig. Only then does the author proceed to explaining the various concepts that make up the theoretical underpinnings of this extraordinary practice.
https://www.amazon.com/Cultivating-Compassionate-Heart-Method-Chenrezig/dp/1559392428/?tag=2022091-20
2006
(The lamrim (stages of the path) presentation of Buddhist ...)
The lamrim (stages of the path) presentation of Buddhist teachings has become a core topic of study at many Buddhist centers in the West. For busy practitioners, the lamrim gives a concise and easily graspable picture of the Buddhist path. The meditation teachings of lamrim, says Buddhist teacher Thubten Chodron, are like ready-made clothes that are easy to wear: they're systematized so that we can wear them right away, so we can learn and practice them in an organized fashion.
https://www.amazon.com/Guided-Meditations-Stages-Thubten-Chodron/dp/1559392819/?tag=2022091-20
2007
(A former abbot of one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist mon...)
A former abbot of one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the world, Khensur Jampa Tegchok has been teaching Westerners about Buddhism since the 1970s. With a deep respect for the intellectual capacity of his students, Khensur Tegchok here unpacks with great erudition Buddhism's animating philosophical principle - the emptiness of all appearances. Engagingly edited by bestselling author Thubten Chodron, emptiness is here approached from a host of angles far beyond most treatments of the subject, while never sacrificing its conversational approach.
https://www.amazon.com/Insight-into-Emptiness-Jampa-Tegchok-ebook/dp/B008YFZBCK/?tag=2022091-20
2012
(It can be hard for those of us living in the twenty-first...)
It can be hard for those of us living in the twenty-first century to see how fourteenth-century Buddhist teachings still apply. When you’re trying to figure out which cell phone plan to buy or brooding about something someone wrote about you on Facebook, lines like “While the enemy of your own anger is unsubdued, though you conquer external foes, they will only increase” can seem a little obscure. Thubten Chodron’s illuminating explication of Togmay Zangpo’s revered text, The Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas, doesn’t just explain its profound meaning; in dozens of passages she lets her students and colleagues share first-person stories of the ways that its teachings have changed their lives.
https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Believe-Everything-You-Think/dp/1559393963/?tag=2022091-20
2013
(Living with an Open Heart contains brief readings which b...)
Living with an Open Heart contains brief readings which blend Buddhist and western psychology. It thoughtfully presents ideas and techniques drawn from Buddhism, western psychological approaches, as well as the authors' personal experiences in working to develop compassion in their own lives and in their work with others. Designed to be easy to dip into, this fascinating book is organised into brief chapters to include discussions, reflections and contemplations, personal stories, and specific techniques for deepening compassion.
https://www.amazon.com/Living-Open-Heart-Cultivate-Compassion/dp/1780335423/?tag=2022091-20
2013
(Pearl of Wisdom, Book 1 is a compilation of prayers and p...)
Pearl of Wisdom, Book 1 is a compilation of prayers and practices that are commonly done in Tibetan Buddhism. Composed by realized sages, these are designed to elevate our mind by directing our thoughts toward lofty, beneficial topics such as the determination to be free from cyclic existence, bodhicitta-the heart aspiring to attain full awakening for the benefit of all beings - and the wisdom realizing reality.
https://www.amazon.com/Pearl-Wisdom-Buddhist-Prayers-Practices/dp/0985849800/?tag=2022091-20
2014
(Buddhism is practiced by hundreds of millions of people w...)
Buddhism is practiced by hundreds of millions of people worldwide, from Tibetan caves to Tokyo temples to redwood retreats. To an outside viewer, it might be hard to see what they all have in common. In Buddhism, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and American Buddhist nun Thubten Chodron map out with clarity the convergences and the divergences between the two major strains of Buddhism - the Sanskrit traditions of Tibet and East Asia and the Pali traditions of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
https://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-One-Teacher-Many-Traditions/dp/1614293929/?tag=2022091-20
2014
(Thubten Chodron offers a commentary on one of the great T...)
Thubten Chodron offers a commentary on one of the great Tibetan Buddhist poems, The Wheel of Sharp Weapons, which shows, clearly and practically, how to eliminate the causes of anxiety, fear, and depression and to create the causes of joyful liberation for oneself and all others.
https://www.amazon.com/Good-Karma-Create-Happiness-Suffering-ebook/dp/B01IDZGT6C/?tag=2022091-20
2016
(In Practical Ethics and Profound Emptiness Khensur Jampa ...)
In Practical Ethics and Profound Emptiness Khensur Jampa Tegchok walks us carefully through a classic of Indian Buddhist philosophy, explaining the implications of its philosophical arguments and grounding its advice in a recognizable day-to-day world.
https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Ethics-Profound-Emptiness-Commentary-ebook/dp/B01KG5GPWK/?tag=2022091-20
2017
(Eating as a spiritual practice: wisdom from the Buddhist ...)
Eating as a spiritual practice: wisdom from the Buddhist tradition that you can use at home. Every aspect of our daily activities can be a part of spiritual practice if done with compassion - and this compact guide offers wisdom from the Buddhist tradition on how eating mindfully can nourish the mind as well as the body. Thubten Chodron, abbess of Sravasti Abbey in Washington state, shows us that eating and activities related to it - preparation of food, offering and consuming it, and cleaning up afterward - can contribute to awakening and to increased kindness and care toward others. Chodron offers traditional Buddhist teachings and specific practices used at the Abbey, along with advice for taking the principles into our own home in order to make the sharing of food a spiritual intention for anyone.
https://www.amazon.com/Compassionate-Kitchen-Practices-Mindfulness-Gratitude-ebook/dp/B07DZG4XNB/?tag=2022091-20
2018
Chodron was born on September 18, 1950, in Chicago, Illinois, United States. She is the daughter of Bernard and Adele Greene. Thubten Chodron grew up in a "non-religious Jewish" family near Los Angeles, California.
Thubten Chodron graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1971. She did post-graduate work in education at the University of Southern California.
After studies at the University of California, Thubten Chodron traveled extensively in Europe, North Africa, and Asia, taught in the Los Angeles city school district. She came into contact with Tibetan Buddhism and studied under the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tsenzhab Serkong Rinpoche, Zopa Rinpoche and other Tibetan masters for many years in India and Nepal.
In 1977 she was ordained as a Buddhist nun, after which served as a spiritual program director at Istituto Lama Tsong Khapa in Italy and director of the Dorje Pamo Monastery in France. She was a resident teacher at the Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore for two years before assuming her teaching post with the Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle in 1992.
She also taught Buddhist philosophy, psychology, and meditation internationally. She was present during the Jewish delegation’s visit to Dharamsala, India, in 1990, which was the basis for the book and documentary The Jew in the Lotus, and she was active in Jewish-Buddhist dialogue and inter-religious dialogue in general. Thubten Chodron has participated in several mind/life conferences, during which Western scientists and scholars dialogue with the Dalai Lama. She was a co-organizer for the 1996 training program of Western Buddhist nuns in Bodhgaya, India.
While living in Singapore in 1987, she was asked to write about Buddha’s teachings and meditation. In 1989 she published, Glimpse of Reality. Other popular works include Buddhism for Beginners; Open Heart, Clear Mind; Working with Anger; and Don’t Believe Everything You Think.
Seeing the importance and necessity of a monastery for Westerners training in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, she founded Sravasti Abbey, a Buddhist monastery in Newport, Washington, USA, in 2003, and became its abbess.
(Thubten Chodron offers a commentary on one of the great T...)
2016(In Practical Ethics and Profound Emptiness Khensur Jampa ...)
2017(Tara, the feminine embodiment of enlightened activity, is...)
2005(A practical and inspiring guide for developing our abilit...)
2005(Buddhism for Beginners is an ideal first book on the subj...)
2001(Chodron offers practical techniques to help us gain a mor...)
2004(A former abbot of one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist mon...)
2012(The book starts with the Thousand-Armed Chenrezig visuali...)
2006(In recent years, Buddhist nuns from Asia and the West hav...)
1999(The lamrim (stages of the path) presentation of Buddhist ...)
2007(It can be hard for those of us living in the twenty-first...)
2013(Buddhism is practiced by hundreds of millions of people w...)
2014(Choosing Simplicity discusses the precepts and lifestyle ...)
2001(Pearl of Wisdom, Book 1 is a compilation of prayers and p...)
2014(This practical introduction to Buddhism focuses on the ap...)
1990(Living with an Open Heart contains brief readings which b...)
2013(Eating as a spiritual practice: wisdom from the Buddhist ...)
2018(Anger plagues all of us on a personal, national, and inte...)
2001
Quotations:
“I never imagined being a writer because, throughout my education, my teachers inevitably returned my essays filled with red ink. However, while living in Singapore in 1987, I was asked to write about Buddha’s teachings and meditation. Much to my surprise, people loved it! My confidence increased, as did the requests to write more, and thus several books and articles were published. His Holiness the Dalai Lama and my other teachers have been my greatest inspiration when writing."
“The purpose of my writing is to benefit others, for I believe that our lives should focus on joyfully solving problems and contributing to the welfare of others, rather than struggling for ephemeral pleasure. All royalties and profits from my writing are used for charity work; none is kept for my private use.”