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(Photo courtesy WISDOM PUBLICATIONS) Thubten Chodron, left, and the Dalai Lama.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and local author and Buddhist nun, Thubten Chodron, have joined forces to release a second volume in the Dalai Lama’s definitive and comprehensive series of teachings on the entire Buddhist path, “The Library of Wisdom and Compassion”. The new book, “The Foundation of Buddhist Practice”, released by Wisdom Publications on May 15, lays out the steps to building a strong Buddhist practice.
Trained in the rigorous Tibetan Buddhist monastic tradition, the Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibet. Having taught Buddhism for nearly 70 years, he is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on Buddhism. He is well known for advocating ethical conduct, non-violence, and compassion in personal and global actions. In the multi-volume The Library of Wisdom and Compassion, the Dalai Lama shares a lifetime of insights and experiences with the Buddhist path of wisdom and compassion.
Volume 2 in the series, “The Foundation of Buddhist Practice”, begins by explaining what makes a philosophy Buddhist or non-Buddhist. It then teaches how to tell whether our knowledge and perception is reliable, so that we have the tools to understand the nature of reality. The book includes in-depth discussions of the relationship between spiritual mentor and student, the complex topics of dying and rebirth, and gives a fruitful explanation of karma and its results.
American-born, Thubten Chodron ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1977. She has studied with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist masters for over 40 years, and she teaches Buddhist philosophy and meditation worldwide. “The Foundation of Buddhist Practice” is her third literary collaboration with the Dalai Lama. Her own 30-plus books include “Open Heart, Clear Mind”; “Buddhism for Beginners”; “Don’t Believe Everything You Think”; and “Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions”, also co-authored with the Dalai Lama.
Thubten Chodron is the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey, a Buddhist monastery for Western nuns, monks, and lay people in Newport, Wash.