10 Facts About Thubten Chodron

Thubten Chodron, born Cheryl Greene, is an American Tibetan Buddhist nun, author, teacher, and the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey, the only Tibetan Buddhist training monastery for Western nuns and monks in the United States.

Thubten Chodron is a student of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tsenzhab Serkong Rinpoche, Lama Thubten Yeshe, Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, and other Tibetan masters.

Thubten Chodron has published many books on Buddhist philosophy and meditation, and is co-authoring with the Dalai Lama a multi-volume series of teachings on the Buddhist path, The Library of Wisdom and Compassion.

Thubten Chodron directed the spiritual program at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy for nearly two years, was resident teacher at Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore, and for 10 years was spiritual director and resident teacher at Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle, US.

Thubten Chodron has worked on re-establishing the Bhikshuni lineage of Buddhist nuns, cultivating interfaith dialogue, and Dharma outreach in prisons.

Thubten Chodron is author or editor of more than 25 books on Buddhism, including two works co-written with the 14th Dalai Lama: Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions and Approaching the Buddhist Path, the first in a multi-volume collection presenting the Dalai Lama's comprehensive explanation of the Buddhist path.

Thubten Chodron was a co-organizer of Life as a Western Buddhist Nun, an international conference of Western Buddhist nuns held in 1996.

Thubten Chodron was a participant in the 1993 and 1994 Western Buddhist teachers' conferences with the 14th Dalai Lama, and she was instrumental in the creation of the 2007 International Congress on Buddhist Women's Role in the Sangha.

Thubten Chodron is a member of the Committee for Bhikshuni Ordination and attends the annual Western Buddhist Monastic Gathering in the US.

Thubten Chodron has been present at several Mind and Life Institute conferences in which the 14th Dalai Lama dialogues with Western scientists.