Preparing for Tantra with Ven. Thubten Chodron, Part 1

This talk was held online at Tse Chen Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies on October 9, 2025. This talk was part of the series "Women of Wisdom: Celebrating the Living Legacy of Buddhist Women." WOMEN OF WISDOM Over the course of a year, Women of Wisdom: Celebrating the Living Legacy of Buddhist Women will highlight and celebrate women teachers and practitioners in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. The programs in this series spotlight the history and impact of women in Buddhism and share the wisdom stewarded by a range of female lineage holders, teachers, scholars, monastics, and lay practitioners. The series coincides with the 35th anniversary of the founding, by two women, of Tse Chen Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies in San Francisco. Women of Wisdom: Celebrating the Living Legacy of Buddhist Women hopes to contribute to ongoing efforts to support global programming featuring female Buddhist teachers and scholars and presenting topics of importance to women on the Buddhist path. IN THIS TALK Over two talks, Ven. Thubten Chodron spoke about the importance of setting the proper foundation and motivation prior to entering the path of Tantra. Drawing upon the recently published work Vajrayāna and the Culmination of the Path with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Ven. Thubten Chodron shared the importance of having a firm foundation in the Lam Rim (the Graduated Path to Enlightenment) and lojong (mind-training) teachings as a precursor to Tantric empowerment and practice. About Ven. Thubten Chodron Venerable Thubten Chodron is an author, teacher, and the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey, a pioneering Tibetan Buddhist training monastery for Western nuns and monks in the US. She graduated from UCLA and did graduate work in education at USC. Ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun in 1977, she has studied extensively with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tsenzhap Serkong Rinpoche, and other Tibetan lamas. She received full ordination as a bhikshuni in 1986. Venerable Chodron teaches worldwide and is known for her warm, practical, and humorous explanations of how to apply Buddhist teachings in daily life. She is also involved in prison outreach and interfaith dialogue. She has published many books on Buddhist philosophy and meditation and has assisted His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the writing and publication of The Library of Wisdom and Compassion, a multi-volume series of teachings on the Buddhist path that was completed in December 2024. Visit thubtenchodron.org for a media library of her teachings, and sravastiabbey.org to learn more about Sravasti Abbey.