Giving Our Best ─ A Retreat With Pema Chodron on Practicing the Way of the Bodhisattva

The best-selling author and beloved Buddhist teacher shares her insights on the practice of compassion and enlightened mind (bodhichitta).

Teachings on bodhichitta and the bodhisattva path have been at the heart of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition for centuries. Drawing on the beloved classic The Way of the Bodhisattva by Shantideva and many years of personal practice, Pema Chodron leads this retreat on cultivating practical wisdom and selfless compassion that will inspire both the experienced practitioner and the curious novice.
Run time: 4 hours.

This recorded retreat with beloved author and Buddhist nun Pema Chodron focuses on the subject of bodhichitta. Often translated as "enlightened mind" or "enlightened heart," bodhichitta is central in Mahayana Buddhist practice, which includes many popular Buddhist forms and traditions such as Zen and Tibetan Vajrayana. Chodron's teachings in this retreat are based especially upon the beloved classic The Way of the Bodhisattva by Shantideva, an eighth-century treatise on the way to live as an enlightened being and the subject of her 2007 book No Time to Lose (now an audiobook as well). They show us how to become open to both our own suffering and the suffering of our troubled world--and, through this practice, the way to reach out and help with serenity, bravery, and wisdom. Blending traditional scriptural teachings with personal anecdotes and contemporary commentary, Chodron orients the experienced practitioner and the curious novice alike to the essentials of the Buddhist path.

PEMA CHODRON is an American Buddhist nun in the lineage of Chogyam Trungpa. She is a resident teacher at Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia, the first Tibetan monastery in North America established for Westerners. She is the author of many books and audiobooks, including the best-selling When Things Fall Apart.