4 September 2008
Venerable Chodron begins the teachings on the text. She gives an introduction and talks about the lineage source of the text. She also talks about the goals of the mind training practices. She begins an oral transmission of the text.

  11 September 2008
Venerable Chodron continues the oral transmission of the text. She finishes the section on the history of the mind training practices. The history includes inspiring accounts of the lengths to which the masters went to get the teachings. She explains how Bodhicitta is the nectar that leads to the non-abiding nirvana of enlightenment. She also explains the three early Kadam traditions and how they relate to our practice.

  18 September 2008
Venerable Chodron explains how self-centeredness is at the root of all problems and conflicts. Self-centeredness is our actual enemy not external enemies. She goes on to discuss the section of the text entitled "The Unique Features, Value and Extraordinary Functions of this Secret Intruction. "She talks about the benefits of the mind training practices and how they can help to transform unfavorable circumstances into favorable conditions for spirtual progress.

  22 September 2008
Venerable Chodron begins the chapter on the preliminary teachings. She explains the line of the text that says, "First, train in the preliminaries. "Ven. Chodron goes on to explain the six preparatory practices for the actual practice session.

  9 October 2008
Venerable Chodron continues talking about the four preliminary practices. In this talk she talks about the actual meditation session and begins the commentary on the precious human life. she explains the eight freedoms and the benefits of meditating on them.

  16 October 2008
Ven. Chodron continues the section on training in the preliminaries. In this talk she discusses how meditation on a precious human life counteracts depression and self-pite. She explains the ten beneficial circumstances of a precious human life. She also explains how meditating on the freedoms and opportunities of a precious human life helps us to see its importance, not waste it and use it to create virtue. She also talks about what practicing the Dharma means.

  23 October 2008
Ven. Chodron talks about the rarity of a precious human life. She talks about the rarity from the view point of the difficulty of creating the cause and the view point of the difficulty of obtaining the result. She begins the commentary on death and impermanence explaining the benefit of meditating on death and the disadvantage of not meditating on death.

  13 November 2008
Ven. Chodron continues the commentary on contemplating death and impermanence. She explains the points to contemplate in the nine point death meditation. In this talk she covers the three points under the inevitably of death and the three points under the uncertainty of the time of death.

  20 November 2008
Venerable Chodron continues the section on contemplating death. In this talk she explains how nothing helps at the time of death except the Dharma. She explains how our body, possessions and friends do not help us when we die but that the karma we create in relationship to them does follow us at death. Ven. Chodron also explains how contemplating death can help us from spending all our time on the eight worldly concerns. She talks about having a healthy relationship with our possessions, friends and our body.

  27 November 2008
Venerable Chodron begins the section on the third preliminary practice, karma. She talks about the importance of contemplating actions and their consequences.

  18 December 2008
Venerable Chodron talks about the importance and benefits of the preliminary practices. She discusses the commentary on the third preliminary practice, karma, explaining the four characteristics of karma.

  25 December 2008
In this talk Venerable Chodron explains the ten non-virtuous paths of actions. She also talks about the four factors that make a complete karma. Ven. Chodron also explains the vitruous paths of action and how one can make neutral actions virtuous through mind-training.

  1 January 2009
Venerable Chodron continues the section on karma. She talks about the five factors that determine the weight of a karma. She goes on to discuss the results of karma. She explains the result to be expected from the various nonvirtues and how contemplating these results can help us restraon from nonvirtues.

  8 January 2009
Ven. Chodron explains the results of karma. She talks about how a complete karma can have four types of results. The ripening result, the causally concordant result, the experiential concordant result and the environmental result. Ven. Chodron then goes through ten non-virtues and talks about the results specific to each.

  15 January 2009
Venerabl Chodron continues talking about karma. In this talk she explains that we need to see what samsara is and what the first noble truth is in order to develop a genuine determination to be free. She also talks about the relationship between the determination to be free and developing Bodhicitta. Ven. Chodron explains what factors determine which karma will ripen sooner. She also talks about how karma can be diminished, reduced and destroyed.

  22 January 2009
Venerable Chodron begins discussion of the fourth of the four preliminary parctices - the disadvantages of cyclic existence. She talks about the disadvantage of uncertainty and the disadvantage of dissatisfaction. Ven. Chodron also answers questions on the karma from eating meat, dealing with jealousy,dharma joy and the meaning of dukkha.

  29 January 2009
In this talk Venerable Chodron completes the section on the six disadvantages of cyclic existence. She also talks about the importance of contemplating the disadvantages of cyclic existence for developing the determination to be free and generating bodhicitta.

  5 February 2009
Ven. Chodron begins the section on cultivating the conventional awakening mind. She begins the talk by answering qestions. She answers questions on idle talk, wrong views, how gods and hell beings are born, the difference between self-grasping and self-centeredness, and the ignorance that causes self-pity or poor view.

  12 February 2009
Venerable Chodron continues the commentary on the advantages of the awakening mind, bodhicitta. She also talks about the path of the arhat and the path of the bodhisattva. Ven. Chodron also answers student questions. She explains what is meant by consciousness. She also explains virtuous contentement and afflicted contentment and virtuous dissatisfation and afflicted dissatisfaction.

  19 February 2009
Venerable Chodron begins the explanation of the techniques for cultivating the awakening mind, bodhicitta. The firest technique is the seven point cause and effect method. Ven. Chodron first explains the preliminary practice of developing equanimity. She then talks about the first two points - all beings have been our parents and seeing their kindness when they have been our parents.

  26 Feruary 2009
Venerable Chodron completes the explanation of the seven point cause and effect method of developing bodhicitta. She also talks about how the eight worldly concerns get in the way of Dharma practice and cause misery in this life. She goes on to answer questions from students.

  5 March 2009
Ven. Chodron begins the explanation on the second method for developing bodhicitta, equalizing and exchanging self and others. In this talk she explains the meditation of equalizing self and others - looking from the conventional level and from the ultimate level. Ven. Chodron covers the first six points of this nine point meditation, looking at things from the conventional viewpoint.

  12 March 2009
Venerable Chodron completes the explanation of equalizing self and others. She explains the last threepoints of the meditation, looking at things from the ultimate viewpoint. She then begins the section on the disadvantages of self-centeredness. The instruction form the root text is"Banish the ine to blame for everyting."

  26 March 2009
Venerable Chodron continues the commentary on the disadvantages of self-centered thought. She explains how the self-centered thought is viewed as a friend but the only thing that comes of this friendship is misery and pain. She discusses how the self-centered thought leads to negative karma and interferes with our spiritual attainments. It robs our happiness and prevents us from benefiting others.

  7 May 2009
Ven.Chodron resumes teaching the text with the section on the faults of the self-centered attitude. She explains how all suffering comes from the self-centered attitude. Ven. Chodron also discusses the importance of deeply investigating how our self-centered attitude works, how it affects our experience and actions. She talks about how the self-centered attitude is not who we are, and not to onfuse it with the conventional person.

  14 May 2009
Ven Chodron completes the section on the self-centered thought and begins the commentary on cherishing others. She explains the importance of meditating on the kindness of others. Ven. Chodron also talks about how enlightenment is dependent on sentient beings.

  21 May 2009
Vennrable Chodron discusses the advantages of cherishing others and what it means to cherish others. She also talks about viewing those who harm us from a different perspective.

  11 June 2009
Venerable Chodron talks about recognizing the kindness of others and seeing them as something to be cherished. Using the text and personal experiences, she explains how even those we have difficulty with are kind to us and help us make progress on the path. Ven. Chodron shows how we can see others as kind but also under the influence of afflictions.

  18 June 2009
Ven. Chodron begins the section on cultivating the awakening mind concerned with the interests of others. She begins by talking about the meditation on love. She explains how love is different from attachment. She also talks about the benefits of cultivating love. Ven Chodron goes on to explain how to meditate on giving your body, possessions and virtue to benefit beings.

  25 June 2009
Venerable Chodrom contiunes to explain the meditation on giving our body, imagining that it transforms into the basis for sustaining all beings and the basis for them to attain enlightenment. She goes on to explain meditating on giving to those who have not attained a spirtual path, those who have not yet entered the path of accumulation.

  2 July 2009
Ven. Chodron continues the commentary on the section of the text on giving. She explains meditating on transforming and giving our body to those in the various realms. She goes on the explain meditating on giving to those who harm us and how to overcome resistance to this. Ven. Chodron also talks about giving to those who have entered the path of the arhat or Bodhisattva.

  6 August 2009
venerable Chodron continues the commentary on giving. In this talk she explains how to meditate on giving our body to those who have entered the spiritual path, meditating on transforming our body into what helps them progress on the path. She goes on to explain how to meditate on giving our body to the environment that beings inhabit, transforming their environments so they can progress on the path to enlightenment. Ven. Chodron then explains how to meditate on giving possessions, tranforming them into what beings need. She discusses how we may meditate on giving but find it hard to actually give to others.

  13 August 2009
Venerable Chodron explains how to meditate on giving our virtue to others. She talks about how training the mind to become familiar with giving increases our generosity. Ven. Chodron also explains the importance of motivation in dedicating merit.

  20 August 2009
Venerable Chodron begins the section on compassion by explaining how to meditate on taking the suffering of sentient beings. She explains how this can be difficult because we don't want to take on any amount of suffering. Ven. Chodron goes on to talk about starting with taking on the suffering that you will experience in the future and how this can familiarize the mind with taking on suffering.

  27 August 2009
Venerable Chodron continues to explain the meditation on taking on the suffering of others. She explains how we can use it to erode our self-centeredness and make our mind stronger to experience our own suffering. Ven. Chodron goes on to explain the importance of remembering taking and giving in daily life and not just practice it in meditation.

  3 September 2009
Following the text, Ven. Chodron continues the explanation on taking and giving. In this talk she discusses resistance to practicing taking on the suffering of others. She explains how we are the beneficiary of helping others and putting others' welfare before our own. Ven. Chodron talks about how this practice can transform our mind, making us happier.

  17 September 2009
Venerable Chodron covers the section on how to practice taking and giving in the periods between meditation sessions. She discusses practical ways to use love and compassion for others when afflictions arise in daily life.

  24 September 2009
Venerable Chodron begins the section of the text explaining the five precepts of mind training, five practical ways to practice mind training. In this talk she discusses the first two points. She explains how one can transform adverse circumstances into the path, looking at such problems as opportunities to practice and decrease self-centeredness.