Recorded June 2001 and Oct-Nov 2002
at Land of Medicine Buddha, Soquel, CA
   Live broadcasts for some of the 2002 teachings

Lama Tsong Khapa's great text, known as the Great Lam Rim (Lam Rim Chen Mo), is considered to be the definitive teachings on the Path to Enlightenment. So highly prized is this great work, that sections of it are said to have been composed by Manjushri, the Buddha of Wisdom, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama praises it as a work that he has read over many, many times. Great practitioners in Tibet were known to take just this text with them when they went to retreat for many years, and some who escaped from Tibet brought only this work with them to live by in exile.

It is rare and an extraordinary honour to receive teachings on the Great Lam Rim by such an eminent master of the doctrine as Ven. Choden Rinpoche. The teachings will commence June 2001 with the essential and unavoidable Foundations of the Path to Enlightenment, and continue over the next two years until Rinpoche has completed the whole text.

A basic outline of the Lam Rim Chen Mo can be found here.

Part 01 - 06/01/01
Part 02 - 06/02/01
Part 03 - 06/02/01
Part 04 - 06/03/01

Part 01 - 10/08/02
Part 02 - 10/09/02
Part 03 - 10/10/02
Part 04 - 10/11/02
Part 05 - 10/15/02
Part 06 - 10/16/02
Part 07 - 10/17/02
Part 08 - 10/18/02
Part 09 - 10/22/02
Part 10 - 10/23/02
Part 11 - 10/24/02
Part 12 - 10/25/02
Part 13 - 10/29/02
Part 14 - 10/30/02
Part 15 - 10/31/02
Part 16 - 11/01/02
Part 17 - 11/05/02
Part 18 - 11/06/02
Part 19 - 11/07/02
Part 20 - 11/08/02

  
  
  
  

Part 01 - 10/08/02
Part 02 - 10/09/02
Part 03 - 10/10/02
Part 04 - 10/11/02
Part 05 - 10/15/02
Part 06 - 10/16/02
Part 07 - 10/17/02
Part 08 - 10/18/02
Part 09 - 10/22/02
Part 10 - 10/23/02
Part 11 - 10/24/02
Part 12 - 10/25/02
Part 13 - 10/29/02
Part 14 - 10/30/02
Part 15 - 10/31/02
Part 16 - 11/01/02
Part 17 - 11/05/02
Part 18 - 11/06/02
Part 19 - 11/07/02
Part 20 - 11/08/02

SPECIAL NOTE: To download an MP3 file directly to your hard disk, right click on a link listed above and use the command "Save Target As..." or "Save Link As..."

Venerable Choden Rinpoche is one of the greatest living masters of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in 1933 in eastern Tibet in a family of great practitioners and recognized at the age of 3 as an important reincarnate lama. From that age onwards, he began his studies in Buddhism. He took ordination with the great master Pabongka Rinpoche at the age of 6, and received many teachings from him.

At the age of 15, Rinpoche entered the monastery of Sera Je near Lhasa and over the next 14 years mastered all the philosophical teachings required for highest monastic title of Geshe Lharampa - a qualification that normally requires 30 years of study. When His Holiness the Dalai Lama completed his studies in 1959, Choden Rinpoche was one of the official examiners chosen from many thousands of monks to debate with His Holiness.

When the Chinese occupied Tibet in 1959, Rinpoche was arrested and spent several months in prison. Eventually, as a result of some sickness he was able to persuade the Chinese that he was an invalid and spent 19 years in a small room with no window, doing retreat with his mind, without the support of any ritual objects or texts. In 1985, Rinpoche left Tibet to settle at Sera Monastery in India and pass on the teachings.

He is considered one of the last great masters - particularly famed for his pure moral conduct - and has traveled worldwide at the request of Lama Zopa Rinpoche to pass on his insights. In the West, he has inspired many Western students to ordain and follow his example.