Book Review : Thubten Chodron - “Don’t Believe Everything You Think- Living With Wisdom And Compassion “

Venerable Thubten Chodron is a notable author, Buddhist monastic and the founder/abbess of Sravasti Abbey, a meditation community in Newport, Washington. She also hosts the Bodhisattva Breakfast Corner channel on YouTube which I highly encourage you to check out as well as her website which is chock full of information. It’s quite remarkable how often I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of Dharma discovery when visiting it.

Her latest book, Don’t Believe Everything You Think: Living with Wisdom and Compassion is a commentary on The Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas by Togmay Zangpo, a Tibetan monk and Bodhisattva. Within in the pages, she offers up a crystal clear interpretation and explanation of the Dharma by providing an in depth, yet accessible commentary on each of the 37 verses and then providing a myriad of stories from others on the path who exemplify the teachings within the verses based on experiences they’ve encountered within their lives.

The book is a helpful guide as to how to apply these practices in one’s life in order to work towards the enlightenment of all sentient beings and to support one’s efforts as a Bodhisattva. It is a nourishing read and covers a lot of ground - everything from meditation, practice and study to friendships, relationships, karma, adversity and so very much more. Don’t Believe Everything You Think offers guidance like that of a warm friend rather than of disciplinarian as Thubten Chodron shares her personality and experiences with honesty and generosity. This book leaves readers in a way that one is left with a method to live and exist in a manner that brings less suffering for self and others.

Don’t Believe Everything You Think: Living with Wisdom and Compassion is the perfect companion to one’s study of the 37 Practices of Bodhisattvas and comes with my high praise for being so well-written and offering teachings that are easy to grasp and put into action. Now reminding oneself to do so - that is the real work of Bodhisattvas.

I’d like to leave you with a few links to check out from Thubten Chodron which are referred to within this book as well as from her website.

Audio of Thubten Chodron’s teachings on The 37 Practices of Bodhisattvas

A link to The 37 Practices of Bodhisattvas by Gyelsay Togmay Sangpo

Talks by Ven. Chodron based on the book Don’t Believe Everything You Think