Thubten Chodron promotes Medicine Buddha Zoom

Venerable Thubten Chodron used her social media account on May 15 to direct followers to an online Medicine Buddha practice and to invite prayer requests tied to the session. The post promoted a Zoom gathering connected to Sravasti Abbey, the Buddhist monastery she founded. Public pages on the abbey’s website show the event was scheduled for May 17 and included both registration and a form for submitting requests for prayers. The X post itself did not appear to include the session time, but the abbey’s event listing did. ### Which event was Thubten Chodron promoting? Sravasti Abbey lists a “Zoom: Medicine Buddha Puja” for May 17 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. PDT as part of a monthly online series. The event page says participants can join “the Sravasti Abbey community over Zoom” for a one-hour session. The abbey’s program page describes the monthly Medicine Buddha Puja as an online practice held once a month. That page lists the “Next Puja” as May 17, 2026, at 7 p.m. Pacific Time and identifies June 21 as the upcoming date after that. ### What did the invitation ask followers to do? The Sravasti Abbey event page says attendees could “submit your prayer requests and practice together for healing on all levels.” The abbey’s broader program page sets out two steps: register to join live via Zoom, and add prayer requests. The same page says the monastery also offers daily dedication prayers and provides a separate prayer-request contact for those requests. It adds that pujas and prayers are offered freely and that donations are welcome. ### What is a Medicine Buddha puja, according to the abbey? Sravasti Abbey describes a puja as a Buddhist ceremony involving visualization, meditation, offerings and mantra recitation. The page says such ceremonies are intended to provide “inspiration and support.” The abbey says its monthly Medicine Buddha practice is “supportive for health related issues” and for “healing the world and restoring peace and harmony.” It also says the practice is meant to help participants work with “attachment, anger, and ignorance” and to cultivate compassion, love and bodhicitta, or the aspiration for enlightenment for the benefit of others. ### How is Thubten Chodron connected to Sravasti Abbey? ThubtenChodron.org identifies Venerable Thubten Chodron as the founder of Sravasti Abbey and describes her as an American Buddhist teacher and abbess. The site also says she is a co-author, with the Dalai Lama, of the “Library of Wisdom and Compassion” series. Sravasti Abbey’s public materials present the online puja as part of the monastery’s regular programming rather than a one-off event. The event page names Sravasti Abbey as the organizer and lists the monastery’s location in Newport, Washington. ### What details were available beyond the social media post? The May 17 event listing says the session would include a guided Medicine Buddha practice, dedication prayers and “a chance for brief sharing.” It also links participants to registration, prayer submissions and a fuller description of the puja. The abbey’s program page says registrants receive Zoom connection information by email, including the passcode. It also says the monthly series continues after May 17, with the next listed date on June 21.