PERSON
Pema Chödrön
American Buddhist teacher (b. 1936), the first Western woman fully ordained in the Tibetan tradition, whose teachings on
groundlessness,
shenpa, and unconditional self-compassion have shaped contemporary contemplative practice.
Pema Chödrön is an American Buddhist nun, teacher, and author whose work has made Tibetan Buddhist psychology accessible to Western audiences navigating the difficulties of contemporary life. Born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown in New York City, she encountered Buddhism in her thirties after two divorces and a period of existential crisis. She was ordained as a novice nun in 1974 by
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and became the first American woman to be fully ordained in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. She served as resident teacher and director of Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia for decades, retiring from public teaching in 2020. Her major works —
When Things Fall Apart,
The Places That Scare You,
The Wisdom of No Escape — center on practical instructions for remaining present with difficulty, developing unconditional friendliness toward oneself, and cultivating the courage to face
groundlessness rather than fleeing into the comfort of certainty.
In The You On AI Field Guide
Chödrön's teaching career spans four decades and fifteen books, but her contribution