Choden

A monk within the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, Choden (aka Sean Mc Govern) completed a three-year, three-month retreat in 1997 and has been a practicing Buddhist since 1985.

Originally from South Africa where he qualified as a lawyer, he learned meditation under the Tibetan master, Lama Yeshe Rinpoche. He is now involved in developing secular mindfulness, compassion and insight programmes drawing upon the wisdom and methods of the Buddhist tradition, as well as contemporary insights from psychology and neuroscience.

He is an honorary fellow of the University of Aberdeen and teaches on their Postgraduate Study Programme in Mindfulness (MSc) that is the first of its kind to include compassion in its curriculum.

He co-wrote a book with Paul Gilbert in 2013, entitled Mindful Compassion that explores the interface between Buddhist and Evolutionary approaches to compassion training. He is also the co-author of three other books: Mindfulness Based Living Course (2018), From Mindfulness to Insight (2019) and Compassion Based Living Course (2025)