Buddhistisches Tor Berlin Podcast

Talk given by Padmasagara on 2026-03-21.  After 15 years of practice, Padmasagara asks a difficult question: what difference has it really made, in a world marked by ongoing crisis? Reflecting on the First Noble Truth, that there is dukkha, he explores whether suffering is something we must learn to face, rather than solve. This talk also challenges familiar ideas of compassion. When we step beyon...

Talk given by Arthaketu on 2026-03-07 .  In this talk, Arthaketu explores the Buddhist teaching of the five hindrances, the mental obstacles that prevent us from entering deeper states of meditation and awareness. Using the image of queuing outside a club like Berghain and being turned away at the door, he illustrates how these hindrances can block our way. But the story does not end there. Alongs...

Talk given by Padmasagara on 2026-02-28.  In this talk, Padmasagara picks up threads from his last talk on The Wheel of Life and turns to the story of the Japanese Zen master Hakuin, who at one point in his life pushed himself so hard in practice that he became seriously unwell. Describing exhaustion, fearfulness, and physical distress, Hakuin sought help from a mountain hermit who diagnosed him w...

Talk given by Padmasagara on 2025-12-06. This talk explores the story behind the Karaniya Metta Sutta, one of the Buddha’s earliest and most important teachings on metta, or loving-kindness. The talk begins with the context in which this teaching was given: a deep and unsettling forest, filled with strange sounds, shadows, and fear. From there, the story turns inward, pointing to the "forest...

Talk given by Dharmasara on 2025-11-15. In this talk, Dharmasara explores the role of community and friendship in Buddhist practice and the potential of spiritual life lived together. Reflecting on his own experience, he describes how an initial search for a teaching gradually opened into a network of friends, teachers, and fellow practitioners, revealing new ways of understanding and deepening re...

Talk given by Dharmasara on 2026-02-07 . In this talk, Dharmasara explores the Buddha’s final days and his Parinirvana, complete Enlightenment beyond birth and death. An event that tells us much about the meaning of Enlightenment, the nature of the mind, and the spirit in which Buddhism is to be practised. Drawing on three stories from the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, Dharmasara paints a picture of the...

Talk given by Tarapalita on 2025-11-08 . In this talk, Tarapalita explores the Buddha’s teaching in the Meghiya Sutta, a clear and practical teaching on the conditions that support genuine spiritual progress. The Buddha outlines five key factors that lead to what he calls the heart’s release: regular contact with spiritual friends, a wholehearted commitment to ethics, careful and kind speech, the...

Talk given by Arthaketu on 2025-11-29 . To become free, it is helpful to have a system to practice within. In this talk, Arthaketu guides us through the Triratna System of Practice/Meditation, designed to support us on the path from the beginning all the way to freedom. The five stages of the Triratna system are presented in their traditional order: Integration, Positive Emotion, Spiritual Death,...

Talk given by Dharmasara on 2025-11-01 . In this talk, Dharmasara explores the meaning of Sangha, the third jewel of Buddhism, and what it really means to create a genuine spiritual community. Sangha is not simply the sum of all Buddhists or everyone who comes to a centre. It is a high ideal and a practice in its own right, one that seeks to bring wisdom and compassion into the world through frien...

Talk given by Vidyadaka on 2025-09-20. In this talk, guest speaker Vidyadaka from Padmaloka Retreat Center explores the question "What is the Dharma?" using the river as a guiding analogy. Drawing on verses from the Dhammaguṇavandanā, part of the Tiratana Vandana, he reflects on the qualities of the Dharma, how it guides, supports, and carries us along the path of practice. Enjoyed this...

Talk given by Padmasagara on 2026-01-31 . In this talk, Padmasagara reflects on commitment at its most practical level, moment by moment, here and now. Rather than focusing only on big ideals, we can ask ourselves: What are we turning towards right now? Where is our attention going, and how does this shape the direction of our lives? Drawing on the Tibetan Wheel of Life, the talk explores how our...

Talk given by Sanghadarsini on 2026-01-24. In this talk, Sanghadarsini reflects on life, death, and friendship following a recent visit to the Triratna Sangha in Essen, where she spent time with her friend and fellow Order Member Taracitta in the final days of her life. Shortly after returning to Berlin, Sanghadarsini received the news that Taracitta had died peacefully. The talk weaves personal r...

Talk given by Padmasagara on 2026-01-17. What does it really mean to commit your life to something? And what might a commitment to a Buddhist way of life look like today? In this talk, Padmasagara reflects on the Triratna approach to ordination, an ordination described as being neither monastic nor lay. Drawing on his own experience of training and ordination, including the four-month ordination c...

Talk given by Padmasagara & Tarapalita on 2026-01-10. How does a journey unfold from commitment to the transformation of one’s life? In this talk, Padmasagara and Tarapalita share their personal training journeys and experiences of ordination. The session is audience-interactive and includes reflections on what a Buddhist Order is and why it is needed, how one asks for ordination, what happens...

Talk given by Tarapalita on 2026-01-03. With the start of a new year, it can be helpful to reflect on commitment rather than resolutions. In this talk, Tarapalita explores what it means to commit to values and to a path, especially in times of uncertainty and turbulence. What is commitment, and how does it shape our inner life and the world around us? This talk invites you to reflect on commitment...

This week Tarapalita looks at the Buddhas very first teachings and why they are still as mind blowing now as they were then.

Tarapalita explores the crucial importance of having people we look up to. The Buddha himself said spiritual friendship is the whole of the spiritual life. This week is a very personal exploration of why that might be true.

In this talk, Satyaraja tells us about his teachers and his relationship with them.

We will be hearing about two Buddhist Women from the time of the Buddha and their paths. These stories have been passed down through the generations, as they had been collected in the Therigathas, a collection of seventy-three poems in the canon of the earliest Buddhist literature. By Sanghadarsini.

In diesem Vortrag erzählt uns Gunavira von Padmasambhava, auch als „Guru Rinpoche“ bekannt. Padmasambhava (Der aus dem Lotus geborene) gilt als Begründer des tibetischen Buddhismus und wird noch heute als der „zweite Buddha“ verehrt. Als halb-historisch, halb-mythologisches Wesen fasziniert er auf beeindruckende Weise bis heute. In dieser Folge erfährst du, wer er war, welche Rolle er bei der Einf...

In this talk, Arthaketu explores the figure of Padmasambhava and the dakini Suryachandrasiddhi - Sun, moon accomplished. Unfortunately, due to an error in the recording, the last few minutes of the talk are missing.

In this talk, Tarapalita explores Padmasambhava by answering these three questions: Who is Padmasambhava? Why is he part of our tradition? How can he be useful or important?

Padmavajra explores the idea of a portal, a gateway, passing from one space to another, and connects it with the concept of Bhardo.

If we wish to get a better understanding of the Buddha, it is good to look at his relationships with other people. Meghiya becomes the companion of the Buddha for a while, but as the text reveals, he is not one of the best companions. Lalitaratna will talk about this relationship when the two of them are on the road together.

How do you navigate yourself on the Buddhist Path? How do you choose the right direction of travel if you don’t know where you’re going or what the Goal is? If the Goal is Enlightenment, do you understand what the Buddha means by Enlightenment? Or is your understanding of it a bit vague and muddled? The Buddha is specific. Saddaloka will be looking at this whole area.