Free Buddhist Audio

Suryagupta concludes the five Buddha mandala with a talk on the historical Buddha and on Vairocana. In this talk Suryagupta weaves the story of the historical Buddha with themes from her own life and in doing so encourages us to honour the bigger questions of what it means to be alive. Using the Buddha as her example, Suryagupta invites us to step onto the path... and quest! This talk was given at...

Dharmashalin explores the stupa, the different elements (earth, water, air, fire and space) and how we can work with them in our Dharma life. Dharmashalin gives several useful, funny and down-to-earth examples to help us pick the low hanging fruits in the spiritual life. This talk was given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre , 2022. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:   On Apple Podcasts |...

Through the lense of Upaya 'the skilful means' of the Bodhisattva, Parami explores the seemingly contradictory themes of withdrawal and engagement on the Bodhisattva path. She demonstrates how they are synthesised by drawing on the last four stages of the spiral / transcendental path and how they culminate in the arising of the bodhicitta! This talk was given at Glasgow Buddhist Centre, 2023 *** S...

What is a Pure Land? And how do you create one? What is the true meaning of the Buddhas skilful means. With characteristic aplomb Padmavajra unpacks the esoteric teachings of one of Buddhism's greatest Sutras. This talk was given at London Buddhist Centre , 2015. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:   On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma...

Kalyanaprabha introduces us to the world of the Mahayana. Through the Sutra of the Golden Light, we discover what a sutra is and even why it is relevant to us today. This talk was given at Birmingham Buddhist Centre , 2023. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:   On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Au...

The Parables of the Rain Cloud, and the Parable of the Sun and Moon both tell us that spiritual development is an organic process of growth, and that the Dharma nourishes all impartially, though people follow different patterns of development. Sangharakshita delivered this talk as part of the series Parables, Myths and Symbols of Mahayana Buddhism in the White Lotus Sutra , 1971. *** Subscribe to...

Vijayamala addresses the 2022 UK & IE Triratna Buddhist Order convention, exploring what breaking through and seeing the nature of reality means for us as an Order. The Buddha went forth to seek an end to suffering, to go beyond what binds us to the samsaric world. The theme of this event also encompasses 'going beyond' and the ways in which we are approaching that as an Order. Part of the series...

Maitreyabandhu explores the path to insight in the context of Triratna's system of practice. He does this by exploring the three myths of self-development, self-surrender and self-discovery, as well as spiritual death and spiritual rebirth in the dharma life. Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre , 2019. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:   On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Googl...

In this first of four talks on 'The Cosmic Mythic Vision of the Mahayana' Jvalamalini explores the faculties of mythos and logos, how they're conditioned by historical context, a suggestion from neuroscience about how imaginal practice might work, and how the integrated Imagination perceives wisdom beyond words. Talk given at Bristol Buddhist Centre , 2017. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio...

Modern Dharma Challenges: Building Sangha in a rootless society with Subhuti . The third of three special evenings with Subhuti, the LBC's President and a renowned teacher of fifty years experience. What does a Buddhist life look like in practice? Where can we hope to get and what are the essential teachings that will get us there? Come along for meditation and a series of exciting new talks - a r...

Paradigms are the shared ideas in the minds of society, the deepest set of views and beliefs about how the world works. Dhammadinna draws on the teachings of Sangharakshita and applies her lived experience in the Triratna Buddhist Order to explore the first verse of the Dasadhamma Sutta - I am no longer living according to worldly aims and values. This is the second talk in a series of six entitle...

In a London basement, fifty-one years ago a new Buddhist Movement was forged. Founded on the active principle behind an often empty ritual of 'Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels', this Movement has become a dynamic worldwide community of Buddhist practitioners. Just how did Sangharakshita, through the Triratna Community and Order, transform the recitation of the words 'I go for Refuge...' into a...

"Tread softly because you tread on my dreams." In this talk, Viryadevi gives her take on what is asked of us when we commit to creating a buddhaland - a collective spiritual life together. Drawing on two of the myths that have shaped the life and imagination of the Order - the 1,000 Armed Alalokitesvara and Chapter 1 of the Vimalakirti Nirdesa - she asks whether things going wrong, either on an in...

At the Order Convention in 1989 Nagabodhi gave a talk: 'Living in Interesting Times' in which he explored some of the challenges facing our Order in the coming years as our internal and external conditions changed. He returned to the theme at an Order event in 2003, and then most recently with this talk given at the Order Convention in 2016: "Living in Interesting Times; Now it's Really Getting In...

In this 2007 talk, Sangharakshita helps celebrate the 40th anniversary of the FWBO (as well as the 60th anniversary of his own 'Going Forth'). With characteristic clarity and conviction, he shares his reflections on the history of the Movement and Order he founded, as well as some pertinent thoughts on the future. If you've never heard him before - and just to put this in context - the first talk...

Dharmadipa shares reflections on the third part of Dhardo Rimpoche's Motto 'Radiate Love'. Beginning with the significance of the Metta Bhavana meditation practice, he explores the Bodhisattva Ideal, connecting teachings from the "Mind Training" tradition with Shunyata and the Mahayana Sutras. Finally Dharmadipa explores how the three parts of the Motto hang together and support each other.  Talk...

This is a fine talk by Dayanandi on the essential relationship between meditation and the proper seeing of Reality, here described as an opening into the beauty and truth and reality of life itself. Given at the Taraloka/Tiratanaloka Great Gathering , 2000. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:   On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week....

Kamalashila , author of ' Buddhist Meditation: Tranquillity, Imagination, Insight ', introduces the fifth perfection, dhyana, in a series at the West London Buddhist Centre , 2012. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:   On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe to our Dharmabytes po...

Bodhilila 's first talk as part of the 'Poetics of Awakening' retreat. Looking at the symbolic and practical aspects of practice she considers how meditation itself is an expression of ourselves as a way to change through, moment by moment, being who we are in the light of the Dharma. An encouraging and inspiring approach to sitting aligned to the nature of things. Get more resources on 'The Poeti...

Paramananda in this free-ranging talk, explains how the moon's soft light represents compassion, and recites three moon poems that evoke messages of self-knowledge and the regular tides or rhythms of being human. This talk was given at West London Buddhist Centre , 2016. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:   On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality...

How do you become a Bodhisattva? Upon the Awakening of the Bodhi Heart (Bodhichitt-otpada). In this lecture Sangharakshita defines the Bodhichitta, and describes how one can prepare for its arising through the observance of Shantideva's Supreme Worship and Vasubhandu's Four Factors. Talk given in 1969 as part of the series entitled: Aspects of the Bodhisattva Ideal *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhi...

Jvalamalini offers suggestions to bear in mind when reading the Bodhicaryavatara, and a few reflections from the text on how to regard self and others.  "In the same way that the hands and other limbs are loved because they form part of the body, why are embodied creatures not likewise loved because they form part of the universe?"  "'If I give, what shall I enjoy?' Such concern for one's own welf...

"Taking this image of the human form the Bodhicitta transmutes it into the priceless image of the Jewel of the Conqueror. Grasp tightly this highly potent elixir, known as the Bodhicitta, which must be thoroughly worked."  In this talk on Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara Padmavajra speaks of Sangharakshita's evocation of the Bodhicitta. Here, he discusses some of the verses of the first chapter, espe...

Parami offers a clear, insightful and practical guide to the classically challenging Wisdom chapter of the Bodhicaryavatara. She places the chapter in context of the Bodhisattva Path and. with consistent warmth and humour, illuminates this part of the text for those who have been struggling with it.  This talk was given at Glasgow Buddhist Centre , 2022. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio po...

Vajrapriya takes us into this radical and classic wisdom-text which goes to the heart of how to become free, and how to help the world become free. Enigmatic, speaking to our depths, undermining any fundamentalism or limiting views about ourselves, it asks us to dive deep into the nature of experience, looking, for ourselves, to see truly the way things are. This talk was recorded on the Four Sang...