Dharmabytes from free buddhist audio

More counter-cultural stuff here, shouldn't we always express how we feel? Shantideva seems to be saying something else when he encourages us to be 'like a block of wood'... Maitrisara offers thoughts on patience and anger as described in the Bodhicaryavatara.  Excerpted from the talk Like a Block of Wood , part of the series The Bodhicaryavatara , given at Birmingham Buddhist Centre , 2019. *** S...

The Bodhicaryavatara is an 8th century text written by Shantideva, a Buddhist monk from the monastic 'university' at Nalanda, India. Dhammadinna offers a few thoughts on the Perfection of Patience, differentiating between types of anger and noting that Shantideva is referring to the sort of anger that is retaliatory and unskilful. Excerpted from the talk Some Thoughts on the Bodhicaryavatara given...

Padmavajra shares a story of meeting on the basis of Bodhicitta arising between people. He tells us how Shantideva takes to heart, ever more firmly, the Bodhicitta, through his lavish performance of puja and a searing confession of faults.  Giving Ourselves Completely to the Buddhas - Bodhicaryavatara Chapter 2 as part of the series Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre ,...

Khemasuri describes how a person can develop patience, translated from ksanti, drawing on verses from Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara. Excerpted from the talk Gratitude to Everyone given at Sheffield Buddhist Centre 2008. *** 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 Audio p...

Adverse situations of our day to day lives can provide us with opportunities to transform. Pradaya explores the Seven Point Mind Training teaching of turning adverse conditions into the path of enlightenment. From the talk Base Metal Into Gold , part of the series Mind Training - The Alchemy of The Emotions , given at Sheffield Buddhist Centre , 2019. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:   On...

Society is complicated and we have all sorts of stories about that. Satyajyoti explores how our ideas and our stories create their own realities. Whatever our views are about the world influences how we experience the world. Excerpted from the talk Training In Wisdom , part of the series Mind Training - The Alchemy of The Emotions , given at Sheffield Buddhist Centre , 2019. *** Subscribe to our D...

The Enlightenment of the Buddha was an irreversible breakthrough into a new kind of consciousness for the world. All our practice flows from this endless stream of wisdom and compassion, flowing throughout the history of humanity. Dhammarati explores this momentous event, and its implications for us today.  From the talk entitled The Awakening Mind given on Buddha Day Festival at the London Buddhi...

Samantabhadri explores what it was like to meet the Buddha, the fully Enlightened human being. She then discusses 'garava' as devotion for the whole richness of our Dharma Lives, including positive emotions for all beings. From the talk entitled Turning Towards the Buddha: The True Nature of Devotion given on the Women's Area Order Weekend held at Taraloka Retreat Centre , 2022. *** Subscribe to o...

The final talk in Padmavajra 's wonderful series on the Dhammapada, the most popular of early Buddhist texts. All of the Buddha's core teachings are here - held in heart and mind there's more than enough in the Dhammapada to take us as far in our practice as we can imagine, and then on beyond... From the talk Flowers - Dhammapada Verses 44 to 59 , part of the series The Dhammapada - the Buddha's W...

Bhadra shares how emptiness and conditionality combine to fuel bodhicitta and create the foundations of Sangha. From the talk Absolute and Conventional Truth given at Bristol Buddhist Centre , 2016. *** 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 Audio podcast:   On Apple P...

Santavajri explores the Perfection of Wisdom as a practice of uniting awareness through meditation.  From the talk Approaches to the Perfection of Wisdom given at the London Buddhist Centre , 2011. *** 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 Audio podcast:   On Apple Po...

Everyone is going through life's ups and downs. Shubha shares a personal experience of working with resistance and through sitting with it, something new and significant arising. From the talk All-Accomplishing Wisdom given at London Buddhist Centre , 2011. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:   On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week....

For most people, continual spiritual effort is required to counteract the 'gravitational pull' of mundane existence. However, there is a point on the path of ethics, meditation and Wisdom beyond which the Transcendental becomes the dominant influence, and one has 'entered the stream'. From Triratna's founder Sangharakshita , excerpted from the talk Stream Entry: the Point of No Return , as part of...

Alokadhara investigates how fear arises in dependence upon the delusion of there being a fixed, separate self and how the spell of that delusion can be broken by a clear seeing into the true nature of the five skandhas. Excerpted from the talk entitled Not Mine, Not I, Not Self - Unbinding the Tentacles of Clinging - the Way to Fearlessness given on Men's Event at Padmaloka Retreat Centre , 2013....

There is always change, even when we are still, there is some sort of change happening. Prasadavati continues to explore the refrain from the Satipatthana Sutta. Today's focus is the core element "letting go of clinging" as being central to all mindfulness practice.  Excerpted from the talk Letting Go of Clinging given at Taraloka Retreat Centre during a retreat for women training for ordination e...

Clinging to religious observances is a fetter, a hindrance to Enlightenment. Amidst the complexity of Buddhist teachings, we can discern a distinctive essence lying behind the various historical forms which developed to convey the Buddha's oral message. Excerpted from the talk The Nature and Development of Buddhism, Sangharakshita , 1968. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:   On Apple Podcas...

Whatever we're doing, whether we're meditating, working, communicating, or singing, becomes a vehicle to 'grow' awareness. Mindfulness becomes panoramic and we live with immediacy and creativity. How do we relate to different aspects of our practice? How do we relate to the practice of others? Vajradevi encourages us to be on the lookout for attachment to views regarding our Dharma practice and th...

Life is a delightful, complex, messy business. How do you respond to the existential human predicament? Do you wonder how best to balance your spiritual longings while honouring our ordinary human life? Here, Manjunaga offers reflections on the tendency to skip over the messy bits of ourselves (aka spiritual bypassing) as occupational hazard in the spiritual life.  Excerpted from the talk The Univ...

Samantabhadri explores our deeper imaginative experience of the physical world, of beauty and of the transcendental. This arises in ritual and devotion through more subtle experience of the body, speech and mind and thus within gesture and movement, words and mantra, atmosphere and transcendental presence. Excerpted from the Being with the Transcendental through Imagination and Ritual as part of t...

For over 30 years, Jnanaketu has been trying to explore what it means to live in the light of the Buddha's teaching. For him, it's been a matter of turning over every stone: a path of honest enquiry. He's talking about where his confidence in the Dharma comes from. Excerpted from the talk Still Trying to Kiss the Joy As It Flies given at Birmingham Buddhist Centre , 2018. *** Subscribe to our Dhar...

Vajrasara explores sufficiency, attitudes around plenty, and the creative spiral of abundance. From the talk Enough Is More Than Enough given at Buddhafield Festival , 2011. *** 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 Audio podcast:    On Apple Podcasts  | On Spotify...

Jayaraja describes how we develop a robust sense of self through friendship, through love, through repair, allowing us to fully let go. From the talk The Fires and the Black River of Loss given at Buddhafield Festival , 2018. *** 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...

Buddhist ethics is practical, it's to do with engagement with the world. Parami is an ideal guide for this sort of material, steeped as she is in study and practice engaged within the light of the 'Bodhichitta', and the Bodhisattva Ideal itself.  From the talk entitled The Awakening Heart given at Taraloka Retreat Centre , 2006. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:   On Apple Podcasts | On Sp...

Being a disciple doesn't require an emotional allegiance, but a spiritual one. Dhammadinna speaks about Sangharakshita as a spiritual friend while exploring the topic of discipleship in the Triratna Buddhist Order. We don't go for Refuge to Bhante, we Go for Refuge to the Buddha, Dharma and Aryasangha.  Excerpted from talk entitled Discipleship given at the Triratna Buddhist Order Women's UK and I...

Padmasuri shares the story of Hatthaka who wanted all his friends to meet and hear the Buddha, and then was praised by the Buddha for having many wonderful spiritual qualities. From the talk The Buddha Was a Friend As We Can Be a Friend at the Cambridge Buddhist Centre, 2013. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:   On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration thre...