Dharmabytes from free buddhist audio

" You don't have to justify yourself by being useful. You yourself are the justification for your existence." Sangharakshita, Wisdom Beyond Words In this talk, Vajrapriya explores how this quote by Sangharakshita might affect our spiritual life and practice. Using the terms doing and being, he suggests how we can bring greater stillness into activity, and vibrant energy into calm. From the talk Th...

Nirvana is described as great bliss, that arises when grasping at self and other has vanished. A stream of uninterrupted creative activity, the Buddha is the supreme example of this. Here Padmavajra offers a deep dive into the Dhammapada, verses 277-279, on impermanence, dukkha and insubstantiality. From the talk entitled Seeing with Insight - Dhammapada Verses 277 to 279 which is part of the seri...

In answering the question 'What is Buddhism?', Sangharakshita   identifies higher evolution - the development of higher states of consciousness - with the twelve links in the progressive trend of the Buddha's teaching of conditioned co-production. In this excerpt we hear about the unification of all our emotional energies in the state of bliss. May all beings be well and happy, without fear, witho...

Upekkha is a fire in the heart that is steady and constant. Dayajoti gives us a beautiful description of the wisdom aspect of metta, that being upekkha, equanimity. From the talk entitled Suffering and Joy - Compost For Love given during the setup for Buddhafield Festival 2013 (theme 'Fire in the Heart') on the Four Brahma Viharas. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma t...

Vajradevi explores aspects of faith, including faith and receptivity, the relationship of confidence and doubt in our own practice. She goes on to look at how faith and wisdom relate, including right view and how 'faith is wisdom, but not fully realised.' From the talk Recap On Sati (mindfulness) & Exploring the Faculty of Faith as part of the series  Pathways to the Beautiful Mind: Bristol Rains...

Saccanama offers this glimpse into the meaning of faith from the Buddhist perspective through personal examples from his life and practice. From the talk entitled Faith: the Key to the Mystery of Life given at Sangha Night at the Birmingham Buddhist Centre .   *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FB...

Another cracking talk from Vajratara exploring Metta as a path to insight. What happens when Metta passes through the fires of sunyata? Insight isn't a cold, detached featureless state. Insight has it's own positive character – increasing awareness of others and spontaneous compassionate activity. From the talk entitled Metta and the Path of Insight given on a Young Womens' Weekend at Taraloka , 2...

Here we have Parami introducing the most archetypal of all the archetypal Bodhisattvas, the 1000-armed Avalokitesvara. At his heart he holds the chintamani, the jewel of human potential. All of us have this potential within us, just as the lotuses coming up out of the mud. When you find that which fills your heart, share the love! From the talk launching the 2015 Triratna International Urban Retre...

Candraprabha , current Chair of Tiratanaloka Retreat Centre, offers her reflections on different aspects of compassion. From the talk entitled Green Tara , she who embodies the quintessence of compassion. In good humor she reveals much about her own practice of cultivating fearlessness and courage in the face of hopelessness.  Given at Cambridge Buddhist Centre as part of the series Buddhas and Bo...

On the Wheel of Life, the whole person is symbolised by a boat with passengers, the five skandhas. Ratnaprabha focuses especially on our habit energies, and our habitual preferences. Are we ruled by our likes and dislikes? Is there a creative response? How to the five Buddhas fit in? From the talk Likes and Dislikes given at West London Buddhist Centre , 2017. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Au...

Dhammadinna 's gently balanced and encouraging talk explores various perspectives on one of the fundamental questions, and clearly lays out various Buddhist approaches to the nature of our existence and consciousness, especially in relation to the other realms of the Tibetan wheel of life. Cherishing the opportunities is one of the challenges of this reflection - and this is a great way to begin....

Padmavajra  takes a deep look at the marvellous, terrifying, visionary world of the Bardo Thodol, or 'Tibetan Book of the Dead'. In this episode, we plunge fearlessly down into the lower realms of the wheel of life to meet the beings who inhabit - and the Buddhas who come to meet them. A sobering but strongly felt evocation of how we make the worlds with our minds - and what we might do to counter...

A story from Kalimpong Sangharakshita  shares a story from Kalimpong about being woken up in the middle of the night to a very strange occurrence – he saw a dear friend who had passed several years earlier standing in a deep pit next to his bed. His response was to chant the Vajrasattva Mantra. Excerpted from the talk Between Twin Sala Trees , part of the series  Incidents from the Pali Canon , 19...

The wheel of life shows the six realms corresponding to six kinds of mental states that can result from our actions. How can we recognise these states in everyday life and what can we do to live with a more fully human life? In this Dharmabyte, Satyajyoti offers this personal talk introducing the realm of the titans and her transformation of competitiveness into appreciation. Excerpted from Three...

Sangharakshita  describes in all its wealth of detail, the Wheel of Life. It's really a painting but a mirror, giving one successively more profound insights into oneself, and revealing the next step in escaping the endless round. From the talk entitled The Symbolism of the Tibetan Wheel of Life , part of the series  Creative Symbols of the Tantric Path to Enlightenment , 1972. *** Subscribe to ou...

Akashamitra introduces a series of podcasts ('Budcasts') at the North London Buddhist Centre on the theme of the Eight Ways of the Noble Ones with a talk on vision. Why does it start the path? Have we already had path of vision experiences? From the talk entitled Perfect Vision - How Far Can You Go? Given at North London Buddhist Centre , 2020. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a...

Saraha  speaks to several themes from the Sigalaka Sutra. Firstly, friends are helpful, stand by you, give you time. Secondly, those who serve and support society, do we treat them as real people? Do we (as a society) look after them when they are ill? Our Buddhist Centres are here to bring peace, love, and agency with the ability to hold suffering close to your heart. The Sigalaka Sutta guides us...

Ratnavandana offers a personal sharing of her reflections on a six month solitary retreat where she was focussing on the Heart Sutra.  With Avalokitesvara as her guide, she was hoping to deepen her understanding of the emptiness of the five skandhas as well as exploring how to bring all the ordinary everyday activities of life into the realm of the sacred. This excerpt includes a reading evocation...

Maitreyi   shares the story of Meghiya to illustrate the importance of having strong friendships on the spiritual path. From the talk entitled Sanghakaya and the Heart's Release given at Manchester Buddhist Centre , December 2015. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundclou...

Here Padmasuri   shares stories of friendship between the early Buddhist nuns and the Buddha. Featuring glimpses into the lives of Mahapajapati, Patajara, Dhammadinna, Kisagotami, Mitta, Queen Mallika. Many of these women would have gone forth for friendship, a sort of cradle of friendship, in which the truth teachings would be held and practiced. Just so then, so now. Exerpted from the talk The B...

Here Karunadhi   introduces us to the Red Rite of Fascination. Friendship emerges from love for our friends, but also can evoke strong attachment. Communication and the samgrahavastu (means of unification) of loving speech are the antidote for grasping and projection. Excerpted from the talk Spiritual Friendship and the Red Rite of Fascination as part of the series  Spiritual Friendship and the Ta...

Suryamati  reminds us that the spiritual life is difficult to practice on one's own. Here we here the story of Meghiya where the Buddha advises that spiritual friendship is needed for the heart's release. How do we be a sangha member? How do we help others in their practice of sangha? Here, we get an introduction to the teaching on the Samgrahavastus, the four means of unification. From the talk e...

A very interesting introduction to the mandala here from Garava - the idea, the myth, the image, the symbol, the experience. His own practice as an artist affords him a respectful and generous perspective, from which we are able to simply sit back and learn. Excerpted from the talk Entering the Mandala given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre , 2001 *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a fu...

We can find mandalas everywhere – in the East, in the West, in art, literature, even in dreams. Mandalas represent a resolution, or the beginnings of a resolution, of a conflict between the conscious and the unconscious. Sangharakshita explores the symbolism of the mandala, circles of symbolic forms, found in the The Tantras (special scriptures of Vajrayana Buddhism) as a symbol of psychological a...

We often get ideas about the symbolism of the vajra as being tight and willful. The language of determination can do that! Jvalamalini looks at the importance of clarity of purpose for simplicity and meaning in life, and the powerful symbol of the vajra. This diamond-thunderbolt symbol is really more about integration then it is about powering through obstacles regardless of what the rest of our b...