Dharmabytes from free buddhist audio

One of the contradictions of modern environmentalism is that a concern for 'nature' embodies a separation between humans and the living world. Ketumati develops a profound critique of our usual assumptions and a revised version of holistic thinking. Excerpted from the talk From the 'Nature' Delusion to the Wisdom of the Earth given at Adhisthana as part of the series Wisdom of the Earth: Philosoph...

Shraddhavani invites us to engage with the facts about our contributions to climate change through basic activities such as eating, living in our homes and travel. She then asks us to get in touch with those seemingly simple, everyday feelings that tend to govern our choices in these areas –– the feelings of wanting, resistance and not knowing, which we as Buddhists can relate to the poisons of gr...

How can Buddhists respond to the climate emergency? Vishvapani uses the Parable of the Burning House from the Lotus Sutra to suggest our responsibilities' and finds the values we need to guide us in the Five Precepts. Excerpted from the talk Climate Precepts In The Burning House given in Cardiff , 2019. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/dona...

Dayajoti offers a short talk on climate change, relating it to basic buddhist teachings, followed by a guided 'climate' meditation. From the talk entitled Consensus Trance - Climate given at Bristol Buddhist Centre , 2015. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration t...

Lokabandhu introduces the American Buddhist activist Joanna Macy and her teaching of the 'Work That Reconnects', part of the Southampton Buddhist Centre's series on 21st Century Bodhisattvas. Excerpted from the talk Introduction to Joanna Macy and the Work That Reconnects given in Southampton , 2018. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate...

Vaddhaka introduces David Loy and his thoughts about how to bring our Buddhist practice out into the streets and engage with the world. In the full talk he also introduces Bhikkhu Bodhi, a prolific translator of the Pali Canon and respected teacher in the East, deeply rooted in the Buddha's teachings, who returned to the USA and re-engaged with his activist roots challenging a self-oriented and wi...

How ethically sensitive are we? Could we rejoice in our ethical behaviour? Ratnaghosha gives a short talk reflecting on the practices described in the Dasadhamma Sutta: Discourse on the Ten Dhammas. Excerpted from the talk Going Forth, Going Beyond: Short Talks that was given at the Triratna Buddhist Order convention on the theme Going Forth, Going Beyond , 2022. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free...

How can we, in our busy, everyday lives, transform our awareness and turn our minds towards awakening? Paranita talks about the practice of the 'Four Mind Turning Reflections', the four reminders that work on our minds to turn them towards liberation. We will hear about how to reflect on the preciousness of our human life, the inevitability of death, the truth of karma and the dangers of samsara,...

Smritiratna portrays rejoicing not as a mood but as a choice: a deliberate act. At least potentially we all have the power to rejoice, even when we are in the pits of despair. In this excerpt, he reflects on Beethoven who chose not to give in to deafness but to end his last symphony with an ode to joy. He sings the fifth section of the Sevenfold Puja 'Rejoicing in Merits' to Beethoven's familiar t...

Jvalamalini shares personally about her 'quest for love' in the Buddhist life, specifically what does Mara say to her to divert her from the path? And is it true? Excerpted from the talk 'I Am a Serious Dharma Practitioner Dedicated to Love' given at Taraloka Retreat Centre as part of the series Daughters of the Buddha , 2025. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://fr...

We are continually being bombarded with news about world problems including war, starvation, violence, inequality, climate destruction etc. One response is to just ignore these problems. Sangharakshita argues that 'an attitude of withdrawal from public concerns to purely personal ones is not worthy of a human being'. Vimaladasa explores how we as Buddhists can bring a voice of sanity and compassio...

In the fourth part of a series of talks about the 'Going for Refuge and Prostration Practice of the Buddha Shakyamuni', Vajratara shifts the perspective from us contemplating the Refuge Tree, to the figures on the Refuge Tree contemplating us. Blessings or adhisthana is the way the Buddha responds to us, and all we have to do is tune in. How do we remain receptive? What does it feel like to be ble...

When we interact with others, do we truly see them as they are, beyond the stories we have built around them? Or are we often lost in our assumptions, judgments, and preconceived notions about who they are, based on our own views and experiences. Sanghagita explores how we can really learn to see others and discover that when we truly pay attention, there we find love. Excerpted from the talk Have...

A Spiritual Community consists of Individuals; a group does not consist of Individuals. What is individuality? How can an ordinary group support our efforts to transcend the group? Excerpted from the talk The Individual, the Group, and the Community by Sangharakshita given in 1971. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Dh...

Adityadasa delves into the Parable of the Jewel in the Robe from the White Lotus Sutra. He evokes the timeless wisdom of this story, highlighting its profound relevance to our modern conditions and culture. Through his exploration, Ādityadāsa reveals how we can shift from a mindset of scarcity to one of abundance, both within ourselves and in the world around us. Excerpted from the talk Living Fro...

Parami explores themes of friendship through poems by Robert Burns and quotes from Sangharakshita and from the Pali Canon. Excerpted from the talk Burns, Bhante and the Buddha: Themes of Friendship and Solidarity given at Glasgow Buddhist Centre as part of the series Burns, Bhante and the Buddha , 2024. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/dona...

Colour has an important place in Buddhism, for example as a way to express different aspects of the Enlightened mind in the Five Jinas. This symbolism can open the imagination to new depths of understanding. As an artist and former art teacher, Ahimsaka has studied colour extensively and helps us explore the deeper significance of colour in Buddhist practice. Excerpt from the talk entitled Tantric...

Ksantikara gives a Sangha night talk exploring what constitutes Perfect Livelihood. What are the conditions that most encourage our Buddhist practice to come alive when it comes to the work we undertake? Excerpted from the talk Buddhism and the 9-5 given at Birmingham Buddhist Centre , 2021. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe...

Pasannamati gives a Sangha night talk exploring Perfect Livelihood. How can our livelihood and our networks be a doorway to leading our lives in a way in which our eyes can be wide open rather than our eyes being wide shut? Excerpted from the talk Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy…reflections of Livelihood and the Networks That Sustain Us given at Birmingham Buddhist Centre , 2021. *** Help us keep FBA...

Vishvapani 's usual good-natured and reflective approach is just the thing to start us off as he looks at how Sangharakshita's initiative in founding the FWBO might be viewed in terms of the unity of Buddhism. Excerpted from the talk Three Jewels Buddhism - Finding the Heart of the Dharma Traditions given at the Triratna Buddhist Order Weekend, Wymondham College, March 2008. *** Help us keep FBA P...

Vajradevi leads a beautiful sevenfold puja compiled by Maitrisiddhi from the Pali Canon. Here, we participate in verses expressing our Going for Refuge through verse and the chanting of the Refuges and Precepts. Excerpted from Puja to the Buddha drawn from the Pali Canon , part of the series Pathways to the Beautiful Mind: Bristol Rains Retreat given at Bristol Buddhist Centre , 2019. *** Help us...

Padmasagara explores the awe-inspiring vision behind the image of the Refuge Tree, connecting it to Sangharakshita's great insight into the centrality of Going for Refuge. Excerpted from the talk The Refuge Tree As a Vision of Existence given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre as part of the series The Cosmic Refuge Tree , 2019. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebud...

In his first public appearance since his eyesight began to deteriorate, Sangharakshita begins this new talk with reflections on his blindness, displaying remarkable equanimity and humour in the process. His main subjects, however, are six particular aspects of Buddhist life and practice which are given distinctive emphasis in the spiritual movement he has founded. Here, he defines the ecumenical a...

In exploring the nature of tradition in Buddhism, from the Kalama Sutta to the modern day, and the tension between tradition and adaptation in an every-changing world; Taranita discusses how the Triratna came to have its distinctive ecumenical nature. Excerpted from the talk entitled The Six Distinctive Emphases - An Ecumenical Movemen t given at Bristol Buddhist Centre , 2015. *** Help us keep FB...

Kulaprabha explores death of our fixed, bounded self, the self that is made up of bundled habits and preferences and views - especially views about existence and non-existence. Excerpted from the talk S ystem of Meditation Retreats - Spiritual Death, Fear and Fearlessness given at Taraloka Retreat Centre , 2008. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now! https://freebuddhistaudio...