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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 path of deeper meaning and purpose? Bodhidasa borrows symbols from Western Ma...

Vajratara offers a provocative, fully engaged and fully engaging take on the Dharma and the challenges that face us on the Path. We approach the great figure of Padmasambhava - the 'Second Buddha' - through his famous meeting with the King of Tibet. There's plenty to consider in this thoughtful interpretation of the central story - with lots of light relief too, as the Refuges are explored with wa...

The seven line prayer to Padmasambhava is a big feature in many teachings/ practices coming from the Tibetan tradition. Dharmashalin offers a taster of what it might mean for us and how we might relate to it. Talk given at Birmingham Buddhist Centre , 2019. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:   On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week....

Padmolka takes us through the first section of this inspiring text from The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava. We hear about the Great Guru subduing the demons of Tibet and the circumstances around the time when this teaching is given. Padmasambhava is asked for a short, practical teaching which can be learned by heart to help Queen Nang Chung to practice the Dharma and ultimately lead her to B...

In this introduction to Padmasambhava, Vidyadaka guides us through the symbolism of Padmasambhava's appearance on a lotus, in the centre of Lake Dhanakosa. We hear about the qualities of the lake, the land of Uddiyana, King Indrabhuti's plight and uncover their deeper meanings and relevance to our own life. Vidyadaka also describes Padmasambhava, his own initial discovery of him and Bhante's first...

Sanghadevi looks at the relationship between Buddhist confession and forgiveness and the ability to see into the nature of reality. Talk given at the Triratna [Western] Buddhist Order Women's Convention, 1999. *** 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:  ...

In this talk Dassini looks at the individual nature of practising ethics, the need for metta in response to guilt, how to make a confession effective, and the Four Powers of Confession.  Talk given at Glasgow Buddhist Centre , 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 B...

The first 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... Talk recorded at  Padmaloka Retreat Centre , 2007, as part of the series The Dhammapada - the Buddha's W...

What is it to have a Big Future, how do prevailing cultural values influence us and our engagement with the Dharma? One answer is to engage as wholeheartedly as we are able to with building Sangha and sharing our lives with others. If we are less self preoccupied and more concerned about others we will find personal happiness and be a force for good in the world.  Dharmashalin speaking at BigFutur...

In this talk Satyakirti explores a set of ways through which we can work with fear in our practice, particularly through love and friendship. Using the Angulimala Sutta as an example, he explains how even the greatest fears can be overcome, and how a Buddha is entirely free from fear. Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre , 2019, as part of the Sub35s Fearless Love retreat. *** Subscribe to our D...

Narottama delights with a very poetic and personal talk about how friendship is vital to our happiness and spiritual development as human beings. Talk given at Aryaloka Buddhist Center , 2010. *** 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 Podcast...

When we pay attention to our own experiences of suffering and joy, this can be a starting point to connecting in love with others. Dayajoti offers a personal entry into recognizing and practicing the Brahma Viharas - love, compassion, joy, equanimity.  Talk given during the setup for Buddhafield Festival on the theme 'Fire in the Heart', 2013. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-sized...

Suryagupta explores crisis and conflict in the life of the Buddha and what we can learn when responding to conflict in our own lives. Talk given at the London Buddhist Centre , 2017. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-sized inspiration three times every week! (Apple Podcasts) Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! (Apple Podcasts) Subscribe using...

Satyapara leads us in an evocation of the alchemical Buddha drawing out the mythic dimension through receptivity and imagination. Talk given at Cambridge Buddhist Centre , 2018. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-sized inspiration three times every week! (Apple Podcasts) Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! (Apple Podcasts) Subscribe using thes...

Here Padmavajra explores a great classic of Tibetan Buddhism – Gampopa's 'Jewel Ornament of Liberation'. The work, inspired by devotion to Manjusri, is one of the key texts in the development of the Tibetan Lam Rim teachings. And Gampopa, being one of the two principle disciples of the yogi Milarepa, presents both the monastic Lam Rim approach of Atisha and the Mahamudra meditation teachings of Mi...

After exploring the relationship between the transcendental (lokuttara) and historical time, Saccanama looks at the challenges facing us at this particular point in history. Individualism and materialism present challenges both to our society and to our practice of the Dharma. Put them together and we have a form of capitalism which is so dominant that it becomes impossible to imagine any other sy...

Here Samantabhadri  expertly and imaginatively tackles the theme of Wisdom, using the verses in the third section of Tsongkhapa's short text on the "Three Principal Aspects of the Path." Dharma themes of the laksanas, suffering, niyamas, self - and no-self - are interwoven with more personal reflections, and with thought-provoking quotations - ".... emptiness, activity and compassion are not three...

Maitrisara explores the vipallasas , the topsy turvy views as a way to explore how our delusions inhibit our efforts in spiritual practice. She begins with an overview of what Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels means and why frameworks to explore delusion (like the topsy turvy views) can help us. She illustrates the topsy turvy views with examples from her own life.  This talk was given on a ret...

Viveka explores the fourth tetrad of the Anapanasati Sutta: "inquiry into the experience of wisdom" particularly applying the contemplations of impermanence, fading away, cessation and relinquishment to the experience of mind and awareness itself.  This talk is part of the series Anapanasati Sutta: Instructions for Awakening given at Adhisthana , 2019. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bi...

A personal talk where Punyamala shares her reflections on impermanence, particularly in the context of family life. Weaving in poetry and real life examples, Punyamala looks at the question of how to stay open in the midst of impermanence and death, without falling into despondency. Punyamala describes how she has sought to live a meaningful life, fully open to reality. This talk was given on an o...

Prakasha takes us through the verses on transference of merit and self surrender from Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara, and communicates the feeling of the complete letting go of a Bodhisattva. Talk given at Shrewsbury Triratna Buddhist Group , 2018. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-sized inspiration three times every week! (Apple Podcasts) Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast...

Karunagita introduces four types of letting go - of the weight of past harmful actions, holding our conditioning lightly, of expectations and of physical holding in the body - in this talk at Dhanakosa for the 2017 New Year women mitra retreat. The retreat theme was Padmasambhava's advice to Queen Ngang Chung. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-sized inspiration three times every week...

Padmavajra offers a deep set of reflections on these aspects of the Spiritual Path using Sangharakshita's poem 'Advent'; the contemplation of impermanence, death and our lack of any 'self-lordship'; Lahiji's vision of 'the black light'; bewilderment; and the concept of becoming reborn in the Bodhisattva. Talk given at Padmaloka Buddhist Centre , 2013, as part of a series of three talks entitled Th...

Parami urges us to embrace loss, because it is inevitable, but equally so, don't close yourself off to love. Accepting that everything that arises will pass, and yet everything that arises is precious that will give rise to a love that spreads throughout the cosmos. Talk given at the Newcastle Buddhist Centre , 2021. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-sized inspiration three times eve...

Nagasiddhi takes us into the mind and heart of the new Buddha after his awakening – as he explores this new territory within, and with others he encounters setting out on the next stage of his journey into liberation. Talk given as part of the series 'In the Footsteps of the Buddha' during the April 2021 home retreat from Rivendell Retreat Centre hosted by The Buddhist Centre Online . *** Subscrib...