Free Buddhist Audio

Dayajoti explores the hindrance of self-doubt, including seeing it as an expression of fundamental delusion, addressed by the clear seeing of reality.  This talk is part of the series Body of Bliss: Ways into Samādhi , hosted online by Buddhafield , 2021. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-sized inspiration three times every week! (Apple Podcasts) Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio...

There is no insight without compassion, and no compassion without insight. Ratnaghosha elucidates the path of transformation as one of expanding more and more into embodying love in all its forms. This talk was given at the Mid Essex Buddhist Centre , 2021. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-sized inspiration three times every week! (Apple Podcasts) Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audi...

Samantabhadri speaks on ritual and its place and potential within the Triratna Community. She explores ritual as personal experience and in relation to going beyond a fixed self, to the collective, to the imagination, to compassion and to our longing for the transcendental.   Samantabhadri, visiting from Taraloka Retreat Centre , gave this keynote talk at Nottingham Buddhist Centre , 2016. *** Sub...

The Four Noble Truths contain the whole of the Buddha's teaching. They set out a clear and direct vision of the true nature of Reality. In this talk, Jnanadhara unfolds the meaning behind these seemingly simple four pithy teachings. With poetry and personal anecdotes, he draws us into the immense depth and mystery behind these teachings and shows us a glimpse of what the Buddha was communicating 2...

Do we reflect on the Bodhicitta? Is it optional, a mystical goal we can take or leave? How does it become a motivating force in our lives? Sangharakshita has described the Bodhicitta as a myth or symbol that galvanises our energies, something that makes sense of our lives, something emotionally moving that stirs us on a deep level. How are we to connect with that myth? Vajratara takes us on a jour...

Karunavajra gives a talk at the about Vajrasattva, and how he can help and inspire us in these times of transition. Vajrasattva is a beautiful Buddha figure embodying essential Dharma truths. He symbolises the teaching that we are in possession of enormous riches and we don't realise it. Given at Birmingham Buddhist Centre for Dharma Day, July 2021. *** Follow our Dharmabytes podcast. Bite-size Dh...

Here Jnanavaca discusses how Tantric Buddhism is concerned with the direct experience of who we are and what we can become. Its aim is to help us realize our potential by transforming the energy locked in by old habits, fears, and views. Talk given at London Buddhist Centre , 2020. *** Follow our Dharmabytes podcast. Bite-size Dharma twice a week! Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google  Subscribe using...

A very intriguing trip by Satyanandi through the myriad worlds of consideration that arise when view, experience and reality meet. Her starting point is science and its various models for how the universe works - from mechanism to quantum physics. But soon we are in wider territory, looking at radical interconnectedness and the nature of mind as it meets the world. Talk given at the Cambridge Budd...

What does Buddhism have to say about death and dying? How can this be applied to life? Prasannavira shares how he has been influenced by the Root Verses of the Six Bardos from the Bardo Thodol, the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Talk given at Windhorse:Evolution , once a large Buddhist team-based 'right livelihood' business based in the UK, 2013. *** Follow our Dharmabytes podcast. Bite-size Dharma twi...

The Buddha was a problem solver looking at suffering and the release from suffering. Here, Vijayasri introduces us to metta, the basic teaching of the Buddha, by exploring the first chapter of Living with Kindness by Sangharakshita. She considers the Karaniya Metta Sutta , looks at the work of Buddhaghosa, and investigates the ideas of metta as a strongly positive emotion, a rational emotion and a...

Kamalashila e xplores the centrality of mindfulness to the Buddhist path. He discu s ses the concept of intoxication, with reference to the 5th Precept and the Sutra of Golden Light. Kamalashila then considers the four foundations of mindfulness from the Satipatthana Sutta and concludes that mindfulness is the basis of metta and allows us to embrace the realm of truth and beauty. This talk was giv...

Sahajatara gives an honest and enthusiastic exploration of the speech precepts. This talk is down-to-earth and with humour! This talk was given on a retreat for Mitras at Taraloka Retreat Centre , 2018 and is part of the series entitled Ethics: Resonating with Reality . *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today.  Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dharma...

Vimalasara gives a thorough talk on the third precept, exploring some of the issues we all need to reflect on if we are to live life more fully with simplicity, contentment and stillness. Relevant to modern day living, this talk also signposts some of the issues that women and queer people have to contend with when reflecting on this precept. Talk given at Taraloka Retreat Centre , 2013. *** Help...

Buddhist generosity is ideally ongoing all the time, a simple application of our ethical principles - a flow of time, energy, money, and so on, in the direction of your heart-felt values. Giving is one of the key practices of a Buddhist, and one of the delights of the Spiritual Community. Ratnaghosha evokes how this is an area of activity that is crucial to an effective practice of the Dharma and...

With his usual warmth, clarity and good humour, Prajnaketu explores the mental events of hatred and love with great detail and personal reflections. "Not by hatred are hatreds ever pacified in the world, by love are they pacified, this is the eternal law." ~ Dhammapada In the presence of suffering or pain, our sense of self is often diminished as we come to realize our efforts to control our exper...

What are the particular challenges we face in the 21st Century? There are many, and Vajradevi focuses on the mind precepts and our use of technology. This talk is linked with Akuppa's talks on ' 21st Century Bodhisattva ' and drawing on the book '21 Lessons for the 21st Century' by the historian Yuval Noah Harari. This talk was given as part of a series at Shrewbury Triratna Centre , 2019. *** Hel...

Bodhisattvas work tirelessly and heroically to create a Buddhafield for the benefit of all beings. Padmavajra explores the opening verses of the Dhammapada and their far reaching implications including how we create not only our own happiness or suffering through our actions, but also how we create worlds, worlds of suffering or worlds conducive to human growth and even freedom. Talk given during...

Parami introduces our four-fold lineage and shows how the lineage of inspiration underpins them all. Now that Bhante has died our responsibility to keep this flame burning is more important than ever. This talk is part of the series  Talks from Women's Private Preceptors' Retreat given at Adhisthana , 2019. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today.  Subscribe to our Dharmabyte...

In the first weeks after his Enlightenment, the Buddha stayed alone near the Bodhi tree, assimilating his profound discovery and enjoying its bliss. But from the first moment he encountered another human being, the force of his compassion led him to revolt against the social hierarchies of his day. In this impassioned talk at the London Buddhist Centre 's 2021 Buddha Day celebrations, Subhuti expl...

Vajragupta  considers how the sangha reaches out into the world, looking at three areas: loving-kindness and common humanity, community and service, and wisdom in an age of information overload. A talk given on an online weekend retreat with Croydon Buddhist Centre , 2020. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today.  Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dha...

Vidyatara shares her reflections on practice during a time of Lockdown as part of the Birmingham Buddhist Centre's year on the 8-fold path (2021). She particularly evokes and draws on the classic teaching of Bahiya and asks how to apply it to these conditions. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today.  Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dharma inspirati...

Arthapriya explores the characteristics of a person who is a good communicator - having empathy for others, deeply listening, and drawing each other out into deeper presence with one another. This is a talk given as part of the Year of Spiritual Community talks at Cambridge Buddhist Centre , 2014. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today.  Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast...

In this moving and rousing talk, Dhammachari Amoghasiddhi illustrates how the Dhamma can radically transform people's lives, liberating them from a hellish existence, particularly in India. Using the examples of his own life, as well as the lives of Bhante Sangharakshita, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and others, he explains that if we want to live a meaningful life, we must open up to the suffering of ot...

Is there an inner attitude we can adopt that will naturally lead to the creation of Sangha? Satyadhara poses this question - and addresses it - in his talk on the second Mainland Europe Young Buddhist Convention. He shares his personal experience of being in a small Sangha near Frankfurt in Germany, and draws upon Asangha's Yogacharabhumi to explore the conditions necessary for building Sangha. Ta...

Bhadra offers this insightful and thorough exploration of the Five Buddha Mandala through the lens of the gap between feeling and craving. Here we are able to transform the mental poisons (illustrated by the six realms) into the Wisdom of the each of the Five Buddhas. Talk given at Bristol Buddhist Centre , 2017, the last in a series on the Wheel of Life. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Becom...