Free Buddhist Audio

Today's  FBA Podcast , " A Personal Talk On the Bodhisattva Ideal " is just that – a moving and personal talk, by Vidyamala, given at the 25-year jubilee retreat (of FWBO activities in Stockholm) in a beautiful setting in the archipelago north of Stockholm, Sweden, September 2005.

How do the Bodhisattvas enter the Dharma door of non-duality? Today's  FBA Podcast , " The Way of Non-Duality " explores this as one of the main themes in the Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra. Sangharakshita explains some of the dualities listed in the Sutra, gives some examples of his own (with tips on how to transcend them), and concludes with Vimalakirti's 'thunder-like silence'. Talk given in 1979 a...

Ratnaguna brings a fresh, clear-minded look at the Vimalakirti Nirdesa sutra in today's FBA Podcast , where he asks: " Who Is Vimalakirti? " Exploring current writings and the thinking of Sangharakshita he offers a number of possibilities: Vimalakirti is a community of practitioners; he is the bodhisattva principle; the spiritual imperative; and both an inspiration and a rebuke. Talk given at Padm...

In today's FBA Podcast , Sangharakshita goes to Buddhafield! " A first for him, and a first for the fabulous Buddhafield Festival that takes place each year at the height of the English summer. This talk, " Entering the Sangha " was given in a tent in Devon – and the sounds of this great Dharma celebration are everywhere around as Sangharakshita marks his entry to the 'Dharma Parlour' with a rolli...

This week's FBA Podcast is one of our Dharma Tape Detectives findings from the FBA Archives. " In Harmony with Friends and Brethren " by Srivati. What does it mean to be part of a Sangha? What does true harmony mean alongside the inevitability of conflict? Srivati addresses these questions with help from the monks at Kosambi, the six memorable qualities of a Bikkhu, and the seven knowledges of the...

In today's FBA Podcast , " The Defects and Dangers of Samsara, " Dharmacharini Maitreyi looks at pleasure and suffering in the context of samsara – compassionate responses to self and other, and how to loosen the bonds… Talk given at Tiratanaloka Retreat Centre, 2005 as part of the series " The Four Mind-Turning Reflections ."

This week's FBA Podcast , " Tibetan Book the Dead: Talk 1 – The Six Bardos ", is an extraordinary talk by Padmavajra exploring the great text that reveals the realms between death and new life, where anything is possible in the Bardo – the 'intermediate state'. From the first talk in the series "Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol) ." Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, winter retreat, 2005

Today, on the full moon of May, we celebrate the Buddha's Awakening, his full and perfect Enlightenment. Our FBA Podcast is a passionate look at our true nature and our deepest yearnings. " The Ideal of Human Enlightenment ", by Sangharakshita, was given in 1975 and is as relevant now as it was then.

In this week's FBA Podcast ," Enlightenment as Heart, Life as Whole ," Saddhanandi takes us through a set of very thought-provoking reflections. She is forthright about the difficulties and joys of cultivating faith in the Dharma and makes very plain the consequences we can expect in our life as and when that faith arises. The talk is peppered with examples from her own practice. The audience clea...

This weeks FBA Podcast , " The Significance of the Buddha's Enlightenment " is a talk by Sona given at Manchester Buddhist Centre on Buddha Day, 9th May 2009.

This weeks FBA Podcast , " On the Threshold of Enlightenment " is part of the pivotal by " Aspects of the Bodhisattva Ideal " series delivered by Sangharakshita in 1969. This lecture describes dhyana (meditation), and prajna (Wisdom), the fifth and sixth perfections.

This weeks FBA Podcast , is a recording of a question and answer session with Sangharakshita at the Croydon Buddhist Centre in 2004. " An Evening with Sangharakshita " is a lovely introduction to the man who founded the Triratna Buddhist Order and Community (formally known as the Western Buddhist Order and FWBO).

This weeks FBA Podcast , " The Buddha's Gift To The World " is brought to us by Vajratara. Vajratara condenses nearly 50 years of the Buddhas life, using stories from the Pali Canon to show how the Buddha built a spiritual community that lasts to this day. Transcending the conflict between the desire to withdraw and the desire to engage, the Buddha wanders northern India out of compassion, teachin...

This weeks FBA Podcast , " Brahma Viharas and the Key Moment ", is a distillation of Kulaprabha's 15 years of co-leading retreats on the development of Loving Kindness, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity. This talk was given in September 2001, before and after the Twin Towers attack, while Kulaprabha was on a six week retreat in Italy. She was one of only a few people on the retreat who knew what had...

This weeks FBA Podcast is a thoughtful, inspiring talk by Khemasuri titled " The Spiral Path – The Great Escape ." Faith, joy, and delight in the spiritual life. Sharing experiences from her own life, Khemasuri expounds on the importance of the Spiral Path, a fundamental teaching in the Triratna Buddhist Order.

This weeks FBA Podcast is a talk was given on a Young Women' Weekend at Taraloka titled " Faith is Innate, Doubt Acquired ." In this talk Singhamati explores Sangharakshita's aphorism: Faith is Innate, Doubt Acquired. It looks at questions such as: What is faith? How do you cultivate the three grounds of faith? How is doubt a fetter? How can you dispel doubt?

Today's FBA Podcast, is a classic talk given by Sangharakshita in 1967 titled " Mind: Reactive and Creative. " In this brilliant and accessible approach to the essence of Buddhism, Sangharakshita shows that Buddhism starts with the mind. Mind can be reactive, symbolised by the Tibetan Wheel of Life, or creative, as when one follows the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, described here in detail.

Our FBA Podcast today is a talk by the delightfully clear Vajrapriya titled " The Selfless Mind ." What if all of our emotional and spiritual problems were caused by an incorrect understanding of our true nature? Vajrapriya explores the Buddha's insight that our commonsense assumptions about ourselves are the source of our suffering. Unpicking those assumptions is the first step to the arising of...

Today's FBA Podcast is another reading from The Perfection of Wisdom Sutras. This one, " A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras " Chandana talks about the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, a category of Sutras in the Mahayana tradition.

Our FBA Podcast today is " The Diamond Sutra " by Sangharakshita. If one does not want to 'get caught in the grip of reality', one should leave this great text alone! The Perfection of Wisdom Discourse that 'Cuts Like a Diamond'… N.B. Reference for this lecture: Buddhist Wisdom Books, translated by E. Conze. (Allen & Unwin, 1958) Talk given in 1969.

Our FBA Podcast today brings us to the core of our practice: " The Heart Sutra, Sangha and Spiritual Death " by Kamalashila. Beginning with a shared understanding of spiritual practice that is Sangha, we are led through a revisioning of our practice that includes the deeper, darker more mysterious perspectives of insight and wisdom. This talk was given at the London Buddhist Centre's Tuesday eveni...

Today's FBA Podcast , "The Buddha, Hakuin, Birth and Death", is the second in an excellent 8-talk sequence by Padmavajra on Zen Buddhism. The series is full of colourful stories and challenging insights from the lives of the great Masters of China and Japan. In this talk, Padmavajra takes us into the strong experience of Going Forth into homelessness. Through personal reminiscence and classic Zen...

This weeks FBA Podcast , "Spiritual Death and Rebirth, a New Perspective On the Dharma Niyama", takes us deeply into the stages of spiritual death and rebirth that are key to the system of meditation, representing the culimination and fulfilment of the Buddhas vision. During this talk given at Padmaloka Subhuti explains some new elements of Sangharakshita's thinking about how they relate to the Ni...

Today's FBA Podcast , "The Transitoriness of Life and the Certainty of Death", is by Vajradharshini who brings us a beautiful piece on the hardest of subjects. The third talk in a five-part series from Tiratanaloka's retreat on the 'Four Mind Turnings' of the Tibetan tradition. Using zen poetry and a happily wide-ranging series of quotations (from Tibetan lamas to Ezra Pound), Vajradarshini explor...

Today's we introduce Atula in our weekly FBA Podcast with "Mending the Broken Ladder" a very thoughtful talk long-time by this practising Buddhist and psychotherapist. The nature of the 'psyche' and our sense of self-view is explored with reference to the Fourfold Vision of William Blake, T.S. Eliot, Charles Bukowski, Edward Conze, and Humpty Dumpty! Expect some stimulating words around the role o...