The Buddhist Centre

The Internet doesn't always make things better! What do you do in the face of 24 hour news media that is just not going to stop?  Join us for a conversation about how to guard the gates of our senses when it matters in order to stay sane. Inspiring words about the practice of beauty, being rooted in the body and the senses, staying centred in a storm of input and opinion and views. And a practical...

"What went before — let go of that! All that's to come — have none of it! Don't hold on to what's in between, And you'll wander fully at peace." The Buddha Today we look a key aspect of this most strange of times: fear itself. Whether it's the virus, other people, or your own mind that sometimes gets to you. Whether you're oddly calm, having to work with mild anxiety, or find yourself in the throe...

A perfectly formed wee diamond of an episode featuring response and analysis from someone who knows what it's like at the sharp end of working with viruses in a laboratory setting. Danabhadri is our guest today, helping us move past the clinical language of "quarantines" and "isolation" towards a practical experience of interconnectedness. Evoking beautifully why that matters, she says: "The virus...

Today's episode brings friends together from Ireland, England and the USA to look at the very technology that connect us for use in things like this. Come and get meta with us about Zoom! With the launch of our daily meditations we discuss how better versions of the Internet and its underlying technologies mean an evolution – and possibly a revolution – in how we conceive of Buddhist practice (and...

Welcome to The Dharma Toolkit Daily, our new podcast from The Buddhist Centre to keep you company through the weeks or months ahead in these extraordinary coronavirus times. We'll be with you every week day with a diverse range of guests to renew your sense of a wider Dharma community standing with you. What better way to stay connected than to hear the voices of friends and strangers who understa...

"In a crisis you have to find new ways to be, you can't just carry on with the old ways...Buddhism gives you something new...a way of finding happiness, that comes from a different place." "I think the world, at the moment, is giving us lessons in the need for spirituality" On a recent visit to Venezuela, Parami speaks with Abhayasara (ordained in October) and Maria Elena, Wilman and Arsenio who a...

"I see philosophy as not only part of the great modernist, or western project of understanding, but feeding into the Buddhist project of bringing awakened values into the world" - Dhivan Sanghadhara chats to Dhivan, Silavadin and Dr Matt Drage who recently led a philosophy symposium at Adhisthana called 'Exploring Buddhist Modernism'.  The premise of this symposium being that western Buddhism has...

Here are two wonderfully passionate members of the Order talking across generations about the need to open up effective pathways of commitment for young people as they connect and engage with the possibilities in a Buddhist life.  Subhadramati has pioneered such pathways for women for many years at the London Buddhist Centre, one of the biggest Centres in Europe. She discusses her plans for 2020 t...

Here's a short conversation with Akuppa (Newcastle, UK), Parina (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and Dhammapitika (Metta Vihara Retreat Centre, The Netherlands) on the morning of the last full day at the Winter ECA - European Chairs assembly meeting, talking through the some of the new priorities that have been agreed on. We also hear about the fledgling plans underway to bring these to life in the co...

Our second episode of our 'audio magazine' includes some of the highlights from the past six months: we hear about a land project in Hawaii, the revival of the Urgyen tulip, what's going on 'Down Under', what it's like working on an online Buddhist team and much more besides!

This podcast features the Dharmachakra team - who bring you The Buddhist Centre Online website and platform, Free Buddhist Audio , podcasts like this one, event coverage, technical support and more besides! As part of an online practice week in August some of this team gathered to talk about the Dharma and how they practice it in the context of their lives - in particular, in a busy, online ' team...

Ya transcurrieron un par de días desde que inició la Convención Panamericana. En el comedor se pueden oír conversaciones en inglés y en español, incluso hay quien sirve de traductor para aquel que lo necesita. En este espacio, donde flores y el canto de los pájaros enmarcan las actividades de la convención, tuvieron la oportunidad de reunirse una vez mas. Hace poco mas de dos años tomaba lugar su...

"When I went on those first Young Buddhist retreats I saw a future for Buddhism in my life.." "I don't think I've ever put my phone away for an entire weekend since I was about fifteen so coming away and doing that was incredible - I didn't realise the effect it'd had until I left..." Suzie from Manchester and Dharmasara from Berlin talk about their involvement in the Young Buddhist project. From...

The 6th Triratna International Council is in full swing in England this week. Folk from around the world converging on beautiful rural Herefordshire to explore the work of making sure our community is united and available to all in the years ahead. We're joined by our friends from New Zealand and Australia for a check-in around their take on the week and the relevance of international perspectives...

"...[the International Gathering is] quite intentionally like a mix of a retreat and a festival...but it's a whole retreat and a whole festival happening at the same time!" On the final full day of the 2019 Triratna International Gathering we tune in with Sanghamani, who gave one of the keynote talks, Sanjay from London and David, who is on the current men's Dharma Life course at Adhisthana, about...

Sadayasihi is reunited with Gina Plant Cabrita and Christine Thuring who all first met on the 2014 Triratna International Gathering. They recall that Gathering and how, for each of them, it marked a pivotal moment in their lives - and what they did afterwards. The conversation then turns to day 2 of the 2019 Triratna International Gathering and what's been happening. We hear more about the signifi...

It's the first full day of the Triratna International Gathering and Adhisthana is basking in summer sunshine!  In this short podcast we get a flavour of the 'Alchemy of the Dharma'. A couple of people share their highlights from the International Gathering so far - from the first talk by Ratnaguna on 'Transforming Self', a classic music concert after lunch, workshops on tai chi, yoga, the activiti...

Dassini talks to the International Order Convenors, Aryajaya and Lokeshvara, and Vimalamati and Vajrapriya from the International Order Office on day 2 of the UK & Ireland Area Order Convention at Wymondham, UK. The inspiration for this particular Convention has been to make the programme more retreat-like as well as also having forum spaces to facilitate Order debate and dialogue and we get a...

"To be a chair is not to be a particular kind of person...they are very different. But what they do have in common, is a love of Triratna, a love of the Dharma and a longing to help..." The 2019 Summer ECA - European Chairs' Assembly - took place at Padmaloka in the UK.  We are joined by Aryanita from Paris, Vanaraji from Mid-Essex, Jayaraja from Buddhafield and Amrutasiddhi from Nagpur, India, al...

"It's more than the talks and the meditation and the puja - amazing as I'm sure they'll all be - it's also the gathering of hearts and minds, the chatting over cups of tea, the workshops...and just being together in that space " The 2019 Triratna International Gathering is fast approaching - it's a wonderful opportunity for those in our community to come together to share their practice and inspir...

At the end of this podcast you'll discover about six minutes of musical joy as we're played out by the amazing marimba band from Great Vow Zen Monastery, hosts of the 2019 Generation-X Dharma Teachers conference near Portland, Oregon in the Pacific Northwest region of the USA.  But before that... A terrific round-table conversation with some of the organizers and participants gathering to look at...

Kiranada is an ordained Buddhist, a traveler, a renowned artist in (cruelty-free) silk, a teacher, an author and a Mom. Here she is at the Portsmouth Public Library in June 2019, reading from her book 'A Year Of Silence', an account of her year-long silent, solitary retreat in the New Zealand bush. As one of her last engagements before heading off to Kentucky and Missouri to begin a further 3-year...

One of the Sikkha Project's key aims is to support spiritual practice in our community and the Order Practice survey is a tool to help this come about. The purpose of the Order Practice survey is threefold: - to gather information about how Order members are practising (and how that can be supported); - to provide an opportunity for Order members to reflect on their own practice; - to start more f...

"So it's community - but with our own front door" - Tejasvini The Suvana (meaning ‘happy realm’) project aims to develop Buddhist co-housing in Cambridge, UK. It will be newly built, sustainable, low carbon footprint development, with the community inspired by Buddhist values.   Here's a conversation with Tejasvini and Jeremy Peters, both involved in the project, discussing co-housing as a respons...

"The idea is that, at some point, it won't be a project; it'll just be more like how we do things" The Sikkha Project aims to support the development of training within Triratna for every level of experience, to discover and share how the different elements of our system of practice are taught and practiced most effectively, and to create resources and training to fill any gaps. Here's a conversat...