Dharmabytes From Free Buddhist Audio

In answering the question 'What is Buddhism?', Sangharakshita  identifies higher evolution - the development of higher states of consciousness - with the twelve links in the progressive trend of the Buddha's teaching of conditioned co-production. In this excerpt we hear about the unification of all our emotional energies in the state of bliss. May all beings be well and happy, without fear, without jealousy, may they be full of love, faith and joy. Positive emotion is an essential part of the higher evolution. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud From the talk Buddhism and the Path of the Higher Evolution, part of the series The Higher Evolution, 1969.

Upekkha is a fire in the heart that is steady and constant. Dayajoti gives us a beautiful description of the wisdom aspect of metta, that being upekkha, equanimity. From the talk entitled Suffering and Joy - Compost For Love given during the setup for Buddhafield Festival 2013 (theme 'Fire in the Heart') on the Four Brahma Viharas. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud

Vajradevi explores aspects of faith, including faith and receptivity, the relationship of confidence and doubt in our own practice. She goes on to look at how faith and wisdom relate, including right view and how 'faith is wisdom, but not fully realised.' From the talk Recap On Sati (mindfulness) & Exploring the Faculty of Faith as part of the series Pathways to the Beautiful Mind: Bristol Rains Retreat. Bristol Buddhist Centre, 2019. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud

Saccanama offers this glimpse into the meaning of faith from the Buddhist perspective through personal examples from his life and practice. From the talk entitled Faith: the Key to the Mystery of Life given at Sangha Night at the Birmingham Buddhist Centre.   *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud

Another cracking talk from Vajratara exploring Metta as a path to insight. What happens when Metta passes through the fires of sunyata? Insight isn’t a cold, detached featureless state. Insight has it’s own positive character – increasing awareness of others and spontaneous compassionate activity. From the talk entitled Metta and the Path of Insight given on a Young Womens' Weekend at Taraloka, 2013. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud

Here we have Parami introducing the most archetypal of all the archetypal Bodhisattvas, the 1000-armed Avalokitesvara. At his heart he holds the chintamani, the jewel of human potential. All of us have this potential within us, just as the lotuses coming up out of the mud. When you find that which fills your heart, share the love! From the talk launching the 2015 Triratna International Urban Retreat live in Adelaide, Australia. Her theme - and the theme of the whole retreat - is Living In The Greater Mandala, and she brings this alive in the most human, poetic, and inspired of ways. Her range is broad as she evokes the mandala itself, and the profound, playful path of the Bodhisattva. Calling forth Rumi and Hafiz, the great Buddhist Perfection of Wisdom texts, Keats, Yeats, Robert Hass, and Kenneth White, she illustrates what it looks and feels like to live dedicated to the well being of all as the most natural thing in the world. As always with Parami, her great experience shines through in this talk - a te

Candraprabha, current Chair of Tiratanaloka Retreat Centre, offers her reflections on different aspects of compassion. From the talk entitled Green Tara, she who embodies the quintessence of compassion. In good humor she reveals much about her own practice of cultivating fearlessness and courage in the face of hopelessness.  Given at Cambridge Buddhist Centre as part of the series Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, 2019. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud

On the Wheel of Life, the whole person is symbolised by a boat with passengers, the five skandhas. Ratnaprabha focuses especially on our habit energies, and our habitual preferences. Are we ruled by our likes and dislikes? Is there a creative response? How to the five Buddhas fit in? From the talk Likes and Dislikes given at West London Buddhist Centre, 2017. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud

Dhammadinna’s gently balanced and encouraging talk explores various perspectives on one of the fundamental questions, and clearly lays out various Buddhist approaches to the nature of our existence and consciousness, especially in relation to the other realms of the Tibetan wheel of life. Cherishing the opportunities is one of the challenges of this reflection - and this is a great way to begin. From the talk The Preciousness and Rarity of Human Life, part of the series The Four Mind-Turning Reflections given at Tiratanaloka Retreat Centre, 2005. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud

Padmavajra takes a deep look at the marvellous, terrifying, visionary world of the Bardo Thodol, or 'Tibetan Book of the Dead'. In this episode, we plunge fearlessly down into the lower realms of the wheel of life to meet the beings who inhabit - and the Buddhas who come to meet them. A sobering but strongly felt evocation of how we make the worlds with our minds - and what we might do to counteract the dangers. From the talk On Hell and Hungry Ghosts, part 2 of the 8-part series Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol), given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, Winter Retreat 2005. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud

A story from Kalimpong Sangharakshita shares a story from Kalimpong about being woken up in the middle of the night to a very strange occurrence – he saw a dear friend who had passed several years earlier standing in a deep pit next to his bed. His response was to chant the Vajrasattva Mantra. Excerpted from the talk Between Twin Sala Trees, part of the series Incidents from the Pali Canon, 1983. This lecture is a series of reflections based around the Buddha's Parinirvana ('death'), stressing the importance of impermanence and explaining episodes recorded in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud  

The wheel of life shows the six realms corresponding to six kinds of mental states that can result from our actions. How can we recognise these states in everyday life and what can we do to live with a more fully human life? In this Dharmabyte, Satyajyoti offers this personal talk introducing the realm of the titans and her transformation of competitiveness into appreciation. Excerpted from Three Personal Talks: Realms of the Wheel where Satyajyoti, Pete and Dharmamayi share their personal experiences of three of the six realms in The Wheel of Life. Recorded at Sheffield Buddhist Centre, 2020. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud

Sangharakshita describes in all its wealth of detail, the Wheel of Life. It’s really a painting but a mirror, giving one successively more profound insights into oneself, and revealing the next step in escaping the endless round. From the talk entitled The Symbolism of the Tibetan Wheel of Life, part of the series Creative Symbols of the Tantric Path to Enlightenment, 1972. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud

Akashamitra introduces a series of podcasts ('Budcasts') at the North London Buddhist Centre on the theme of the Eight Ways of the Noble Ones with a talk on vision. Why does it start the path? Have we already had path of vision experiences? From the talk entitled Perfect Vision - How Far Can You Go? Given at North London Buddhist Centre, 2020. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud  

Saraha speaks to several themes from the Sigalaka Sutra. Firstly, friends are helpful, stand by you, give you time. Secondly, those who serve and support society, do we treat them as real people? Do we (as a society) look after them when they are ill? Our Buddhist Centres are here to bring peace, love, and agency with the ability to hold suffering close to your heart. The Sigalaka Sutta guides us on how to treat our fellow human beings. From the talk entitled Your Liberation Is Bound Up with Mine given at Birmingham Buddhist Centre, 2020. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud

Ratnavandana offers a personal sharing of her reflections on a six month solitary retreat where she was focussing on the Heart Sutra.  With Avalokitesvara as her guide, she was hoping to deepen her understanding of the emptiness of the five skandhas as well as exploring how to bring all the ordinary everyday activities of life into the realm of the sacred. This excerpt includes a reading evocation on the Five Buddha Mandala. From the talk Glimpses of Emptiness given on a retreat for mitras held at Taraloka: The Heart Sutra - Thunderclaps of Reality, 2020. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud

Maitreyi  shares the story of Meghiya to illustrate the importance of having strong friendships on the spiritual path. From the talk entitled Sanghakaya and the Heart's Release given at Manchester Buddhist Centre, December 2015. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud  

Here Padmasuri  shares stories of friendship between the early Buddhist nuns and the Buddha. Featuring glimpses into the lives of Mahapajapati, Patajara, Dhammadinna, Kisagotami, Mitta, Queen Mallika. Many of these women would have gone forth for friendship, a sort of cradle of friendship, in which the truth teachings would be held and practiced. Just so then, so now. Exerpted from the talk The Buddha Was a Friend As We Can Be a Friend, the fourth and final in a series of talks to mark the Year of Kalyana Mitrata at the Cambridge Buddhist Centre, 2013. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud

Here Karunadhi  introduces us to the Red Rite of Fascination. Friendship emerges from love for our friends, but also can evoke strong attachment. Communication and the samgrahavastu (means of unification) of loving speech are the antidote for grasping and projection. Excerpted from the talk Spiritual Friendship and the Red Rite of Fascination as part of the series Spiritual Friendship and the Tantric Rites given on a joint Tiratanaloka and Buddhafield retreat for women training for ordination in the Triratna Buddhist Order, 2019. ***   Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud

Suryamati reminds us that the spiritual life is difficult to practice on one’s own. Here we here the story of Meghiya where the Buddha advises that spiritual friendship is needed for the heart’s release. How do we be a sangha member? How do we help others in their practice of sangha? Here, we get an introduction to the teaching on the Samgrahavastus, the four means of unification. From the talk entitled Building the Buddhaland given at Sangha Night, Sheffield Buddhist Centre, 2013, as part of a series of talks on Buddhism Through Time and Space. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud