Dharmabytes From Free Buddhist Audio

A very interesting introduction to the mandala here from Garava - the idea, the myth, the image, the symbol, the experience. His own practice as an artist affords him a respectful and generous perspective, from which we are able to simply sit back and learn. Excerpted from the talk Entering the Mandala given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2001 *** 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

We can find mandalas everywhere – in the East, in the West, in art, literature, even in dreams. Mandalas represent a resolution, or the beginnings of a resolution, of a conflict between the conscious and the unconscious. Sangharakshita explores the symbolism of the mandala, circles of symbolic forms, found in the The Tantras (special scriptures of Vajrayana Buddhism) as a symbol of psychological and spiritual integration. Excerpted from the talk entilted The Mandala – Tantric Symbol of Integration as part of the series Aspects of Buddhist Psychology, 1967. *** 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  

We often get ideas about the symbolism of the vajra as being tight and willful. The language of determination can do that! Jvalamalini looks at the importance of clarity of purpose for simplicity and meaning in life, and the powerful symbol of the vajra. This diamond-thunderbolt symbol is really more about integration then it is about powering through obstacles regardless of what the rest of our being is up to. From the talk entitled Vajra: Symbol of Integration given at Bristol Buddhist Centre, 2018. *** 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

Candradasa takes a personal look at aspects of magic in the East and West, considering its place in Buddhist history and practice and also its meeting with Christianity at the time of the Renaissance. What emerges is a picture of how magic defined in various ways can be a powerful metaphor for the everyday work of Buddhist meditation and ethical practice - with the enchantment of love and wisdom fused the only one we need. The Buddha is the Master of Enchantments and his path - a magical training with him - is available to all. The truly marvelous awaits... Excerpted from the talk, Religion Without God, Part 4 - Magic For the Modern World, the fourth in the series entitled Religion Without God given in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA, October 2012. *** 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 'Vajrayana' means 'the way of the vajra'. Satyalila explores and explains how the vajra symbolizes the capacity to transform our darkest and most difficult experience into the liberated energy of awakening. She describes her personal experience of this and concludes with an exploration of the five Buddha mandala as a way of bringing powerful diverse energies into creative, harmonious relationship. From the talk Imagination, the Vajrayana & Us, part of the series Imagination, the Buddhist Tradition and Us, 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

Karunasara takes us into the timeless world of the Dakini Vajrayogini, with an explanation of the symbolic meanings found in Tantric imagery and visualization of her, as well as an overview of her spiritual qualities. From the talk The Symbolic Meaning of Vajrayogini given at Aryaloka Buddhist Center, 2010. *** 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

We often think that our best defense is to protect ourselves with a barrier between ourselves and the world. On the contrary, the dakini has the complete realization that in the end there is nothing to defend. In enlightenment all we were ever defending was a pattern of defensiveness, you realize there was nothing to defend. From the talk entitled The Dakini & the Skull Garland by Subhadramati given at London Buddhist Centre, 2020. 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. This experience cannot be mediated by concepts; it needs to be evoked with the help of symbols. *** 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 by Sangharakshita recounts one of the stories from the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, that of The Episode of Untimely Flowers. Reflections based around the Buddha's Parinirvana ('death'), stress the importance of impermanence. From the lecture entitled Between Twin Sala Trees as part of the series Incidents from the Pali Canon,1983. *** 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

In this talk on the Buddha's parinirvana, Vadanya explores how we can use our imagination to have a real living connection with the Buddha, and how we can make our own future potential for enlightenment a source of strength and guidance in our present lives. From the talk Is the Buddha Dead - For Us given at a Men's Event, Padmaloka Retreat Centre, October 2011, as part of the series entitled Parinirvana Day. *** 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

Aryajaya tells the story of The Myth of the Return Journey from the Lotus Sutra in illustrating the meaning and symbolism of Vajrasattva who is associated with purity and the time of death. From the talk entitled Vajrasattva given at Cambridge 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

The Buddha was a human being who by his own efforts discovered the path towards Enlightenment and was able to communicate this path for others to follow. His life is full of stories that that are of relevance for those of us today who wish to follow the path towards Enlightenment. Manjurava  from a talk entitled Stories of Awakening: Parinirvana given at Cambridge Buddhist Centre, 2019, as part of Sub35s. This human life is precious an opportunity to awaken but this body is impermanent one day I shall die so this life I must know as a tiny splash of a raindrop a thing of beauty that disappears even as it comes into being. ~Tsongkapa   *** 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 Maha Parinirvana Sutra contains a fairly detailed account of the Buddha’s last months of his earthly life. It follows him step by step -- where he went, who he met, how he discoursed, what teaching he gave. By the time he embarked on his last journey he knew he was going to pass away. Being the Enlightened One, he remained calm, reflecting on his last words, his last teaching. Excerpted from the talk The Tantric Symbolism of the Stupa by Sangharakshita,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

There is something profoundly natural and ordinary about death, and yet something quite mysterious. Where do we go? What actually happens? Who or what are we when alive? Nothing changed, from the Buddha’s point of view. Vimalavajri offers reflections on the ultimate unknown, the ultimate mystery, death, inspired by the glimpses of awakening depicted in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta. Excerpted from the talk entitled The Way to the Beyond given at Bristol Buddhist Centre, 2016. *** 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  

Maitreyabandhu draws out the deeper meaning and finer detail of the poem entitled A Measuring Worm, by Richard Wilbur. In the full talk entitled A New Knowledge of Reality-Buddhism and Poetry, Maitreyabandhu discusses five different poems, each around the theme of death, with the final poem focusing on spiritual rebirth. By discussing the background of the poems and poets, the intricacies of their structure, and bringing in a Buddhist interpretation of the themes raised in the poems, Maitreyabandhu shows us the importance and profundity of poetry and how it can help us to explore Dharmic themes more deeply. Talk given on a special evening at Padmaloka Retreat Centre during the System of Dharma Training retreat in December 2018. a measuring worm :: richard wilbur This yellow striped green Caterpillar, climbing up The steep window screen, Constantly (for lack Of a full set of legs) keeps Humping up his back. It’s as if he sent By a sort of semaphore Dark omegas meant To warn of Last Things. Although he doesn

A well read poem can help us deepen our understanding of Buddhist principles. Achala shares his practice of reflecting on impermanence through poetry. In this Dharmabyte we hear two poems. The first is entitled “Life” by Sangharakshita, the second entitled “Letter to a Nobleman in Kyoto” by Kukai, (774-835 CE), Japanese poet, scholar, painter, engineer, and great Buddhist teacher. Translated into Marathi by Amitayush. Excerpted from the talk entitled Poems On Impermanence given at Bordoran Retreat Centre, 2012. The English version were changed from their original rendition to enable easier translation. Although the poems do not purport to convey the exact meaning of their original English renditions, I think they still work well as poetry. *** 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

We want to be free from suffering and to become free we need to transform ourselves. How do that? Singhamati describes three paths for transformation: self development, self discovery and self surrender. Each path helping us to turn towards and transform different parts of ourselves. In this track we hear about the path of Self-Development. Excerpted from the talk entitled Three Paths to Transformation: Self Development, Self Discovery, Self Surrender given at Sangha Night at the Birmingham 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  

Classic Sangharakshita  from the Aspects of the Higher Evolution of the Individual series given in 1970. Tackling such terms as self, I, individual, and ego, reveals that each can have both a positive and a negative connotation. What is the self, and how can we cultivate true Individuality? Excerpted from the talk Individuality , True and Self. *** 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

Amaragita offers three principles for considering the possibilities of deepening into the Dharma in any situation, and they are are worth remembering - or as she says, remembering to remember! Great, gently radical words that are bold enough to imagine and even assume the possibility of a more compassionate future for all beings. From the talk entitled The Possibility of Practice given as part of the 2015 Mothers Retreat at Taraloka Retreat Centre, 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

Working in the world is a game, and like any game, we need to know the rules in order to play it. In this talk, Arthavadin presents his personal experience of working in the world, from a Buddhist perspective, using a series of clear models and vivid images. From the talk entitled Getting Real given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, Men's Event, January 2012. ***   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  

Life's unfair, what can we do about it? We can practice the Dharma and follow the Buddha's teachings. Kalyanaprabha's sober yet uplifting talk encourages us to do just that. Excerpted from the talk entitled What to do in an Unfair World given at Birmingham 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