Pain and Suffering is the first of two talks that Ratnaguna gave earlier this year at the Stockholm Buddhist Centre. He explores the whole area of feeling, both pleasant and painful, but especially the pain side of the spectrum. Using storytelling, poetry, and clear Dharma teaching, Ratnaguna asks, "What kind of life are you living if you are not really in your body? When you resist the pain, you resist everything." When we face our own suffering, then we find something else… a deep sense of wis...
May 12, 2010•1 hr
The 'Just Sitting' practice has been part of the FWBO's system of meditation since the very beginning yet is not often discussed and not always understood. Here Subhuti gives his own inspiring and brilliantly refreshing take on the practice as a central element in his own meditative life. A must-listen piece for all those enthused by ideas of formal and 'formless' meditation – 'Just Hear' it and you"ll see what we mean!...
Sep 14, 2009•40 min
This is the first in a series of talks from the Western Buddhist Order Convention in 2001 offering different perspectives on the Abhidharma and exploring from a personal perspective what the study of the 51 Mental Events can tell us about our minds and how they work. Based on the classic Tibetan text 'Necklace of Clear Understanding', this is a terrific, clear introduction by Dhammadinna to the whole area of how to 'Know Your Mind'. Tracked version includes the following detail: 1. Lineage of ma...
May 24, 2009•48 min
Time to bring the picture on the FWBO's relations with other Buddhists bang up-to-date with this splendid excursion over the common ground Buddhists share in the 21st century, and also through the diverse practice landscapes they continue to explore in their own approaches to the Dharma. As a basis Dhammarati looks at the FWBO's own grounding in tradition, and encourages us all at root to look continually to our own practice as we make the great journey from suffering to an expansive sense of li...
Jan 30, 2009•51 min
This recording of songs from the Asvagosha project troupe is a real find in the Dharmachakra Archives . The Asvagosha project was set up in India in the early 1990s as a way of developing cultural activities among poor 'ex-Untouchable' communities in slums and rural areas. Teams of performers visit the localities and put on performances of sketches and specially composed songs. The shows reflect the concerns that are uppermost in the minds of the people from these communities- issues such as alc...
Sep 30, 2008•38 min
Here's a forthright and passionate talk , taking as its starting point the great contemporary Tibetan teacher (sometimes also written 'Chatral Sangye Dorje') and his relationship to practice in the FWBO via his giving of the Green Tara practice to Sangharakshita. The main focus, however, is the need to practice the Dharma for others as part of a meaningful community, and Vajratara argues her case with a balance of down-to-earth humour and uncompromising vision. Tracked version includes the follo...
Sep 04, 2008•46 min
The teachings that Ratnaguna explores in this talk are all from the Sutta Nipata â€" one of the earliest of Buddhist texts. His sub-title is the rather intriguing: 'The Dharma before Buddhism'. You might say that when it comes to the Sutta Nipata, the Buddha is very clearly telling it like it is. Well, so does Ratnaguna! In the opening remarks (which, unfortunately, were not recorded) he likens these suttas in their profound scope and effect to the simpicity and purity of Bach's violin sonatas a...
Jun 29, 2008•44 min
Another excellent talk , from the Buddhafield project. Amaragita takes a look at Buddhist practice in the light of parenting, and has a lot of good things to say about the everyday business of staying with our experience, embracing the hard bits and releasing the joy. As an added bonus, listen for some lovely singing throughout! Talk given at the Buddhafield Festival in 2006. To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation ....
May 02, 2008•35 min
A lovely talk this month , from the excellent Dhivan. Be prepared for the odd surprise as he considers the relationship between what we think we may know about the Buddha, and what the historical evidence suggests. As Dhivan sifts the information that's come down to us, we meet several different versions of a human being as he blurs with the archetypal presence he has also come to represent. Yet whichever manifestation we prefer, more than anything this talk brings us face to face with the rich ...
Jan 30, 2008•26 min
Happy Holidays, Everyone ! So, this is as close as we could get to a Christmas edition… You know, 'Buddha Nature – easily confused for 'incarnation', all that… No? Oh, well, what this most definitely is is an absolute cracker of a talk from Sagaramati. A brilliant, scholarly-but-accessible, look at the origins and development of the Tathagatagarbha (Buddha Nature) school of Buddhist thought through the lense of early Buddhist scripture. Many misunderstandings are addressed as Sagaramati (aka. Pr...
Dec 26, 2007•53 min
Ok, buckle up. 'Padmasambhava' by Danavira is, as we've come to expect from the man, a rollicking ride of a talk. Actually, 'talk' doesn't really do it justice: try incantation, wrong-footing evocation, dramatic monologue and enactment through storytelling, with a good dose of chanting and singing thrown in – some planned, some spontaneous. Sprinkle in a healthy quotient of hilarity and excitement and you've pretty much got yourself a knock-out, world-spinning excursion into the magical realism ...
Nov 01, 2007•1 hr 5 min
Over here, Clemenza! Ever wanted to know about 'General Systems Theory' – one of those subjects you always hear vague things about yet never quite know what it actually is? Ever wondered why we seem to love a good gangster? Well, then this is for you! To tell the truth, we would have picked this anyway for the podcast because the title was just so good! But it happens to be an excellent and very full short talk by Khemasuri on a growing area of contemporary Buddhist philosophical thought. This o...
Sep 04, 2007•30 min
This is another great talk from the 'Dharma Warriors' series given at the Buddhafield Festival 2006. Karunagita is the author of 'Growing as a Parent – What Buddhism Has to Offer', and here she presents some of that material to an audience of summer loving practitioners under the blue skies of Devon. Settle back and enjoy the sound of drums, kids' voices, and Karunagita's perspectives on the challenges and opportunities of raising a child as part of your practice of the Dharma. She encourages us...
Jul 24, 2007•24 min
A short but sweet talk from San Francisco's very own Suvarnaprabha, in which she explores the Buddhist vision of compassion through her own experience of meditation and contact with inmates within the U.S. prison system. Moving stuff. Talk given at the Western Buddhist Order convention, 2005 Contents 01 Survanaprabha – poem by Jimmy Santiago Baca; a personal interest in violence 02 Violence as resistance in meditation; compassion as not resisting experience 03 Prisoners talking about self-perpet...
Jun 04, 2007•18 min
Time for another talk from Vajradarshini. More poetry, more Rumi, more listening joy. Actually, we just liked the title so much we had to go for it this month – but, in fact, it's another splendid journey around the idea of Enlightenment, using the languages of surrender and discipline from the Sufi context. It's as heady as a sumptuous wine, but also sobering and down to earth, whether we're "following a railing in the dark" or walking lost "inside the red world". Drink up! Talk given at Taralo...
Apr 27, 2007•53 min
Here is the second part of Paramabandhu's excellent exploration of the lessons Buddhist techniques around meditation and mindfulness training can bring to the field of mental health – especially to problems with depression and addiction. Drawing on many years of experience as a consultant psychiatrist and Dharma teacher, here he takes questions on his previous talk and elaborates on the general theme. There's a wide range of material opened up – and considerable detail about how we can actually ...
Feb 27, 2007•34 min
This is a timely and invaluable talk from Paramabandhu. Drawing on many years of experience as a consultant psychiatrist and Dharma teacher, he invites us to consider the lessons Buddhist techniques around meditation and mindfulness training can bring to the field of mental health – especially to problems with depression and addiction. The talk evokes the Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta to explore the four traditional foundations of mindfulness and discuss their potential use in therapeutic con...
Feb 23, 2007•41 min
Settle back and touch base with this very enjoyable and, at times, inspiring talk by Saddharaja on the great blue Buddha of the eastern quarter of the mandala – the Unshakeable One, the Imperturbable Akshobya. This is particularly good because it departs from standard fare on the figure. We get a great reading from Wordsworth, a stimulating discussion of ethics and their relationship to issues of doubt and self-confidence, as well as a meeting with a wooly mammoth… Listen out too for a terrific ...
Feb 01, 2007•41 min
This wonderful talk by Ratnaguna looks at the Pureland tradition of Shinran, comparing some of his approaches to those of the contemporary teacher John Kabat-Zinn, pioneer of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. The nature of 'problems' versus 'difficulties' is explored – notions of 'acceptance', 'development', and awareness itself are considered from new angles that can shed light on our experience of failure and suffering. A lovely, sympathetic and good-natured look at the foolishness of human ...
Jan 04, 20070
To get us moving again now the new site is up and running, here's a cracking and wonderfully detailed talk by Vessantara, author of 'Meeting the Buddhas'. He is the ideal person to introduce us to the complex and fascinating Tantric figure of Vajrapani – 'Lord of Secrets', embodiment of "virya' ('Energy in Pursuit of the Good'). Vessantara's style is familiar and well-earthed, and therefore eminently suited to material that bristles with electricity and is not always so easy to communicate. We g...
Dec 05, 2006•1 hr 17 min
We're totally thrilled to announce the launch of Free Buddhist Audio , the new, free download and streaming service from The Dharmachakra Archives. If you've been enjoying our podcasts, you'll love this! The site features over 500 free recordings – mostly talks, but also guided meditations, retreat recordings, question-and-answer sessions and interviews! There's also a very extensive searchable text archive of seminars and talks on all aspects of Buddhist practice and culture, western and easter...
Nov 30, 20060
This is pretty fantastic in its way. Danavira is one of the best speakers we know – he is very funny, can do poetic and profound, tends to the chaotic in his style, and has a particular genius for this kind of thing; this kind of thing being talking about death. The whole talk is a kind of respectful joyride through the hardest subject of all – sit back and enjoy a thoroughly adult treat that's likely to blow the heart wide open. To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation ....
Nov 02, 2006•1 hr 6 min
Kamalashila has spent a lot of his adult life exploring meditation – and this talk is a lovely little foray into the whole subject as a crucial aspect in life and practice, with special consideration given to reflection on the six elements. Oh, and look out for Brian the meditating dog… Table of contents: 01 Brian, the meditating dog, and the natural life; experience of the elements versus artificial living 02 Meditation exposing artificiality through awareness of experience; meditation as a kin...
Oct 09, 2006•56 min
Vaddhaka can usually be relied on to give a pretty great talk – and this is no exception. Here we have a real treat – a terrific, energetic exploration of the green Buddha of the north: Amoghasiddhi (Dundubishvara), the Unobstructed One. This is kind of a multi-media affair – listen for the 13th Century Spanish processional music in honour of the Virgin, and a blast of Sibelius too! Marvellous. Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, winter retreat 2001 Please note that some small noise artefact...
Sep 08, 2006•36 min
This is a fascinating , challenging and, in the end, realistically affirming look at Buddhist practice in the face of global climate crisis. What can we do? How can we change the ways we think and respond to the seemingly insurmountable problems the planet faces? Akuppa's thoughtful introduction to the worlds of scientific and deep ecology asks us the hard questions and offers some hope for possible answers. Drawing on the work of Joanna Macy, amongst others, he traces positive lessons to be lea...
Jul 03, 20060
This is a gem of a talk from Abhaya. With his customary dry wit and sharp eye he leads us on the crazy paving path through the Diamond Sutra â€" a text guaranteed to turn your world upside-down. Some very funny parts to this talk â€" and some excellent evocations of rigorous Dharma practice as part of the everyday business of life. Watch out too for an intriguing discussion of the sutra as Vajrapani and as a zen master… Great stuff! To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation...
May 30, 20060
Jnanavaca is back! Last time it was mountaineering (see our very first podcast), this time it's Einstein, Schroedinger, double slits, and all that stuff you wished you understood about quantum physics but despaired of ever knowing so as to impress at parties… Well, now you can learn all about it â€" as well as how it relates to Dharma practice and the Buddha's view of a truly luminous Reality. Very classy stuff from a great speaker with the most infectious laugh on the planet! We won't give any ...
May 17, 20060
The Buddha as lover , as master of enchantments, as a vision of the sky. In this talk, Candradasa presents the story of the Buddha's life as a backdrop to three visions of practice, focussing on a progression through love and corresponding to the traditional path of ethics, meditation and wisdom. Myth, dream and archetypal images galore â€" from Jung and Star Wars to Giacometti and Jean Genet â€" as well as a healthy dose of sex, magic and death. But finally, we have the Buddha simply as a visio...
Apr 05, 2006•1 hr 7 min
Core meditation teaching from Viveka. Here is her fresh and vibrant take on the traditional practice of anapanasati – mindfulness with breathing. Using the breath as a stabilizing presence, this series of reflections is designed to help us discover the nature of reality itself by encouraging us to notice what is actually happening each moment in a direct and open way. Anapanasati is a complete path to awakening or enlightenment. To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation ....
Mar 10, 20060
Lalitavira's splendid talk on mindfulness – especially mindfulness of the body – is here to ground you! Through vivid imagery, we encounter the root practice of Buddhism as it appears in earliest times. In doing so, we contemplate the assumptions behind our experience, as well as those behind traditional dharma practice and philosophy. This is good, strong medicine for flighty times – an unflinching but kindly look at death, sex and the nature of things! To help us keep this free, please think a...
Feb 14, 20060
