Bodhisattvas work tirelessly and heroically to create a Buddhafield for the benefit of all beings. Padmavajra explores the opening verses of the Dhammapada and their far reaching implications including how we create not only our own happiness or suffering through our actions, but also how we create worlds, worlds of suffering or worlds conducive to human growth and even freedom. Talk given during the February Great Gathering weekend at Padmaloka Retreat Centre , 2020. *** Help keep FBA free for ...
Jun 19, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 514
Parami introduces our four-fold lineage and shows how the lineage of inspiration underpins them all. Now that Bhante has died our responsibility to keep this flame burning is more important than ever. This talk is part of the series Talks from Women's Private Preceptors' Retreat given at Adhisthana , 2019. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dharma inspiration, t wo times a week! Follow our blog for news and ne...
Jun 12, 2021•49 min•Ep. 513
In the first weeks after his Enlightenment, the Buddha stayed alone near the Bodhi tree, assimilating his profound discovery and enjoying its bliss. But from the first moment he encountered another human being, the force of his compassion led him to revolt against the social hierarchies of his day. In this impassioned talk at the London Buddhist Centre 's 2021 Buddha Day celebrations, Subhuti explores the nature of social conditioning. In doing so, he calls for greater efforts to understand diff...
Jun 05, 2021•59 min•Ep. 512
Vajragupta considers how the sangha reaches out into the world, looking at three areas: loving-kindness and common humanity, community and service, and wisdom in an age of information overload. A talk given on an online weekend retreat with Croydon Buddhist Centre , 2020. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dharma inspiration, t wo times a week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Face...
May 29, 2021•57 min•Ep. 511
Vidyatara shares her reflections on practice during a time of Lockdown as part of the Birmingham Buddhist Centre's year on the 8-fold path (2021). She particularly evokes and draws on the classic teaching of Bahiya and asks how to apply it to these conditions. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dharma inspiration, t wo times a week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on ...
May 22, 2021•40 min•Ep. 510
Arthapriya explores the characteristics of a person who is a good communicator - having empathy for others, deeply listening, and drawing each other out into deeper presence with one another. This is a talk given as part of the Year of Spiritual Community talks at Cambridge Buddhist Centre , 2014. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dharma inspiration, t wo times a week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma ...
May 15, 2021•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 509
In this moving and rousing talk, Dhammachari Amoghasiddhi illustrates how the Dhamma can radically transform people's lives, liberating them from a hellish existence, particularly in India. Using the examples of his own life, as well as the lives of Bhante Sangharakshita, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and others, he explains that if we want to live a meaningful life, we must open up to the suffering of others and do everything we can to help alleviate their suffering. Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Cen...
May 08, 2021•53 min•Ep. 508
Is there an inner attitude we can adopt that will naturally lead to the creation of Sangha? Satyadhara poses this question - and addresses it - in his talk on the second Mainland Europe Young Buddhist Convention. He shares his personal experience of being in a small Sangha near Frankfurt in Germany, and draws upon Asangha's Yogacharabhumi to explore the conditions necessary for building Sangha. Talk given on the second Mainland Europe Young Buddhist Convention in Valencia, Spain, in July 2018. *...
May 01, 2021•34 min•Ep. 507
Bhadra offers this insightful and thorough exploration of the Five Buddha Mandala through the lens of the gap between feeling and craving. Here we are able to transform the mental poisons (illustrated by the six realms) into the Wisdom of the each of the Five Buddhas. Talk given at Bristol Buddhist Centre , 2017, the last in a series on the Wheel of Life. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dharma inspiration, ...
Apr 24, 2021•46 min•Ep. 506
Vajrasattva is associated with purity and with the time of death. Aryajaya helps us to engage more deeply with the meaning and symbolism of Vajrasattva. Talk given at Cambridge Buddhist Centre , 2017. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dharma inspiration, t wo times a week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud...
Apr 17, 2021•36 min•Ep. 505
Once again at the Centre of the Mandala, we meet Vairocana. How do we balance the teachings of effort and openness? One way is through the image of the Sun and relaxed being, the practice of the Dharma is simply to come back. Yet, of course, this requires effort. Another question is the balance between practical and mythical approaches: Can we hold both at once? What do we give significance to? What do we make real ? Can we open to a world of richer and deeper meaning? Vessantara gave this talk ...
Apr 10, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 504
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. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Be...
Apr 03, 2021•45 min•Ep. 503
Saddhaloka introduces us to Amitabha, the red Buddha of the West who represents and inspires the highest love of all... Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, Winter Retreat, 1997. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dharma inspiration, t wo times a week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud...
Mar 27, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 502
Kusalasara evokes the jeweled born Buddha of the South, Ratnasambhava – golden yellow in color bringing messages of generosity, abundance and beauty. This talk is part of the series The Symbolic World of the Five Buddha Mandala given at the London Buddhist Centre's 2019 Winter Retreat. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dharma inspiration, t wo times a week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitt...
Mar 20, 2021•54 min•Ep. 501
Settle back and touch base with this very enjoyable and, at times, inspiring talk by Saddharaj a 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...
Mar 13, 2021•51 min•Ep. 500
Imagine being with the Buddha, imagine the emotional effect of being that close to the Buddha. Bodhinaga draws out stories from the life of the Buddha that point to the importance of imagination as we engage with our aspiration for Enlightenment. This talk is part of the series entitled Faces of Enlightenment given at Sheffield Buddhist Centre , 2019. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dharma inspiration, t wo...
Mar 06, 2021•57 min•Ep. 499
What memories stay with you year after year? Which breath do you wish you could take again? Whose smile is the most beautiful? What is this love that you talk about? Saraha returns to Birmingham to speak at Sangha Night, having taught the Dharma there previously for over a decade before moving to Ecodharma in Spain a few years ago. In this talk he speaks with his usual passion and inspiration, illuminating many questions for further reflection on what is of value in our lives. Talk given in 2019...
Feb 27, 2021•50 min•Ep. 498
How might we respond, as Buddhists, to the emerging environmental crises facing the planet? Starting from where his earlier talk, "Saying Goodbye to the Earth," leaves off, Gunopeta explores the implications of what happens when we open our hearts to our deep emotional response to these crises. With the aid of guided meditation, poetry, ritual, and our felt connection to nature and the holiness of place, we can learn to "touch the Earth with love." From this, we enter into a relationship with th...
Feb 20, 2021•46 min•Ep. 497
The Karaniya Metta sutta is the focus for Parami's exploration of working with anger, working with polarisation in our relationships and in the world. She uses the lesson of the extremes in this current moment in history as a launching pad for insight into the nature of love. She gave this talk to the gathered Triratna Buddhist Community in Scotland at their New Year gathering online. It has the flavour of a call to practice and to give closer attention to how we relate with those we love and th...
Feb 13, 2021•34 min•Ep. 496
In this talk, Satyakirti explores a set of ways through which we can work with fear in our practice, particularly through love and friendship. Using the Angulimala Sutta as an example, he explains how even the greatest fears can be overcome, and how a Buddha is entirely free from fear. Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre in December 2019 as part of the Sub35s 'Fearless Love' retreat. This talk is part of the series Fearless Love . *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today....
Feb 06, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 495
Amritamati talks about how we can practice simplicity in our lives: whatever our lifestyle is or whatever we want our lifestyle to be, from parenting to becoming a celibate 'Anagarika'. This talk was given on a weekend retreat at Tiratanaloka Retreat Centre for women who are training for Ordination, 2014. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dharma inspiration, t wo times a week! Follow our blog for news and new...
Jan 30, 2021•58 min•Ep. 494
Karunagita , author of A Path for Parents (Windhorse publications 2005), gave this talk at the first weekend retreat for mothers held at Taraloka Retreat Centre , 2014. Here, she introduces the gifts of parenting, including the development of patience, maturity, opening to love and the development of wisdom through direct experience of the three laksanas, as well as the inherent challenges such as lack of time and how they can be approached. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporte...
Jan 23, 2021•51 min•Ep. 493
If a talk could ever be described as beautifully bracing, this is it! Amaragita brings a sharp-edged mind and a long-term perspective to the whole question of what practice is. As you might expect, she also brings humour, warmth and kindness too, qualities that more than balance out the penetrating clarity and sometimes challenging questioning underpinning this exploration of the possibility of practice - for all and especially for those raising families at any stage of life. Amaragita offers th...
Jan 16, 2021•37 min•Ep. 492
The Imaginal Faculty....what is it and why does it matter in our spiritual lives? Taravandan a offers a personal perspective on her journey and experience of it in her practice. She offers guidance and pointers on how to open up further to the Imaginal Faculty in our own practice. A talk given as part of a day for women training for ordination, Manchester Buddhist Centre , 2017. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces...
Jan 09, 2021•49 min•Ep. 491
Here, Ratnaprabha discusses the value of using images and the imagination to become more emotionally involved in practice. Is an image of a Buddha or Bodhisattva used in meditation real or not? Talk given at West London Buddhist Centre , 2015. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dharma inspiration, t wo times a week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud...
Jan 02, 2021•53 min•Ep. 490
A self-proclaimed 'doctrine follower', Nagasuri challenges herself to speak on the basis of her faith in the Buddha,and does so with moving eloquence. Personal, full of devotion, she shares over 30 years of being in contact with the Buddha and explains how the grace of the Buddha's blessings has opened her heart time and time again. Talk given at the Women's International Order Convention 2011. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - ...
Dec 26, 2020•58 min•Ep. 489
In this talk Padmavajra contemplates Beauty in different areas of Dharma life, including the beauty of people, of ethics, of friendship, community and 'institutions', and of wisdom. He also looks at the relationship between metta, formless beauty and the yidam, as well as knowing what beauty really is and 'the pregnant man'. This talk was given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre during the Spring Short Order retreat in March 2019. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe...
Dec 19, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 488
Starting with a story from the Rastrapalapariprccha-Sutra, Vajratara draws out the significance of Sangharakshita's paper on the Fourth Laksana. This is the path of beauty, from contemplation of ugliness to the gateway of liberation called 'the beautiful'. To be on the path of beauty, we don't merely enjoy beauty, we have to surrender ourselves to that beauty. Talk given at Tiratnaloka Retreat Centre , 2019. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe to our Dharmaby...
Dec 12, 2020•47 min•Ep. 487
How will you conceive of yourself as becoming like the Buddha? Saccanama explores the three myths of spiritual life, that of self-development, that of self-surrender, and that of self-discovery. Recorded at the Swedish Summer Retreat at Dharmagiri , July 2019. This talk is part of the series 'To Place the Heart Upon' - Exploring Faith in Buddhism . *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dharma inspiration, t wo ti...
Dec 05, 2020•52 min•Ep. 486
Subhuti considers the significance of Sangha day falling on the cusp of winter, and the importance of the seasons in human life. He recalls the genesis of Sangha day from the time of the Buddha, and considers it's relevance for us here in the 21st century. Ultimately Subhuti focus on the Sangha jewels itself; its vital importance for the individual practitioner and as a real sign of hope for this world. Talk given for the Sangha Day Celebration at London Buddhist Centre , 2012. *** Help keep FBA...
Nov 28, 2020•59 min•Ep. 485
