How do we keep our meditation alive and fresh - especially over the long-term? Can we get lost and bogged down in our meditation and lose connection with creativity, play, and freshness? How do we go deeper? Responding to these questions, Vajragupta (m) looks at the Four Iddhipadas - the four 'powers' or 'means of accomplishment' taught by the Buddha. These are: desire, discernment, heart/mind, and resolve. They are both four ingredients of a creative meditation practice, and they also draw out ...
Oct 07, 2023•26 min•Ep. 634
This is a great introduction to the basic Buddhist methods of working with doubts based on unhelpful confusion, in meditation and in general practice. Padmadaka explores the relationship between doubt and suffering, and highlights the ways in which we can have and hold our genuine questionings, while working through the habits and tendencies that can hold us back in our lives. Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre , 2005. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On ...
Sep 30, 2023•43 min•Ep. 633
Dhivan discusses the Discourse on the Not-Self Characteristic or Anattalakkhana Sutta (also known as the Discourse to the Group of Five or Pañcavaggiya Sutta), believed to be the second discourse given by the Buddha. This talk was given at Bristol Buddhist Centre , 2017, as part of the series Discourses from the Pali Canon . *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads a...
Sep 23, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 632
Superficiality is acting from the surface of ourselves without thoroughness or care. We act from the intellect but not from our emotional depths. In this talk Akashamitra looks at how superficiality arises from an internally divided state of mind. He points the way to a more wholesome practise of the Dharma through a focus on personal transformation as the goal of everything we do. Talk given at London Buddhist Centre , 2019, as part of the series 'The Taste of Freedom' Revisited . *** Subscribe...
Sep 15, 2023•55 min•Ep. 631
Sangharakshita goes to Buddhafield! A first for him, and a first for the fabulous Buddhafield Festival that takes place each year at the height of the English summer. This talk was given in a tent in Devon - and the sounds of this great Dharma celebration are everywhere around as Sangharakshita marks his entry to the 'Dharma Parlour' with a rolling set of thoughts and reminiscences and encouragements to practice. We move from India at the time of the peaceful revolution of 'untouchable' caste Hi...
Sep 09, 2023•33 min•Ep. 630
Devotion and prayer, ritual and freedom, engagement and tradition, Bodhidasa explores the fascinating meanings behind our common traditions in modern Buddhism - from tea and tim-tams to puja, chanting and offering. Sourcing the Pali canon, Bodhidasa discusses the Three Fetters, and the pitfalls of superficiality, habit and vagueness that can hinder our progress on the path. How do we relate to blessing and purity in the spiritual life? Through a sense of reverence and engagement with symbol, can...
Sep 02, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 629
Kamalashila describes the types of Shraddha (confidence, faith or esteem), and their place in Buddhist practice. Talk for Sangha Night at the West London Buddhist Centre , 2016. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week....
Aug 26, 2023•21 min•Ep. 628
Saddhanandi riffs off a talk that Sangharakshita gave to the Buddhist Society in 1975 entitled 'Enlightenment as Experience and Non-Experience'. She reflects on the content as well as the context, just what was happening with these early lectures by Sangharakshita, just six years after the first ordinations. Given on retreat at Adhisthana , 2022. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week....
Aug 19, 2023•43 min•Ep. 627
Vajragupta (m) explores the power of ideas to shape us, our lives and world, and even human history. As Buddhism comes to the West, is it taken on in a way that seems to fit with certain prevailing ideas and assumptions in our culture? What ideas and world-views lead to Enlightenment and the fullest expression of human potential, and what ideas and world-views may hinder? A talk fizzing with ideas to make you think and wonder… Part of the series What Is Nirvana and Do We Really Want to Get There...
Aug 12, 2023•45 min•Ep. 626
Vidyapala draws on various Pali suttas, and the Buddha's own life, to suggest ways we might move from suffering to faith in this talk given at Manchester Buddhist Centre , 2023. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week....
Aug 05, 2023•54 min•Ep. 625
Drawing upon the myths in the life of the Buddha Satyapara explores the role the body plays when we take up Buddhist practice. She describes the Buddha as a child under a rose apple tree being deeply in touch with his surrounding and when calling upon the earth he gains confidence in his practice and overcomes his doubts. With these stories Satyapara invites us to trust our body. Given in Cambridge , UK, in the Young People's Evening, 2016. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Ap...
Jul 29, 2023•31 min•Ep. 624
Bodhivajra talks about Enlightenment in a direct and very down-to-earth way, making the whole notion of Enlightenment more accessible, approachable, and relevant. Norwich Buddhist Centre , May 2015. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration th...
Jul 25, 2023•39 min•Ep. 623
Space, white light and the wisdom of the Dharmadhatu: Maitrivajri explores the qualities of Akasadatesvari. This talk was given on a retreat at Taraloka Retreat Centre on the Mandala of the Five Female Buddhas, 2016. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-si...
Jul 15, 2023•33 min•Ep. 622
Suryagupta concludes the five Buddha mandala with a talk on the historical Buddha and on Vairocana. In this talk Suryagupta weaves the story of the historical Buddha with themes from her own life and in doing so encourages us to honour the bigger questions of what it means to be alive. Using the Buddha as her example, Suryagupta invites us to step onto the path... and quest! This talk was given at the London Buddhist Centre , 2019, as part of the series The Symbolic World of the Five Buddha Mand...
Jul 08, 2023•52 min•Ep. 621
Dharmashalin explores the stupa, the different elements (earth, water, air, fire and space) and how we can work with them in our Dharma life. Dharmashalin gives several useful, funny and down-to-earth examples to help us pick the low hanging fruits in the spiritual life. This talk was given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre , 2022. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads ...
Jul 01, 2023•57 min
Through the lense of Upaya 'the skilful means' of the Bodhisattva, Parami explores the seemingly contradictory themes of withdrawal and engagement on the Bodhisattva path. She demonstrates how they are synthesised by drawing on the last four stages of the spiral / transcendental path and how they culminate in the arising of the bodhicitta! This talk was given at Glasgow Buddhist Centre, 2023 *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A f...
Jun 24, 2023•49 min•Ep. 619
What is a Pure Land? And how do you create one? What is the true meaning of the Buddhas skilful means. With characteristic aplomb Padmavajra unpacks the esoteric teachings of one of Buddhism's greatest Sutras. This talk was given at London Buddhist Centre , 2015. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: On Apple Pod...
Jun 17, 2023•56 min•Ep. 618
Kalyanaprabha introduces us to the world of the Mahayana. Through the Sutra of the Golden Light, we discover what a sutra is and even why it is relevant to us today. This talk was given at Birmingham Buddhist Centre , 2023. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk,...
Jun 10, 2023•44 min•Ep. 617
The Parables of the Rain Cloud, and the Parable of the Sun and Moon both tell us that spiritual development is an organic process of growth, and that the Dharma nourishes all impartially, though people follow different patterns of development. Sangharakshita delivered this talk as part of the series Parables, Myths and Symbols of Mahayana Buddhism in the White Lotus Sutra , 1971. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated...
Jun 03, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 616
Vijayamala addresses the 2022 UK & IE Triratna Buddhist Order convention, exploring what breaking through and seeing the nature of reality means for us as an Order. The Buddha went forth to seek an end to suffering, to go beyond what binds us to the samsaric world. The theme of this event also encompasses 'going beyond' and the ways in which we are approaching that as an Order. Part of the series Going Forth, Going Beyond: 2022 UK & Ireland Order Convention , 2022. *** Subscribe to our F...
May 27, 2023•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 615
Maitreyabandhu explores the path to insight in the context of Triratna's system of practice. He does this by exploring the three myths of self-development, self-surrender and self-discovery, as well as spiritual death and spiritual rebirth in the dharma life. Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre , 2019. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscri...
May 20, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 614
In this first of four talks on 'The Cosmic Mythic Vision of the Mahayana' Jvalamalini explores the faculties of mythos and logos, how they're conditioned by historical context, a suggestion from neuroscience about how imaginal practice might work, and how the integrated Imagination perceives wisdom beyond words. Talk given at Bristol Buddhist Centre , 2017. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, ...
May 13, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 613
Modern Dharma Challenges: Building Sangha in a rootless society with Subhuti . The third of three special evenings with Subhuti, the LBC's President and a renowned teacher of fifty years experience. What does a Buddhist life look like in practice? Where can we hope to get and what are the essential teachings that will get us there? Come along for meditation and a series of exciting new talks - a real highlight. Talk given at London Buddhist Centre , 2022. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio...
May 06, 2023•48 min•Ep. 612
Paradigms are the shared ideas in the minds of society, the deepest set of views and beliefs about how the world works. Dhammadinna draws on the teachings of Sangharakshita and applies her lived experience in the Triratna Buddhist Order to explore the first verse of the Dasadhamma Sutta - I am no longer living according to worldly aims and values. This is the second talk in a series of six entitled: The Order as Practice: Shifting Paradigms , given at Adhisthana , 2015, looking at how different ...
Apr 29, 2023•53 min•Ep. 611
In a London basement, fifty-one years ago a new Buddhist Movement was forged. Founded on the active principle behind an often empty ritual of 'Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels', this Movement has become a dynamic worldwide community of Buddhist practitioners. Just how did Sangharakshita, through the Triratna Community and Order, transform the recitation of the words 'I go for Refuge...' into a path of deeper meaning and purpose? Bodhidasa borrows symbols from Western Magickal traditions and ...
Apr 22, 2023•54 min•Ep. 610
"Tread softly because you tread on my dreams." In this talk, Viryadevi gives her take on what is asked of us when we commit to creating a buddhaland - a collective spiritual life together. Drawing on two of the myths that have shaped the life and imagination of the Order - the 1,000 Armed Alalokitesvara and Chapter 1 of the Vimalakirti Nirdesa - she asks whether things going wrong, either on an individual or personal level, have a place in our collective imagination. She also suggests ways that ...
Apr 15, 2023•57 min•Ep. 609
At the Order Convention in 1989 Nagabodhi gave a talk: 'Living in Interesting Times' in which he explored some of the challenges facing our Order in the coming years as our internal and external conditions changed. He returned to the theme at an Order event in 2003, and then most recently with this talk given at the Order Convention in 2016: "Living in Interesting Times; Now it's Really Getting Interesting". As well as reviewing whether any of his predictions came true, Nagabodhi outlines some t...
Apr 08, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 608
In this 2007 talk, Sangharakshita helps celebrate the 40th anniversary of the FWBO (as well as the 60th anniversary of his own 'Going Forth'). With characteristic clarity and conviction, he shares his reflections on the history of the Movement and Order he founded, as well as some pertinent thoughts on the future. If you've never heard him before - and just to put this in context - the first talk we have in our archive by Sangharakshita was given in 1965! And here we are, 40+ years on and still ...
Apr 01, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 607
Dharmadipa shares reflections on the third part of Dhardo Rimpoche's Motto 'Radiate Love'. Beginning with the significance of the Metta Bhavana meditation practice, he explores the Bodhisattva Ideal, connecting teachings from the "Mind Training" tradition with Shunyata and the Mahayana Sutras. Finally Dharmadipa explores how the three parts of the Motto hang together and support each other. Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre , 2021. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Apple ...
Mar 25, 2023•47 min•Ep. 606
This is a fine talk by Dayanandi on the essential relationship between meditation and the proper seeing of Reality, here described as an opening into the beauty and truth and reality of life itself. Given at the Taraloka/Tiratanaloka Great Gathering , 2000. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A f...
Mar 18, 2023•34 min•Ep. 605
