Free Buddhist Audio

Free Buddhist AudioIn this week’s FBA Podcast , Kamalashila introduces the fifth perfection: “Dhyana Paramita, the Perfection of Meditation.” Kamalashila is the author of ‘Buddhist Meditation: Tranquillity, Imagination, Insight’, an excellent manual on the practice of Buddhist meditation. Talk given at the West London Buddhist Centre, 2012.

Direct download: podcast150.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 7:21pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioIn this week’s FBA Podcast , “The Myth of Tristan and Iseult: Love, Transgression and Death,” Dhivan explores the origins and significance of the myth of Tristan and Iseult, relating it to the practise of Buddhism in the modern west.

The twelfth-century Cornish story of Tristan and Iseult has captivated imaginations and inspired poets, composers and artists ever since. What is it about this tale of a love potion and a doomed love, of adultery and lies, that is so fascinating?

The talk was given on 11 September 2008 at Cambridge Buddhist Centre, on the occasion of the launch of Urthona Magazine, issue 25.

Direct download: podcast149.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 7:56pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioThis week’s FBA Podcast , “Sangharakshita in Conversation with Kathleen Raine,” is a retro piece from the 1980s when ‘Independent Arts’ ran an ambitious and extremely impressive Arts program through the Croydon Buddhist Centre in London. Here’s a first offering from the archive of recordings – an open conversation between Sangharakshita, founder of the Western Buddhist Order, and the renowned poet and scholar Kathleen Raine, one of the founders of the Temenos Academy.

The occasion was the launch of Sangharakshita’s book ‘The Religion of Art’ – and the discussion ranges widely and, at times, controversially through the subject of the Arts considered as a vehicle for spiritual truths. It’s full of talking points and challenges to contemporary orthodoxies around art theory. But whatever one’s take on the views of the participants, this is a marvellous record of a unique meeting of minds.

Direct download: podcast148.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 7:35pm EDT

Free Buddhist Audio The Jungian commentator James Hillman suggested that ‘soul’ needs nurturing as well as ‘spirit’ in human life. Our FBA Podcast , “Poetry, Soulmaking and Meditation,” Paramananda uses deeply meaningful poems to show soulmaking in action, and explains how the process can be brought into your meditation practice.

Direct download: podcast147.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 9:43pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioOur FBA Podcast this week is a window into the ancient art of happiness. In “ Stop Buying Stuff and Learn How to Be Happy Instead,” Ratnaguna explores alternatives to buying more stuff and hooking up to more electronic gadgetry…

The Buddha repeatedly said that the only reason he taught was to alleviate suffering, and he in fact enumerated three level of happiness. This teaching is no longer simply an issue of personal growth – it has become vital to the future of our planet.

Talk given at Manchester Buddhist Center, 2011 in a series of free public talks, Buddhism and the Big Questions.

Direct download: podcast146.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 7:27pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioOur FBA Podcast this week, “The Buddha and Friendship,” by Vajratara, begins by looking at how the symbols of the individual spiritual journey is really a story about a network of relationships. Every symbol is born out of relationship.  It’s living tradition that gives confidence, it’s not about your own individual practice – your own individual practice is just a part of the Buddhist tradition and the Buddhist community.

With references to Indra’s Net, from the Avatamsaka Sutra, Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra and descriptions of the Bodhicitta, Vajratara delivers an inspiring and engaging look at how our collective practice is essential for the arising of the Bodhicitta.

Direct download: podcast145.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 7:03am EDT

Free Buddhist AudioOur FBA Podcast today, “People of Loving Kindness,” is a lovely talk from Padmavajra, given to celebrate Sangha Day in Birmingham. And who better to conjure the spirit of loving kindness as it permeates a community practising together and supporting each other in their great, shared endeavour.

Direct download: podcast144.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 7:43pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioOur FBA Podcast today, “Sangha in the Context of Contemporary Buddhism,” is from two of our speakers, Parami and Ratnaghosha. Together they deliver two excellent talks that reflect on the area of sangha from inner and outer perspectives respectively. How does the FWBO’s approach square up with that of other traditions? And how might we continue to work on our practice of sangha as an integral part of our personal practice of the Dharma. As usual from two of our most thoughtful speakers, there is much to consider here – in which any Buddhist will likely recognise the challenge and the joy.

This is the last in the series organised by ‘Dharmapala College’ to mark the 40th anniversary of the Western Buddhist Order. The series looked at the Order and the FWBO taken together – past and future: its own emphases, and its relationship to the whole Buddhist tradition…

Direct download: podcast143.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 7:39pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioOur FBA PodcastBuilding Sangha, Creating Harmony” is a beautiful talk by Vajrasara. Here she explores the value of spiritual community, ways to encourage fuller harmony, and the many opportunities in friendship for waking up.

Direct download: podcast142.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:20pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioOurFBA Podcast this week “Sangha As An Insight Practice,” is a thoughtful, inspirational and, in some places, challenging exploration of how Sangha can be a practice leading to Insight.

Please note: the last few minutes of this talk are missing, for a transcript see our description on freebuddhistaudio.com.

Direct download: podcast141.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:50pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioOur FBA Podcast is titled “Creating Sangha and Changing the World” – an inspirational exploration of the Third Jewel by Saddhaloka. He looks at the distinguishing role of Sangha, spiritual community, in the development and life of the Triratna Buddhist Order, and, in fact, in any kind of Buddhist spiritual life. Saddhaloka here is steady and thoughtful as ever…

Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2002

This is the first talk in the series of the same name. It touches on aspects of Sangharakshita’s ‘system of meditation’, and most specifically the area of positive emotion. Parami is an ideal guide for this sort of material, steeped as she is in study and practice engaged with in the light of the ‘Bodhichitta’, and the Bodhisattva Ideal itself.

Direct download: podcast140.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:33pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioOur FBA Podcast, this week is from the delightfully inspirational Parami titled “The Awakening Heart.”

This is the first talk in the series of the same name. It touches on aspects of Sangharakshita’s ‘system of meditation’, and most specifically the area of positive emotion. Parami is an ideal guide for this sort of material, steeped as she is in study and practice engaged with in the light of the ‘Bodhichitta’, and the Bodhisattva Ideal itself.

Parami is the International Women’s Order Convener for the Triratna Buddhist Order.

Direct download: podcast139.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:26pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioFBA Podcast, “The Alchemy of Wisdom,” Yashobodhi introduces the perfection of wisdom in a series on the Six Paramitas at a West London Buddhist Centre Sangha night in May 2012. Followed by questions and answers.

Direct download: podcast138.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:08pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioFBA Podcast, this week, “Conditionality and Meditation” is a talk by Vessantara who has just completed a three year, three month, three day retreat.

Conditionality is a central theme of the teaching of the Buddha, and it is very helpful to bring our understanding of it into the arena of our meditation practice. During this talk, Vessantara looks at how to set up good conditions for our meditation to unfold in a natural, expansive way. He also explores how to meditate on conditionality, so that we take our understanding of it deeper, until we know its truth in our bones, and conditionality becomes our natural way of seeing the world.

Talk given at the Bristol Buddhist Centre, 2012.

Direct download: podcast137.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:46pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioToday’s FBA Podcast, The Therigatha and the Problem of Self“by Dassini, takes us into the lives of the early bhikkunis. Two verses by elderly nuns, Dhamma and Citta, give rise to reflection on letting go of fixed self view as a major component of breaking through to Enlightenment.

Direct download: podcast136.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:09am EDT

Free Buddhist AudioFBA Podcast, “The Six Elements,” Ratnaprabha introduces us to earth, water, fire, air, space and consciousness as the mystery of human experience. He then describes how to use the elements in meditation and life.

Direct download: podcast135.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:40pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioFBA Podcast, “Continuous Spiritual Death – Continuous Spiritual Rebirth” Padmavajra speaks about the stages of spiritual death and rebirth, specifically how to prepare for them, how they can be seen in all the stages of the path, as well as where they lead.

Talk given on a Kula Gathering at Padmaloka, 2012.

Direct download: podcast134.mp3
Category:Dharmabytes -- posted at: 8:22pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioThis week’s FBA Podcast is a delightful talk by Danapriya titled: “Let your Inner Riches Shine.” Exploring the themes of generosity and abundance, we are led into the heart of Buddhist practice.

Direct download: podcast133.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:38pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioIn this week’s FBA PodcastDana – the Emotional Life of the Sangha,” Samacitta puts the practice of generosity under the microscope in this engaging talk on the first paramita.

When we perform an act of generosity, what exactly is happening? How does it relate to the development of Wisdom? Is there such a thing as purely mental generosity and how effective is it? This talk explains the ‘why’, ‘what’ and how’ of Dana-Paramita.

Direct download: podcast132.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:25pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioThis week’s FBA Podcast was first given on Lord Buddha TV in India. In “The Buddha’s Advice to a Banker” Subhuti talks about a conversation the Buddha had with his leading Lay disciple, who was one of the wealthiest men in North India. What makes him significant is that he was also recognised as a non-returner.

In this conversation the Buddha talks as prosperity, wealth and what makes for happiness. We see both his straight-forward common sense and his vision for the depth and meaning of human life. Although advice given two and a half thousand years ago it holds good today. It is not wealth that bring meaning to life but the qualities of your mind and the relationships around us.

This talk was given at the London Buddhist Centre

Direct download: podcast131.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:55pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioIn today’s FBA Podcast, “All In This Together – Is It Time For a Buddhist Economics?” Kavyasiddhi delivers beautifully in this first of a series of public talks at Manchester Buddhist Centre entitled ‘Buddhism and the Big Question‘.

Direct download: podcast130.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:33pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioOur FBA Podcast this week “The Alternative to God” is a very thought provoking talk by Maitreyabandhu. Does God exist or not? How do you know? A thoughtful and critical look at this age old question in light of the Buddha’s teachings.

Talk given at the London Buddhist Centre in November 2006.

Direct download: podcast129.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:04pm EDT

Free Buddhist Audio“The true revolutionary is guided by love.” (Che Guevara). In this weeks FBA Podcast, “Finding Freedom,” Amalaketu explores freedom through images and stories and the Chappanakopama sutta, the discourse on the simile of the 6 animals, and shows how Buddhism is the way to ultimate liberation.

Direct download: podcast128.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 9:29pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioThis week’s FBA Podcast is a quietly passionate talk by Jinapriya titled: “What is Enlightenment” – impossible to pin down and utterly transformative. His main theme within the frame of such a big question is the struggle to live our lives in the present moment, especially in the face of pain. We are met with a thoughtful series of reflections, stories and images that all look to open up the gates of perception, and prepare the heart for the biggest change imaginable and possible for all. In that sense, this is a truly optimistic talk.

Talk given at Cambridge Buddhist Centre, 2003

Direct download: podcast127.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 11:44pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioThis weeks FBA Podcast, “Songs of the Elder Sisters” is one of a series of talks on the Therigatha, the songs or poems of the nuns at the time of the Buddha. Here, Gunasiddhi gently explores the three themes of Going Forth, Friendship and Impermanence through these tender yet powerful stories.

Direct download: podcast126.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 9:16pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioIn celebration of the Buddha’s Turning of the Wheel of the Dharma, this week’s FBA PodcastThe Word of the Buddha” describes the various levels on which Enlightened Consciousness seeks to communicate itself to those who are unenlightened.

Talk given in 1972.

Direct download: podcast125.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:56pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioToday’s FBA Podcast, “The Jewel in the Lotus,” by Sraddhagita, is a beautiful down-to-earth exploration of the great central images of Mahayana Buddhism, usually associated with the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshavara.

This talk was given in 2007.

Direct download: podcast124.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:22pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioToday’s FBA Podcast, “A Personal Talk On the Bodhisattva Ideal” is just that – a moving and personal talk, by Vidyamala, given at the 25-year jubilee retreat (of FWBO activities in Stockholm) in a beautiful setting in the archipelago north of Stockholm, Sweden, September 2005.

Direct download: podcast123.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:59pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioHow do the Bodhisattvas enter the Dharma door of non-duality?Today’s FBA Podcast, “The Way of Non-Duality” explores this as one of the main themes in the Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra. Sangharakshita explains some of the dualities listed in the Sutra, gives some examples of his own (with tips on how to transcend them), and concludes with Vimalakirti’s ‘thunder-like silence’.

Talk given in 1979 as part of the series “The Inconceivable Emancipation – Themes from the Vimalakirti Nirdesha.

Direct download: podcast122.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:12pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioRatnaguna brings a fresh, clear-minded look at the Vimalakirti Nirdesa sutra in today’s FBA Podcast, where he asks: “Who Is Vimalakirti?” Exploring current writings and the thinking of Sangharakshita he offers a number of possibilities: Vimalakirti is a community of practitioners; he is the bodhisattva principle; the spiritual imperative; and both an inspiration and a rebuke.

Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2009

Direct download: podcast121.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:43pm EDT

Free Buddhist Audio In today’s FBA Podcast, 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, “Entering the Sangha” 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 Hindus, to the famed hot-tubs of the festival itself. And we are introduced to the first ‘three fetters’ from the Buddha’s teaching, the breaking of which will set us free. This is classic Sangharakshita – plenty to challenge and plenty to talk about around the fire afterwards.

With an excellent and thoughtful introduction by Kamalashila.

Talk given at the Buddhafield Festival, Devon 2007

Direct download: podcast120.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 10:09pm EDT

Free Buddhist Audio This week’s FBA Podcast is one of our Dharma Tape Detectives findings from the FBA Archives. “In Harmony with Friends and Brethren” by Srivati. What does it mean to be part of a Sangha? What does true harmony mean alongside the inevitability of conflict? Srivati addresses these questions with help from the monks at Kosambi, the six memorable qualities of a Bikkhu, and the seven knowledges of the stream entrant.

Direct download: podcast119.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:39pm EDT

Free Buddhist Audio In today’s FBA Podcast, “The Defects and Dangers of Samsara,” Dharmacharini Maitreyi looks at pleasure and suffering in the context of samsara – compassionate responses to self and other, and how to loosen the bonds…

Talk given at Tiratanaloka Retreat Centre, 2005 as part of the series “The Four Mind-Turning Reflections.”

Direct download: podcast118.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 9:26pm EDT

Free Buddhist Audio This week’s FBA Podcast , “Tibetan Book the Dead: Talk 1 – The Six Bardos“, is an extraordinary talk by Padmavajra exploring the great text that reveals the realms between death and new life, where anything is possible in the Bardo – the ‘intermediate state’. From the first talk in the series “Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol).”

Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, winter retreat, 2005

Direct download: podcast117.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 9:56pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioToday, on the full moon of May, we celebrate the Buddha’s Awakening, his full and perfect Enlightenment. Our FBA Podcast is a passionate look at our true nature and our deepest yearnings. “The Ideal of Human Enlightenment“, by Sangharakshita, was given in 1975 and is as relevant now as it was then.

Direct download: podcast116.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 9:00pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioIn this week’s FBA Podcast,”Enlightenment as Heart, Life as Whole,” Saddhanandi takes us through a set of very thought-provoking reflections. She is forthright about the difficulties and joys of cultivating faith in the Dharma and makes very plain the consequences we can expect in our life as and when that faith arises. The talk is peppered with examples from her own practice. The audience clearly appreciates her sense of humour – which is often at her own expense.

The event was recorded in a very large marquee on a rainy day and despite that the sound quality is still OK!

Given at Taraloka, May 2005. The companion talk to this one is Vajradarshini’s “We Have a Huge Barrel of Wine, But No Cups”

Direct download: podcast115.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 11:29pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioThis weeks FBA Podcast, “The Significance of the Buddha’s Enlightenment” is a talk by Sona given at Manchester Buddhist Centre on Buddha Day, 9th May 2009.

Direct download: podcast114.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 11:54pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioThis weeks FBA Podcast, “On the Threshold of Enlightenment” is part of the pivotal by “Aspects of the Bodhisattva Ideal” series delivered by Sangharakshita in 1969. This lecture describes dhyana (meditation), and prajna (Wisdom), the fifth and sixth perfections.

Direct download: podcast113.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 11:23pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioThis weeks FBA Podcast, is a recording of a question and answer session with Sangharakshita at the Croydon Buddhist Centre in 2004. “An Evening with Sangharakshita” is a lovely introduction to the man who founded the Triratna Buddhist Order and Community (formally known as the Western Buddhist Order and FWBO).

Direct download: podcast112.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 11:24pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioThis weeks FBA Podcast, “The Buddha’s Gift To The World” is brought to us by Vajratara. Vajratara condenses nearly 50 years of the Buddhas life, using stories from the Pali Canon to show how the Buddha built a spiritual community that lasts to this day. Transcending the conflict between the desire to withdraw and the desire to engage, the Buddha wanders northern India out of compassion, teaching the Dharma by his presence and his words.

Direct download: podcast111.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 12:49am EDT

Free Buddhist AudioThis weeks FBA Podcast, “Brahma Viharas and the Key Moment“, is a distillation of Kulaprabha’s 15 years of co-leading retreats on the development of Loving Kindness, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity. This talk was given in September 2001, before and after the Twin Towers attack, while Kulaprabha was on a six week retreat in Italy. She was one of only a few people on the retreat who knew what had happened and knew about the shock that had reverberated round the world. Some of her reflections from that time are included in the talk.

Direct download: podcast110.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 1:34am EDT

Free Buddhist AudioThis weeks FBA Podcast is a thoughtful, inspiring talk by Khemasuri titled “The Spiral Path – The Great Escape.” Faith, joy, and delight in the spiritual life. Sharing experiences from her own life, Khemasuri expounds on the importance of the Spiral Path, a fundamental teaching in the Triratna Buddhist Order.

Direct download: podcast109.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 9:28pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioThis weeks FBA Podcast is a talk was given on a Young Women’ Weekend at Taraloka titled “Faith is Innate, Doubt Acquired.” In this talk Singhamati explores Sangharakshita’s aphorism: Faith is Innate, Doubt Acquired. It looks at questions such as: What is faith? How do you cultivate the three grounds of faith? How is doubt a fetter? How can you dispel doubt?

Direct download: podcast108.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:22pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioToday’s FBA Podcast, is a classic talk given by Sangharakshita in 1967 titled “Mind: Reactive and Creative.” In this brilliant and accessible approach to the essence of Buddhism, Sangharakshita shows that Buddhism starts with the mind. Mind can be reactive, symbolised by the Tibetan Wheel of Life, or creative, as when one follows the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, described here in detail.

Direct download: podcast107.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 9:59pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioOur FBA Podcast today is a talk by the delightfully clear Vajrapriya titled “The Selfless Mind.” What if all of our emotional and spiritual problems were caused by an incorrect understanding of our true nature? Vajrapriya explores the Buddha’s insight that our commonsense assumptions about ourselves are the source of our suffering. Unpicking those assumptions is the first step to the arising of a wisdom that leads to an expansive and liberating way of relating to others and the world.

Talk 2 in a series of 4 talks entitled ‘Powers of the Mind’ given at the Cambridge Buddhist Centre, April 2011.

Direct download: podcast106.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 7:06pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioToday’s FBA Podcast is another reading from The Perfection of Wisdom Sutras. This one, “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras” Chandana talks about the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, a category of Sutras in the Mahayana tradition.

Direct download: podcast105.mp3
Category:Dharmabytes -- posted at: 8:04pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioOur FBA Podcast today is “The Diamond Sutra” by Sangharakshita. If one does not want to ‘get caught in the grip of reality’, one should leave this great text alone! The Perfection of Wisdom Discourse that ‘Cuts Like a Diamond’…

N.B. Reference for this lecture: Buddhist Wisdom Books, translated by E. Conze. (Allen & Unwin, 1958)

Talk given in 1969.

Direct download: podcast104.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 10:23pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioOur FBA Podcast today brings us to the core of our practice: “The Heart Sutra, Sangha and Spiritual Death” by Kamalashila. Beginning with a shared understanding of spiritual practice that is Sangha, we are led through a revisioning of our practice that includes the deeper, darker more mysterious perspectives of insight and wisdom. This talk was given at the London Buddhist Centre’s Tuesday evening drop-in meditation class on 6th Dec 2011.

Direct download: podcast103.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 9:45pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioToday’s FBA Podcast, “The Buddha, Hakuin, Birth and Death”, is the second in an excellent 8-talk sequence by Padmavajra on Zen Buddhism. The series is full of colourful stories and challenging insights from the lives of the great Masters of China and Japan.

In this talk, Padmavajra takes us into the strong experience of Going Forth into homelessness. Through personal reminiscence and classic Zen poetry that evokes a truly rich awareness, we see the Buddha, Hakuin, Dogen and Ryokan as they struggle to make sense of this fleeting world of form.

This talk is part of the series “Tangling Eyebrows with Zen Masters.”

Direct download: podcast102.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 7:05pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioThis weeks FBA Podcast, “Spiritual Death and Rebirth, a New Perspective On the Dharma Niyama”, takes us deeply into the stages of spiritual death and rebirth that are key to the system of meditation, representing the culimination and fulfilment of the Buddhas vision. During this talk given at Padmaloka Subhuti explains some new elements of Sangharakshita’s thinking about how they relate to the Niyamas, particularly the Dharma niyama – exciting, and challenging stuff.

Direct download: podcast101.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 9:09pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioToday’s FBA Podcast, “The Transitoriness of Life and the Certainty of Death”, is by Vajradharshini who brings us a beautiful piece on the hardest of subjects. The third talk in a five-part series from Tiratanaloka’s retreat on the ‘Four Mind Turnings’ of the Tibetan tradition.

Using zen poetry and a happily wide-ranging series of quotations (from Tibetan lamas to Ezra Pound), Vajradarshini explores her own father’s death as a way to approach attitudes to death and dying. She considers death in the light of the four mind-turning reflections of Atisha: the result is an inspiring, funny, truly challenging look at the heartbreak of our mortality, and how the Dharma helps us to meet and be present with the ultimate experience.

Talk given at Tiratanaloka Retreat Centre 2005.

This talk is part of the series The Four Mind-Turning Reflections.

Direct download: podcast100.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 8:52pm EDT

Free Buddhist AudioToday’s we introduce Atula in our weekly FBA Podcast with “Mending the Broken Ladder” a very thoughtful talk long-time by this practising Buddhist and psychotherapist. The nature of the ‘psyche’ and our sense of self-view is explored with reference to the Fourfold Vision of William Blake, T.S. Eliot, Charles Bukowski, Edward Conze, and Humpty Dumpty! Expect some stimulating words around the role of myth, metaphor and all our ways of cognizing, thinking about and expressing experience in what we call ‘spiritual life’ – and a clear encouragement to see that process as one that is profoundly relational.

Talk given Monday 8th March 2010.

Direct download: podcast99.mp3
Category:FBA Podcast -- posted at: 7:33pm EDT