Our FBA Podcast this week is called Mind and Mental Events by Subhuti.

These five omnipresent mental events (sarvatragas) constitute the basic mechanics of the mind; if you are conscious, they are present.

1. Feeling-tone (vedana)

2. Recognition (or conceptualisation) (samjna)

3. Directionality of mind (cetana)

4. Contact (sparsa)

5. Egocentric demanding (manaskara)

From this we can conclude that:

1. All our experience is feeling-toned. The more conscious we are of this, the less we will react and be driven by our likes and dislikes.

2. We are always interpreting our experience with varying degrees of accuracy and depth. We can make an ongoing effort to raise the level of our experience.

3. The mind is always moving towards things. We can use cetana skilfully to move in the direction of Going for Refuge by practising the precepts etc. But we need to want to go in that direction.

This talk is part of the series Mind and Mental Events (Subhuti 2001).

Our FBA Podcast this week is calledThe Buddha Beyond Siddhartha by Dassini.

The first half of the talk looks at the Buddha’s early life and his battle with and the defeat of Mara. Then Dassini looks at the traditional Buddhist concept of time, and the division of time into Kalpas, inconceivably lengthy periods of time.

The talk concludes by looking at the Dharma niyama, the order of conditionality through which the attainment of Enlightenment is possible.

Please not that as this talk progresses there is some sound disturbance that gets louder as the talk goes on. Apologies for this.

Our FBA Podcast this week is calledAnapanasati – Contemplation of Feelings given by Guhyavajra during the 2016 Anapanasati retreat at Padmaloka.

The Anapanasati meditation practice and Four Foundations of Mindfulness are woven into a system of practice which when developed and cultivated is of great fruit and great benefit.

Based on the Buddha’s principal discourse on the subject found in the Anapanasati sutta of the Pali Canon, we explore our human experience rooted in the six senses; from the perspective of body, feeling and mind in the context of mindfulness with breathing.

This talk is part of the series Anapanasati.

Our FBA Podcast this week is calledThe Sangha Context of the Anapanasati Teaching, a talk given by Shubha at the London Buddhist Centre’s Women’s Night Class, Nov 21st 2013.

Drawing out the full sutra where the Anapanasati teaching is given speaks to the sangha context as a condition for insight.