Free Buddhist Audio

Delve into the fundamental principles behind Integration in Triratna’s System of Practice with this week’s FBA Podcastentitled The Five Aspects of Dharma Life - Integration by Subhuti. With integration we begin by taking fully responsibility for our karmic agency. This is the third talk in a series of eight from the System of Practice retreat at Padmaloka for men who have asked for Ordination. Subhuti invites his hearers to find new and deeper significance with the fundamental principles behind Integration, Positive Emotion, Spiritual Receptivity, Spiritual Death, and Spiritual Rebirth. This talk is part of the series The Five Aspects of the Dharma Life. Subscribe to the FBA podcast

Our FBA Podcast this week is a rousing, uncompromisingly radical talk from Maitriveer-Nagarjuna entitled The Lion’s Roar Of Doctor Ambedkar (with translation in Hindi). Taking up the theme of the Convention, the great “Lion’s Roar” of the Buddha, Maitriveer-Nagarjuna evokes the fire that drove Doctor Bimrao Ambedkar to work tirelessly on behalf of the so-called Dalit “Untouchable” people in order to free them from the evils of the Hindu caste system. He reframes Doctor Ambedkar as a radical for the ages, of greater and broader relevance for a world where the forces that oppose liberation at all levels seem stronger than ever. Listen and be inspired and uplifted! Jai Bhim! This talk was given to start the 2018 Triratna Buddhist Order Convention at Bodhgaya in India and is part of the series The Lion’s Roar: Talks from the International Order Convention.

Our FBA Podcast this week is by Vajratara entitled Dr Ambedkar and His Importance For the Future of Buddhism. Vajratara argues that Dr Ambedkar is not just relevant for India or for the oppressed, but essential for modern Buddhism all over the world, challenging us to move beyond a comfortable Buddhism that fits neatly into modern consumer society. The talk was given at a retreat at Rivendell for young people comparing the teachings of Dr Ambedkar and Sangharakshita, 2014.

In a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the mass conversion to Buddhism of Dr Ambedkar and thousands of his followers, Nagabodhi tells the story of Ambedkar and the role that Sangharakshita was to play in supporting the nascent Buddhist movement of ex-Untouchables. This week’sFBA Podcast by Nagabodhi, Dr Ambedkar and Sangharakshita, was given at North London Buddhist Centre, 2016.

In this week’s FBA Podcast Subhuti offers The Significance of Dr Ambedkar In the West. Speaking during a festival day in 2010 held to celebrate the life of Dr Ambedkar, Subhuti speaks about what significance Dr Ambedkar has outside India. The main thrust of the talk is a list of three reasons why someone might convert to Buddhism, enumerated by Dr Ambedkar but applied to our situation in the West. Perhaps the most important is Dr Ambedkar’s insights into the need for society to be grounded in Ethics that are ‘sacred and universal,’ obviously he felt the Dhamma was the best expression of that. The final section of the talk covers the importance of being engaged in wider society; this has topical relevance with the forthcoming General Election. Subhuti encourages to engage with the democratic process and make the Buddhist voice, calling for awareness and ethicality, be heard.

All bona fide Buddhism is Activism. We want to make the world better right? The issue is energy; how can we cultivate energy in pursuit of the good. In this week’s FBA Podcast, entitled The 4 Gifts, Padmavajra considers 5 fundamental aspects of Virya – known as Energy for Enlightenment.

Our FBA Podcast is by Padmasuri entitled The Buddha Was a Friend As We Can Be a Friend. The fourth and final in our series of talks to mark the Year of Kalyana Mitrata at the Cambridge Buddhist Centre.

In this weeks FBA Podcast we offer In Conversation with Subhuti. Suryagupta converses with Subhuti about his life and practice. Subhuti has been the President of the London Buddhist Centre for over 30 years and was part of the original team who built the LBC in the 1970s.

Our FBA Podcast this week is by Maitreyi entitled Spiritual Friendship and the Heart’s Release. Our teacher Sangharakshita has said: “It is in friendship (maitri) that we may find the emotional equivalent of the intellectual understanding of the doctrine of ‘no self’”. The gift of these teachings can help us move beyond self-clinging into a deeper and far more mysterious connection with one another; a Greater Love. This was the keynote talk given at Taraloka for the 2018 Great Gathering (Order Members and GFR mitras).

This week’s FBA Podcast by Danadasa is entitled Faith and Wisdom. In this Buddhist path of transformation, how we relate to practice has a profound effect upon that which unfolds. How do we relate to the idea of path and goal? How do we relate to effort? How do we relate to not knowing? During this 4-week Sangha Night series, Danadasa will explore what is meant by a wise relationship to practice through the perspective of the 5 spiritual faculties, which are mindfulness, conviction, energy, meditation, and discernment. This talk is part of the series The Five Spiritual Faculties.

This week’s FBA Podcast by Sangharakshita a is entitled The Conscious Evolution of Man: Right Effort. Discussing the evolution of consciousness, this lecture explains that at the stage of reflexive consciousness, deliberate effort is required for any further progress. Right Effort is fourfold: preventing and eradicating the unskilful, and cultivating and maintaining the skilful. Talk given in 1968 as part of the series The Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path.

This week’s FBA Podcast by Dayasagara is entitled Quietly Revering the Unfathomable – Reflections On Guhyaloka. In the sparkling and wonderful talk, Dayasagara evokes the magic and mystery around his ordination, his time in ‘the secret valley’, and his new Dharma name.

In this week’s FBA Podcast entitled Urban Metta Bodhilila talks about how city life offers constant opportunities for practising metta in quite challenging situations and can provide a crucible for our spiritual practice, particularly our ethical practice.

Our FBA Podcast, this week is called A Field of Kindness by Sona. A talk on kindness, the quality of caring and the Bodhisattva Ideal, given at the Stockholm Buddhist Center, on 5 September 2005.

Our FBA Podcast, this week is called The Richly Endowed Buddha of the Southern Realm by Dhammadinna. Third in a series of talks given on the 2012 Triratna International Retreat. For more talks, videos, photos etc from the retreat see www.thebuddhistcentre.com and navigate to page ‘internationalretreat’

Our FBA Podcast, this week is called Self Compassion For the Sake of All Beings. Munisha gave this talk in English to a Swedish audience, 5th March 2016, Dhammagiri Retreat Center, Sweden.

Our FBA Podcast this week is entitled The Sevenfold Puja: Worship by Maniraja. The Sevenfold Puja – drawn from the Bodhicaryavatara – is the main devotional ceremony of the Triratna Buddhist Community. This talk is the second in the series on the Puja, given Manchester Buddhist Centre.

Can ritual help us put the conditions in place through which bodhicitta may arise? In this week’s FBA Podcast Using Ritual to Cultivate Bodhicitta Vijayasri explores our reactions to the idea of ritual and how rituals can become meaningless. We then look at the concept of ritual as “entering into a realm of the imagination where we encounter Buddhas and Bodhisattvas”. This talk was given at the Croydon Buddhist Centre in April 2016 as part of our regular Saturday morning sangha class, the first in the theme of “Transforming Self and World”, in which ritual was explored as a method of putting conditions in place through which bodhicitta may arise.

This week’s FBA Podcast is the first talk in a sparkling, wide-ranging, thoroughly comprehensive ten talk series by Padmavajra on ‘The Diamond Sutra’ entitled Taking Mind to its Limits. We are taken through the work stage by stage, and here we begin with the opening scenes and the text itself as a revelation of Reality… Talks given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2004 This talk is part of the series The Diamond Sutra – Taking Mind to its Limits.

In this week’s FBA Podcast, Bhadra introduces the archetypal magician, Padmasambhava, in a talk called The Art of Ritual and Descent, given at a day for men in Bristol, UK. He uses episodes from the magician’s life to illustrate how engaging the imagination through ritual and being willing to make the journey of descent are key elements of a fruitful practice.