Free Buddhist Audio

Ratnaguna 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

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

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.

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.”

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

Today, 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.

In 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”

This 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.

This 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.

This 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).

This 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.

This 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.

This 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.

This 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?

Today’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.

Our 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.

Today’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.

Our 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.

Our 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.

Today’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.”