Free Buddhist Audio

Time for another talk from Vajradarshini. More poetry, more Rumi, more listening joy. Actually, we just liked the title so much we had to go for it this month – but, in fact, it’s another splendid journey around the idea of Enlightenment, using the languages of surrender and discipline from the Sufi context. It’s as heady as a sumptuous wine, but also sobering and down to earth, whether we’re “following a railing in the dark” or walking lost “inside the red world”. Drink up! Talk given at Taraloka Retreat Centre, 2005 Contents 01 Starting with a poem by Rumi – not a ‘sensible’ talk 02 ‘Enlightenment’; following a railing in the dark; wine in Rumi’s poetry; the Dharma as studying the self; surrender and discipline 03 The Tavern – pushing off for Truth; ‘managing’ samsara and settling down 04 Fermentation; being cooked – slowly 05 How we are cups; two ways we limit ourselves – i. literalism; a quote from Aloka – abandoning ideas of what the ‘path’ is 06 Sangharakshita on literalism and craving; effective Going

Here is the second part of Paramabandhu’s excellent exploration of the lessons Buddhist techniques around meditation and mindfulness training can bring to the field of mental health – especially to problems with depression and addiction. Drawing on many years of experience as a consultant psychiatrist and Dharma teacher, here he takes questions on his previous talk and elaborates on the general theme. There’s a wide range of material opened up – and considerable detail about how we can actually go about applying these techniques to whatever challenges we face in your own lives. Essential listening. Please note – the questions in this recording were made at very low levels. We’ve amplified and clarified where possible – but the general sound quality drops noticeably at these points. However, they are all now audible and, in almost all instances, questions are repeated by Paramabandhu before he answers. Talk given at San Francisco Buddhist Center, 2006 Contents 01 Question-and-answer session – two books to refe

This is a timely and invaluable talk from Paramabandhu. Drawing on many years of experience as a consultant psychiatrist and Dharma teacher, he invites us to consider the lessons Buddhist techniques around meditation and mindfulness training can bring to the field of mental health – especially to problems with depression and addiction. The talk evokes the Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta to explore the four traditional foundations of mindfulness and discuss their potential use in therapeutic contexts. It is a kindly and empowering expression of practical hope, whose message applies to us all as we struggle to overcome whatever it is that holds us back from greater freedom in our lives. Part 2 of this podcast will feature a question-and-answer session based on the material Talk given at the San Francisco Buddhist Center, 2006 Contents: 01 Contemporary interest in mindfulness; brief therapeutic history of meditation since the 1960s; the Buddha as behavioural therapist – the obese king, Kisa Gotami and her baby

Settle back and touch base with this very enjoyable and, at times, inspiring talk by Saddharaja on the great blue Buddha of the eastern quarter of the mandala – the Unshakeable One, the Imperturbable Akshobya. This is particularly good because it departs from standard fare on the figure. We get a great reading from Wordsworth, a stimulating discussion of ethics and their relationship to issues of doubt and self-confidence, as well as a meeting with a wooly mammoth… Listen out too for a terrific story about standing inside a mountain which communicates something essential about the depth of presence and mystery Akshobya is all about. Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, Winter Retreat 2001 To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

This wonderful talk by Ratnaguna looks at the Pureland tradition of Shinran, comparing some of his approaches to those of the contemporary teacher John Kabat-Zinn, pioneer of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. The nature of ‘problems’ versus ‘difficulties’ is explored – notions of ‘acceptance’, ‘development’, and awareness itself are considered from new angles that can shed light on our experience of failure and suffering. A lovely, sympathetic and good-natured look at the foolishness of human beings which can, when held in the heart, begin to approach wisdom itself. To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

To get us moving again now the new site is up and running, here’s a cracking and wonderfully detailed talk by Vessantara, author of ‘Meeting the Buddhas’. He is the ideal person to introduce us to the complex and fascinating Tantric figure of Vajrapani – ‘Lord of Secrets’, embodiment of ”virya’ (‘Energy in Pursuit of the Good’). Vessantara’s style is familiar and well-earthed, and therefore eminently suited to material that bristles with electricity and is not always so easy to communicate. We get the origin and development of the Tantra itself, as well as of this key figure who meets the impermanent nature of Reality head-on and embodies the tremendous possibilities of change. Look out too for a great introduction about darts…! To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

This is pretty fantastic in its way. Danavira is one of the best speakers we know – he is very funny, can do poetic and profound, tends to the chaotic in his style, and has a particular genius for this kind of thing; this kind of thing being talking about death. The whole talk is a kind of respectful joyride through the hardest subject of all – sit back and enjoy a thoroughly adult treat that’s likely to blow the heart wide open. To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

Kamalashila has spent a lot of his adult life exploring meditation – and this talk is a lovely little foray into the whole subject as a crucial aspect in life and practice, with special consideration given to reflection on the six elements. Oh, and look out for Brian the meditating dog… Table of contents: 01 Brian, the meditating dog, and the natural life; experience of the elements versus artificial living 02 Meditation exposing artificiality through awareness of experience; meditation as a kind of prayer for authenticity and truth; the buddhist path as a way of beccoming more natural 03 The six element practice as a focus on nature; historical suppression of pagan naturalness; naturalness as an issue of practice, not theory 04 The earth element; the easiest element to experience directly; hard, firm and durable 05 The water element; the shape depends on the container; the taboo of bodily fluids; accepting the elements as they are; the elements as co-existing qualities, not things 06 The fire element; relati

Vaddhaka can usually be relied on to give a pretty great talk – and this is no exception. Here we have a real treat – a terrific, energetic exploration of the green Buddha of the north: Amoghasiddhi (Dundubishvara), the Unobstructed One. This is kind of a multi-media affair – listen for the 13th Century Spanish processional music in honour of the Virgin, and a blast of Sibelius too! Marvellous. Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, winter retreat 2001 Please note that some small noise artefacts can be heard occasionally on this talk due to a poor original recording. To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

This is a fascinating, challenging and, in the end, realistically affirming look at Buddhist practice in the face of global climate crisis. What can we do? How can we change the ways we think and respond to the seemingly insurmountable problems the planet faces? Akuppa’s thoughtful introduction to the worlds of scientific and deep ecology asks us the hard questions and offers some hope for possible answers. Drawing on the work of Joanna Macy, amongst others, he traces positive lessons to be learned from simply observing and engaging with nature’s patterns and processes – and invites us all to prepare to be awestruck as a necessary first step. Please note that some small noise artefacts can be heard occasionally on this talk due to a poor original recording. To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

This is a gem of a talk from Abhaya. With his customary dry wit and sharp eye he leads us on the crazy paving path through the Diamond Sutra — a text guaranteed to turn your world upside-down. Some very funny parts to this talk — and some excellent evocations of rigorous Dharma practice as part of the everyday business of life. Watch out too for an intriguing discussion of the sutra as Vajrapani and as a zen master… Great stuff! To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

Jnanavaca is back! Last time it was mountaineering (see our very first podcast), this time it’s Einstein, Schroedinger, double slits, and all that stuff you wished you understood about quantum physics but despaired of ever knowing so as to impress at parties… Well, now you can learn all about it — as well as how it relates to Dharma practice and the Buddha’s view of a truly luminous Reality. Very classy stuff from a great speaker with the most infectious laugh on the planet! We won’t give any more away here — settle back and enjoy a brain-expanding, soul questioning talk. To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

The Buddha as lover, as master of enchantments, as a vision of the sky. In this talk, Candradasa presents the story of the Buddha’s life as a backdrop to three visions of practice, focussing on a progression through love and corresponding to the traditional path of ethics, meditation and wisdom. Myth, dream and archetypal images galore — from Jung and Star Wars to Giacometti and Jean Genet — as well as a healthy dose of sex, magic and death. But finally, we have the Buddha simply as a vision of how to know ourselves more fully and live our lives with a marvellous elegance of being… To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

Core meditation teaching from Viveka. Here is her fresh and vibrant take on the traditional practice of anapanasati – mindfulness with breathing. Using the breath as a stabilizing presence, this series of reflections is designed to help us discover the nature of reality itself by encouraging us to notice what is actually happening each moment in a direct and open way. Anapanasati is a complete path to awakening or enlightenment. To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

Lalitavira’s splendid talk on mindfulness – especially mindfulness of the body – is here to ground you! Through vivid imagery, we encounter the root practice of Buddhism as it appears in earliest times. In doing so, we contemplate the assumptions behind our experience, as well as those behind traditional dharma practice and philosophy. This is good, strong medicine for flighty times – an unflinching but kindly look at death, sex and the nature of things! To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

A new year’s talk by Subhuti to help dust away all those mental cobwebs hanging over from the last one! Just the thing for sharpening your wits, deepening your understanding of the thorny area that is ethics, and generally pulling your socks up on the awareness front… A friendly but thoroughly enagaging first step into a profoundly interesting area of Buddhist philosophy and practice — just how does the mind work? To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

A jewelled casket of a talk by Vajradarshini, with poetic accompaniment. Rumi meets Tsongkhapa in the Tavern of Ruin, and Dogen, Milarepa and Nagarjuna join them to talk about ‘self’ and ‘world’. Joanna Macy turns up too — then many voices, mixed and mingled, explore the experience of being part of an Order and following the Buddha’s way. Quite splendid stuff. To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

Fabulous stuff from Padmavajra. This richly rewarding talk explores the place and function of sound in Buddhist practice and history, as well as within the speaker’s own spiritual life. A wide-ranging cultural journey is made from John Coltrane to Sufi Qawwali, from mantra to Zen poetry, taking in Andre Gide, Renaissanace Neoplatonism and the ancient Pali Verses en route. Not to be missed! To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

A good, pithy introduction from Nagapriya (not to say quirky – check out the soccer references!) to the traditionally thorny and rather misunderstood area of karma and rebirth, teasing out its relationship to Buddhist ethics in general. Instant karma is yours… For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit freebuddhistaudio.com

A lovely, thoughtful exploration of the traditional Buddhist path of ethics, meditation and wisdom, using poetry and the ideas of contemporary science to evoke the mystery that lies at the heart of practice. Dhammadassin’s beautifully weighted talk challenges us to look at how we think and how we act, and is rooted in a moving fidelity to experience as the ground of our inspiration. One to be treasured! For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit freebuddhistaudio.com