Dharmabytes From Free Buddhist Audio

In todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;Life Gone Forth is Wide Openand#8221;, Padmavajra takes us into the strong experience of Going Forth into homelessness. Sometimes life presents us with extremely difficult choices that seem to set us apart from those we love. 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 excerpt is from the talk and#8220;The Buddha, Hakuin, Birth and Deathand#8221; given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2004 This talk is part of the series and#8220;Tangling Eyebrows with Zen Masters.and#8221;

In todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;Four Reasons Why We Fear Death and#8220;, Kulaprabha explores the Abhaya Sutta on the theme of spiritual death. The death of our fixed, bounded self, the self that is made up of bundled habits and preferences and views and#8211; especially views about existence and non-existence. So donand#8217;t be surprised if, when contemplating the impermanence and unreliability of that small self, you taste fear. Itand#8217;s natural enough in the circumstances. This is an excerpt from the full talk and#8220;Spiritual Death, Fear and Fearlessnessand#8221; focussing on the Abhaya Sutta. This talk was given on retreat at Taraloka Retreat Centre in 2008.

In todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;The Third Great Stage of the Pathand#8221;, Sangharakshita talks about the process of spiritual death as the cultivation of unselfishness. This talk, titled, and#8220;The Path of Spiritual Developmentand#8221; is a book launch for and#8216;The Essential Sangharakshitaand#8217; published by Wisdom Publications. Recorded 2009 at Essen, Germany. Talk translated in German.

In todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;What is Gratitude?and#8221;, Sangharakshita reflects on the Buddhaand#8217;s achievement of Enlightenment, drawing our attention to an often overlooked feature of this great event and#8211; the Buddhaand#8217;s expression of gratitude to the tree that sheltered him. A timely look at ways to cultivate this essential positive emotion. This is an excerpt from the talk Looking at the Bodhi Tree given in 1999.

Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;Death and#038; Clarityand#8221;, by Vajradharshini brings us a beautiful piece on the hardest of subjects. Using zen poetry and a happily wide-ranging series of quotations (from Tibetan lamas to Ezra Pound), Vajradarshini explores her own fatherand#8217;s death as a way to approach attitudes to death and dying. This excerpt, from the talk: and#8220;The Transitoriness of Life and the Certainty of Death,and#8221; focusses on practice, a sense of urgency and being in the moment, she asks us: how do we want to spend our time?

Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;The Dharma is Everywhere, is a beautiful short talk by Aryashila of the Croydon Buddhist Centre exploring impermanence. She uses the challenging poetry of Leonard Cohen and others, as well as her own deep life experience, to show that reality does not conform to ordinary wishes, but yet facing it squarely can be supremely uplifting, not sad. Talk given at the Sangha evening of the West London Buddhist Centre.

Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;What Can We Be Sure Of?and#8221; is a taste of Jnanavacaand#8217;s fabulous take on Einstein, Schroedinger, and all that stuff you wished you understood about quantum physics but despaired of ever knowing so as to impress at partiesand#8230; Well, now you can learn all about it — as well as how it relates to Dharma practice and the Buddhaand#8217;s view of a truly luminous Reality. Very classy stuff from a great speaker with the most infectious laugh on the planet! We wonand#8217;t give any more away here — settle back and enjoy a brain-expanding, soul questioning except from the talk, and#8220;Buddhism and Quantum Physicsand#8221; given at the Triratna Buddhist Order Convention, 2005

More listening joy from Vajradharshini in todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;Enlightenment is Different for Each of Us.and#8221; From the talk and#8220;We Have a Huge Barrel of Wine But No Cupsand#8221;, this is 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 and#8220;wandering inside the red world". Drink up! Talk given at Taraloka Retreat Centre, 2005

Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;On Creativityand#8221;, is from a sparkling talk by Sangharakshita titled and#8220;Fields of Creativityand#8221; on a theme close to his heart. Full of warmth, wit and stimulating ideas. Talk given in 2001.

Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;Positive Changeand#8221; is brought to us by Sangharakshita himself, founder of the Triratna Buddhist Order and Community. In Buddhist practice, the traditional method of choice for effecting positive change in oneand#8217;s life is meditation. Here Sangharakshita takes a closer look, focussing on the and#8216;superconscious statesand#8217; (characterised in turn by integration, inspiration, permeation, and radiation), the practice of developing universal friendliness, and the distinction between calm and Insight. From the talk and#8220;A Method of Personal Developmentand#8221; given in 1976 as part of the series Buddhism for Today and Tomorrow.

In todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;The Greatest Tragedyand#8221;, Subhuti invites us to look into the tragedy of not knowing what we want. He shares his thoughts on the nature of Samsara, contact with the Dharma and realisation as the deepest happiness. This is and#8216;Eight Verses for Training the Mindand#8217;: Talk 1 from the four-part series on this Tibetan text attributed to Kadampa Geshe Langri Tangpa.

Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;Everyone Needs the Dharma and#8211; Milarepaand#8217;s Songand#8221; has Sanghrakshita delightfully reciting words from the song. The Dharma is defined as whatever contributes to the development of the individual. In the full talk, and#8220;Western Buddhists and Eastern Buddhismand#8221; Sangharakshita emphasizes the importance of distinguishing Buddhism as a universally applicable path of development from the specifically Eastern cultural forms it has been associated with in the past, and explains why an authentic, non-sectarian Buddhist movement is needed in the West. Talk given in 1979. This talk is part of the series and#8220;A New Buddhist Movement and#8211; the Meaning of the FWBO.and#8221;

Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, is titled and#8220;Buddhism and the Mindand#8221; is an excerpt from the talk and#8220;Meditation: the Expanding Consciousnessand#8221; by Sangharakshita. A traditional exposition of Buddhist meditation looking at why we meditate; preparation for meditation; the five meditation practices designed to counteract the five mental poisons; and the three stages of meditation. Talk given in 1967.

Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;Pratitya Samutpada (Conditioned Co-production),and#8221; takes us right to the heart of the matter: How the Buddha sees things. Subhuti, with his sharp clarity and clear vision, explores one of the central teachings of the Buddha and#8211; that things arise and pass away in dependence upon conditions. Talk given at the Western Buddhist Order National Order Weekend, Wymondham 2006

Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, titled and#8220;What is the Middle Way?and#8221; is extracted from the talk and#8220;Twenty Years on the Middle Wayand#8221; by Sangharakshita. The Middle Way can be explored through three levels of application: ethics, psychology and metaphysics. Sagharakshita explores the extreme views associated with each as he points the way towards the Middle Way. Talk given in 1987

Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;What is the Spiritual Community,and#8221; is an extract from the well-loved talk and#8220;The Individual, the Group, and the Spiritual Communityand#8221; by Sangharakshita. Posing the questions: What is individuality? What is the difference between a group and a spiritual community? How can an ordinary group support our efforts to transcend the group? Talk given in 1971.

Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;Donand#8217;t Leave Your Values at Home,and#8221; Khemasuri passionately shares the case for embracing personal responsibility and community engagement as a way of effecting social change in our troubled world. This track from the talk, and#8220;Building an Ethical Underworld and#8211; Lessons from the Mafiaand#8221;, given at the Buddhafield Festival, Devon, 2007.

Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;Doubt from Faith,and#8221; takes us into some crazy stuff as we hit koan country! In this track, Padmavajra explores materialist versus religious world views, spiritual life without God and the dialectic between Great Faith and Great Doubt. Uncompromising stuff towards a more profound level of awareness and#8211; steer to the deep! FBA Dharmabyte from the full talk, and#8220;Great Doubt,and#8221;, featured in this Saturdayand#8217;s full podcast.

Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;Rememberance of Freedom,and#8221; by Kulaprabha, is from a meditation and#8211; a led reflection from the recording titled and#8220;Reflection on the Eight Freedomsand#8221;. Let yourself be led through this reflection and take up the challenge of seeing just what positive circumstances we already have to doand#8230; Well, to do what with them? Therein lies the freedom and the challenge. This is another in the series of talks from Taraloka inspired by Gampopaand#8217;s text and#8211; and#8216;The Jewel Ornament of Liberationand#8217;, December 2007 Please note this talk is a led meditation.

In todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;The Establishment of Taraloka,and#8221; Sangharakshita shares his rejoicings of the opening of the new retreat centre for women, Taraloka. This track is from the talk, and#8220;Buddhist Dawn in the West,and#8221; in which Sangharakshita outlines what led him to found the Triratna [FWBO] Community. In addition to sharing his thoughts about Taraloka, he discusses developments in ordinations conducted by senior Order Members and a new Buddhist magazine. Talk given in 1986.