Free Buddhist Audio
by Dharmachakra
Free Buddhist Audio has been serving free recordings of high quality, full-length Dharma talks since 2006. Over 3 million downloads and counting... Get our free weekly Dharma talk podcast with inspiring speakers on Buddhism, meditation and mindfulness. Tune in, be inspired!
Episodes
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Tradition Vs Innovation - the Tertön Speaks
Jnanadhara explores the creative tension between being part of a tradition on the one hand and adapting to new circumstances on the other, as exemplified in the figure of the Terton or treasure-revealer. He later considers the demons that Padmasambhava, or the Guru principle, transformed as being...
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The Group, the Individual, and the Spiritual Community
Shraddhasiddhi delivers this insightful and deeply personal talk, drawing on Urgyen Sangharakshita's classic core teachings, by exploring the psychological movement from uncreative group conformity into authentic individuality and ultimately, true spiritual community. Reflecting on their personal...
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Deep Time Awakening
Once upon a time, a billion years ago... Both traditional Buddhist cosmology and modern science deal in mind-boggling time scales – a Deep Time perspective, accessible only via imagination. Buddhist scholar Dhivan explores how imagining Deep Time relates to liberation. This talk was given at the...
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Padmavajra and Aloka - A Nucleus of a New Society
Over the last 19 years, Aloka has painted the images that adorn the shrine room at Padmaloka Retreat Centre. Padmavajra recently interviewed him about how his art arises from his practice, from the Dharma. He begins by describing how you only need a clear blue sky with an enormous rainbow-colored...
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Buddhism and William Blake
In this interview with Satyalila, Prakasha shares the remarkable story of the unfolding of his Dharma Life from a fascination with the English poet, painter and visionary William Blake in the late 1970s and early 80s and how this led him to a deep immersion in the Vajrayana approach to Buddhism....
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The Three Levels of the Spiritual Imagination
Within the context of the three ascending Levels of the Spiritual Imagination (Empathy, Beauty and Imagining the Buddha), Samantabhadri explores devotion and ritual in terms of body, speech and mind, and of the journey to the transcendental. She includes the Sevenfold Puja and our more personal...
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The Mysterious Home of the Dakini
In this talk Padmavajra explores the the eight consciousnesses of the Yogacara, the eight great cremation grounds and the 'mysterious home of the dakini'. The talk was given during the men's Great Gathering at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2020. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate...
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The True Nature of Devotion In Our Lives
In this talk Samantabhadri explores what it was like to meet the Buddha, the fully Enlightened human being. She then discusses 'garava' as devotion for the whole richness of our Dharma Lives, including positive emotions for all beings. This talk was given on an Order weekend at Taraloka Retreat...
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How Flowers Teach the Way to Enlightenment
The Dhammapada, or 'Way of Truth', is a profound expression of 'Basic Buddhism'. In its short, memorable verses, the Buddha challenges us to practise wholeheartedly – because 'a tamed mind brings happiness'. Suryagupta unpacks some of these ancient wisdom-sayings, which, as our founder has said,...
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Initiation From the Naga King
After the Buddha's Enlightenment, the Buddha sat in a grove of trees, absorbing what had happened, his experience unfolding in all directions. A great storm arose, and a huge Cobra came and wrapped its coils around him, protecting him from the rain and wind. What does this story hold for us in…
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How to Change Your Mind, Meditative States and Indirect Methods
In this talk, Satyagosha explores "How to Change Your Mind" by looking at meditative states and the "indirect methods" that support them. He unpacks the stages of internal development and how we can use everyday activities like ethics, ritual, devotion, the arts, and service to support our...
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Me, the Buddhist Centre, and the State of the World
We live in a time ridden by crisis and difficulty. How should Buddhist's respond? This is a personal and very honest talk from Vajragupta, looking squarely at the challenges, and owning his own doubts and fears. There are no easy answers, but some suggestions of where to begin. One suggestion is...
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A Vision of Human Existence
Revisiting the original series by Sangharakshita, entitled Buddhism for Today – and Tomorrow, given in 1976, Jnanadhara slightly rearranges the sequence of the talks. He begins with a verse from the Udana and proceeds to outline the cyclic and progressive trends in conditionality. Jnanadhara...
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Sangharakshita: The Mystic and the Poet
Karunadhi explores the mythic and spiritual dimension of Bhante Sangharakshita's life and what the emotional significance of Going for Refuge. Through stories, poetry, and the image of the refuge tree, she reflects on his love for the Three Jewels, his connection to his teachers, and his…
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How Do You Navigate Yourself On the Buddhist Path
How do you navigate yourself on the Buddhist Path? How do you choose the right direction of travel if you don't know where you're going or what the Goal is? If the Goal is Enlightenment, do you understand what the Buddha means by Enlightenment? Or is your understanding of it a bit vague and...
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The Story of Bahia
Back in the Buddha's time, it's thought that there were lots of people who were looking for meaning, going from teacher to teacher. Sometimes they were householders, sometimes royalty, but they were all shopping around - shopping for wisdom. The Buddha met many people like this. He also met…
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Dying Into Freedom: Spiritual Death In the Triratna System of Practice
As part of the series on Personal Development (system of practice) Parami helps us understand how important spiritual death is in our lives. She explores the small moments of letting go which help us to break through ego clinging, allowing freedom and creativity to emerge. This talk was given at...
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The Cremation Ground is Everywhere
Padmavajra explores the symbolism of Padmasambhava's famous exile in the eight great cremation grounds. And explores the important teaching that The Eight Consciousnesses (aṣṭa vijñānakāyāḥ) of the Yogacara are regarded in Tantric Buddhism as the eight great cremation grounds. So, we are always…
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The Lineage of Practice
In this imaginative talk, which begins with an evocation of how unbelievably fortunate we are to be able to practice together in community, Candradasa speaks to one of the four lineages of our sangha as drawn out by Urgyen Sangharakshita, Triratna's founder. He evokes the lineage of practice as a...
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May Our Communication With One Another Be Sangha
Padmavajra explores the profound lines from Sangharakshita's Dedication Ceremony: "Here seated, here practising My our mind become Buddha, May our thought become Dharma May our communication with one another be Sangha" Recorded at the Autumn Going for Refuge weekend retreat at Padmaloka Retreat...
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Wisdom's Gathering: the Difference That Makes a Difference
Dhammamegha speaks about Sangha as Dharma practice and how spiritual community and friendship with the admirable are part of our heritage in Triratna. A talk given on the Triratna Buddhist Community International Gathering at Adhisthana, 2017. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone!…
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A Blueprint for a New World
Is it possible to create a society in which all social, economic, and political arrangements will support the development of true individuality? In this lecture, Sangharakshita discusses a number of principles essential to the successful transformation of our current society. This talk is part of...
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"This Is Truth! This Is Not Truth!": Beyond Outrage
The Dharma meets androcentricity and culture wars. Maitrisiddhi explores how we can relate to views on gender without polarising. She asks, how do we bring the Dharma to bear on our and others' deeply-held views? And how do we hold some of Sangharakshita's conditioned views? Honest, nuanced,...
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Awakening As Gratitude
There's a story about the Buddha bowing to the tree under which he has just gained Enlightenment. Inspired by this this story, Vajragupta sees the whole path to Awakening in terms of gratitude. The grasping mind cannot feel grateful. But the Awakened know and feel just how deeply they are…
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Absorption - After the Enlightenment
How do you get used to being Enlightened? What happened to the Buddha in the weeks after his breakthrough experience? Kamalashila explores these questions in two ways - using the framework of our System of Meditation to shed light on the process that unfolded in the Bodhisattva's mind and body as...
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Our Biggest Hindrance
When we Go for Refuge, we can only Go for Refuge to that which is lokuttara - 'beyond the world'. In the third talk in this series, Satyaraja speaks of the need for a total orientation of our being towards Enlightenment through setting up conditions (pratitya samutpada), and the development of…
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Enlightenment As Experience and Non-Experience
Here, Saddhanandi speaks about the nature of enlightenment, as experience and as non-experience, based on Bhante's lecture of the same name, given to the Buddhist Society in 1975. Given on retreat at Adhisthana, 2022. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now:...
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Vajrasana, the Tree of Life and the Revolution of Consciousness
Sanghadhara reflects on the Buddha's resolve to sit on the vajrasana beneath the Bodhi tree until he broke through conditioned existence and awoke. The talk explores vajrasana as the "diamond throne," drawing on an audio excerpt from Sangharakshita to unfold its meaning as the central point of…
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Encountering Mara - Enlightenment Under Attack!
Have we got what it takes to wake up? Sanghagita follows Siddhartha Gautama's extraordinary quest to its turning point. In him we meet a seeker who turns down power, prestige and leadership, turning his back on the received wisdom of harsh asceticism, choosing instead something far more radical…
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Steering For the Deep: The Awareness Aspect
Vessantara explores Sangharakshita's idea that fundamentally there is one spiritual experience, which has different aspects that we can unfold. Here he guides on how to contact and influence deeper levels of mind, culminating in the turning about of the basis, the transformation of the deepest...
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The Power of Stories
In this talk, Suryagupta discusses the language of the depths, which refers to communication beyond the surface level of experience. She begins by exploring the power of stories. Part of the series The Language of the Depths given at London Buddhist Centre, 2024. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts…
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The Electric Charge of Communication
As part of Adhisthana's 2023 Triratna Day celebrations, Saddhanandi speaks to us about the 'existential communication' that can arise between a more, and a less, experienced practitioner. A communication that can take you to the limits of your own being and encourage you to stretch beyond them....
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How to Communicate Well
Ratnaprabha presents traditional Buddhist advice on communicating well, in particular the images that the Buddha used to teaches own seven-year-old son about the importance of truthfulness, and the poetry of Vangisa, encouraged by the Buddha to turn his love of communication into verses. A talk…
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Reason and Emotion in the Spiritual Life
We all need to find emotional equivalents to our intellectual understandings if our spiritual practice is to progress. Sangharakshita outlines the positive emotions stressed in Buddhism, and concludes with a brief explanation of the stages of the Sevenfold Puja. Talk given as part of the series…
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A Deeper Rhythm
Vishvapani explores the dynamic vision of Urgyen Sangharakshita in setting up a new Buddhist movement in the West, and asks how we might relate to him now. His central reference point in this provocative and moving talk is the Padmasambhava Abisheka - the initiation received by Sangharakshita in...
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Encountering Mara - Enlightenment Under Attack!
Have we got what it takes to wake up? Sanghagita invites us to follow Siddhartha Gautama's extraordinary quest to its turning point. In him, we meet a seeker who turns down power, prestige and leadership, turning his back on the received wisdom of harsh asceticism, choosing instead something far...
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Encountering Reality - The 4 Sights
In the telling of the story of 'The Buddha's 4 Sights', Bodhinaga invites us to contemplate the people and events that have inspired us to change. What was The Buddha really like? We are told that the Buddha broke through into a radically different state of being, transcending ordinary human...
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Within The Perfumed Chamber
Padmavajra delivers an enthralling account of the Buddha's passing into Paranirvana. Drawing on events in the Mahaparanibbana Sutta, he elucidates the perfumed chamber of the Buddha's unconditioned mind. Delivered on Parinirvana Day at the London Buddhist Centre, 2022. *** Help us keep FBA…
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Brighter Than Gold
The Buddha's Enlightenment and his Parinirvana are the two key events in his life. But what significance do they hold for us in our approach to life - and death? Subhadramati, an experienced and engaging Buddhist teacher, will explore these profound questions. This talk was given at London…
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Death and the Buddhist
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...
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Constant Change
Ratnaghosha commemorates the death of the Buddha not by focusing on death, but rather by focusing on the Buddha's early life and the myriad manifestations of impermanence. Talk given by Ratnaghosha at the London Buddhist Centre's Parinirvana Day Festival, 2008. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free...
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We Are Born of Our Actions
Ratnadeva traces the significance and depth of the Buddha's teaching of karma, as well as addressing the complexities and common misconceptions that can often arise when we approach the topic. Having a clear understanding of the law of karma is vital if we are to transform our desires to be more…
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The Spiral Path
Dhivan talks about the spiral path and emphasises how it naturally unfolds. This talk was given at Dhanakosa Retreat Centre, 2014. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: A full, curated…
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Withdrawal and Engagement On Bodhisattva Path
Through the lense of Upaya 'the skilful means' of the Bodhisattva, Parami explores the seemingly contradictory themes of withdrawal and engagement on the Bodhisattva path. She demonstrates how they are synthesised by drawing on the last four stages of the spiral / transcendental path and how they...
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Practice As Knowing Where You Stand
In this talk Bhadra describes the six realms as a mirror in which to fully know the particulars of our own self created universe. This talk was given at Bristol Buddhist Centre, 2017. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to…
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Vicious Circles and Doorways to Freedom
Vadanya explores three great Buddhist symbols that describe the way things are: the wheel of life, the spiral path and the ultimate goal of Enlightenment. Together they form a guide to escape from the ultimate vicious circle into the complete freedom and fulfilment of Awakening. This talk was...
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Subduing the Demons and Building the Monastery
In this talk, Dharmasara relates the story of how Padmasambhava subdued the demons of Tibet to build Samye monastery. The monastery works as a symbol for a flourishing spiritual community which is not affected by the destructive forces in the world but instead puts them to the service of the...
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The Way of the Dharma Warrior
In this talk, given during the 2013 Young men's retreat at Padmaloka, Padmavajra describes the qualities of the Dharma Warrior and how Dharma Warriors are fighting in the great battle between the spiritual community and the group - fighting for the liberation of the truly human individual against...
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What Is a True Individual
Mahasraddha speaks about becoming a true individual to the Oslo Sangha. He starts with the importance of being in touch with the bodhisattva ideal and the dangers of losing this connection. He then explores the relationship between the true individual, the positive group and the unhealthy group....
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Blake, Bhante and the True Individual
How do we listen to the 'voice within'? How do we become an individual? How can imagination free us? Satyalila weaves together Sangharakshita's teachings on the True Individual with Blake to show us how to follow our golden thread towards greater clarity, receptivity and awareness. Talk given on…
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About this show
Free Buddhist Audio has been serving free recordings of high quality, full-length Dharma talks since 2006. Over 3 million downloads and counting... Get our free weekly Dharma talk podcast with inspiring speakers on Buddhism, meditation and mindfulness. Tune in, be inspired!
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Dharmachakra
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