Buddhistisches Tor Berlin Podcast

Talk given by Tarapalita on 2026-10-31. 

What does it mean to glimpse something beyond our ordinary experience of life, and how can we allow those glimpses to guide us?

In this talk, Tarapalita explores the nature of enlightenment and how moments of expanded awareness can reveal the limitations of conditioned existence while giving us an intimation of the possibility of awakening.

How can we take these glimpses seriously, overcome our habitual patterns, and cultivate the courage to live with greater generosity, love and freedom? Tune in to learn more!

Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. 

Find out more at: 

• ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

• 🏰 https://rote-burg.de 

• 📸 https://instagram.com/buddhistischestorberlin

Talk given by Lalitaratna on 2026-10-24. 

Why is meditation sometimes so difficult, and how can we work skillfully with the obstacles that arise? In this talk, Lalitaratna explores the five traditional hindrances to meditation: ill will, restlessness and anxiety, sloth and torpor, sense desire, and doubt.

Drawing on decades of personal experience and Buddhist practice, he shares practical advice for dealing with these obstacles, from adapting our posture and environment to cultivating loving-kindness, strengthening mindfulness, and developing confidence in the Dharma. He also reflects on how the same hindrances that disrupt our meditation show up in everyday life, offering us an opportunity to understand and transform our habitual patterns.

Mentioned YouTube talk from Ayya Khema: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WowMiZeYelw

Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. 

Find out more at: 

• ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

• 🏰 https://rote-burg.de 

• 📸 https://instagram.com/buddhistischestorberlin 

Talk given by Vidyadaka on 2026-10-10. 

In this talk, visiting guest Vidyadaka explores peace as a central aim of Buddhist practice and the ultimate goal of human life. Drawing on the Buddha’s teachings, he reflects on how craving, confusion, and our search for security in an impermanent world create suffering and disturb our inner peace.

Vidyadaka considers how we can cultivate peace in everyday life by examining our desires, letting go of blame, and practising truthful, kind, helpful, and harmonious speech. He concludes with a beautiful story from the Pali Canon, offering a vivid image of the Buddha and his disciples dwelling in profound peace.

Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. 

Find out more at: 

• ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

• 🏰 https://rote-burg.de 

• 📸 https://instagram.com/buddhistischestorberlin

Talk given by Tarapalita on 2026-09-03. 

Having cut off his long black hair and exchanged his royal robes for rags, Siddhartha stands at the edge of his father’s land. Before him lies the forest. Behind him, everything he has known.

What could move someone to leave behind everything most of us live for? And what might this image mean for our own lives?

In this talk, Tarapalita explores the Buddha’s "going forth", from the comforts of the pleasure palace to the unsettling possibilities of the unknown. Going forth is a challenge we meet again and again: to remember what matters and find the courage to live by it.

What have you seen to be true that you should not allow yourself to forget? And what would it mean to follow that truth in all its implications?

Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. 

Find out more at: 

• ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

• 🏰 https://rote-burg.de 

• 📸 https://instagram.com/buddhistischestorberlin

Talk given by Padmasagara on 2026-09-12. 

What are we actually trying to do when we meditate?

In this talk, Padmasagara explores the often-unconscious views and assumptions that shape our meditation practice, and why the understanding behind our practice matters just as much as the method itself.

The talk concludes with a guided meditation, offering a chance to explore these ideas directly in experience.

Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. 

Find out more at: 

• ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

• 🏰 https://rote-burg.de 

• 📸 https://instagram.com/buddhistischestorberlin 

Talk given by Tarapalita on 2026-09-05. 

What does it actually mean to move towards Enlightenment?

In this talk, Tarapalita explores why we need a coherent path of practice, and how the timeless principles of the Dharma take shape in different traditions, cultures and times.

Tracing this living thread into the present day, he introduces Triratna’s system of practice and asks what it means to follow the Buddhist path here and now.

Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. 

Find out more at: 

• ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

• 🏰 https://rote-burg.de 

• 📸 https://instagram.com/buddhistischestorberlin

Talk given by Padmavajra on 2026-09-26. 

Padmavajra, President of Buddhistisches Tor Berlin, explores the Buddhist symbolism of light and the Buddha’s invitation to “make a lamp for yourself”.

Moving across early Buddhist teachings, Chan Buddhism and the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa, he reflects on the inner resources we need for the journey of life: mindfulness, loving-kindness, ethics, wisdom and spiritual friendship. Ultimately, the light of the Dharma is not something to keep for ourselves. As we bring it into everyday life and share it with others, the lamp becomes inexhaustible.  

Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. 

Find out more at: 

• ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

• 🏰 https://rote-burg.de 

• 📸 https://instagram.com/buddhistischestorberlin

Vortrag von Dharmasara am 2026-09-21. 

Padmasambhava ist ein Magier, Dämonenbezwinger und eine der geheimnisvollsten Gestalten des Buddhismus. Doch was bedeuten diese Bilder für unsere eigene Praxis?

Dharmasara erkundet Padmasambhava als Symbol radikaler Transformation. Die Dämonen auf dem Pfad werden dabei nicht vernichtet, sondern erkannt, verstanden und in den Dienst des Dharma gestellt.

Ein Vortrag über ehrliche spirituelle Praxis, innere Widerstände und die Frage, wie wir alles mit auf den Pfad nehmen können.

Hat dir dieser Vortrag gefallen? Dann bist du herzlich eingeladen, uns im Buddhistischen Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg zu besuchen. Meditiere mit uns, höre Dharma-Vorträge und entdecke Kurse, die dich in deiner Praxis im Alltag unterstützen. 

Mehr erfährst du hier:  

• ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

• 🏰 https://rote-burg.de 

• 📸 https://instagram.com/buddhistischestorberlin 

Talk given by Tarapalita on 2026-09-19. 

What do Buddhists mean when they speak of demons?

In this talk, Tarapalita explores Padmasambhava, the great tantric master and "demon tamer", and asks what it might mean to encounter the darker, wilder, and more powerful forces within ourselves and in the world. Rather than simply rejecting or repressing these energies, can we meet them, transform them, and recover something vital through doing so?

A talk about Padmasambhava, personal and collective demons, and finding deeper sources of energy for the Dharma life.

Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. 

Find out more at: 

• ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

• 🏰 https://rote-burg.de 

• 📸 https://instagram.com/buddhistischestorberlin 

Talk given by Sanghadarsini on 2026-08-30. 

What do our hands communicate?

In this practical and experiential talk, Sanghadarshini explores the symbolism of mudras, Buddhist hand gestures that can express meaning and qualities through the body.

She begins by looking at symbolism in general, before guiding us through several mudras and their histories. We explore the earth-touching mudra associated with the Buddha, the Dhyana mudra of meditation, and Tara’s mudra of fearlessness and generosity.

Along the way, there is an opportunity to try the mudras ourselves and explore what it feels like to embody these gestures in practice.

Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. 

Find out more at: 

• ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

• 🏰 https://rote-burg.de 

• 📸 https://instagram.com/buddhistischestorberlin