Dharmabytes from free buddhist audio

Our FBA Dharmabyte today is an extract from the talk and#8220;Buddhism and the Language of Mythand#8221; where Sangharakshita explores the question: and#8220;How Does Buddhism Speak to us?and#8221;. Buddhism is the most rational of religions. But it appeals no less to the heart than to the head, using the language of myth to do so. This talk is part of the series Ritual and Devotion in Buddhism.

Are you looking at the wall? Or is the wall gazing at you? Another cracking take on Zen and#8211; the sutras, the experience, the dangers and the fruits… Our FBA Dharmabyte today is called: and#8220;Dogen on Practice as Enlightenmentand#8221; by Padmavajra. This is from the third in an excellent 8-talk sequence by Padmavajra on Zen Buddhism titled: and#8220;Wall Gazingand#8220;. The series is full of colourful stories and challenging insights from the lives of the great Masters of China and Japan. Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2004 as part of the series Tangling Eyebrows with Zen Masters.

Our FBA Dharmabyte today is called: and#8220;Direct Pointingand#8221; by Sangharakshita. What is the mind? What is projection? What higher states of mind are accessible? Zen challenges us to look directly within our own minds to find out. From the talk, and#8220;A Direct Pointing to the Mind of Manand#8221; given in 1965 as part of the series The Essence of Zen.

From the fabulous talk, and#8220;What is Mind?and#8221; we bring you a sparkling Dharmabyte entitled: and#8220;The Mind Is Everywhereand#8221;. Using Milarepaand#8217;s song, the Shepherdand#8217;s Search for Mind, Dhammadinna takes us on a wild, and very specific ride, in defining subjective versus objective mind. You cannot understand the mind, because that would be the mind knowing itself!

This is the first talk in a series of talks from the Order Convention in 2001 offering different perspectives on the Abhidharma and exploring from a personal perspective what the study of the 51 Mental Events can tell us about our minds and how they work. Based on the classic Tibetan text and#8216;Necklace of Clear Understandingand#8217;, this is a terrific, clear introduction to the whole area of how to and#8216;Know Your Mindand#8217;and#8230; Released to complement the Dharma Training Course module and#8216;Know Your Mindand#8217; (year four, module 4). Talk given at Wymondham, 2001

Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;Everyone Needs the Dharmaand#8221;, is a lovely reading of one of : Milarepaand#8217;s Songs by Sangharakshita. Talk given in 1979.

Our FBA Dharmabyte today, and#8220;The Wisdom Hearerand#8221;,is an excerpt from the fabulous talk and#8220;The Sound of Realityand#8221; by Padmavajra. In this section we hear Hakuinand#8217;s poem of Awakening along with Padmavajraand#8217;s reflections on the nature of sound, impermanence and insubstantiality. Vanish into emptiness and silence!

In our Dharmabyte today, and#8220;Solitude and Meditationand#8221; Paramananda introduces the challenges and rewards of solitude, meditation as a form of solitude, and how being alone can enhance the experience of connection.

Our Dharmabyte today asks and#8220;What does it mean to and#8216;knowand#8217; the Buddha?and#8221; Sangharakshita asks how, if at all, such a man can be defined or categorised.

In todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte we bring you and#8220;Face To Face With Reality.and#8221; Vadanya draws on the Pali Canon and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy to explore how coming face to face with reality is liberating and expansive and#8211; but also very uncomfortable for our habitual small self. Our Dharmabyte is just the beginning of the talk, for the rest: and#8220;Face to Face with Reality.and#8221;

Our Dharmabyte today is titled and#8220;Symbols of Religionand#8221; from a recording of Sangharakshita in Conversation with Kathleen Raine. In this excerpt they discuss depictions of the Cross through the ages; Yakshas (kindly demons); the Renaissance, human selfhood and the spirit; Ravenna mosaics; the Stations of the Cross considered as art; and the stupa.

In the 1980s, and#8216;Independent Artsand#8217; ran an ambitious and extremely impressive Arts program through the Croydon Buddhist Centre in London. Hereand#8217;s a first offering from the archive of recordings and#8211; an open conversation between Sangharakshita, founder of the Western Buddhist Order, and the renowned poet and scholar Kathleen Raine, one of the founders of the Temenos Academy.

The occasion was the launch of Sangharakshitaand#8217;s book and#8216;The Religion of Artand#8217; and#8211; and the discussion ranges widely and, at times, controversially through the subject of the Arts considered as a vehicle for spiritual truths. Itand#8217;s full of talking points and challenges to contemporary orthodoxies around art theory. But whatever oneand#8217;s take on the views of the participants, this is a marvellous record of a unique meeting of minds.