Dharmabytes from free buddhist audio

How can we be helpful? Do we go beyond ourselves to do things for others? Are we inspired by the ways in which we are helpful?

Taravandana explores the meaning of the final verses of the Sevenfold Puja as practiced in the Triratna Buddhist Community. The Transference of Merits verse is based on Chapter 3 of the Bodhicaryavatara, Way of the Bodhisattva by Shantideva.

Excerpted from the ninth talk in the Sevenfold Puja series at the Manchester Buddhist Centre, on Transference of Merits and Self-Surrender, March 2010.

***

Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma

FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook

FBA on Soundcloud

Spiritual practice can be thought of in terms of developing positive qualities within ourselves. But in a very real sense it also consists in creating sufficiently beautiful conditions within our minds so that something from outside us may be invited in. From the talk entitled Inviting the Enlightened Mind given by Vadanya during the third Great Gathering of 2017 at Padmaloka Retreat Centre.

***

Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma

FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook

FBA on Soundcloud

Jayaratna shares his story of about a recent journey to track down his difficulties with the Sevenfold Puja, and what he learned about himself in the process.

From the talk entitled Facing the Sevenfold Puja given at the Shrewsbury Sangha, 2018.

***

Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma

FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook

FBA on Soundcloud

Most of our life strategies are to avoid pain. We can ask ourselves - Do I want to be bound by suffering, or free from suffering? Aryajaya describes the movement towards the Three Jewels as a development of faith and effective Going for Refuge.

From the talk entitled Commitment Is Key given at Cambridge Buddhist Centre, 2016.

***

Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma

FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook

FBA on Soundcloud

Here Sangharakshita explores the Four Reliances as he distinguishes the meaning of vijnana (Discriminating Consciousness) and jnana (Transcendental Awareness) and then further distinguishes prajna-paramita (Perfection of Wisdom) from jnana.

Launching his book entitled Wisdom Beyond Words, 1993.

***

Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma

FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook

FBA on Soundcloud

Vajradevi introduces the idea of 'talking meditation', where we carry the thread of awareness through verbal communication. This extends beyond awareness of the speech precepts to being aware of the texture or tone of our own and others' voices, using a 'settled back' stance and giving priority to the thread of awareness/knowing over the content of what's being said. She gives tips for the practice: staying aware of our own minds, aiming to let go of trying and focusing so as to aim for a more panoramic awareness. From the talk Working Mindfully with Communication & Language which is part of the series Pathways to the Beautiful Mind: Bristol Rains Retreat, 2019.

***

Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma

FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook

FBA on Soundcloud

The Buddha and Ananda once tended a sick monk, neglected by his companions because of his 'uselessness'. Sangharakshita shows that people cannot be treated as 'things' in the spiritual community.

Excerpted from the talk entitled A Case of Dysentry as part of the series Incidents from the Pali Canon, 1982.

***

Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma

FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook

FBA on Soundcloud

How do we go beyond the duality of subject and object, self and other, to experience the true nature of reality?

There is no real Buddhism if it's all about self liberation. We have to see other people as like ourselves. Jnanavaca, telling the story of Meghiya, unequivocally draws out the importance of sangha and kalyana mitrata as the means to bring the Dharma to life in the world. Excerpted from the talk What is Sangha & Kalyana Mitrata? From the series entitled The Bi-Tendential Value of Being & The Greater Mandala given by Jnanavaca and Subhadramati at the London Buddhist Centre, 2019.

***

Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma

FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook

FBA on Soundcloud

Silence all around the lake, the light of the sky reflecting on it's surface, blushing in the colors of sunset. Dusk, twilight, a time of transformation, a time of meditation.

Here, Dayanandi evokes the birth of Padmasambhava, the Lotus Born, who is a historical and mythological figure who established Buddhism in Tibet in the eighth century.

Excerpted from the talk entitled Meeting Padmasambhava in the Cave of the Heart given during the Padmasabhava Day Festival at Manchester Buddhist Centre, October 2011.

***

Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma

FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook

FBA on Soundcloud

Vidyasaki introduces Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal, his consort and disciple attributed with recording the story of the Great Guru's establishing Buddhism in Tibet. Offering her perspective as a literary critic, Vidyasaki speaks from her heart about the mythical and historical dimensions of this significant bit of Buddhist history.

Excerpted from the key note talk entitled Padmasambhava and the Naga King given on the Padmasambhava Festival Day, Cambridge Buddhist Centre, 2018.

***

Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma

FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook

FBA on Soundcloud