Free Buddhist Audio

In today's FBA Podcast, we give you "The Buddha's Vision", the last talk in the "Gautama Buddha" series launching Vishvapani's new book "Gautama Buddha: The Life and Teachings of the Awakened One". (Quercus, 2011)

When the Buddha finally sat down under the Bodhi tree and saw deeply into the nature of things, what had brought him to that point? And what happened next? In his final take on the Buddha's journey of the heart and mind, Vishvapani focuses in on the Buddha's experience before, during and after Enlightenment, bringing his nuanced, perceptive reading to the words the Buddha himself is said to have employed in order to best evoke his experiences as he struggled to give voice to them. A fitting conclusion to a wonderfully insightful series.

Includes an adroit discussion of the issues around imagination and historical evidence, and how we can usefully approach the Pali texts as literature.

Talk given in Bristol, February 2011.

This talk is part of the series Gautama Buddha.

Today's FBA Dharmabyte, "Manjughosha's Sword" is an excerpt from the talk "Cutting Away the Old" by the very dynamic Dharmachari Abhaya. Swords - lots of swords - as he explores the deep significance of Manjughosha/Manjushri and the blade he uses to cut deep into ignorance and the suffering it leads us into. In this track we are invited to visualize the symbols of swords as we are reminded of Zorro, Excalibur and other sword fights in films. Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2003

Today's FBA Dharmabyte,, "The Five Spiritual Faculties" is from one of our earliest recordings of Sangharakshita: "A Special Transmission Outside the Scriptures", 1965. How does Faith, Wisdom, Energy, Concentration and Mindfulness manifest in our lives? How do they relate to each other in our experience? This excerpt is from a talk in the series "The Essence of Zen".

In today's FBA Podcast, we give you the fourth talk in the "Gautama Buddha" series titled: "The Buddha and Society", from the launch of Vishvapani's new book "Gautama Buddha: The Life and Teachings of the Awakened One". (Quercus, 2011)

The Buddha as a radical, as a holy man, as pragmatist, as tamer of demons, as visionary – in this wide-ranging, riveting talk Vishvapani gives us all these and more, and all in relation to the society Gautama took part in. Some provocative words and questions from the Buddha and from our speaker as we try to get to grips with a world vastly different from our own. What was the Buddha's social vision, and what can we learn from it? This is essential listening and holds some surprising insights into the life and times of a great sage in and out of his own culture and history.

Talk given in Birmingham, February 2011.

Today's FBA Dharmabyte, "Marking the New Name: Triratna Buddhist Community", is a short talk by Padmavajra before leading the seven-fold puja at the International Sangha Gathering, Taraloka, May 2010 marking our movement's name from the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order to the Triratna Buddhist Community. The Community of the Three Jewels: The Buddha, The Dharma, and The Sangha.

With Mindfulness, Strive. Today's FBA Dharmabyte, is a verse chanted within the context of A Western [Triratna] Buddhist Order Ordination Ceremony. Conducted by Sangharakshita, this talk is part of the series Ritual and Devotion in Buddhism.

In today's FBA Podcast, Vishvapani delivers "The Buddha's Personality", the third talk in his dynamic new series from the launch of the book "Gautama Buddha: The Life and Teachings of the Awakened One". (Quercus, 2011)

Great artists have tried and failed to grasp the essence of the Buddha's character. Beyond the narrative and the drama, what was the Buddha actually like? And what can be gleaned from the diverse sources that tell us about him? In this reflective talk Vishavapani looks behind the veils of history, legend and the texts themselves to conjur a vivid, felt image of the Buddha's personality. In a series of beautifully observed close-up drawings from the Pali Canon we are left with a portrait of spiritual genius that is both enigmatically distant and thoroughly human.

Vishvapani is a well known figure in the Triratna Buddhist Community and is a regular contributer on the BBC's 'Thought for the Day'.

Talk given at the London Buddhist Centre, February 2011.

In today's FBA Dharmabyte, we preview our next podcast, "The Buddha's Personality" by Vishvapani with the segment: "'Knowing' the Buddha". This is from the third talk in the Vishvapani's new series launching the book "Gautama Buddha: The Life and Teachings of the Awakened One". (Quercus, 2011) "The suttas give us a vividly real Buddha who walks the roads, inhabits the cities and the plains, an untamed free spirit, a powerful presence who we can know but we cannot necessarily comprehend." Vishvapani is a we

In today's FBA Dharmabyte, we continue our theme on the Buddha's Enlightenment with "Mara's Attack on the Buddha". This Dharambyte is from the quietly passionate talk, "What is Enlightenment?" by Jinapriya on the quicksilver nature of the Enlightenment experience - impossible to pin down, utterly transformative. Here we meet Mara, the demon or trickster who represents our deepest fears, our doubts, our lack of confidence. We are met with a thoughtful series of reflections, stories and images that all look

Today's FBA Podcast, is the second talk in a major new series of talks by Vishvapani to mark the launch of his new book: 'Gautama Buddha: The Life and Teachings of the Awakened One' (Quercus, 2011).

In "Imagining Gautama", originally subtitled, 'Approaching The Buddha As An Historical And As A Mythic Figure', Vishvapani traces his own relationship to the Buddha, from early family connections arising out of the turmoil of war to his experience of writing the book itself. In doing so he explores the tricky work of trying to engage with the imagination constrained and disciplined by the historical evidence. What emerges from his work with the Pali texts is a portrait of the Buddha and his world where it's impossible to miss the vital sense of a man questing for a coherent vision of reality.

Features a question-and-answer session.

Talk given at the Cardiff Buddhist Centre, 2011. Check out our blog for more on this fascinating series.