Dharmabytes from free buddhist audio

Our Dharmabyte podcast today is called Living Sangha Abhayanandi, an excerpt from a talk of the same name. Imagine being part of a community marked by autonomy and connection, abundant with supportive love and friendship. The Buddha famously said that fellowship is the whole of the spiritual life. Is that really true?! Abhayanandi has been following this teaching notably by living in a residential Buddhist community and working in a team-based right-livlihood business. Hear her inspirational and hard-won reflections on Living Sangha...

Our Dharmabyte podcast today is from our Triratna Buddhist Community founder, Sangharakshita, entitled: Broken Images, an excerpt from the talk The Journey to Il Convento. The journey symbolises a pilgrimage through the ruins and broken images of Christian civilisation and culture, progressing through a world of archetypal forms, and potentially taking us to the very threshold of Enlightenment. N.B. A few words missing. Talk given in 1984.

Our Dharmabyte podcast today is from our Triratna Buddhist Community founder, Sangharakshita, entitled: Emotion in the Spiritual Life. The central problem of spiritual life is the mobilisation of our emotional energies, so that what we know can be put into practice. Energies may be blocked, wasted or too coarse, and the Buddhist puja takes us through a series of devotional moods to help liberate them. The full talk, Poetry and Devotion in Buddhism: the Sevenfold Puja is part of the series Ritual and Devotion in Buddhism.

Our Dharmabyte podcast today is an excerpt from retreat! Dayajoti speaks from a Metta as a Path to Insight Retreat (2015) on Metta As Dependent Arising. From a talk of the same title.

Our Dharmabyte podcast today is an excerpt from The Bodhisattva Vision. Visuddhimati launches the Triratna Urban Retreat on the theme of the greater mandala of uselessness - a teaching Sangharakshita has given us in 1976 derived from the Ratnagunasamcayagatha Sutra of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras. From the talk entitled The Bodhisattva Vision.

Our Dharmabyte podcast today is brought to you by Dayajoti. Twentieth Century Bodhisattva is an excerpt from the introduction to Buddhist Action Month 2016 in Bristol, England. She focused on three aspects of transforming the world: direct action; creating alternatives; and a shift in consciousness.

Our Dharmabyte podcast today, The Sea As Spiritual Death, is an excerpt from a talk of the same name by Arthabandhu. Image of the sea and the raft, we hold onto our raft, but this brings suffering - can we let go, enter the sea and become spiritually reborn? This is the question Arthabandhu asks us. Spiritual death does not only mean esoteric meditation practices, it means confronting the vagaries and difficulties of life with honesty and courage and seeing what we can learn from them. By opening up to new experiences life becomes more vivid and enjoyable - if we can just face the fear. Talk given at Young Men Retreat, Padmaloka 2012.

Our Dharmabyte podcast today, 'Vision' and 'View', is an excerpt from A Vision of Human Existence given by Sangharakshita in 1976. In sanskrit or pali, there’s no word that corresponds with the word ‘philosophy.’ There is one word that is sometimes translated as philosophy, the word darshana, which means ‘to see, a sight, a view, a vision.’ Dharsana represents direct experience, not something mediated by concepts. In Buddhism, the term is ‘drsti’ - which means a sight, a view, a perspective. This talk is part of the series Buddhism for Today and Tomorrow.

In our Dharmabyte podcast today, A Prayer to the Moon", Paramananda shares a David White poem about the moon as a means of expressing consciousness that is inspired by longing for something greater than us.

In our Dharmabyte podcast today, Daring to Look In the Mirror", Satyalila offers a talk for theme of the European Women's Convention which was "The Bodhisattva's Reply: Triratna Paths to Insight." August 27 2014, Adhisthana.

In our Dharmabyte podcast today, Opening Up & Letting Go", Yashobodhi talks about her personal connection to the tonglen practice and the seven point mind training and about practising tonglen in the moment.

Our Dharmabyte podcast today entitled "Developing Real Individuality" is about going forth from the group, and helping others to do so too. From the talk The Individual, the Group, and the Community by Sangharakshita (1971) A Spiritual Community consists of Individuals; a group does not consist of Individuals. What is individuality? How can an ordinary group support our efforts to transcend the group?

In today's Dharmabyte podcast Ratnaghosha brings us"Experience, Then Understanding", a short excerpt from the talk entitled The Goal, the sixth talk given on the European Triratna Men's Convention at Adhisthana on 19 August 2014. The Men's Convention, the first to be held at Adhisthana, was based on Milarepa's final exhortation from "The Shepherd's Search for Mind", which provides a complete path, effortlessly combining devotion and meditation. Day 5: He sees how wrong were the fears and hopes of his own mind. Without arrival, he reaches the place of Buddha; Without seeing, he visions the dharmakaya; Without effort, he does all things naturally.

In today's FBA Dharmabyte podcast Vajratara delivers "Mindfulness Really is The Way", a short excerpt from the talk, Insight In The Everyday. Satipatana is a practice of bringing awareness to what is going on in your experience. A dynamic process that is continuous and ultimately the key to Insight. More than just focusing on our present experience, it’s also being aware of the significance of each moment. Talk given at Sangha Night, Sheffield Buddhist Centre on 11th December 2007, as part of a series on stories and symbols.

Fear is the great modern disease. Helping to create the conditions of fearlessness is one of the greatest gifts we can give. Today's FBA Dharmabyte podcast is entitled"Knowing the Dangers, Seeking the Noble" by Dhivan. Here, Dhivan draws out some of the continuing significance of the story of the noble quest, as a kind of blueprint for the model of the Dharma life as heroic self-development. From the talk The Buddhas Noble Quest given at a Sangha evening at Bristol Buddhist Centre.