Dharmabytes From Free Buddhist Audio

We often talk about meditation as if it happens in our heads, and think we do it from the neck up. But the Sanskrit word citta translates as ‘heart-mind’ — there’s no distinction between what’s above and below the neck. Suryadarshini explores the paradox about how to talk about embodiment, how to cultivate awareness of the elements in our body, and how to be courageous and curious in communicating our experiences in meditation. From the talk Get Out of Your Head: How to Talk About Meditating In the Body given in Norwich, 2019. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyo

At times in the spiritual life we may  considerable energy to overcome obstacles, such as negative emotions, psychological conditionings, rational thinking, and even the sense of 'time' itself. How, when, and where can we break through? Excerpted from the talk entitled Breaking Through into Buddhahood by Sangharakshita given in 1969. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

Drawing upon the myths in the life of the Buddha Satyapara explores the role the body plays when we take up Buddhist practice. She describes the Buddha as a child under a rose apple tree being deeply in touch with his surroundings and when calling upon the earth he gains confidence in his practice and overcomes his doubts. With these stories, Satyapara invites us to trust our body. From the talk entitled   A Body of Practice given in Cambridge for the Young Peoples Evening, 2016. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTub

Dhammagita talks about the importance of the body and its sensations in informing and enabling our practice, taking us to the truth, overcoming conditioning and embracing vulnerability. Excerpted from the talk Body of Awakening given at Taraloka Retreat Centre 2018. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

Vidyamala explores how a Mahayana approach of cultivating Bodhicitta is a brilliant way to 'flip' our habitual self-centredness and cultivate a new default setting of continually thinking of others. Excepted from the talk Citta and Bodhicitta given at Rivendell as part of the series An Exploration of the Satipatthana Sutta 2018. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud

Vilasamani, who is a body therapist, introduces those elements of the body and nervous system that tend to impel us down automatic or reactive channels. We can gently influence our mood and behaviour by understanding physical susceptibilities, and working with them. Excerpted from the talk Body Reactive, Body Creative given at West London Buddhist Centre, 2017. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

Here Maitreyi looks at pleasure and suffering in the context of samsara - compassionate responses to self and other, and how to loosen the bonds... Excerpted from the talk The Defects and Dangers of Samsara, the last in a five-part series The Four Mind-Turning Reflections of the Tibetan Tradition given at Tiratanaloka Retreat Centre, 2005. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

Suchitta explores the way we generate our own suffering, in the light of understanding accumulated through reflection on the first three reminders. This gives us a window to the world and the birth of Compassion and our potential for an Awakened Heart. There are tips on how to reorientate ourselves away from the identity project towards a life of genuine and complete selflessness. Excerpted from the talk The Defects of Samsara and Cultivating the Desire For Enlightenment given at Taraloka Retreat Centre, 2016. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now!

Hridayagita explores conditionality as a universal law, expressed within the 5 niyamas as cyclical and the spiral of the dharma niyama. She then describes the three fetters as a useful tool for reflecting on why we forget or do not fully believe that our actions of body, speech and mind truly have consequences. The talk entitled Recollecting the Consequences of One’s Actions was given at Taraloka Retreat Centre, 2016. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud

Santavajri begins with her realisation that a motivator for her spiritual practice has been a quest for happiness. Touching on the themes of righteous indignation, spiritual bypassing, empathy, non-violent communication, envy and exploring apology, confession and working with betrayal, Santavajri poses the question as to whether we can forgive ourselves and move towards unconditional love for all beings. Excerpted from the talk Forgiveness and Happiness, part of the series Women's Area Order Weekend at Adhisthana, 2018. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: don

Subhadramati explores forgiveness and the arising of the Bodhicitta. The ego sustains itself by blaming - forgiveness means letting go of our egoic reactions and becoming a conduit for the mind of Bodhicitta. Excerpted from Being a Conduit For the Mind of Bodhicitta during the Women's Area Order Weekend, 2018. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

A lovely, thoughtful exploration of the traditional Buddhist path of ethics, meditation and wisdom, using poetry and the ideas of contemporary science to evoke the mystery that lies at the heart of practice. Dhammadassin's beautifully weighted talk challenges us to look at how we think and how we act, and is rooted in a moving fidelity to experience as the ground of our inspiration. One to be treasured! Excerpted from the talk Standing on Emptiness: View, Meditation, and Action given at the Women’s National Order weekend, 2004. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for ever

This introductory talk by Dhammadinna is an ideal entry point to the world of the mind-turnings. Seen as foundations for the building of practice, the reflections encourage us to make life meaningful in the face of a relentlessly ungovernable reality. A strong look in the mirror of the heart. Excerpted from the talk The Four Mind-Turning Reflections, part of the series of the same title, given at Tiratanaloka Retreat Centre, 2005. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  | 

In this very personal talk Vijayasri remembers being part of a study seminar led by Sangharakshita, in 1982, on The Jewel Ornament of Liberation by Gampopa.Vijayasri talks about the effect being part of the study group has had on her life and explores Gampopas teachings on the importance of a human birth. Excerpted from the talk entitled This Precious Human Life given at Croydon Buddhist Centre, 2015. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

A moving, often beautiful evocation of the great Indian teacher Atisha, whose work had a profound influence on the development of Buddhism in Tibet. Sangharakshita presents Atisha's life as both a challenge and an inspiration to all who wish to practice the Dharma and discover its relevance in the world today. Excerpt from the talk entitled A Life for the Dharma, part of the series Three Lectures to the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order, 1999. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |

“I believe that it is possible to be friends with any other human being…” In this talk, Maitreyi explores the unique emphasis of friendship with quotes from Sangharakshita. Excerpted from the talk A Celebration of Friendship given at Glasgow Buddhist Centre, 2020. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

Padmavajra explores what it means to come together in a Buddhist centre to practice the Dharma and why we need such places in which to practice together. He touches on the importance of learning the Dharma, inspiration, friendship and the 'bodying forth' of the Buddha's teachings in our lives. Excerpted from the talk entitled The Wondrous House of the Dharma given at the London Buddhist Centre, 2023. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud

Here Arthapriya draws out our natural impetus to grow and the import of spiritual friendship to create a context for us to develop spiritually. Excerpted from the talk entitled Risking It All - Sangha As Practice given at Cambridge Buddhist Centre, 2014. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud

Here Subhadramati shares her experience witnessing Bhante circumambulating and bowing to the shrine and how that deep gesture of reverence evoked a strong sense of the lineage of inspiration in her. Excerpted from the talk entitled Avalokiteshvara given as part of the series Buddhas and Bodhisattvas given at Cambridge Buddhist Centre, 2019. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

Sangharakshita revisits his time as a wandering 'Dharma Farer' in the India of the 1940s. The occasion for this colourful set of stories and related insights is the 60th anniversary of his decision to 'Go Forth' into the homeless life, in line with the oldest Buddhist traditions. Sangharakshita is in fine, thoughtful, at times even mischievous form as he heads into his 83rd year, and, as usual, is uncompromising in his vision of the spiritual life as a vital challenge to the comfortable mores of our times. From the talk Recollections and Reflections on My Going Forth given at the Western Buddhist Order International Men's Convention, 2007. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search