Free Buddhist Audio
Dharmabytes features bite-sized dharma, three times a week, from the Free Buddhist Audio archives. Themed in conjunction with our weekly full length talk podcast, these are inspiring short extracts from over 5,000 talks on Buddhism, meditation and mindfulness!
Tune in, be inspired!
More of a lively ramble than a talk, Devamitra explores of the relationship between imagination and devotion based loosely around the Ti Ratana Vandana. Excerpted from the talk entitled The Heart of Triratna given at Birmingham Buddhist Centre, 2013. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Vidyamala introduces the key aspects of this part of the Sutta and then speaks of the importance of allowing for growth and integration in our practice. She speaks of the twin pillars of awareness and love and how mindfulness can lead to a deeper and deeper sense of connection with all of life and how kindness is a natural expression of that. She also speaks of her own practice after the recent death of her father. Excerpted from the talk Citta - Fragments On Love, part of the series An Exploration of the Satipatthana Sutta given on Gravity and Grace retreat at Rivendell, 2017. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to the FBA podcast: A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
In this talk Dayanandi covers the first of the five great stages of spiritual experience that develop and unfold as we progress on the Path to Enlightenment — integration and wholeness. Excerpted from the talk entitled Mindfulness and the Mandala of Integration, part of the series The Five Great Stages of the Spiritual Path given at Manchester Buddhist Centre, 2011. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to the FBA podcast: A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
In Sthiranaga's exploration of this section of Canto 103, he provides some practical techniques to help keep us from becoming estranged from our meditation practice as well as tips to creatively explore the positive formulation of the precepts, which can form part of the 'enactment' of Padmasabhava's advice to Queen Ngang Chung, which leads to her liberation. Excerpted from the talk Working with the Mind given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre as part of the series Illuminations from The Guru's Heart, 2025. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
A delightful talk to mark the re-launch of 'Mitrata, a journal (now discontinued) which helped develop the systematic study of Buddhism and was especially intended for 'mitras' ('Friends'). Here, Sangharakshita tells the story of Meghiya drawing out the theme of spiritual friendship and receptivity to one's teacher. Excerpted from The Launching of the New Mitrata, 1983. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
A beautiful introduction by Ratnavandana to the Brahma Viharas as an integrated set of practices flowing from metta- loving-kindness. Her central image is that of a tree, deep-rooted and spreading its canopy wide as she evokes a profound, personal connection to the cultivation of the sublime abodes- loving-kindness, compassion, joy with others, and equanimity. Ratnavandana also leads a guided meditation on cultivating a connection to the Brahma Viharas. Excerpted from the talk Introduction to the Brahma Viharas (With Guided Meditation) given as part of the series Brahma Viharas - Bristol Retreat, Bristol Buddhist Centre, 2015. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Ratnaprabha takes us through the realisations that came to the Buddha during his all night meditation under the Bodhi tree, culminating in the vision of the morning star, the Star of Healing. Its light was the first sight of the Awakened One, a light symbolising the illumination of awareness itself. Excerpted from the talk entitled The Star of Healing given at West London Buddhist Centre, 2014. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
A father, now wealthy, spots his long-lost son in the streets. He gradually befriends him until he has the self-confidence to take on his inheritance. This parable from the Lotus Sutra yields fascinating lessons in accepting the riches of our deepest nature. Excerpted from the talk entitled The Myth of the Return Journey by Akashadevi given at West London Buddhist Centre, 2018. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Poetry is something that takes you deeper into the heart of things. Dharmavadana explores the impact of poetry on our spiritual life. Excerpted from the talk entitled Poetry and Spiritual Life given at West London Buddhist Centre, 2010. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Activism, slavery, the Bodhisattva vow and utopia. Welcoming rage, passion and kindness into our Sangha is the path to liberation. Successful responses to capitalism and other forms of suffering and injustice. from the Sigalaka sutta to real questions about how we treat our fellow human beings. Here, Saraha shares two poems that inspire him to engage fully with life. Excerpted from Your Liberation Is Bound Up with Mine given at Birmingham Buddhist Centre, 2020. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Padmasagara challenges familiar ideas of compassion. When we step beyond the ego, compassion may arise in many forms, not always what we expect. Excerpted from the talk entitled A Buddhist's Response to Global Crises - Part 1 given at Buddhistisches Tor Berlin, 2026. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Join Lalitaratna as he explores the essence of puja, a devotional practice honoring the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Discover how this practice can reshape our mental state and perspective on the world. The talk delves into Dharma Vinaya, unpacking the truths of impermanence, no-self, and suffering, along with the transformative path of ethical living, meditation, and wisdom. Excerpted from the talk entitled The Truth Is All Its Aspects, the Path In All Its Stages given at Buddhistisches Tor Berlin, 2023. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Prasadavati invites us to explore how meditation can serve our lives on and off the cushion, and especially during challenging times. Excerpted from the talk entitled Befriend Your Mind given at Buddhistisches Tor Berlin, 2025. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Equanimity is the deepest level of metta: metta imbued with seeing reality. Maitrisiddhi brings in Kisa Gotami, Hiroshima and her own mother's death. Can we hold the paradox of loving, yet letting go? Can we drop the drama, and see the mettaful action that we could actually take? Excerpted from the talk entitled Equanimity: This Is The Way Things Are as part of the series Brahma Viharas: Living in the Mandala, Taraloka Retreat Centre, 2025. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
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. Excerpted from the talk entitled The Sea As Spiritual Death given at Young Men Retreat, Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2012. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Orientation towards Enlightenment is a keynote talk by Kusaladevi marking both the Buddha's enlightenment over 2,500 years ago and the 30th anniversary of the Nottingham Buddhist Centre. Exploring themes of lineage, connection, and the symbolism of the Vajrasana as a point of orientation in a suffering world. Kusaladevi reflects on how Dharma practice and the life of a Buddhist Centre offer a bridge from disorientation towards the transcendental through the light of the Dharma. Excerpted from the talk entitled Orienting Towards Enlightenment given at the Nottingham Buddhist Centre, 2026. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Vaddhaka delves into the Buddha's unanswered questions; questions that Vacchagotta, Malunkyaputta and others asked him. Among them: 'What happens to a Buddha after death?' And what happens at our own death; what did the Buddha really say; and why did the renowned Buddhist scholar Paul Williams convert from Buddhism to Roman Catholicism? Excerpted from the talk entitled Death and the Self, and the Buddha's Unanswered Questions given at Stockholm Buddhist Centre, 2010. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to the FBA podcast: A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Maitreyabandhu draws out the deeper meaning and finer detail of five different poems, each around the theme of death with the final poem focusing on spiritual rebirth. By discussing the background of the poems and poets, the intricacies of their structure, and bringing in a Buddhist interpretation of the themes raised in the poems, Maitreyabandhu shows us the importance and profundity of poetry and how it can help us to explore Dharmic themes more deeply. Here he discusses the poem "I heard a Fly buzz – when I died - by Emily Dickinson. Excerpted from the talk entitled A New Knowledge of Reality-Buddhism and Poetry given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2018. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to the FBA podcast: A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
In this talk Alokadhara explores these beautiful verses which evoke the Buddha, his qualities and the profundity of his teaching. Excerpted from the talk entitled Celebrating the Buddha Pingiya's Praises to the Way to the Beyond given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2014. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Dhivan relates tales of some of the colourful characters who visit the Buddha to receive teachings.Here, we here about a killer-bandit named Angulimala. Excerpted from the talk A Courtesan, a Killer and a King given at Bristol Buddhist Centre, 2016. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube