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Religion & Spirituality

Dharmabytes from free buddhist audio

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!

  • 1,444 episodes
  • Updated Yesterday

Episodes1444

  • Apr 4, 2023 · 4 min

    Still Friends: New Name

    With humour and engaging personal stories, Padmavajra speaks to the moment in our collective history when Bhante Sangharakshita changed the name of our community from Friends of the Western Buddhist Order to Triratna Buddhist Community. Excerpted from the short talk Changing Our Name to Triratna Buddhist Community given at the Triratna International Retreat, May 2010. *** 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

  • Mar 30, 2023 · 4 min

    A Sense of Purpose

    The very last words of the Buddha were 'appamadena sampadetha': with mindfulness strive on! Prajnamati reflects on those two last words, drawing out the qualities of mindfulness, as taught by the Buddha, and the quality of effort that will enable us to cultivate and develop it. This are teachings just as relevant to the contemporary beginner first learning the mindfulness of breathing meditation as to the seasoned renunciants attending the Buddha's death 2500 years ago. Excerpted from the talk With Mindfulness Strive On! Given at Bristol Buddhist Centre, 2011. *** 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

  • Mar 27, 2023 · 6 min

    Vast Ocean of Boundless Depths

    In this talk, Viveka explores the many, diverse faces of mindfulness practice - breaking down the ideological barriers that can so often divide when we try to figure out what, exactly, does constitute mindfulness meditation... With good humour and an emphasis on kindness in the present moment, she encourages us to broaden and deepen our ideas of awareness and of loving kindness. Rich with references - from Satipatthana to Milarepa - this is an excellent and encouraging contemporary take on meditation and what it is to make mindfulness part of your everyday life. Excerpted from the talk Mindfulness as Sadhana given at the Triratna (Western) Buddhist Order Convention, 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

  • Mar 23, 2023 · 5 min

    A World of Spiritual Experience

    A traditional exposition of Buddhist meditation looking at why we meditate; preparation for meditation; the five meditation practices designed to counteract the five mental poisons; and the three stages of meditation. Excerpted from the talk Meditation: the Expanding Consciousness given in 1967 by Sangharakshita. *** 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

  • Mar 20, 2023 · 2 min

    Awareness Wisdom

    Vajradevi speaks to a large gathering of Order Members and Mitras Training for Ordination under a big marque at the annual Great Gathering on the theme of the Satipatthana Sutta. Reflecting on the theme of the weekend Vajradevi said: "When we're mindful and present to what's happening – both 'internally' and 'externally' – our responses become steady, wise, and confident. Whatever we're doing, whether we're meditating, working, communicating, or singing, becomes a vehicle to 'grow' awareness. Mindfulness becomes panoramic and we live with immediacy and creativity." Excerpted from the talk Pure Presence: The Basis For Seeing Clearly, part of the series Dancing with Pure Presence, given at the Great Gathering at Taraloka Retreat Centre, 2022. *** 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

  • Mar 16, 2023 · 3 min

    Freedom from Pushing and Pulling

    Exploration by Nagesvara of the beginning of the Anapansati meditation practice, namely the preliminaries and the breath. "Here, gone to the forest to the root of a tree or to an empty hut, we sit down; folding our legs crosswise, keeping the body erect, and having established mindfulness to the fore, mindful, one breathes in; mindful one breathes out. While breathing in long, one knows: 'I breathe in long.' While breathing out long, one knows, 'I breathe out long.' While breathing in short, one knows: 'I breathe in short.' While breathing out short, one knows, 'I breath out short.'" Excerpted from the talk The Preliminaries and the Breath, part of the series The Flow of Life: exploring Anapanasati, given at Metta Vihara Retraitecentrum, 2022. *** 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

  • Mar 13, 2023 · 2 min

    An Inclusive Love

    Maitridevi talks about what the heart is like and the importance of it to the cultivation of an expansive all inclusive love for all beings and things. This talk is part of an intensive meditation retreat held at Taraloka in 2021 for women who have asked for ordination. Excerpted from the talk The Heart Unbound: Metta As a Path to Insight (4 of 13) given at Taraloka Retreat Centre, 2021. *** 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

  • Mar 9, 2023 · 7 min

    Rooted in Metta

    Ratnavandana beautifully introduces 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. Excerpted from the talk Introduction to the Brahma Viharas (With Guided Meditation) given as part of the Rainy Season Retreat at Bristol 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

  • Mar 7, 2023 · 4 min

    Savoring Experience

    Nagabodhi speaks about the process of developing awareness throughout the day and how this relates to vedanā – or hedonic tone. He explores how if we can notice the raw experience and whether it's pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, then we have freedom not to act in the usual habitual ways. From the talk Developing Awareness as part of the series The Two Arrows: Dukkha to Insight given at Adhisthana, 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

  • Mar 2, 2023 · 2 min

    Moving Closer to Truth

    In this short personal talk, Prajnahridaya discusses the universal importance of love, a quality so vital if we want to live a meaningful life. Excerpted from the talk entitled The Rising Sun given at the Annual Sub35 Men's Weekend for Young Buddhists at Padmaloka in November, 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

  • Feb 27, 2023 · 7 min

    Universal Redemption

    How do you become a Bodhisattva? Upon the Awakening of the Bodhi Heart (Bodhichitt-otpada). In this lecture Sangharakshita defines the Bodhichitta, differentiating here between individual will and the cosmic will to enlightenment that transcends individuals. Excerpted from the talk The Awakening of the Bodhi Heart given as part of the series entitled Aspects of the Bodhisattva Ideal, 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

  • Feb 23, 2023 · 4 min

    The Flavour of Forbearance

    This talk explores the emergence of the Bodhisattva Ideal in the Mahayana tradition. Nagapriya discusses the historical context in which this basic concept developed, its ties to early Buddhist texts, and what the bodhisattva's life entails, on both the mundane and cosmic levels. Here, he shares a reading on forbearance from the Bodhicaryavatara by Shantideva. Excerpted from the The Ideal of Universal Awakening given at Manchester Buddhist Centre, as part of the series Visions of Mahayana Buddhism, 2009. *** 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

  • Feb 20, 2023 · 4 min

    Mountains of Merit

    Prakasha takes us through the verses on transference of merit and self surrender from Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara, and communicates the feeling of completely letting go of a Bodhisattva. Excerpted from the talk Awakening Bodhicitta given at Shrewsbury Triratna Buddhist Group, 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

  • Feb 16, 2023 · 5 min

    Patience is the Greatest Asceticism

    Sahajatara offers an introduction to the six paramitas as she touches into the development of forbearance with humour, realism and dakini-inspiration. From the talk Forbearance and Energy In Pursuit of the Good given at Taraloka Retreat Centre, 2021. *** 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

  • Feb 13, 2023 · 3 min

    Refraining from Anger

    More counter-cultural stuff here, shouldn't we always express how we feel? Shantideva seems to be saying something else when he encourages us to be 'like a block of wood'... Maitrisara offers thoughts on patience and anger as described in the Bodhicaryavatara. Excerpted from the talk Like a Block of Wood, part of the series The Bodhicaryavatara, given at Birmingham 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

  • Feb 9, 2023 · 4 min

    One Moment of Anger

    The Bodhicaryavatara is an 8th century text written by Shantideva, a Buddhist monk from the monastic 'university' at Nalanda, India. Dhammadinna offers a few thoughts on the Perfection of Patience, differentiating between types of anger and noting that Shantideva is referring to the sort of anger that is retaliatory and unskilful. Excerpted from the talk Some Thoughts on the Bodhicaryavatara given at Taraloka Retreat Centre, 2008. *** 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 to our Dharmabytes podcast: On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favorite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Soundcloud

  • Feb 6, 2023 · 7 min

    The Essence of Bodhicitta

    Padmavajra shares a story of meeting on the basis of Bodhicitta arising between people. He tells us how Shantideva takes to heart, ever more firmly, the Bodhicitta, through his lavish performance of puja and a searing confession of faults. Giving Ourselves Completely to the Buddhas - Bodhicaryavatara Chapter 2 as part of the series Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara given at Padmaloka Retreat 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

  • Feb 2, 2023 · 3 min

    Training in Patience

    Khemasuri describes how a person can develop patience, translated from ksanti, drawing on verses from Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara. Excerpted from the talk Gratitude to Everyone given at Sheffield Buddhist Centre 2008. *** 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

  • Jan 30, 2023 · 8 min

    A Fundamentally Flawed Strategy

    Adverse situations of our day to day lives can provide us with opportunities to transform. Pradaya explores the Seven Point Mind Training teaching of turning adverse conditions into the path of enlightenment. From the talk Base Metal Into Gold, part of the series Mind Training - The Alchemy of The Emotions, given at Sheffield 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

  • Jan 26, 2023 · 6 min

    Dharmas Are Dreamlike

    Society is complicated and we have all sorts of stories about that. Satyajyoti explores how our ideas and our stories create their own realities. Whatever our views are about the world influences how we experience the world. Excerpted from the talk Training In Wisdom, part of the series Mind Training - The Alchemy of The Emotions, given at Sheffield 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