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!
Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte is one of three short talks on the topic of and#8220;Inspiring Young People with the Dharmaand#8221; given at given at Sheffield. Entitled and#8220;Choice in Young Peopleand#8217;s Practice,and#8221; Vidyaruci speaks on the wealth of choice for young people and the importance of getting clear on making the right choices in order to seize every opportunity available to practice well going forward in life.
Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte is one of three short talks on the topic of and#8220;Inspiring Young People with the Dharmaand#8221; given at given at Sheffield. Entitled and#8220;Inspiring Young People,and#8221; Kate, a member of the young sangha, offers her thoughts on being a young person in the Triratna Buddhist Community and about getting engaged in the workings of the sangha.
Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte is a set of closing remarks from Padmavajra following Guhyavajraand#8217;s talk and#8220;Concepts, Symbol and Dharma as Sambhogakayaand#8221; given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre on a Going for Refuge Retreat in 2001. Entitled and#8220;The Dharma is Receivedand#8221; Padmavajra reflects on Dharma Day and the importance of that moment of the first full understanding of the Buddhaand#8217;s teachings by Kondanna.
Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte is a segment from Sangharakshitaand#8217;s talk and#8220;The New Man Speaksand#8221; given in 1971. Entitled and#8220;What Do We Celebrate on Dharma Day?and#8221; here Sangharakshita speaks to the meaning of the Buddhist Dharma Day festival and#8211; a commemoration of the first impact of the enlightened man on the unenlightened world.
Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte is drawn from Sangharakshitaand#8217;s talk and#8220;Looking at the Bodhi Treeand#8221; given in 1999. Entitled and#8220;Gratitude for the Bodhi Treeand#8221; in this segment Sangharakshita brings our attention to an overlooked story immediately following the Buddhaand#8217;s Enlightenment, in which the Buddha expresses deep gratitude to the tree which sheltered him and#8211; a lesson in both gratitude and in how the Buddha regarded the natural world.
Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte is a segment from Satyajitand#8217;s talk and#8220;Awakening to the Earth and#8211; An Inconceivably Vast Undertakingand#8221; given at Buddhafieldand#8217;s Green Earth Awakening event in May 2013. Satyajit is one of the founders of the Buddhafield festival and has spent many years exploring the connections between Buddhism and work to change the world for the better. Entitled and#8220;Awakening to the Earthand#8221; here Satyajit poetically evokes the deep feelings of beauty and potential in life when we make contact with the natural world, and how this connection inspires us to share those feelings with others.
Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte is another segment from an early series of talks in 1976 by Sangharakshita on the Sutra of Golden Light. Entitled and#8220;An Understanding of Nature,and#8221; this piece is from the talk and#8220;Nature, Man and Enlightenmentand#8221;. Sangharakshita here reveals a richer way of understanding nature and seeing it in its spiritual depths and#8211; bringing in the concepts of cyclic existence and the furthest reaches of perception and cosmos.
Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte is from an early series of talks in 1976 by Sangharakshita on the Sutra of Golden Light. Entitled and#8220;Manand#8217;s Use of Nature,and#8221; itand#8217;s part of the talk and#8220;Nature, Man and Enlightenmentand#8221;. In the sutra, the struggle and resolution of the conflict between our desires and aspirations are symbolically portrayed by the figures of the Monk and Drdha, the Earth-Goddess. Here, Sangharakshita discusses manand#8217;s use of natural resources, and the Buddhist duty to become loving stewards of our environment.
Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte is from Kamalashila, stemming from the deep connections he feels between Buddhist practice and the environment. Entitled and#8220;Deep Ecology,and#8221; itand#8217;s a short segment of his excellent talk called and#8220;Buddhism and the Natural World: Deep Ecology, Deep Dharmaand#8221;. Here he relates deep ecology to the ethics and insight of practicing the Dharma.
Our FBA Dharmabyte today is entitled and#8220;Indraand#8217;s Net,and#8221; by Akuppa. It is an excerpt of Akuppaand#8217;s full talk called and#8220;Buddhism and Ecology,and#8221; which will be featured later this week. Here, Akuppa discusses a commonly-used symbol when we speak about Buddhist principles and ecology, Indraand#8217;s Net. He asks how Indraand#8217;s Net works well as a metaphor, and perhaps where it falls short.
What do we revere? Is reverence a Buddhist practice? When we bow, does it mean we are unworthy? Our FBA Dharmabyte today is from Suvarnaprabha of the San Francisco Buddhist Center. In and#8220;Reverence as a Path,and#8221; Suvaranaprabha explores and#8220;the problem of how to translate knowing into beingand#8221; with quotations by Urgyen Sangharakshita, Lama Suyra Das, and Shunryu Suzuki.
Our FBA Dharmabyte today is from one of the founders of the San Francisco Buddhist Center. In this excerpt from and#8220;The Individual, the Group and the Spiritual Communityand#8221; Karunadevi explores the dangers and benefits of practicing within a sangha using the Buddhaand#8217;s teaching on the mental fetters and various commentaries by Sangahrakshita.
Our FBA Dharmabyte today is an interesting, down to earth talk from the Director of the San Francisco Buddhist Center. In and#8220;Ethics and Speech: What Am I Trying to Say?and#8221; Padmatara discusses the ethics of speech as well as authenticity, kindness and miscommunication. She has been working with ways to bring more awareness to her own communication and is still learning from resistance and obstacles along the way.
In our FBA Dharmabyte today, Viriyalila conjures up the image of the rock tumbler to explore how the practice of sangha creates jewels. But itand#8217;s the granite bottomed rivers in NH that gets evoked and#8211; in their crystal clarity and beauty may the Bodhicitta arise. and#8220;Bodhicitta Arising through Collective Practice,and#8221; is one of three short talks given at Aryaloka Buddhist Center, November, 2010 titled and#8220;Three Perspectives On the Practice of Spiritual Friendshipand#8221;.
Our FBA Dharmabyte today is from the Chair of Aryaloka, Dayalocana. This excerpt and#8220;The Heartwood of Aryaloka,and#8221; is from the full talk: and#8220;The Simile of the Heartwood.and#8221; Here, Dayalocana asks: What is the heartwood of Aryaloka? Celebrating 25 years of Dharma practice, Aryaloka is situated on a street named Heartwood Circle, giving her good cause to reflect on The Simile of the Heartwood, from the Majjhima Nikaya.
Our FBA Dharmabyte today is from the founder of the Triratna Buddhist Order and Community, Sangharakshita. In and#8220;The Bodhisattva at Play,and#8221; he explores how a Bodhisattvaand#8217;s work is like the play of an elephant. Delightful and fun, this talk was given in 1969 as part of and#8220;Aspects of the Bodhisattva Ideal,and#8221; and is titled and#8220;Masculinity and Femininity in the Spiritual Life.and#8221;
Our FBA Dharmabyte today titled: and#8216;Rebecomingand#8217;, by Ratnadharani, explores the distinction between skilful and unskilful as a process of re-becoming or rebirth. From the fourth talk in a five-part series from Tiratanalokaand#8217;s retreat on the and#8216;Four Mind Turningsand#8216; of the Tibetan tradition titled and#8216;Karma and the Consequences of Our Actions.and#8217;
and#8220;What does it mean to be human?and#8221; We have choices and possibilities, pleasure and pain. Our FBA Dharmabyte is an exploration of the balance of karma and karma vipaka. From the talk and#8220;The Preciousness and Rarity of Human Lifeand#8221; by Dhammadinna, the second in a five-part series from Tiratanalokaand#8217;s retreat on the and#8220;Four Mind Turningsand#8221; of the Tibetan tradition.
Our FBA Dharmabyte today is a reading from the and#8216;Perfection of Wisdomand#8217; titled: and#8220;The Knowledge of the Suchness of the Skandhasand#8221;. From the guided and#8220;Reflection on the Five Skandhasand#8221; in the series and#8220;Night Lily Garden of the Midnight Way and#8211; Emptiness and the Great Compassionand#8221; by Kulaprabha.
Our FBA Dharmabyte today is a beautiful short talk by Aryashila of the Croydon Buddhist Centre. In and#8220;The Dharma is Everywhereand#8221; she uses the challenging poetry of Leonard Cohen and others, as well as her own deep life experience, to show that reality does not conform to ordinary wishes, but yet facing it squarely can be supremely uplifting, not sad. Talk given at the Sangha evening of the West London Buddhist Centre.