Suryamati shares a parable from the Udana to illustrate why the Buddha spoke so little about the nature of Enlightenment. From the talk The Mystery of Enlightenment In the Udana given at Sheffield Buddhist Centre, 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,...

Ratnaprabha looks at what motivated the Buddha to leave a comfortable life for an uncertain quest in the Jungle: the Four Sights of Old Age, Illness, Death, and the inspiring figure of the wanderer seeking liberation. Excerpted from the talk What Started the Buddha Off given at West London Buddhist 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...

Paraga offers some reflections on his personal experience of being in the Order. Excerpted from the talk Reflections On the Benefits of Being In the Order given at Padmaloka 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...

How do we move towards creating friendships that are less transactional and more transformative? Singhashri speaks on the topic of spiritual friendship, specifically the practice of generosity, and it’s effect on opening the heart. Excerpted from the talk entitled We Are Not Broken. We Are Alive - the Koan of Kalyanamitrata given on an Order weekend at Taraloka Retreat Centre, 2013. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts ...

Sanghamani reveals her early days on the Buddhist path by sharing a dream she had about ‘going home’ with Bhante Sangharakshita as her guide. From the talk Discipleship, Magic and Myth given at the Triratna Buddhist Order weekend, held at Adhisthana, 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...

Mahamati  talks on actualizing the myth of the Order- symbolised in the 1000 armed Avalokiteshvara. Excerpted from the talk Actualizing the 1000 Armed Avalokiteshvara given on a Triratna Buddhist Order weekend at Padmaloka, 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,...

Excerpted from the talk Bhante - Teacher and Friend by Dhammadinna, first in a symposium of talks about Sangharakshita given at the UK and Ireland Area Order weekend at Adhisthana, 2013. *** 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...

As part of celebrations at Sangha Night to mark the 90th birthday of Sangharakshita, Ratnaghosha gives a personal talk on the influence of Bhante as a teacher. Excerpted from the talk Bhante As Teacher given at Cambridge 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...

“All worldly activities are as immaterial as chaff.” So said the Tibetan teacher Tsongkapa. Having explored the Eight Worldly Winds, and their effects upon us; having examined our response and looked at suggestions for ways of working, is there some overarching approach we could adopt? In short, what have we learned, and how can we put it into practice? Excerpted from the talk The Worldly Winds 4: It's All About Me! by Taranita given at Bristol Buddhist Centre, 2017. *** Subscribe...

Akashamitra takes a look at one of the most difficult trainings offered in this approach. How can we find an opportunity for growth in that most upsetting situation - when someone we've trusted lets us down? Excerpted from the talk entitled Training the Mind: Learning From Betrayal, the sixth talk in a series of eight, given at the London Buddhist Centre as part of the 8-part series Training the Mind, 2021. "Even when someone I have helped, Or in whom I have placed great hopes ...

Padmavajra first met Sangharakshita when he was 17 and in this talk he shares some of his own most cherished memories of Bhante, including his experiences of being with him in India when he returned there in the 1970's to found the Order there. Urgyen Sangharakshita - Bhante - who died in 2018, is not only the founder of the Triratna Buddhist Order and Community, but also teacher and spiritual friend to Padmavajra. Excerpted from the talk entitled Urgyen Sangharakshita: The Bodhisattva's...

Dhivan recounts the conversion of King Pasenadi by the Buddha. Excerpted from the talk A Courtesan, a Killer and a King given at Bristol Buddhist 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...

Saraha draws out examples of the Buddha’s wisdom from the Pali Canon highlighting how pleasure and bliss are not obstacles to the spiritual path, craving and attachment is the problem leading to suffering.. Excerpted from the talk entitled Wisdom In the Pali Canon given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 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...

The Buddha and Ananda once tended a sick monk, neglected by his companions because of his 'uselessness'. Sangharakshita shows that people cannot be treated as 'things' in the spiritual community. From the talk A Case of Dysentry given in 1982 as part of the series Incidents from the Pali Canon. *** 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...

Mahamani  shares some experiences around guilt, faith, losing the way and finding it. From the personal talk entitled The Way to the Top of the Hill from ‘The Way to the Beyond’ Womens AOWE held 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,...

Ratnaprabha tells the story of Meghiya, his frustrating attempt to meditate, and the advice the Buddha gives him on the necessity of mentorship, or kalyana mitrata. From the talk Meghiya, Meditation and Mentorship 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 | ...

Vishangka explores the joys and challenges that arise in a spiritual community. He explores several suttas and what we can learn from them. Excerpted from the talk Blending like Milk and Water: Sangha In the Buddha's Time given at Manchester 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...

Dayanandi contemplates the words of the Tiratana Vandana and the qualities of the Buddha that it evokes. She says: "I reflect on the words as they seem to bring out the reality of his Enlightened being for me; what it might be like to really be the Enlightened One." Excerpted from the talk Reflecting on the Buddha in the Forest given at Manchester Buddhist Centre, 2019. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized...

Akashadevi and readers tell some of the delightful stories of the Buddha's meetings with elephants, including this one when the Buddha needs a bit of space from the noisiness of his followers. From the talk Elephants and the Buddha, part of a "Tales and Teachings of Early Buddhism" 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...

In this talk about generosity, Sona evokes some very beautiful imagery of a cosmos full of stars as he describes how in our practice of Buddhist ethics, that of caring for others, being scrupulously honest, and so on, makes us more open, more malleable, more receptive. Excerpted from the talk entitled Abundance given at the Manchester Buddhist Centre, 2016. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three...

Padmavajra delves into the true nature of conflict and harmony by exploring two significant episodes in the life of the Buddha, one of which features disharmony from within the Sangha of monks itself. Excerpted from the talk The Quarrelsome Monks of Kosambi which was streamed from the Padmaloka shrine room to around 30 people tuning in via Zoom to the Mid Essex Buddhist Centre, 2020. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts ...

Dhammarati introduces the fourth tetrad: Inquiry into the Experience of Wisdom given on retreat as part of the series Anapanasati Sutta: Instructions for Awakening, Adhisthana, 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....

Viveka introduces the spirit and context of the Anapanasati Sutta, beginning with the first tetrad: Inquiry Into the Experience of Body given on retreat as part of the series Anapanasati Sutta: Instructions for Awakening, Adhisthana, 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 ...

Sagaraghosa, critiquing structural elements of our society from a Buddhist standpoint, and exploring what we can do to bring about a society more in line with Reality.  Excerpted from the talk A Challenge to the Modern World, the last of three talks in the series 'Reality and What to Do About It' given at Cambridge Buddhist Centre, 2010. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. ...

Akuppa examines the relationship between the notion of self and society. He asks how we engage with the collective life of the society we are part of. He asks how do we engage with the collective life of the society we are part of. Using the examples of the Buddha, Dr Ambedkar, and Sangharakshita as to how we might do that. Excerpted from the talk Transforming Self and World Part 2: Buddhist Politics given on an online gathering of the Triratna Buddhist Community in Scotland, 2020. ...