Dharmabytes from free buddhist audio

Vishvapani's usual good-natured and reflective approach is just the thing to start us off as he looks at how Sangharakshita's initiative in founding the FWBO might be viewed in terms of the unity of…

Vajradevi leads a beautiful sevenfold puja compiled by Maitrisiddhi from the Pali Canon. Here, we participate in verses expressing our Going for Refuge through verse and the chanting of the Refuges…

Padmasagara explores the awe-inspiring vision behind the image of the Refuge Tree, connecting it to Sangharakshita's great insight into the centrality of Going for Refuge. Excerpted from the talk T…

In his first public appearance since his eyesight began to deteriorate, Sangharakshita begins this new talk with reflections on his blindness, displaying remarkable equanimity and humour in the pr…

In exploring the nature of tradition in Buddhism, from the Kalama Sutta to the modern day, and the tension between tradition and adaptation in an every-changing world; Taranita discusses how the Trir…

Kulaprabha explores death of our fixed, bounded self, the self that is made up of bundled habits and preferences and views - especially views about existence and non-existence. Excerpted from the t…

Buddhism is sometimes seen as weak or negative. Using examples from the Pali Canon and Mahayana texts, this lecture shows that, on the contrary, heroic and positive qualities are essential in the Bu…

Padmavajra's wonderful series on the Dhammapada, the most popular of early Buddhist texts. All of the Buddha's core teachings are here - held in heart and mind there's more than enough in the Dhamma…

Beautifully read by Sangharakshita, these readings are taken from the oldest scriptural texts and evoke the real spirit of early Buddhism - the struggles, the joys and the triumphs of ordinary peop…

Flowers naturally grow towards the light. The more we open to our true potential the more we open to the light of truth, of love, and of awareness. Our potential to grow is inherent in our very bein…

"As many garlands are made from a heap of flowers, so one who is a mortal born should perform many ethically skilful deeds" - Dhammapada. Jvalamalini shares the effects of the story of Vasakha fro…

This is an appropriately pithy talk by Surata on one of the most popular and regarded of the early Buddhist suttas, The 'Dhammapada'. The images of the verses and their direct relevance to our live…

Bodhinaga picks up the theme 'Tantra for Today' by pulling out his guts and setting them alight (not literally). Exploring what it means to practice the Dharma with the whole of yourself, come and …

Moksatara introduces the dakini, the tantric embodiment of what's possible when all of our energy is completely engaged, alive and flowing. In order to meet the dakinis we must travel to where they…

In a famous passage in the Itivutakka The Buddha compares Metta to the radiance of the sun and moon. He says that metta ‘shines and burns and blazes forth in surpassing all other acts of good’ and t…

Aryadasa discusses his experience of moving through fear in order to live a life more dedicated to love and friendship. He talks about the difficulties involved in this transition and the fruits th…

Fresh off a three-week solitary retreat, Vajragupta (m) shares, in a very personal and heart-felt way, what it was like, and what happened during that time. Coming to terms with his mother's slide…

Sangharakshita describes how when faced with a tremendous fear, one with no apparent cause or object, how the Buddha’s example of sitting with it until it subsides leads to determination, an essent…

Fearlessness is courage in the face of fear, not the absence of fear. When we are with someone who is dying, we are confronted by our own death. Our sense of self is fundamentally brought into quest…

Lokeshvara shares how the impact of fear and anxiety led him to learn to meditate. Fear is a universal emotion that can be quite debilitating, but seen in another way, it’s like a little mini-death…