Free Buddhist Audio
Free Buddhist Audio

Concepts are Doorways (Dharmabytes Podcast)

By Centre Team on Thu, 22 Aug, 2024 - 12:47

We often talk about meditation as if it happens in our heads, and think we do it from the neck up. But the Sanskrit word citta translates as ‘heart-mind’ — there’s no distinction between what’s above and below the neck. Suryadarshini explores the paradox about how to talk about embodiment, how to cultivate awareness of the elements in our body, and how to be courageous and curious in communicating our experiences in meditation. From the talk Get...

Buddhist Centre Features
Buddhist Centre Features

New Podcast: Mindfulness of Death and Dying

By Candradasa on Sat, 8 Jun, 2024 - 19:42

Kamalashila is dying. So are we - we are dying. Really.

In this recent conversation with Kamalashila following his diagnosis of terminal cancer - and in the closing guided meditation reflecting on death - this is the core theme to which we keep returning: the value of familiarising ourselves with our impermanence: dying and death are going to happen to every single one of us. As Kamalashila says, “Taking it out of the taboo cupboard”.

We hear Kamalashila’s perspective starting out on what he...

Free Buddhist Audio
Free Buddhist Audio

The Subtle Elements (Dharmabytes Podcast)

By Centre Team on Mon, 27 May, 2024 - 11:00

How do you get used to being Enlightened? What happened to the Buddha in the weeks after his breakthrough experience? Kamalashila uses the framework of the System of Meditation to shed light on the process that unfolded in the Bodhisattva’s mind and body as Enlightenment dawned by connecting us imaginatively with the symbolism and image of Muchalinda, the great serpent, coiling his body protectively round the meditating Buddha. Excerpted from the talk Absorption -...

Buddhist Centre Features
Buddhist Centre Features

A Luminous Emptiness - Meditating and Loving in Reality

By Candradasa on Fri, 16 Feb, 2024 - 23:30

In this latest episode of the Buddhist Centre podcast, we are delighted to welcome back Tejananda, one of the most experienced meditation teachers within the Triratna Buddhist Community. Tejananda will be bringing insights from decades of practice to his upcoming Home Retreat on The Buddhist Centre Live, ‘Emptiness and Compassion: The Divine Abodes’, starting March 29th. 

The retreat is part of a trilogy (so far!) exploring the Buddhist concept and experience of ‘emptiness’ (shunyata - pointing to the...

Free Buddhist Audio
Free Buddhist Audio

Dharmabytes: The Present Moment is our Joy

By Centre Team on Mon, 29 Jan, 2024 - 11:00

Dhivan moves through an exploration of joy, in both its mundane and grander manifestations. As he does so, he recalls the Buddha’s realization that joy and happiness arise when our life coalesces around our deepest values, often connected with relaxing in meditation. This is what may lead to Awakening for any and all of us…

From the talk In the Cool Shade of the Tree: Planting the Seed of Joy In Our Meditation Practice

given at ...

Free Buddhist Audio
Free Buddhist Audio

Dharmabytes: Meditating in the Midst of Activity

By Centre Team on Thu, 12 Oct, 2023 - 11:00

A fascinating talk about the Buddha’s relationship with both the urban environment and the forest. Ratnaprabha then relates this material to our own lives, which for most of us are likely to be mainly urban. Can we really practice the Dharma in the city? Are there even advantages to living and practising there? From the talk Buddha In the City, Buddha In the Forest given at Croydon Buddhist Centre, 2023.

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Free Buddhist Audio
Free Buddhist Audio

FBA Podcast: The Alchemy of Meditation - Desire

By Centre Team on Sat, 7 Oct, 2023 - 11:00

How do we keep our meditation alive and fresh - especially over the long-term? Can we get lost and bogged down in our meditation and lose connection with creativity, play, and freshness? How do we go deeper? Responding to these questions, Vajragupta (m) looks at the Four Iddhipadas - the four ‘powers’ or ‘means of accomplishment’ taught by the Buddha. These are: desire, discernment, heart/mind, and resolve. They are both four ingredients of a creative meditation practice,...

Free Buddhist Audio
Free Buddhist Audio

Dharmabytes: Allowing Things to Resolve

By Zac on Tue, 16 May, 2023 - 12:06

Nagesvara describes samadhi as collectedness, integration of our energies, wholeness, openness, rather than concentration as primary. Excerpted from the talk What Is Samadhi?, part 5 of a series from the 2021 Buddhafield online retreat Body of Bliss: ways into Samādhi.

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A...

Free Buddhist Audio
Free Buddhist Audio

FBA Podcast: Dhyana Paramita, The Perfection of Meditation

By Zac on Sat, 11 Mar, 2023 - 06:00

Kamalashila, author of ‘Buddhist Meditation: Tranquillity, Imagination, Insight’, introduces the fifth perfection, dhyana, in a series at the West London Buddhist Centre, 2012.

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A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting!

Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts...

Free Buddhist Audio
Free Buddhist Audio

FBA Podcast: On the Poetics of Awakening

By Zac on Sat, 4 Mar, 2023 - 06:00

Bodhilila’s first talk as part of the ‘Poetics of Awakening’ retreat. Looking at the symbolic and practical aspects of practice she considers how meditation itself is an expression of ourselves as a way to change through, moment by moment, being who we are in the light of the Dharma. An encouraging and inspiring approach to sitting aligned to the nature of things.

Get more resources on ‘The Poetics of Awakening’ Home Retreat with Paramananda and Bodhilila

Given at ...

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