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Dharmabyte: Meditation and Mantra Recitation of Vajrasattva

By Sadayasihi on Thu, 15 Apr, 2021 - 07:00

Here Sangharakshita orientates us to Vajrasattva, the primordial Buddha of Innate Purity. He introduces the Vajrasattva practice as part of the four indispensable preparatory practices (mula-yogas) of the Vajrayana devotee.

From the talk entitled The Four Foundation Yogas of the Tibetan Buddhist Tantra, part of the series An Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, 1968.

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Dharmabyte: Introducing the Five Buddha Mandala

By Sadayasihi on Mon, 1 Mar, 2021 - 06:00

The Tantras (special scriptures of Vajrayana Buddhism) frequently refer to mandalas, circles of symbolic forms. Sangharakshita describes the mandala of the five Buddhas, its use as a symbol of psychological and spiritual integration, and the meaning of its sexual symbolism.

From the talk entitled The Mandala: Tantric Symbol of Integration, part of the series Aspects of Buddhist Psychology given in 1967.

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Dharmabyte: Where Does the Spiritual Path Begin?

By Sadayasihi on Mon, 21 Dec, 2020 - 06:00

Practising Buddhism (so much harder than understanding it) involves breaking the chain of the twelve negative links, or nidanas, by moving onto the spiral path, here described in its twelve stages. What is our usual reaction to things that are pleasant, things that are painful and things that are neutral? Sangharakshita gives us a clear description of the beginning of the Spiral Path, that of our response to Dukkha.

From the talk The Stages of the Spiritual Path...

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Dharmabyte: With the Lamp There is the Light

By Sadayasihi on Thu, 19 Nov, 2020 - 06:00

Here Sangharakshita explores the Four Reliances as he distinguishes the meaning of vijnana (Discriminating Consciousness) and jnana (Transcendental Awareness) and then further distinguishes prajna-paramita (Perfection of Wisdom) from jnana.

Launching his book entitled Wisdom Beyond Words, 1993.

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Dharmabyte: Taking Delight in Friends

By Sadayasihi on Thu, 12 Nov, 2020 - 06:00

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.

Excerpted from the talk entitled A case of Dysentry as part of the series Incidents from the Pali Canon, 1982.

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Dharmabyte: Principle of radical transformation

By Sadayasihi on Thu, 29 Oct, 2020 - 05:00

Previously unreleased and, rather famously, given off-the-cuff at the London Buddhist Centre, Sangharakshita gives an enjoyable and stirring evocation of the great Tantric Guru of Tibet.

From the talk entitled Padmasambhava Talk given in 1979.

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Dharmabyte: The Three Robes of Padmasambhava

By Sadayasihi on Mon, 26 Oct, 2020 - 05:09

Subhadramati, with characteristic inspiration, shares a memory of Sangharakshita’s last public appearance before his death, and unfolds the significance this image for us as his disciples. She brings this into relationship with our practice of ethics, articulated through the three robes of Padmasambhava.

From the talk The Archetypal Guru and the Ten Precepts given in the context of the 2020 retreat for women private preceptors at Adhisthana, 2020.

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Dharmabyte: In the Company of Padmasambhava

By Sadayasihi on Thu, 15 Oct, 2020 - 05:10

According to Tibetan tradition, in the bardo, an ‘intermediate state’ in the endless round of birth and death, we are free for an instant from that round. The Tibetan book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol) describes six of these opportunities for escape from reactivity. Here Sangharakshita explores our resistance to facing death and the impact of the esoteric teachings of Padmasambhava.

From the talk Psycho-Spiritual Symbolism in the Tibetan Book of the Dead. part of the series ...

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Dharmabyte: How does Buddhism speak to us?

By Free Buddhist Audio on Thu, 8 Oct, 2020 - 05:10

Here Sangharakshita explores how Buddhism, being the most rational of religions, appeals no less to the heart than to the head, using the language of myth to do so. Examples are four ‘myths’ from the Buddha’s biography, here correlated with four of Jung’s archetypes.

From the talk entitled Buddhism and the Language of Myth, part of the series Ritual and Devotion in Buddhism, 1967.

Here Sangharakshita explores how Buddhism, being the most rational of religions, appeals...

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FBA Podcast: The Loveliest Bodhisattvas

By Free Buddhist Audio on Sat, 3 Oct, 2020 - 05:34

In this talk, Padmavajra explores the Altruistic dimension of Going for Refuge - The Bodhisattva Ideal - through Bhante’s poem ‘The Guardian Wall’.

He particularly explores the line in the poem: ‘The loveliest Bodhisattvas are the anonymous’ and what this means for somebody aspiring to practice the great ideal of the Bodhisattva.

Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre during the ‘Bodhisattva Ideal’ retreat in January 2020.

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