A System of Training

In this talk Vajradevi reflects on our good conditions, and our own conditioning in the light of Pratitya Samutpada and relates this reflection to the Women in Early Buddhism.  This talk was given on the Women's UK and Ireland Area Order Weekend at Taraloka Retreat Centre, 2018. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dharmabytes-from-free-buddhist-audio/id416832097 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UHPDj01UH6ptj8FObwBfB YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeBuddhistAudio1967  

Padmavajra explores the great text that reveals the realms between death and new life, where anything is possible in the Bardo - the 'intermediate state'. This is also an excellent introduction to the recent history of the text itself as it has come into the West and influenced practitioners and cultural figures in many significant ways. Overall, this is a challenging and insightful series looking at how a true classic of spiritual literature has relevance to our modern ways of living and dying. Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2005, as part of the series Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol) *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dharmabytes-from-free-buddhist-audio/id416832097 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UHPDj01UH6ptj8FObwBfB YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeBuddhistAudio1967

A personal talk about gifts and teachings that Satyaraja has received from his Teachers, from the first retreat with S. N. Goenka in India early 1970's, to his first contact with Triratna and meeting Bhante Sangharakshita a few years later, to several very significant meetings with Bhante, and concluding with what his two kalyana mitras, Kamalashila and Padmavajra, have given and what they mean to him. Given at Stockholm Buddhist Center, 2025. *** This month's FBA Podcasts and Dharmabytes celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of Sangharakshita’s birth, founder of the Triratna Buddhist Community and Order. Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dharmabytes-from-free-buddhist-audio/id416832097 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UHPDj01UH6ptj8FObwBfB YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeBuddhistAudio1967  

Nagabodhi’s book : The Boy, the Monk, the Man examines the life of Sangharakshita - audacious reformer, and for some a deeply controversial figure. In an absorbing narrative, Nagabodhi takes us on a journey through the twists and turns of Sangharakshita’s life; the experiences, insights, and reflections that nurtured his approach as a teacher; and the legacy he left behind. Here, Padmasuri interviews Nagabodhi - two long time friends in conversation and exploration. Recorded at Cambridge Buddhist Centre, 2024. *** This month's FBA Podcasts and Dharmabytes celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of Sangharakshita’s birth, founder of the Triratna Buddhist Community and Order. Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dharmabytes-from-free-buddhist-audio/id416832097 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UHPDj01UH6ptj8FObwBfB YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeBuddhistAudio1967

Subhuti gives us an early sight of the developing vision behind the Sangharakshita Library and Study Centre at Adhisthana, via a stirring evocation of the need for a deep knowledge of the Dharma strong enough to meet the considerable challenges of the modern world. In recalling Sangharakshita's conviction that something was working through him, Subhuti suggests that we cannot hope to understand the depth of vision available to us without fully immersing ourselves in the study of our teacher's emerging, unfolding understanding of just what it is he–and we–are trying to channel. In hearing of the different potential ways to take our own knowledge deeper via the Sangharakshita Library and Study Centre, we are challenged to engage with our faith and with our doubt, and encounter the work of our founding teacher anew. A talk given at Adhisthana on the men's UK & Ireland area Order weekend, 2022. *** This month's FBA Podcasts and Dharmabytes celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of Sangharakshita’s birth, founder of the Triratna Buddhist Community and Order. Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dharmabytes-from-free-buddhist-audio/id416832097 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UHPDj01UH6ptj8FObwBfB YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeBuddhistAudio1967

Dayanandi shares how she was encouraged and inspired by Bhante’s teachings on the Bodhicitta spirit. "Bhante encouraging shared collective community the creative conditions challenged us to go beyond us. As we were young and had a lot of energy, we took on Bhante’s task of creating the conditions for the Bodhicitta to arise. It was spiritually nurturing to attend Bhante’s lectures. They were very strong. It was through Bhante’s dedicated, clear mind and friendliness, by him sharing his heartfelt inspiration, that contributed to the energy and spark in our dedication to his vision." This talk was given at Dharmadhara in California, USA, on a women’s ordination training retreat as part of the series The Bodhisattva Path for the Triratna Buddhist Community, 2019. *** This month's FBA Podcasts and Dharmabytes celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of Sangharakshita’s birth, founder of the Triratna Buddhist Community and Order. Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dharmabytes-from-free-buddhist-audio/id416832097 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UHPDj01UH6ptj8FObwBfB YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeBuddhistAudio1967  

Vessantara reflects on ways we create suffering through the tension of resistance and anticipation. Excerpted from a talk called Dukkha of Resisting and Anticipating Change given at Adhisthana as part of the series Dukkha and the Unbiased, 2018. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dharmabytes-from-free-buddhist-audio/id416832097 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UHPDj01UH6ptj8FObwBfB YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeBuddhistAudio1967

In the weeks following Urgyen Sangharakshita’s death in 2018, Mahamati, one of his secretaries and companions, spoke informally at a number of Order gatherings about the experience of working closely with him during the last fifteen or so years of his life. Here, Mahamati reflects on aspects of their time together, and on aspects of Sangharakshita’s personality and character which were not always visible publicly. We are afforded a series of glimpses into the concerns of his final years and those of his last days. A moving, very personal account of connection, duty, love and faith from a disciple about his teacher, which also opens out into something bigger and potentially more collective, founded on gratitude and a sense of fundamental relationship to the Dharma itself. Talk given at Vimaladhatu, Germany for the Triratna Buddhist Order, December 2018. *** This month's FBA Podcasts and Dharmabytes celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of Sangharakshita’s birth, founder of the Triratna Buddhist Community and Order. Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dharmabytes-from-free-buddhist-audio/id416832097 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UHPDj01UH6ptj8FObwBfB YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeBuddhistAudio1967  

Saccanama explores the First Noble Truth of dukkha or unsatisfactoriness. Through looking at incidents from the life of the Buddha, he explores not just the individual aspect of dukkha but also the collective or social aspects of dukkha which are often overlooked or downplayed in Buddhist tradition. He also explores the traditional descriptions of dukkha before going on to examine what Joanna Macy calls apathy or our disconnection from the world. Through emphasising the collective and social aspects of dukkha, we have a motive for practice that doesn’t buy into the danger of individualism. This talk was given at Nottingham Buddhist Centre as part of the series Challenging Dharma for Challenging Times, 2020. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dharmabytes-from-free-buddhist-audio/id416832097 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UHPDj01UH6ptj8FObwBfB YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeBuddhistAudio1967  

Dhammarati explores Triratna’s system of practice - its background in practice, its relationship to tradition, and its implications for the very nature of spiritual life. An encouraging, grounded, flexible take on the rigorous, meaningful, and rewarding challenges of a lifetime of working with the mind and the heart. Talk given at the national Triratna Buddhist Order weekend, February 2008. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dharmabytes-from-free-buddhist-audio/id416832097 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UHPDj01UH6ptj8FObwBfB YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeBuddhistAudio1967