Somatic Going for Refuge

Padmasagara gives a talk on the Buddha Amitabha, Avalokitesvara and the Bodhisattva vow. He shares three stories, each of them drawing out the boundless radiant love of Amitabha and the inconceivable nature of true compassion. Given at Sheffield Buddhist Centre, 2019, as part of the series Faces of Enlightenment. *** 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 inspiration three times every week. Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favorite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

Allow life to flourish in the realm of Ratnasambhava. Garavavati explores the symbols, wisdom and transformational power of the yellow Buddha in the southern realm of the Five Buddha Mandala. This talk was given on London Buddhist Centre’s Winter Retreat, 2022. *** 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 inspiration three times every week. Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favorite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

Akshobhya: Transforming Hatred Into the Mirror-Like Wisdom Under hatred lies fear, under fear there is compassion. Vajrapriya shares something of the symbolism of Akshobhya and talks about how we bring the mirror-like wisdom into our daily lives. This talk was given at Birmingham Buddhist Centre, 2019. *** 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 inspiration three times every week. Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favorite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

A clear and passionate talk, looking at bodhicitta and its twin aspects of love and letting go: wisdom and compassion. Maitrisiddhi explores the role of paradox and how we need to 'hold two necessary ideas together' without polarising between them. Given at Taraloka Retreat Centre as part of the Taraloka & Tiratanaloka online Great Gathering weekend, for women training for ordination and Order Members, 2021. *** 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 inspiration three times every week. Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favorite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

 In his first talk on Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara Padmavajra speaks of Sangharakshita's evocation of the Bodhicitta. He goes on to talk about his discovery of the Bodhicarayavatara and what is known of the life of Shantideva. The main part of the talk is Padmavajra's discussion of some of the verses of the first chapter of the Bodhicaryavatara, especially of verse ten, in which the Bodhicitta is likened to the highly potent quicksilver elixir of the alchemist, capable of transforming the worst of things into the Bodhicitta. Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre as part of the series Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara, 2020. *** 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 inspiration three times every week. Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favorite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud

Vessantara offers an introduction to the origin of the Bodhicitta in the brahma viharas, moves on from the blue sky to the refuges and an exploration of the view of scientific materialism. This talk was given in 2020 at Adhisthana as part of the series The Bodhicitta Practice which includes many led meditation practices. *** 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 inspiration three times every week. Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favorite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud

Balajit starts by exploring different perspectives on what is the body and how limited views can limit our practice. He shares his own journey of discovery around what the body is, particularly during his years living at Vajraloka Retreat Centre. The talk then looks at what it might mean for the body to be truly, profoundly and deeply at peace with itself. Given at Manchester Buddhist Centre, 2017. *** 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 inspiration three times every week. Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favorite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud

Singhashri reminds us of Bhante's emphasis on the development of the true individual, positive group and spiritual community. She then links an embodied and relational approach to our individual and collective going for refuge, encouraging us to explore how a direct experience of safety, dignity and belonging in the sangha might support collective awakening. She ends by sharing specific ways we may practice "somatic going for refuge" which she describes as not a new level of going for refuge, but rather a way of practicing that we can "needle through" our lives from provisional to cosmic going forth. This talk was given at the June 2024 Women's Area Order Weekend themed “I am because we are.” *** 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 inspiration three times every week. Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favorite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

Here Ratnadharini takes us a little closer into the whole, often misunderstood area of karma in Buddhist thinking. She draws out the important details of the process that we call 'actions and consequences' - but her emphasis is always on putting what we learn into practice in real life, with other real people. The fourth talk in a five-part series The Four Mind-Turning Reflections of the Tibetan tradition given at Tiratanaloka Retreat Centre, 2005. *** 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 inspiration three times every week. Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favorite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

Reflecting on her response to Bhante Sangharakshita’s death, Khemasuri celebrates the gratitude she feels for what she has learned in her Dharma practice, partciluarly the ability to open up and turn towards what is difficult in a very real way. This is a series of talks and practices from the Four Reminders Retreat at Taraloka Retreat Centre, November, 2018. *** 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 inspiration three times every week. Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favorite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud