The Dharma is Essential to Life

Dharmashalin talks about the importance of abundance in our Dharma lives. Excerpted from the talk Living with Abundance given at Birmingham Buddhist Centre 2024. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. 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 using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

Here Vessantara explores how the Dharma has been practiced by people following many different lifestyles – from homeless wanderers to kings and queens in their palaces. If there isn’t one ‘Dharma lifestyle’ then what do all these different ways of living have in common, and how can they all be expressions of the Buddha’s teaching? What are the principles underlying them all, and what does all this mean for us in our 21st century world? Excerpted from the talk Abundance, Simplicity and Sharing given at Cambridge Buddhist Centre, 2016 for Buddhist Action Month. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. 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 using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

Paramabandhu kicks off the 2019 London Buddhist Centre Winter retreat with a talk introducing colourful, symbolic world of the Five Buddha Mandala. After introducing the theme of the five Buddha mandala, Paramabandhu goes on to explore the image and symbolism of Akshobhya - the deep blue Buddha of the eastern realm. In this talk Paramabandhu particularly emphasizes the patience (ksanti) of Akshobhya and how it can help us overcome our own anger. Excerpted from the talk The Patience of the Deep Blue Akshobhya part of the series The Symbolic World of the Five Buddha Mandala given at London Buddhist Centre, 2019. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. 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 using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

The Divine Healer, identifiable in Egyptian and Greek myths, also appears in the White Lotus Sutra as both the Medicine Buddha and the Good Physician, in the parable of that name, who leaves his sons to cure themselves. Excerpted from the talk The Archetype of the Divine Healer by Sangharakshita, part of the series Parables, Myths and Symbols of Mahayana Buddhism in the White Lotus Sutra, 1971. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. 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 using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

Dharmadipa speaks to how sangha is based on a common right view, even more so than kindness. Excerpted from the talk Wisdom and Ignorance, the last of six talks given during the 'Mind in Harmony' retreat at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2017. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. 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 using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

Maitrisara explores the second fetter, doubt and indecision which Bhante calls vagueness. The antidote is clarity but also faith. This wide-ranging talk weaves together both theoretical and personal themes and differentiates between wholesome and unhelpful doubt. It explores why we might get stuck in doubt, and how to work with it. The talk draws on a sutta from the Samyuta Nikaya about what feeds doubt. And what therefore counteracts it. From the talk  Clarity: The Unobscured Mirror Behind Delusion given at Birmingham Buddhist Centre, 2024. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. 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 using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud

Reflection and deep contemplation can bring a whole new dimension to life and reveal truths that would otherwise be left hidden. In this talk, Prajnahridaya explores the 4th 'basis of power' of vimamsa, often translated as 'investigation', by evoking the depth and profundity of some fundamental Buddhist teachings. Excerpted from the talk Deep Contemplation given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre 2022. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. 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 using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

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 Out of Your Head: How to Talk About Meditating In the Body given in Norwich, 2019. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. 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 using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

At times in the spiritual life we may  considerable energy to overcome obstacles, such as negative emotions, psychological conditionings, rational thinking, and even the sense of 'time' itself. How, when, and where can we break through? Excerpted from the talk entitled Breaking Through into Buddhahood by Sangharakshita given in 1969. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. 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 using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud  

Drawing upon the myths in the life of the Buddha Satyapara explores the role the body plays when we take up Buddhist practice. She describes the Buddha as a child under a rose apple tree being deeply in touch with his surroundings and when calling upon the earth he gains confidence in his practice and overcomes his doubts. With these stories, Satyapara invites us to trust our body. From the talk entitled   A Body of Practice given in Cambridge for the Young Peoples Evening, 2016. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. 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 using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud