Plant Symbolism in Buddhism

Ratnaprabha looks at what motivated the Buddha to leave a comfortable life for an uncertain quest in the Jungle: the Four Sights of Old Age, Illness, Death, and the inspiring figure of the wanderer seeking liberation. Excerpted from the talk What Started the Buddha Off given at West London Buddhist Centre, 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  

Paraga offers some reflections on his personal experience of being in the Order. Excerpted from the talk Reflections On the Benefits of Being In the Order given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 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

How do we move towards creating friendships that are less transactional and more transformative? Singhashri speaks on the topic of spiritual friendship, specifically the practice of generosity, and it’s effect on opening the heart. Excerpted from the talk entitled We Are Not Broken. We Are Alive - the Koan of Kalyanamitrata given on an Order weekend at Taraloka Retreat Centre, 2013. *** 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  

Sanghamani reveals her early days on the Buddhist path by sharing a dream she had about ‘going home’ with Bhante Sangharakshita as her guide. From the talk Discipleship, Magic and Myth given at the Triratna Buddhist Order weekend, held at Adhisthana, 2014. *** 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  

Mahamati  talks on actualizing the myth of the Order- symbolised in the 1000 armed Avalokiteshvara. Excerpted from the talk Actualizing the 1000 Armed Avalokiteshvara given on a Triratna Buddhist Order weekend at Padmaloka, 2010. *** 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

Excerpted from the talk Bhante - Teacher and Friend by Dhammadinna, first in a symposium of talks about Sangharakshita given at the UK and Ireland Area Order weekend at Adhisthana, 2013. *** 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  

As part of celebrations at Sangha Night to mark the 90th birthday of Sangharakshita, Ratnaghosha gives a personal talk on the influence of Bhante as a teacher. Excerpted from the talk Bhante As Teacher given at Cambridge Buddhist Centre, 2015. *** 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  

“All worldly activities are as immaterial as chaff.” So said the Tibetan teacher Tsongkapa. Having explored the Eight Worldly Winds, and their effects upon us; having examined our response and looked at suggestions for ways of working, is there some overarching approach we could adopt? In short, what have we learned, and how can we put it into practice? Excerpted from the talk The Worldly Winds 4: It's All About Me! by Taranita given at Bristol Buddhist 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  

Akashamitra takes a look at one of the most difficult trainings offered in this approach. How can we find an opportunity for growth in that most upsetting situation - when someone we've trusted lets us down? Excerpted from the talk entitled Training the Mind: Learning From Betrayal, the sixth talk in a series of eight, given at the London Buddhist Centre as part of the 8-part series Training the Mind, 2021. "Even when someone I have helped, Or in whom I have placed great hopes Mistreats me very unjustly, I will view that person as a true spiritual teacher." *** 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  

Padmavajra first met Sangharakshita when he was 17 and in this talk he shares some of his own most cherished memories of Bhante, including his experiences of being with him in India when he returned there in the 1970's to found the Order there. Urgyen Sangharakshita - Bhante - who died in 2018, is not only the founder of the Triratna Buddhist Order and Community, but also teacher and spiritual friend to Padmavajra. Excerpted from the talk entitled Urgyen Sangharakshita: The Bodhisattva's Reply given at Sheffield 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