Dharmabytes from free buddhist audio

Our FBA Dharmabyte today is an extract from the talk "Buddhism and the Language of Myth" where Sangharakshita explores the question: "How Does Buddhism Speak to us?". Buddhism is the most rational of religions. But it appeals no less to the heart than to the head, using the language of myth to do so. This talk is part of the series Ritual and Devotion in Buddhism.

Are you looking at the wall? Or is the wall gazing at you? Another cracking take on Zen - the sutras, the experience, the dangers and the fruits… Our FBA Dharmabyte today is called: "Dogen on Practice as Enlightenment" by Padmavajra. This is from the third in an excellent 8-talk sequence by Padmavajra on Zen Buddhism titled: "Wall Gazing". The series is full of colourful stories and challenging insights from the lives of the great Masters of China and Japan. Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2004 as part of the series Tangling Eyebrows with Zen Masters.

Our FBA Dharmabyte today is called: "Direct Pointing" by Sangharakshita. What is the mind? What is projection? What higher states of mind are accessible? Zen challenges us to look directly within our own minds to find out. From the talk, "A Direct Pointing to the Mind of Man" given in 1965 as part of the series The Essence of Zen.

From the fabulous talk, "What is Mind?" we bring you a sparkling Dharmabyte entitled: "The Mind Is Everywhere". Using Milarepa's song, the Shepherd's Search for Mind, Dhammadinna takes us on a wild, and very specific ride, in defining subjective versus objective mind. You cannot understand the mind, because that would be the mind knowing itself! This is the first talk in a series of talks from the Order Convention in 2001 offering different perspectives on the Abhidharma and exploring from a personal perspective what the study of the 51 Mental Events can tell us about our minds and how they work. Based on the classic Tibetan text 'Necklace of Clear Understanding', this is a terrific, clear introduction to the whole area of how to 'Know Your Mind'... Released to complement the Dharma Training Course module 'Know Your Mind' (year four, module 4). Talk given at Wymondham, 2001

Today's FBA Dharmabyte, "Everyone Needs the Dharma", is a lovely reading of one of : Milarepa's Songs by Sangharakshita. Talk given in 1979.

Our FBA Dharmabyte today, "The Wisdom Hearer",is an excerpt from the fabulous talk "The Sound of Reality" by Padmavajra. In this section we hear Hakuin's poem of Awakening along with Padmavajra's reflections on the nature of sound, impermanence and insubstantiality. Vanish into emptiness and silence!

In our Dharmabyte today, "Solitude and Meditation" Paramananda introduces the challenges and rewards of solitude, meditation as a form of solitude, and how being alone can enhance the experience of connection.

Our Dharmabyte today asks "What does it mean to 'know' the Buddha?" Sangharakshita asks how, if at all, such a man can be defined or categorised.

In today's FBA Dharmabyte we bring you "Face To Face With Reality." Vadanya draws on the Pali Canon and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy to explore how coming face to face with reality is liberating and expansive - but also very uncomfortable for our habitual small self. Our Dharmabyte is just the beginning of the talk, for the rest: "Face to Face with Reality."

Our Dharmabyte today is titled "Symbols of Religion" from a recording of Sangharakshita in Conversation with Kathleen Raine. In this excerpt they discuss depictions of the Cross through the ages; Yakshas (kindly demons); the Renaissance, human selfhood and the spirit; Ravenna mosaics; the Stations of the Cross considered as art; and the stupa. In the 1980s, 'Independent Arts' ran an ambitious and extremely impressive Arts program through the Croydon Buddhist Centre in London. Here's a first offering from the archive of recordings - an open conversation between Sangharakshita, founder of the Western Buddhist Order, and the renowned poet and scholar Kathleen Raine, one of the founders of the Temenos Academy. The occasion was the launch of Sangharakshita's book 'The Religion of Art' - and the discussion ranges widely and, at times, controversially through the subject of the Arts considered as a vehicle for spiritual truths. It's full of talking points and challenges to contemporary orthodoxies around art theory. But whatever one's take on the views of the participants, this is a marvellous record of a unique meeting of minds.

Our FBA Dharmabyte today is titled "The Stupa Emerges in The White Lotus Sutra)" by Sangharakshita from the talk Five Element Symbolism and the Stupa. In this excerpt, we hear about how the 'The Stupa of Abundant Treasures' in The White Lotus Sutra emerges. Sangharakshita explains the origins of the Buddhist stupa and its connections with the five elements. Talk given in 1971. This talk is part of the series Parables, Myths and Symbols of Mahayana Buddhism in the White Lotus Sutra.

Today's FBA Dharmabyte is an excerpt from the strong visionary talk by Sangharakshita, A Blueprint for a New World, given in 1976. Our Dharmabyte today is titled "Transforming the World into a Spiritual Community." Is it possible to create a society in which all social, economic, and political arrangements will support the development of true individuality? In this lecture a number of principles essential to the successful transformation of our current society are discussed.

In today's FBA Dharmabyte, we hear Aryabandhu speaking about "Life As An Order Member." One year after ordination, Aryabandhu talks about his experience of life as an order member. The third in a series of four talks given to men training for ordination on the 'What Is the Order' retreat.

In today's FBA Dharmabyte, "Aspiration and Joining the Order", Saddhanandi takes us through a set of very thought-provoking reflections. She is forthright indeed about the difficulties and joys of cultivating faith in the Dharma and makes very plain the consequences we can expect in our life as and when that faith arises. The full talk, entitled, "Enlightenment as Heart, Life as Whole" is peppered with examples from her own practice. The audience clearly appreciates her sense of humour - which is often at her own expense. The event was recorded in a very large marquee on a rainy day and despite that the sound quality is still OK! One of the Lines of Acceptance of the WBO Ordination ceremony is "For the Attainment of Enlightenment, I Accept This Ordination." We took that line as the theme of an International Sangha Gathering for women who had asked for ordination, held at Taraloka in 2005 . This was one of two keynote talks on the event.

Today's FBA Dharmabyte is an excerpt from the well-loved account of Sangharakshita's spiritual journey entitled: "First Glimpses: Diamond Sutra & The Sutra of Wei Lang". The History of My Going for Refuge is an inspiring autobiographical lecture taking up Sangharakshita's story from his earliest experiences of Buddhism and telling how he came progressively to understand the centrality of Going for Refuge in the Buddhist life. Talk given in 1988.