Free Buddhist Audio (mp3 and podcasts)

Blog Moving!

2006-11-29T17:43:00.000Z

Hello. This is just to let you know that our blog and podcast feed has moved to our new website at Free Buddhist Audio

Our new podcast feed is http://www.freebuddhistaudio.com/blog/category/podcasts/feed/

If you already subscribe via iTunes or another program, the transfer should happen seamlessly without you having to do anything.

Come and play...

Death and the Buddhist

2006-11-02T22:31:00.000Z

This is pretty fantastic in its way. Danavira is one of the best speakers we know - he is very funny, can do poetic and profound, tends to the chaotic in his style, and has a particular genius for this kind of thing; this kind of thing being talking about death. The whole talk is a kind of respectful joyride through the hardest subject of all - sit back and enjoy a thoroughly adult treat that's likely to blow the heart wide open.

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
Free Buddhist Audio

Simplicity

2006-10-09T20:40:00.000+01:00

Kamalashila has spent a lot of his adult life exploring meditation - and this talk is a lovely little foray into the whole subject as a crucial aspect in life and practice, with special consideration given to reflection on the six elements. Oh, and look out for Brian the meditating dog...

Table of contents:

01 Brian, the meditating dog, and the natural life; experience of the elements versus artificial living

02 Meditation exposing artificiality through awareness of experience; meditation as a kind of prayer for authenticity and truth; the buddhist path as a way of beccoming more natural

03 The six element practice as a focus on nature; historical suppression of pagan naturalness; naturalness as an issue of practice, not theory

04 The earth element; the easiest element to experience directly; hard, firm and durable

05 The water element; the shape depends on the container; the taboo of bodily fluids; accepting the elements as they are; the elements as co-existing qualities, not things

06 The fire element; relating to and learning from fire

07 The element of wind (air) as 'motion' - vayo dhatu; movement of emotional energy in the body and its oppression; element practice as recollection of spaciousness; the movement of the mind, thoughts and perceptions

08 The element 'space'; the great container of all things

09 The element 'consciousness'; all other elements embraced in consciousness; the element of experiences; seeing into what experience is

10 Questioning in practice - deepening; the reason for practice as the development of liberating awareness; the consequences of unawareness and awareness; letting the dharma in; the importance of study and discussion in deepening practice

11 The essence of meditation as realising the natural state of things and being changed by that realisation; having confidence in one's realisations; learning what to look for; the spaciousness of things

12 Two ways into spaciousness; noting inconsistencies as opportunities for realisation; the incongruity and illusory nature of 'me' and 'mine'; relaxing the tendency to arousal opens up simplicity and naturalness

13 A second approach to emptiness; seeing directly the free and spacious nature of things; motion in the mind; the elusive nature of thoughts; words and thoughts; the emptiness of thoughts; emptiness as the natural element; nirvana as naturalness

14 Returning to earth and befriending the elements; the extremity of artificiality in present culture; Buddhafield as an attempt to find simplicity; true simplicity as whatever allows more room for comparison and wisdom

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
Free Buddhist Audio

Launch of the new Dharmachakra

2006-09-08T13:42:00.000+01:00

We're thrilled to announce the launch date for the new, free download and streaming service from Dharmachakra — Free Buddhist Audio

The site is presently in beta testing and will go live on December 1st 2006 — with over 500 recordings in various languages to listen to online or download. Many of the talks will be indexed and audio-searchable, to help you find the information you need quickly — and we'll be adding more every week. We'll also be making available (for the first time) an extensive, fully searchable, online text library of seminars and talks on many aspects of the Buddhist path.

Help us keep this free, visit Free Buddhist Audio

Amoghasiddhi - Lord of the Midnight Sun

2006-09-08T12:55:00.000+01:00

Vaddhaka can usually be relied on to give a pretty great talk - and this is no exception. Here we have a real treat - a terrific, energetic exploration of the green Buddha of the north: Amoghasiddhi (Dundubishvara), the Unobstructed One. This is kind of a multi-media affair - listen for the 13th Century Spanish processional music in honour of the Virgin, and a blast of Sibelius too! Marvellous.

Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, winter retreat 2001

Please note that some small noise artefacts can be heard occasionally on this talk due to a poor original recording.

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
Free Buddhist Audio

Buddhism and Ecology

2006-07-03T16:25:00.000+01:00

This is a fascinating, challenging and, in the end, realistically affirming look at Buddhist practice in the face of global climate crisis. What can we do? How can we change the ways we think and respond to the seemingly insurmountable problems the planet faces? Akuppa's thoughtful introduction to the worlds of scientific and deep ecology asks us the hard questions and offers some hope for possible answers. Drawing on the work of Joanna Macy, amongst others, he traces positive lessons to be learned from simply observing and engaging with nature's patterns and processes - and invites us all to prepare to be awestruck as a necessary first step.

Please note that some small noise artefacts can be heard occasionally on this talk due to a poor original recording.

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
Free Buddhist Audio

The Diamond Sutra

2006-05-30T17:19:00.000+01:00

This is a gem of a talk from Abhaya. With his customary dry wit and sharp eye he leads us on the crazy paving path through the Diamond Sutra — a text guaranteed to turn your world upside-down. Some very funny parts to this talk — and some excellent evocations of rigorous Dharma practice as part of the everyday business of life. Watch out too for an intriguing discussion of the sutra as Vajrapani and as a zen master... Great stuff!

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
Free Buddhist Audio

Buddhism and Quantum Physics

2006-05-17T19:02:00.000+01:00

Jnanavaca is back! Last time it was mountaineering (see our very first podcast), this time it's Einstein, Schroedinger, double slits, and all that stuff you wished you understood about quantum physics but despaired of ever knowing so as to impress at parties... Well, now you can learn all about it — as well as how it relates to Dharma practice and the Buddha's view of a truly luminous Reality. Very classy stuff from a great speaker with the most infectious laugh on the planet! We won't give any more away here — settle back and enjoy a brain-expanding, soul questioning talk.

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
Free Buddhist Audio

Three Visions of the Buddha

2006-04-05T21:26:00.000+01:00

The Buddha as lover, as master of enchantments, as a vision of the sky. In this talk, Candradasa presents the story of the Buddha's life as a backdrop to three visions of practice, focussing on a progression through love and corresponding to the traditional path of ethics, meditation and wisdom. Myth, dream and archetypal images galore — from Jung and Star Wars to Giacometti and Jean Genet — as well as a healthy dose of sex, magic and death. But finally, we have the Buddha simply as a vision of how to know ourselves more fully and live our lives with a marvellous elegance of being...

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
Free Buddhist Audio

Anapanasati - Meditation on the Breath

2006-03-10T17:33:00.000Z

Core meditation teaching from Viveka. Here is her fresh and vibrant take on the traditional practice of anapanasati - mindfulness with breathing. Using the breath as a stabilizing presence, this series of reflections is designed to help us discover the nature of reality itself by encouraging us to notice what is actually happening each moment in a direct and open way. Anapanasati is a complete path to awakening or enlightenment.

This podcast is extracted from a complete retreat recording (including two fully-guided practices) in a six cd presentation set. You can find more information here. You'll also find some other free audio files from the retreat, and a set of texts to accompany the practice.

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
Free Buddhist Audio

How To Keep In Touch

2006-02-14T17:18:00.000Z

Lalitavira's splendid talk on mindfulness - especially mindfulness of the body - is here to ground you! Through vivid imagery, we encounter the root practice of Buddhism as it appears in earliest times. In doing so, we contemplate the assumptions behind our experience, as well as those behind traditional dharma practice and philosophy. This is good, strong medicine for flighty times - an unflinching but kindly look at death, sex and the nature of things.

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
Free Buddhist Audio

Latest Talks List from Dharmachakra

2006-01-20T20:44:00.000Z

Here is the latest version (in glorious technicolour!) of our main catalogue of archive talks by members of the Western Buddhist Order. This will form one of the pillars of the new, totally free download service to be launched in Autumn. Bang up-to-date, featuring over 750 unique titles! Check out Padmavajra's new series on 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead' — strong, challenging and full of wonders...

Download any of these titles for free from Free Buddhist Audio

Update this list via the podcast for free on iTunes.

Catalogue Design from the Archive — #3

2006-01-20T20:37:00.000Z

And then he went and gave more talks... Sheesh! So here's something to bring it up-to-date (well, sort of). Is this getting geeky yet?

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
Free Buddhist Audio

Catalogue Design from the Archive — #2

2006-01-20T20:33:00.000Z

...but of course we made mistakes! So here is a cheeky wee errata slip by Candradasa to make it all better...

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
Free Buddhist Audio

Catalogue Design from the Archive — #1

2006-01-20T19:46:00.000Z

The original Dharmachakra catalogue of Urgyen Sangharakshita's talks, from when we first started producing cds as part of the 'Digital Legacy' project. Here in its metallic-blue-tinted glory is Dhammarati's brilliant lo-cost design (oh, for a full-colour print budget!) that marked our arrival, at last, in the 20th Century — just as it ended! Oh well, better late, etc. ...

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
Free Buddhist Audio

Introduction to Mind and Mental Events

2006-01-04T15:53:00.000Z

A new year's talk by Subhuti to help dust away all those mental cobwebs hanging over from the last one! Just the thing for sharpening your wits, deepening your understanding of the thorny area that is ethics, and generally pulling your socks up on the awareness front... A friendly but thoroughly enagaging first step into a profoundly interesting area of Buddhist philosophy and practice — just how does the mind work? Order the rest of the series (8 other talks!) from dharmachakra.com

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
Free Buddhist Audio

All One Gorgeous Mistake

2005-11-08T11:13:00.000Z

A jewelled casket of a talk by Vajradarshini, with poetic accompaniment. Rumi meets Tsongkhapa in the Tavern of Ruin, and Dogen, Milarepa and Nagarjuna join them to talk about 'self' and 'world'. Joanna Macy turns up too — then many voices, mixed and mingled, explore the experience of being part of an Order and following the Buddha's way. Quite splendid stuff.

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
Free Buddhist Audio

The Sound of Reality

2005-09-28T12:10:00.000+01:00

Fabulous stuff from Padmavajra. This richly rewarding talk explores the place and function of sound in Buddhist practice and history, as well as within the speaker's own spiritual life. A wide-ranging cultural journey is made from John Coltrane to Sufi Qawwali, from mantra to Zen poetry, taking in Andre Gide, Renaissanace Neoplatonism and the ancient Pali Verses en route. Not to be missed!

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
Free Buddhist Audio

Understanding Karma and Buddhist Ethics

2005-09-02T17:15:00.000+01:00

A good, pithy introduction (not to say quirky - check out the soccer references!) to the traditionally thorny and rather misunderstood area of karma and rebirth, teasing out its relationship to Buddhist ethics in general. Instant karma is yours...

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
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Standing on Emptiness: View, Meditation, and Action

2005-08-11T22:01:00.000+01:00

A lovely, thoughtful exploration of the traditional Buddhist path of ethics, meditation and wisdom, using poetry and the ideas of contemporary science to evoke the mystery that lies at the heart of practice. Dhammadassin's beautifully weighted talk challenges us to look at how we think and how we act, and is rooted in a moving fidelity to experience as the ground of our inspiration. One to be treasured!

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
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Breaking the Mould

2005-07-29T17:45:00.000+01:00

A sparkling discussion from 2003 on the use of images for accessing the Buddhist tradition. And an indispensable exploration of everyday practice of the Dharma in the beautiful light of the Tathagathagarbha Sutra.

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
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Touching the Void

2005-07-14T14:34:00.000+01:00

In this moving talk Jnanavaca relates events in Joe Simpson's popular mountaineering book 'Touching the Void' to aspects of Buddhist practice.

For more talks and to help us keep this free, visit
Free Buddhist Audio