How do we keep our meditation alive and fresh - especially over the long-term? Can we get lost and bogged down in our meditation and lose connection with creativity, play, and freshness? How do we go deeper? Responding to these questions, Vajragupta looks at the Four Iddhipadas - the four 'powers' or 'means of accomplishment' taught by the Buddha. These are: desire, discernment, heart/mind, and resolve. They are both four ingredients of a creative meditation practice, and they also draw out the alchemical process of meditation, or how the transformative process of meditation works. This first talk (26 mins) explores how we need to stay connected to our deeper desires, yearnings, and spiritual longing - and how to hold this desire in a way that sustains our practice.

In another ambitious and wide-ranging talk, Vajragupta suggests that changes in Western societies in the last 40 years have undermined our sense of the "common good". He then reflects on what a Buddhist approach to the common good might be. A highly stimulating talk, drawing on the inspiration of Dr Ambedkar, as well as other thinkers and writers. Second in a series of three talks given for Buddhist Action Month 2021 at Croydon Buddhist Centre.

In the final talk in the series, Vajragupta responds to questions from participants: is Nirvana about escape from Samsara or is it the Bodhisattva Ideal? How would we know a Bodhisattva if we met one? And what’s our chances of gaining Enlightenment? In answering these questions, Vajragupta makes fascinating use of the teaching of the five niyamas.

Vajragupta talks about Nirvana as seen in the early Buddhist tradition - as the eradication of greed, hatred, and delusion, and the cessation of the whole samsaric process. And then he explores how Nirvana was seen in later tradition - linking this to the Bodhisattva Ideal and the realisation of emptiness and compassion.