Buddhism is sometimes seen as weak or negative. Using examples from the Pali Canon and Mahayana texts, this lecture shows that, on the contrary, heroic and positive qualities are essential in the Buddhist spiritual aspirant's quest for Enlightenment. Here, Sangharakshita tells the story of Devadatta who was trying to kill the Buddha. Excerpted from the talk The Heroic Ideal in Buddhism given in 1969.

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Awareness, or mindfulness, is the keystone of the Buddhist path and of any truly human life. The Buddha's teaching on what awareness is and how to practise it is vast, and profound, and takes us far beyond what we might usually associate with the word 'mindfulness'. It requires a willingness to open our hearts and a good deal of courage to enter upon this way. Are you up for the challenge? Prajnahridaya explores how cultivating awareness is central and crucial to our existential situation, as well as evoking some of the wonders and treasures we can expect to discover if we dedicate ourselves to this practice. This talk was given at Sheffield Buddhist Centre, 2025.

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Padmavajra's wonderful series on the Dhammapada, the most popular of early Buddhist texts. All of the Buddha's core teachings are here - held in heart and mind there's more than enough in the Dhammapada to take us as far in our practice as we can imagine, and then on beyond...

Excerpted from the talk Mindfulness is the Way to the Deathless as part of the series The Dhammapada - the Buddha's Way of Truth given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2007, as part of the Dharma Training Course for Mitras.

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Beautifully read by Sangharakshita, these readings are taken from the oldest scriptural texts and evoke the real spirit of early Buddhism - the struggles, the joys and the triumphs of ordinary people who followed the path to Truth. Appears in Readings from the Pali Canon recorded in 2000 to mark the Digital Legacy project to begin transferring Dharmachakra's archive to digital format!

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Ratnaghosha explores the Buddha’s vision of spiritual community as it is expressed in verses 197, 198 and 199 of the Dhammapada. This is a comprehensive survey of the Buddha's teaching but is also replete with practical advice about how we might apply this to our lives today - and finishes on a very encouraging note. Recorded at the Dublin Buddhist Centre, 2024.

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Flowers naturally grow towards the light. The more we open to our true potential the more we open to the light of truth, of love, and of awareness. Our potential to grow is inherent in our very being. Here, Suryagupta shares reflections on verses from the Flowers chapter of the Dhammapada, or ‘Way of Truth’. Excerpted from the talk entitled How Flowers Teach the Way to Enlightenment given at London Buddhist Centre as part of the series The Dhammapada, 2022.

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In this talk Padmavajra explores the first two verses of the Dhammapada and their far-reaching implications. He explores how we create not only our own happiness or suffering through our actions but also how we create worlds, worlds of suffering or worlds conducive to human growth and even freedom. He then describes how the Bodhisattva works tirelessly and heroically to create a Buddhafield for the benefit of all beings. Talk given during the February Great Gathering weekend at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2020.

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Kusalasara explores the opening verses of the Dhammapada, or ‘Way of Truth’ showing a path of discovery of the pure mind and the impure mind. Excerpted from the talk entitled The Essential Revolution given at  London Buddhist Centre as part of the series The Dhammapada, 2022.

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This is an appropriately pithy talk by Surata on one of the most popular and regarded of the early Buddhist suttas, The 'Dhammapada'. The images of the verses and their direct relevance to our lives makes this sutta an indispensable aide memoire to practice – and Surata's consideration of it is a handy primer for newcomers to the text, as well as a refresher for those who've long enjoyed its simple message about our living and dying in a world we make with our minds. Excerpted from the talk The Dhammapada - Letters of Gold.

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Bodhinaga picks up the theme 'Tantra for Today' by pulling out his guts and setting them alight (not literally). Exploring what it means to practice the Dharma with the whole of yourself, come and hear about transforming messy bits like secret fear and hot emotions like burning rage!

Excerpted from the talk Blood, Bones, and Halos of Fire given at Sheffield Buddhist Centre, 2023.

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Moksatara introduces the dakini, the tantric embodiment of what's possible when all of our energy is completely engaged, alive and flowing. In order to meet the dakinis we must travel to where they dwell: the cremation grounds, where bodies are taken to be burnt. The deepest, darkest energies to be transformed are associated with fear. By deliberately plunging into crucial situations which mirror these burning grounds, old ways are forced to change and we are compelled to grow. From the talk The Burning Ground given at Sheffield Buddhist Centre, 2019, as part of the series Tantra Now!

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In a famous passage in the Itivutakka The Buddha compares Metta to the radiance of the sun and moon. He says that metta ‘shines and burns and blazes forth in surpassing all other acts of good’ and that ‘Whoever sets their mind to make goodwill grow Boundless’ ...will become Enlightened! Excerpted from the talk All Beings Without Exception given at Sheffield Buddhist Centre, 2024.

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Aryadasa discusses his experience of moving through fear in order to live a life more dedicated to love and friendship. He talks about the difficulties involved in this transition and the fruits that come from working through such difficulties. Excerpted from the talk Fearless Love - A Personal Talk by Aryadasa given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2019, as part of the Sub35 Men's Fearless Love retreat.

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In early 2020, only weeks preceding the full onslaught of the pandemic, Vajrin survived a catastrophic fall from a bike deep within New Zealand bush. Paralysed from the chest down and stranded in Auckland for months of lockdown, he called upon the Dharma. Despite four decades of practice, it didn’t seem to help. Or did it? …in ways he hadn’t predicted. This talk was given at Bristol Buddhist Centre, 2024.

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Fresh off a three-week solitary retreat, Vajragupta (m) shares, in a very personal and heart-felt way, what it was like, and what happened during that time. Coming to terms with his mother's slide into dementia, evoking the strangeness of dreams and memories, describing the sheer vividness of experience on retreat, and reflecting on both the joy and the fear that can result: this is a moving and inspiring talk about the potential richness of solitude. Excerpted from the talk What I Did On My Solitary Retreat given at Croydon Buddhist Centre, 2023.

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Suryagupta shares personal reflections on death and dying, discovering patterns in the human condition, and relates this to the life of the Buddha. This talk was given as a part of the London Buddhist Centre’s Winter Retreat 2023, part of the series The Noble Quest, 2023.

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Fearlessness is courage in the face of fear, not the absence of fear. When we are with someone who is dying, we are confronted by our own death. Our sense of self is fundamentally brought into question as we face our core spiritual problem: the truth of insubstantiality and impermanence. Vidyamala gives a strong account of working with suffering and sorrow in life, and of transforming your experience into one characterized by contentment and a sense of meaning. Excerpted from the talk Dying to Live, 2003.

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In this talk, Sanghagita takes us on a journey into the cremation ground. A fearful place filled with demons and powerful natural forces, and also the place where we can discover true freedom. Talk given at Sheffield Buddhist Centre, 2023.

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Ratnaprabha tells the story of Queen Vaidehi languishing in prison and longing for a better world. The Buddha teaches her to meditate on the land of Bliss, Amitabha's Pureland. What is the significance of Pureland Buddhism? Excerpted from the talk Birdsong Dharma given at West London Buddhist Centre, 2018.

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Maitrisiddhi explores Shinjin as faith, bodhicitta and wisdom. What happens when the conditioned mind lets up for a bit? Experiences of beauty, openness, love, desire to go for refuge and devotion naturally arise; we experience contact with ‘amida’, the quality of limitlessness. Are those experiences ‘ours’ – or something else? This talk was given at Taraloka Retreat Centre, 2024.

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