As part of a whole year at San Francisco Buddhist Center dedicated to the theme of 'Going for Refuge', we have this talk from Viveka. It's a personable and wide-ranging look at one of the most important aspects of Buddhist practice, whose significance is upheld in every tradition. What is it to look to the 'Three Jewels' as a response to our dissatisfaction? A thoughful exploration, taking in traditional Dharma approaches and contemporary counter-cultural art forms and ways of living...

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

Talk given at San Francsisco Buddhist Center, 2006

Padmatara is an Order member who has been working with ways to bring more awareness to her own communication and is still learning from resistance and obstacles along the way. In this interesting, down to earth talk, she discusses the ethics of speech as well as authenticity, kindness and miscommunication.

This is a talk from the center's series from September 2007, taking a look at the idea of happiness through consideration of the 'positive mental events' in the Abhidharma tradition and subsequent commentaries upon it, including 'Know Your Mind' by Sangharakshita. There's an introduction and conclusion by Suvarnaprabha, and a useful burst of discussion from the audience as Singhashri and Acarasiddhi consider 'faith' ('Shraddha') and how it pertains to their own lives and practices.

N.B. Poor sound quality in the Q & A section.

Curious about the outlandish and phantasmagorical realms of the Mahayana sutras? Listen as Viradhamma speaks about his relationship with and experience of the infinite realms of the Flower Ornament Sutra. This talk was given at the April 2017 men's ordination training retreat.