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FBA Podcast: The Great Love

By Sadayasihi on Sat, 11 Jul, 2020 - 14:00

How do we construct our world? Collective experiences impact on our personal views and experiences. Mahayana texts offer us the opportunity to interrupt our usual way of perceiving and thinking about the world. Suryagupta explores the extraordinary character, Vimalakirti, and his teaching of The Great Love – the love that is great compassion, the love that is never exhausted, the love that is giving, the love that is morality, the love that is tolerance, the love that is happiness.

From...

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FBA Podcast: The Drama of Cosmic Enlightenment

By Sadayasihi on Sat, 21 Dec, 2019 - 14:00

After considering the history and the meaning of the title, Sangharakshita provides a summary of The White Lotus Sutra’s dramatic structure, with brief explanations of the significance of certain details.

Talk given in 1971.

This talk is part of the series Parables, Myths and Symbols of Mahayana Buddhism in the White Lotus Sutra.

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FBA Podcast: The Great Love

By Sadayasihi on Sat, 7 Dec, 2019 - 14:00

Ratnaguna shares with us his great love for the Vimalakirti Nirdesa, a Buddhist Mahayana text he’s gone back to again and again and again since 1979. He explores how a Bodhisattva should regard living beings, or how they should develop the Great Love for them, according to the mysterious character Vimalakirti. 

Talk given at Stockholm Buddhist Center, 27 May 2013.

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FBA Podcast: For Heroic Spirits Intended

By Sadayasihi on Sat, 28 Sep, 2019 - 14:00

The first of four talks given by Ratnaguna during the annual Padmaloka Open Retreat. The theme of the retreat was ‘For Heroic Spirits Intended…’ and was based around the Ratnaguna Samcayagatha - a profound Mahayana Sutra.

A new translation by Sraddhapa of the text was used for the first time during the retreat. You can find this text at Sraddhapa’s website where donations can be made to support this important translation work. 

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Free Buddhist Audio

Dharmabyte: Vasubandhu's Four Factors

By Sadayasihi on Thu, 26 Sep, 2019 - 14:00

Vasubandhu lived in northern India and Nepal in the 4th century CE. He was a renowned teacher in the Sarvastivadin School of Buddhism but later converted to Mahayana Buddhism under the influence of his brother Asanga.

In this talk Kulaprabha introduces us to a work of his dealing with the conditions necessary for the arising of the Bodhicitta - here translated as Bodhi Resolve. In particular, she compares and contrasts Vasubandhu’s Four Factors as they are described in this text with...

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Free Buddhist Audio

Dharmabyte: These Texts Were Meant to be Understood

By Sadayasihi on Thu, 20 Jun, 2019 - 14:00

In today’s FBA Dharmabyte, ‘These Texts Were Meant to be Understood’, Shraddhapa talks about his work translating the Ratnaguna Samcayagatha, a profound Mahayana Sutra from Sanskrit into English.

You can find this text at Shraddhapa’s website here.

If you want to financially support Shraddhapa’s important work you can donate here.

From the talk For Heroic Spirits Intended - Translating Sanskrit Texts as part of the series For Heroic...

Free Buddhist Audio
Free Buddhist Audio

Dharmabyte: Our Next Teacher

By Sadayasihi on Mon, 6 May, 2019 - 14:00

Our FBA Dharmabyte today is called Our Next Teacher by Ratnaprabha.

In the full talk entitled The Great Way, Ratnaprabha tells the Zen story of the maiden in the mud, explains the attitude of the Mahayana, the Bodhisattva, altruism and how Mahayana is not a school of Buddhism. He finishes with the grand vision of Vairocana’s tower from the Gandavyuha Sutra.

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Free Buddhist Audio

Dharmabyte: Our Place is in the Cosmos

By Sadayasihi on Tue, 3 Jul, 2018 - 14:54

This FBA Dharmabyte is called ‘Our Place is in the Cosmos’ from the talk ‘Approaching a Magical World’ by Jvalamalini.

This is an excerpt from the first of four talks on the Cosmic Mythic Vision of the Mahayana. Here Jvalamalini explores the faculties of mythos and logos, how they’re conditioned by historical context, a suggestion from neuroscience about how imaginal practice might work, and how the integrated Imagination perceives wisdom beyond words.

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Dharmabyte: Chittamatra (Mind Only)

By Sadayasihi on Thu, 28 Jun, 2018 - 14:54

This FBA Dharmabyte is called Chittamatra (‘Mind-Only’) from the talk The Depth Psychology of the Yogachara by Sangharakshita.

The Yogachara School of Indian Mahayana Buddhism and its doctrine of ‘Mind-Only’ (Chittamatra) crucially influenced the development of Zen. Here the doctrine is related to subjective and absolute idealism in Western philosophy. 

This talk was given in 1967 and is part of the series Aspects of Buddhist Psychology.

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Buddhist Centre Features
Buddhist Centre Features

Great Faith, Great Wisdom - Complete Retreat Recordings By Ratnaguna

By Centre Team on Fri, 22 Sep, 2017 - 15:05

On this retreat, recorded during the recent Rainy Season Retreat at Bristol Buddhist Centre in the UK, Ratnaguna guides us on a journey into Amitābha’s Pure Land, Sukhāvati – a mythical realm where the ground is golden, trees are made of jewels, heavenly musical instruments play ravishing music, and magical birds sing the Dharma. It is a vast ‘illumined image’ – a symbol of the beauty and joy of the spiritual life. The three Pure Land sutras invite...

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