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Dharmabyte: Virya: Everyday Buddhist Spiritual Practice

By Sadayasihi on Thu, 6 Aug, 2020 - 14:00

Sangharakshita gives us a clear look at Viriya - Energy or Vigour - from the point of view of both subject and object, contrasting with a Hindu story about Indra + a squirrel.

From a talk about the Five Spiritual Faculties entitled The Pattern of Buddhist Life and Work given in 1966 as part of the series Introducing Buddhism.

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Dharmabyte: Communication Problems

By Sadayasihi on Mon, 27 Jul, 2020 - 14:00

The Buddha’s lone voice of sanity once prevented a war. Modern warfare is on a far larger scale, and could involve nuclear weapons. As we are faced with a choice between world peace and eventual disaster, Sangharakshita discusses realistic courses of action for peace activists and others.

Excerpted from the talk entitled Buddhism, World Peace, and Nuclear War given in 1984.

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Dharmabyte: Instant Response: Taking Responsibility

By Sadayasihi on Thu, 9 Jul, 2020 - 14:00

The Buddha and Ananda once tended a sick monk, neglected by his companions because of his ‘uselessness’. Sangharakshita shows that people cannot be treated as ‘things’ in the spiritual community.

From the talk entitled A Case of Dysentry given in 1982 as part of the series Incidents from the Pali Canon.

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Dharmabyte: Nothing More to Learn?

By Sadayasihi on Mon, 29 Jun, 2020 - 14:00

In describing the qualities of patience, Sangharakshita calls on a story from the Saddharma-Pundarika (The Lotus Sutra) to illustrate the necessity of spiritual receptivity.

From the talk Masculinity and Femininity in the Spiritual Life as part of the series Aspects of the Bodhisattva Ideal, 1969. The full talk explores the third and fourth Perfections: kshanti (forbearance, tolerance or spiritual receptivity) and virya (energy in pursuit of the good).

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Dharmabyte: Vajrasattva, death and the hell realm

By Sadayasihi on Mon, 20 Apr, 2020 - 14:00

A story from Kalimpong…

Sangharakshita shares a story from Kalimpong about being woken up in the middle of the night to a very strange occurrence – he saw a dear friend who had passed several years earlier standing in a deep pit next to his bed. His response was to chant the Vajrasattva Mantra.

Excerpted from the talk Between Twin Sala Trees, part of the series Incidents from the Pali Canon, 1983. This lecture is a series of reflections based...

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Dharmabyte: The Wheel of Life as a mirror

By Sadayasihi on Mon, 13 Apr, 2020 - 14:00

Sangharakshita describes in all its wealth of detail, the Wheel of Life. It’s really a painting but a mirror, giving one successively more profound insights into oneself, and revealing the next step in escaping the endless round.

From the talk entitled The Symbolism of the Tibetan Wheel of Life, part of the series Creative Symbols of the Tantric Path to Enlightenment, 1972.

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Dharmabyte: The Mandala Unifies Disintegration

By Sadayasihi on Thu, 12 Mar, 2020 - 13:00

We can find mandalas everywhere – in the East, in the West, in art, literature, even in dreams. Mandalas represent a resolution, or the beginnings of a resolution, of a conflict between the conscious and the unconscious.

Sangharakshita explores the symbolism of the mandala, circles of symbolic forms, found in the The Tantras (special scriptures of Vajrayana Buddhism) as a symbol of psychological and spiritual integration.

Excerpted from the talk entilted The Mandala – Tantric Symbol of Integration as part...

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Dharmabyte: The Episode of the Untimely Flowers

By Sadayasihi on Thu, 20 Feb, 2020 - 14:00

Here Sangharakshita recounts one of the stories from the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, that of The Episode of Untimely Flowers. Reflections based around the Buddha’s Parinirvana (‘death’), stress the importance of impermanence.

From the lecture entitled Between Twin Sala Trees as part of the series Incidents from the Pali Canon,1983.

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Dharmabyte: The Buddha's Last Journey

By Sadayasihi on Thu, 6 Feb, 2020 - 14:00

The Maha Parinirvana Sutra contains a fairly detailed account of the Buddha’s last months of his earthly life. It follows him step by step – where he went, who he met, how he discoursed, what teaching he gave. By the time he embarked on his last journey he knew he was going to pass away. Being the Enlightened One, he remained calm, reflecting on his last words, his last teaching.

Excerpted from the talk The Tantric Symbolism of the Stupa...

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FBA Podcast: Sangharakshita Foresees His Death In 'Padmaloka'

By Sadayasihi on Sat, 1 Feb, 2020 - 09:00

Vishvapani beautifully explores Sangharakshita’s poem ‘Padmaloka’ in which he looks forward to his own death.

It’s a poem about death, rebirth and nature, and Vishvapani connects it to other poetry which it echoes.

This talk was given a week after Sangharakshita’s death in November 2018 at Cardiff Buddhist Centre.

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