Tag: symbol

The Community Toolkit for Uncertain Times

The River Under the River (The Dharma Toolkit, Episode 27)

By Centre Team on Tue, 26 May, 2020 - 22:27

“Deserving a place in a realm where miracles happen”

Let’s start with this image: there’s a river under the river. Then follow it via the works of William Stafford and the creative lives of members of the Wolf at the Door group: poets and writers exploring the interplay of modes of attention in their chosen art forms, mediated by the practice of Buddhism.

The wolf is there too. Alive and real and, sometimes, scary. But this...

The Community Toolkit for Uncertain Times

Ironic Points of Light (The Dharma Toolkit Daily, Episode 25)

By Centre Team on Sat, 9 May, 2020 - 00:21

Shimmering images, and no less shimmering experiences. Today’s episode begins a series on beauty, poetry, myth, art and symbol as a response to crisis.

Taking our cue from W.H. Auden’s poem, September 1st, 1939, and his recognition of the need to “love one another or die”, we ask how, in the midst of fear – even of death – we can exercise our agency as human beings.

Poetry leads the way in and out of the questioning. Joining Auden in the...

Triratna Resources

Dharma Teaching - Beginners Buddhism: Buddhist Wisdom, A Six-Week Course On Symbolic Dharma (Vajrapriya)

By Centre Team on Sun, 17 Jul, 2016 - 11:29

Download this overview of the course

The resources include:

Notes for the course leader (including learning objectives, guide lines for input and exercises, background information, suggestions for home practice)
Exercises, and handouts
Overview of the course
An overview of the whole of life’s dynamics in symbolic form.
The wheel of life – knowing our realm
The wheel of life – karma and rebirth
The wheel of life – the chain of conditioning, “staying in the gap”
The spiral path – to Insight and beyond
The mandala of the five Buddhas – Akshobya and Amitabha
The mandala of

File Name	Size
Buddhist Wisdom, A Six-Week Course On Symbolic Dharma by Vajrapriya (zip)	2.91 MB

Free Buddhist Audio

Dharmabyte: The Buddha as Transcendental Guest

By Rijupatha on Thu, 3 Sep, 2015 - 11:00

Our FBA Dharmabyte today is called “The Buddha as Transcendental Guest” from the talk “The Symbolism of Offerings and Self-Sacrifice” by Sangharakshita. In this lecture we are shown how the symbolism of ritual offerings originated in the Hinayana and Mahayana, and later flowered with the Tantric offerings, particularly the offering of the Mandala.

Part of the series “Creative Symbols of the Tantric Path to Enlightenment”, given in 1971.

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Free Buddhist Audio

Dharmabyte: Myth Evoking Inner Reality

By Rijupatha on Thu, 7 May, 2015 - 18:09

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Just how does one explain the taste of a mango? Vadanya gives us today’s FBA Dharmabyte entitled “Myth Evoking Inner Reality”. Here, Vadanya illustrates just how rich myth and symbols are to elucidate the inner reality of the Buddha’s experience. From the talk entitled, “Brahmas Request”, given as part of a series of talks on Stories and Symbols at Sheffield Buddhist Centre...

Free Buddhist Audio

Dharmabyte - The Origins of the Stupa

By Rijupatha on Mon, 24 Feb, 2014 - 16:46

Our FBA Dharmabyte today is dedicated to Dhardo Rinpoche, “The Origins of the Stupa.” In this segment Sangharakshita explains the origins of the Buddhist stupa. From the talk, Five Element Symbolism and the Stupa, given in 1971, is part of the series Parables, Myths and Symbols of Mahayana Buddhism in the White Lotus Sutra. We’ve dedicated this to Dhardo Rinpoche to help support a stupa being built in his honor at Aryaloka Buddhist...