Free Buddhist Audio

How do you get used to being Enlightened? What happened to the Buddha in the weeks after his breakthrough experience? Kamalashila explores these questions in two ways - using the framework of our System of Meditation to shed light on the process that unfolded in the Bodhisattva's mind and body as Enlightenment dawned; and connecting us imaginatively with the symbolism and image of Muchalinda, the great serpent, coiling his body protectively round the meditating Buddha. This talk was given on the Triratna Buddhist Community's International Retreat, 2008. Kamalashila passed away in October 2024, to learn more about him and his contributions to Triratna, visit https://kamalashila.co.uk/

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When we Go for Refuge, we can only Go for Refuge to that which is lokuttara - 'beyond the world'. In the third talk in this series, Satyaraja speaks of the need for a total orientation of our being towards Enlightenment through setting up conditions (pratitya samutpada), and the development of the Five Spiritual Faculties. Excerpted from the talk entitled 'For the Attainment of Enlightenment' given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2021.

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Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week.
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Here, Saddhanandi speaks about the nature of enlightenment, as experience and as non-experience, based on Bhante's lecture of the same name, given to the Buddhist Society in 1975. Given on retreat at Adhisthana, 2022.

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Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week.
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Sanghadhara reflects on the Buddha's resolve to sit on the vajrasana beneath the Bodhi tree until he broke through conditioned existence and awoke. The talk explores vajrasana as the "diamond throne," drawing on an audio excerpt from Sangharakshita to unfold its meaning as the central point of the cosmos: the spiritual axis where the Buddha awakens, and where the symbolism of the vajra, the tree of life, and the Bodhi tree all meet. From there, the talk evokes Buddhist cosmology, the six elements, and the emergence of life and consciousness as part of a vast evolutionary movement that culminates in the possibility of awakening. The second half of the talk reflects on what this awakening reveals about selfhood, individuality, and reality itself. Talk given at Manchester Buddhist Centre, 2025.

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Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week.
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Have we got what it takes to wake up? Sanghagita follows Siddhartha Gautama's extraordinary quest to its turning point. In him we meet a seeker who turns down power, prestige and leadership, turning his back on the received wisdom of harsh asceticism, choosing instead something far more radical: to meditate alone in the comfortable shade of a beautiful tree. Here he meets Māra: tempter, accuser, embodiment of fear, desire, and doubt, unleashing everything he has to prevent Siddhartha's awakening. This talk was given at Sheffield Buddhist Centre, 2026.

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Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week.
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