Buddhistisches Tor Berlin Podcast

The Buddha talks about 7 kinds of suffering. The 7th is the suffering of not getting what one wants. So I would like you to pay attention to that when it hsppens. What is that like when we dont get what we want?. What thoughts arise?, what emotions arise? and very importantly how does that feel in the body? Also notice your relationship to all those things. Your thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations. How are you relating to them?This will lead us into the theme of the talk. Seeing suffering, ending suffering.

Every Buddhist tradition has its own unique history and qualities. Tarapalita explores some of these in celebration of Triratna day.

And what does Kentucky Fried Chickens latest advert ‘Believe in chicken’ have to do with any of this? 🐣🐔🍗🫨Talk by Tarapalita

What are the core values you live your life around? Where exactly did they come from? Did you make them up yourself? Did you pick them up somewhere? Do you know their history? And what does it have to do with Instagram? In this talk, Tarapalita explores how we become who we are.

In this talk, Dharmasara looks at a fundamental question: Why on earth should be follow a 2500 year old Religion alles Buddhism?

What does it mean to be upright in this life? Well, it means not being spineless. What does it mean to be spineless? Being spineless means being utterly self-absorbed and giving in to any and all of your stories or desires. Being spineless means being a bully, a bitch, a coward or a snitch… It means playing the eternal victim or treading on others to get to some imagined top. It means being the kind of person that people don’t respect.

Join Tarapalita in this talk about How the Buddha´s community grew. The Buddha was a true individual. Free from everything that we are restricted by and suffer from. Psychologically, socially, emotionally…spiritually. He discovered the causes and sources of his suffering and dissolved them in the profound and sustained depths of awareness. What was left afterwards was the ongoing bliss of Liberation… On his journey towards that Liberated state, he fully commited himself to following his most subtle and radical spiritual instincts and intuitions, which at points meant going it alone. Fully alone. And yet…although he finally became an earth-shaking embodiment of what it means to be free from the chains of conditioned existence, a true individual, he spent the rest of his life creating and nurturing a community. One rooted in wisdom, love and integrity, one that is still going strong 2500 years later. An ongoing story of friendships that we here in Berlin are now a part of. So how does all this go together? Becoming more individual and also more committed to a community? Why is the spiritual community or Sangha as its traditionally called, one of the Three Jewels every Buddhist bows to? Is just about organised religion promoting itself? Is it just nice people, drinking nice tea, trying to be nice and hoping the world will be nice to them? Perhaps we cynically think we know all about what Sangha means already and if so, has it then become another dead concept neatly ticked off in our mind? The Buddha saw that we are infinitely stronger together and made sure that his community started and carried on in the right way. When there is so much distress and disharmony in our general collective experience right now, it’s good to remember that things can be different. We can choose to contribute to the nucleus of a new society by taking responsibly for our own actions and raising our level of consciousness. And as we see with the rest of Buddhisms long history, you really never know how wider conditions change and what that can lead to. If we play our part in keeping the flame burning strong and true, it’s possible for wider conditions in society to change and for more people to recognise and take up the Buddhas teachings in unexpected and beautiful ways. It’s happened before, there’s no reason it can’t happen again. We’re going to take a little journey into all this as Tarapalita talks to us about How the Buddha´s community grew.

Being a Buddhist isn’t all about glory and light. Sooner or later we’ll encounter difficult experiences, even grief and death. How will Buddhism help us then? In this talk, Padmasagara shares a story from the earliest Buddhist texts in which the Buddha helps one of his female followers - Kisagotami - overcome her grief and reach enlightenment.

In this talk, Tarapalita looks at the Story of Angulimala: How did a serial killer, who’s passion was cutting off the fingers of people he’d killed to make a delightful necklace for himself, go on to become a disciple of the Buddha and eventually the patron saint of women in childbirth? And just to say, even if you’re not a serial killer yourself, and you might not be, that’s ok as well, there are plenty of life lessons to be learnt from this story of redemption and transformation with one of the wildest characters in Buddhist history. If it’s possible for Mr. Fingers to turn his life around and move towards his full blown potential, then it’s possible for us!

The mind is our most precious asset. Untrained, it can also be the most dangerous thing in this world. Really, it is the only thing we have control over and can take responsibility for, at least potentially. In Buddhism, Consciousness is central. It is at the centre of our perception and therefore conditions how we perceive ourselves and the world. It is so powerful that the Buddha said that "All things are preceded by mind, led by mind and produced by mind". This is why meditation is such a central practice in Buddhism, because we work on our mind with our mind, directly and immediately. In this talk, Dharmasara explores what the Buddha meant when he said that Mind precedes World. It's a simple statement which has endless implications. It's also a challenging statement since it tackles a view of ourselves and the world which is deeply rooted in materialism.