Hello there! And welcome to freebuddhistaudio

To get the best out of this website, please read on...

Your Language

We have set your language based on your browser language settings or location. To change language use the flag above.

Finding Talks

From any small talks panel you can use the (see all) or (more) link to see a large panel with all talks in this category.

Most large panels allow filtering. For example you can view talks just in your language by using the small flag icon.

Javascript Info

We'd like you to have the best possible experience of our new site, and we noticed you're using a browser that has a feature called Javascript turned off.

We've designed things so Free Buddhist Audio will continue to work for you anyway, but the site will look and work much better if you turn Javascript on. It's very easy! See how to enable JavaScript in your browser for more information.

Your Browser

We'd like you to have the best possible experience of our new site, and we notice you're using an older browser that isn't compatible with some of the latest developments on the internet.

We've designed things so Free Buddhist Audio will continue to work for you, but we invite you to a better experience of the web now and in future if you have a few minutes to upgrade...

Install (or update from an older version) a future-friendly browser:

(See All)

other talks in this theme

Audio | view transcript

Authority and the Individual in the New Society

by Sangharakshita

In creating a spiritual community people need to eschew completely the use of the 'power mode' in interacting with each other. This contrasts strongly with ordinary 'groups', where relationships are often based on authority, sometimes the authority of a personal God.

Talk given in 1979.

Tracks (click play to listen)

Play All

	1.	The opening of Sukhavati (5:49)
	2.	The nucleus of a New Society (4:15)
	3.	The spiritual community of individuals (5:28)
	4.	What does the spiritual community do? (5:37)
	5.	Making the transition from the old to the new society; change - the real miracle (12:06)
	6.	The true individual and the statistical individual; the meaning of authority (4:16)
	7.	Representing authority (4:00)
	8.	Spiritual community cannot exist with power (10:23)
	9.	The god of power and the god of love (9:36)
	10.	Temporal power and Christian power structures (6:40)
	11.	The governing principle of spiritual community (5:22)
	12.	Going for Refuge from the group to the spiritual community; the Amitayur-dhyana Sutra (5:55)
	13.	Queen Vaydevi (2:08)
	14.	The series of sixteen meditations; a society inspired by the Bodhichitta (6:08)