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Other talks from Padmaloka
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Settle back and touch base with this very enjoyable and, at times, inspiring talk by Saddharaja on the great blue Buddha of the eastern quarter of the mandala - the Unshakeable One, the Imperturbable Akshobya. This is particularly good because it departs from standard fare on the figure. We get a great reading from Wordsworth, a stimulating discussion of ethics and their relationship to issues of doubt and self-confidence, as well as a meeting with a wooly mammoth… Listen out too for a terrific story about standing inside a mountain which communicates something essential about the depth of presence and mystery Akshobya is all about.
Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, Winter Retreat 2001
| 1. | Growing up in Wales and the Lake District - mountains and scree running (3:08) | |
| 2. | William Wordsworth - a reading from 'The Prelude' (2:34) | |
| 3. | Working in the slate quarries; beside the river under the mountain (4:24) | |
| 4. | Akshobya, elephants and immovability; learning to look at Buddhas - prepare yourself; Sangharakshita on meeting human beings (3:54) | |
| 5. | Meaning of 'Akshobya'; characteristics - realm, appearance, gesture, mantra (4:31) | |
| 6. | Meeting an elephant and a wooly mammoth; a reading from the 'elephant chapter' of the 'Dhammapada' (4:23) | |
| 7. | More characteristics; family - Vajra; element - water; wisdom - mirror-like; poison - aggression and hatred; skandha - rupa (form); realm - Abhirati, a reading from the 'Akshobyavyuha Sutra'; how to enter Abhirati (7:30) | |
| 8. | What does it all mean? Mara's attack on Siddhartha - calling the Earth Goddess to witness (5:12) | |
| 9. | Having confidence in our spiritual practice; basic Buddhist practices - karma and ethics; the Yogachara school and the eight vijnanas (consciousnesses); doubt (7:40) | |
| 10. | Who can we trust? God, the 'group' and material wealth; something else to build on; Akshobya in the bardo - a reading from the 'Tibetan Book of the Dead' (6:01) |
Total running time: 49:17
