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Over here, Clemenza! Ever wanted to know about ‘General Systems Theory’ - one of those subjects you always hear vague things about yet never quite know what it actually is? Ever wondered why we seem to love a good gangster? Well, then this is for you! To tell the truth, we would have picked this anyway for the podcast because the title was just so good! But it happens to be an excellent and very full short talk by Khemasuri on a growing area of contemporary Buddhist philosophical thought. This one requires a bit of concentration - but it pays off with her passionately argued case for embracing personal responsibility and community engagement as a way of effecting social change in our troubled world. Just like “going to the mattresses”. But in a good way…

Talk given at the Buddhafield Festival, Devon, 2007

Contents

01 ‘Evolution or extinction’ by Sangharakshita (1971) - this talk as a response; the Buddha’s basic teaching and experience; conceptual constructions of a specific time and culture - ‘pratitya samutpada’ (’dependent arising’) and ‘general systems theory’

02 The difference between causality and conditionality; Cartesian thinking - from the holistic to the mechanistic; conditionality through the whole of human culture and experience; properties of all systems; feedback mechanisms; systems evolving in complexity - evolution and change; points of instability - the possibillity of collapse; non-predictability and synergy

03 Repercussions for how we act; the Cartesian model of the world and its effect on behaviour; systems theory, actions and consequences; means and ends as the same thing

04 Social networks, systems and change; ‘event-triggering process’ - shocks to the system and creative response; change with a community of individuals; the properties of a living community

05 What the Mafia can teach us about supporting change; Fritjof Capra’s ideas on the criminal underworld’s success; what the Mafia does well as a community; towards an ethical underworld

06 What we can do individually and collectively; the revolutionary nature of the ‘metta bhavana’ meditation (’development of loving kindness’); actions and consequences again; taking risks; different ways of doing community; collective change is not comfortable - the validity of strong emotions

07 The importance of passing on knowledge and promoting another vision of the world; diversity; don’t leave your values and principles at home; acting from the heart; the ‘infinite game’; profound personal feedback from your efforts

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 Building an Ethical Underworld - Lessons from the Mafia [00:30:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

¡Hola! Chicas and Chicos. Now that we have the site up and running in German - Audio Buddhismus Kostenlos, French - Audio Bouddhiste Gratuit - and also in Chinese -
免费 佛教 录音 - isn’t it about time we launched in Spanish? Of course it is! Bueno, presentamos… Audios Budistas Gratuitos.

As ever, this has been a labour of love by several people connected with the site. So let’s pay tribute here to our main translator, Samudra, and also to Abhayaka who helped check stuff. Both men have generously and patiently dedicated themselves to bringing the wonders of Free Buddhist Audio to the Spanish-speaking world. ¡Magnifico!

Watch this space for news of yet more languages to come.

To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

This is another great talk from the ‘Dharma Warriors’ series given at the Buddhafield Festival 2006. Karunagita is the author of ‘Growing as a Parent - What Buddhism Has to Offer’, and here she presents some of that material to an audience of summer loving practitioners under the blue skies of Devon. Settle back and enjoy the sound of drums, kids’ voices, and Karunagita’s perspectives on the challenges and opportunities of raising a child as part of your practice of the Dharma. She encourages us to see and accept the gifts of love, letting go and awareness (of our limitations and of our mortality) that are inherent in the life of any parent - and we catch a hint of the growth and wisdom that are possible for the heart as it opens to meet its experience in the most fundamental relationship of all.

Talk given at the Buddhafield Festival, Devon 2006

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 Buddhist Parenting [00:24:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Here is the latest version (in glorious technicolour) of our catalogue of audio recordings (mainly talks) by members of the Western Buddhist Order and other Buddhist speakers. The whole archive is now over 1500 recordings strong, and growing all the time as people send us material from all over the world. Only about a third of these are currently online, and this catalogue file itself has only about half of the recordings listed…

We’ll be adding new and older talks, audio books, interviews, seminars, guided meditations, retreat recordings, and question-and-answer sessions to the website regularly! Why not sign up for our updates email? And if you’ve any requests, please don’t hesitate to ask.

To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

 Ebook: Download

Some happy news this week, filles et garçons! Now that we have the site up and running in German - Audio Buddhismus Kostenlos - and also in Chinese - 免费 佛教 录音 - we are delighted today to announce that we’re able to extend our service further still with the launch of our new French language site - Audio Bouddhiste Gratuit.

As usual, this is the fruit of many hours of toil by various folk connected with Free Buddhist Audio, and this time the main shout goes out to Jayamuni, who has generously and patiently dedicated himself to the task at hand over the course of many months. May the merit be his!

Watch this space for a forthcoming announcement regarding the site in Spanish, and news of yet more languages to come!

To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.