Our Dharmabyte today reminds us that Life is Too Short to Waste. Brought to us by the dynamic and passionate Padmavajra from the talk titled “Death and Desire” part II of a three-part series titled “The Alchemy of Love”. Using Shantideva’s ‘Bodhicharyavatara’ as a root text, he brings us face to face with the big questions implicit in any life that seeks to embrace change and impermanence as facts of Reality.

Talk given at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2004

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In this talk, “Dying to Live” Vidyamala gives a strong account of working with suffering and sorrow in life, and of transforming your experience into one characterized by contentment and a sense of meaning. From her own practice of living with chronic pain comes a sane and unsentimental perspective that affords us all a measure of genuine optimism as we meet the trials of the world: bereavements and losses of all kinds can be met with a kindness and awareness that gently ease the burden, allowing something of peace to enter our lives again.

Talk given at the Western Buddhist Order Women’s Convention 2003

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Today’s Dharmabyte moves us into the theme of Death as the Buddha’s Parinirvana is celebrated across the Buddhist world. “Death as Loss or Death as Gateway” is an extract from Vidyamala’s talk “Dying to Live”, which will be our next featured full length podcast. Confronted with impermanence and death the questions of who and what we are burn into us. Bereavements and losses of all kinds can be met with a kindness and awareness that gently ease the burden, allowing something of peace to enter our lives again.

Talk given at the Western Buddhist Order Women’s Convention 2003

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Today’s Dharmabyte: Reality as Change – Poetry and Impermanence is from a thoughtful and sympathetic talk by Srivati on the most delicate of tasks in any life – how to live in the present moment. Exploring the subtle aspects of past and present, of memory and expectation, we encounter impermanence as the touchstone of our experience through the practice of writing – especially poetry. Dharmabyte selected from the talk, “Becoming a Citizen of the Present.”

Talk given to the Western Buddhist Order national Order weekend, 2001

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In ‘Everything Matters – Turning Consumerism on its Head’, Vajradarshini points out that we live in a world of things and there’s a world of practice in things. As consumerism is defined as ‘to destroy’, we are challenged to find ways to turn consumerism on its head and find the Truth in our relationship to Things. Accompanied by Kavyasiddhi reading both poetry and prose, this beautiful Dharma gem is worth hearing again and again.

Talk given at the 2010 International Sangha Retreat.

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