You are currently logged-out. You can log-in or create an account to see more talks, save favorites, and more. more info

Buddha Talks

Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (lit. 'the awakened one'), was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was born in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, to royal parents of the Shakya clan, but renounced his home life to live as a wandering ascetic. After leading a life of mendicancy, asceticism, and meditation, he attained nirvana at Bodh Gayā in what is now India. The Buddha then wandered through the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and building a monastic order. Buddhist tradition holds he died in Kushinagar and reached parinirvana ("final release from conditioned existence").

According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, leading to freedom from ignorance, craving, rebirth, and suffering. His core teachings are summarised in the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, a training of the mind that includes ethical training and kindness toward others, and meditative practices such as sense restraint, mindfulness, dhyana (meditation proper). Another key element of his teachings are the concepts of the five skandhas and dependent origination, describing how all dharmas (both mental states and concrete 'things') come into being, and cease to be, depending on other dharmas, lacking an existence on their own (svabhava).

While in the Nikayas, he frequently refers to himself as the Tathāgata; the earliest attestation of the title Buddha is from the 3rd century BCE, meaning 'Awakened One' or 'Enlightened One'. His teachings were compiled by the Buddhist community in the Vinaya, his codes for monastic practice, and the Sutta Piṭaka, a compilation of teachings based on his discourses. These were passed down in Middle Indo-Aryan dialects through an oral tradition. Later generations composed additional texts, such as systematic treatises known as Abhidharma, biographies of the Buddha, collections of stories about his past lives known as Jataka tales, and additional discourses, i.e., the Mahāyāna sūtras.

Buddhism evolved into a variety of traditions and practices, represented by Theravāda, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna, and spread beyond the Indian subcontinent. While Buddhism declined in India, and mostly disappeared after the 8th century CE due to a lack of popular and economic support, Buddhism has grown more prominent in Southeast and East Asia.

From The Buddha on Wikipedia

Showing 574 talks
 

- Reset Search

Title Speaker

The Blue Cliff Record

Letting Go, Buddha, Karma
May 31 1997
3
Green Gulch Farm

Wang Bo's Zen: Beyond Dregs

Buddha, Practice, Time
May 26 1997

Sunday Talk

Buddha, Pain, Liberation
May 18 1997
Green Gulch Farm

Interwoven Paths of Meditation Truth

Buddha, Practice, Suffering
May 09 1997

Transcending Duality Through Mindful Liberation

Pain, Samsara, Buddha
Apr 20 1997
Green Gulch Farm

Embodied Path to True Nature

Practice, Buddha, Practice Period
Apr 14 1997

Finding Zen in Everyday Interactions

Buddha, Time, Intimacy
Apr 13 1997

Bowing Beyond Duality

Buddha, Time, Practice
Apr 01 1997

Navigating Liberation Through Right Action

Karma, Buddha, Right Speech
Mar 26 1997

Balancing Right Action for Enlightenment

Time, Buddha, Buddha Nature
Mar 19 1997

Zen Encounter: Unveiling True Nature

Buddha, Work, Ego
Mar 17 1997

Embracing Light in Life's Mud

Faith, Buddha, Practice
Mar 16 1997

The Path of Pure Presence

Buddha, Practice, Wisdom
Mar 15 1997

Boundless Presence: Embracing Buddha's Space

Buddha, Dharmakaya, Buddha Nature
Mar 04 1997

Embracing Enlightenment: Buddha's Timeless Teachings

Buddha, Practice, Suffering
Feb 15 1997

Awakening Presence Through Mindfulness

Practice, Buddha, Suffering
Jan 28 1997

Zen Lineages: Divergence in Unity

Karmic Consciousness, Time, Buddha
Aug 05 1996

Compassionate Awakening Through Emptiness

Suffering, Compassion, Buddha
Jul 25 1996

Embracing Anxiety for Enlightenment

Pain, Time, Buddha
Jun 19 1996

Awakening Through Upright Presence

Buddha, Delusion, Pain
Jun 15 1996

Swimming In Delusion

Delusion, Ceremony, Buddha
Jun 06 1996
Tassajara

Unity in Koans: Embracing Non-Duality

Buddha, Buddha Nature, Time
Apr 22 1996

Path to Freedom Through Interdependence

Suffering, Freedom, Buddha
Apr 14 1996

Interdependence: Pathway to Liberation

Suffering, Buddha, Pain
Mar 31 1996

Embrace Pain for True Freedom

Pain, Buddha, Time
Mar 26 1996

Embracing Emptiness: Interdependence and Compassion

Delusion, Buddha, Compassion
Mar 20 1996

Weaving Zen: Unraveling Reality's Fabric

Time, Buddha
Mar 12 1996

Liberation: Beyond Freedom's Illusion

Buddha, Practice, Liberation
Feb 10 1996

Karma and Causation in Zen Practice

Practice, Time, Buddha
Jan 26 1996

Interdependent Liberation through Bodhisattva Precepts

Buddha, Practice, Precepts
Jan 22 1996

Refuge in Buddha: Path to Freedom

Buddha, Practice, Pain
Jan 19 1996

Awakening and Interconnection Through Zen

Name, Bodhisattva, Buddha
Jan 14 1996

Zen's Paradox: Interconnected Truths Explored

Suffering, Buddha, Nirvana
Jan 09 1996

Awakening the Altruistic Mind

Bodhisattva, Buddha, Practice
Jan 08 1996

Seeing Through Illusion to Enlightenment

Emptiness, Buddha, Time
Dec 20 1995
Tassajara

Nagarjuna's Path: Beyond Dogma

Buddha, Time, Love
Oct 14 1995
Tassajara

Ego and Impermanence in Zen

Time, Buddha, Meditation
Jul 24 1995

Transcending Evil: A Journey Within

Evil, Buddha, Practice
Jul 18 1995

Enlightenment Through Selfless Engagement

Renunciation, Practice, Buddha
Jul 10 1995

Awakening Desire: Cultivating Buddha's Vow

Suffering, Buddha, Compassion
Jul 09 1995

Breath Pathways to True Awakening

Serial: RA-01234A

In the subtle round mouth the pivot of the spiritual work turns meditation on breath, on enlightenment
 and delusion which pivots on the self

 

Delusion, Enlightenment, Buddha
Apr 02 1995
Green Gulch Farm

Zen Silence: The Art of Non-Thinking

Practice, Study, Buddha
Feb 20 1995

Backward Step: Embracing Zen Koans

Study, Koan, Buddha
Feb 06 1995

Embrace the Wall Mindset

Time, Nirvana, Buddha
Feb 05 1995

Catching the Wooden Duck: Zen Freedom

Buddha, Instruction, Pain
Jan 30 1995

Path Without Signs

Buddha, Evil, Time
Jan 25 1995

Flowing Beyond Boundaries Together

Time, Compassion, Buddha
Jan 18 1995

Zen Arrows: Unbinding Consciousness

Buddha, Practice, Time
Apr 18 1994

Embrace the Robe of Liberation

Buddha, Desire, Concentration
Mar 18 1994

Zen Path to Total Oneness

Practice, Precepts, Buddha
Feb 27 1994
Green Gulch Farm

Pages