Buddhistisches Tor Berlin Podcast

Talk given by Padmasagara on 2025-12-06.This talk explores the story behind the Karaniya Metta Sutta, one of the Buddha's earliest and most important teachings on metta, or loving-kindness.The talk begins with the context in which this teaching was given: a deep and unsettling forest, filled with strange sounds, shadows, and fear. From there, the story turns inward, pointing to the "forest of the heart": the inner landscape where emotions arise, move, and seek expression in our lives.Reflecting on how easy it is to lose touch with this inner world, the talk asks what it means to really listen to the heart, and how Buddhist practice, and metta in particular, can help us connect more honestly with ourselves, with others, and with the world.Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. Find out more at: ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

Talk given by Dharmasara on 2025-11-15.In this talk, Dharmasara explores the role of community and friendship in Buddhist practice and the potential of spiritual life lived together.Reflecting on his own experience, he describes how an initial search for a teaching gradually opened into a network of friends, teachers, and fellow practitioners, revealing new ways of understanding and deepening relationships.Looking at the Sigalovada Sutta, the talk explores the six key relationships the Buddha encourages us to honour, and considers why friendship and responsibility within relationships are so central.Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. Find out more at: ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

Talk given by Dharmasara on 2026-02-07.In this talk, Dharmasara explores the Buddha's final days and his Parinirvana, complete Enlightenment beyond birth and death. An event that tells us much about the meaning of Enlightenment, the nature of the mind, and the spirit in which Buddhism is to be practised.Drawing on three stories from the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, Dharmasara paints a picture of the Buddha's final teachings, his actions at the age of 80, and the lasting lessons for practitioners in today's world.Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. Find out more at: ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

Talk given by Tarapalita on 2025-11-08.In this talk, Tarapalita explores the Buddha's teaching in the Meghiya Sutta, a clear and practical teaching on the conditions that support genuine spiritual progress.The Buddha outlines five key factors that lead to what he calls the heart's release: regular contact with spiritual friends, a wholehearted commitment to ethics, careful and kind speech, the cultivation of refined and skilful energy (especially in meditation), and deep insight into impermanence and the nature of reality. Together, these conditions shape a life that naturally moves towards freedom rather than clinging.Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. Find out more at: ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

Talk given by Arthaketu on 2025-11-29.To become free, it is helpful to have a system to practice within. In this talk, Arthaketu guides us through the Triratna System of Practice/Meditation, designed to support us on the path from the beginning all the way to freedom.The five stages of the Triratna system are presented in their traditional order: Integration, Positive Emotion, Spiritual Death, Spiritual Rebirth, and Spiritual Receptivity. Particular attention is given to the initial stages: Integration and Positive Emotion, showing how becoming more whole, present, and emotionally balanced lays the groundwork for deeper transformation and freedom.Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. Find out more at: ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

Talk given by Dharmasara on 2025-11-01.In this talk, Dharmasara explores the meaning of Sangha, the third jewel of Buddhism, and what it really means to create a genuine spiritual community.Sangha is not simply the sum of all Buddhists or everyone who comes to a centre. It is a high ideal and a practice in its own right, one that seeks to bring wisdom and compassion into the world through friendship, communication, and shared commitment.Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. Find out more at: ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

Talk given by Vidyadaka on 2025-09-20.In this talk, guest speaker Vidyadaka from Padmaloka Retreat Center explores the question "What is the Dharma?" using the river as a guiding analogy. Drawing on verses from the Dhammaguṇavandanā, part of the Tiratana Vandana, he reflects on the qualities of the Dharma, how it guides, supports, and carries us along the path of practice.Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. Find out more at: ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

Talk given by Padmasagara on 2026-01-31.In this talk, Padmasagara reflects on commitment at its most practical level, moment by moment, here and now. Rather than focusing only on big ideals, we can ask ourselves: What are we turning towards right now? Where is our attention going, and how does this shape the direction of our lives?Drawing on the Tibetan Wheel of Life, the talk explores how our habits, choices, and patterns of attention can either keep us stuck or open the way to freedom. Commitment is not a single decision, but something we renew again and again through the countless small moments of everyday life.Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. Find out more at: ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

Talk given by Sanghadarsini on 2026-01-24.In this talk, Sanghadarsini reflects on life, death, and friendship following a recent visit to the Triratna Sangha in Essen, where she spent time with her friend and fellow Order Member Taracitta in the final days of her life. Shortly after returning to Berlin, Sanghadarsini received the news that Taracitta had died peacefully.The talk weaves personal remembrance with a recount of the Buddha's final days before his Parinirvana, as recorded in the Pali Canon. These accounts, preserved in remarkable detail by his followers, offer profound insights into the nature of Buddhahood, the Dharma. Connecting it all with a quote from Sangharakshita (Living Ethically): "The middle way is to appreciate life as much as we can but not hang on to it, and to appreciate death when it comes but neither to long for it nor fear it."Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. Find out more at: ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

Talk given by Padmasagara on 2026-01-17.What does it really mean to commit your life to something? And what might a commitment to a Buddhist way of life look like today?In this talk, Padmasagara reflects on the Triratna approach to ordination, an ordination described as being neither monastic nor lay. Drawing on his own experience of training and ordination, including the four-month ordination course in Spain, he explores the inspiration, challenges, and transformation involved in making such a commitment.Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. Find out more at: ☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de 

Talk given by Padmasagara & Tarapalita on 2026-01-10.How does a journey unfold from commitment to the transformation of one's life? In this talk, Padmasagara and Tarapalita share their personal training journeys and experiences of ordination.The session is audience-interactive and includes reflections on what a Buddhist Order is and why it is needed, how one asks for ordination, what happens during the ordination process, and why one receives a new name, and what that name signifies.Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life. Find out more at:☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de

Talk given by Tarapalita on 2026-01-03.With the start of a new year, it can be helpful to reflect on commitment rather than resolutions. In this talk, Tarapalita explores what it means to commit to values and to a path, especially in times of uncertainty and turbulence. What is commitment, and how does it shape our inner life and the world around us? This talk invites you to reflect on commitment in your own life.Enjoyed this talk? You are warmly invited to visit Buddhistisches Tor Berlin in Kreuzberg in person. Join us for meditation, Dharma talks, and courses that support practice in everyday life.Find out more at:☸️ https://buddhistisches-tor-berlin.de

This week Tarapalita looks at the Buddhas very first teachings and why they are still as mind blowing now as they were then.

Tarapalita explores the crucial importance of having people we look up to. The Buddha himself said spiritual friendship is the whole of the spiritual life. This week is a very personal exploration of why that might be true.

In this talk, Satyaraja tells us about his teachers and his relationship with them.

We will be hearing about two Buddhist Women from the time of the Buddha and their paths. These stories have been passed down through the generations, as they had been collected in the Therigathas, a collection of seventy-three poems in the canon of the earliest Buddhist literature.By Sanghadarsini

In diesem Vortrag erzählt uns Gunavira von Padmasambhava, auch als „Guru Rinpoche“ bekannt. Padmasambhava (Der aus dem Lotus geborene) gilt als Begründer des tibetischen Buddhismus und wird noch heute als der „zweite Buddha“ verehrt. Als halb-historisch, halb-mythologisches Wesen fasziniert er auf beeindruckende Weise bis heute.In dieser Folge erfährst du, wer er war, welche Rolle er bei der Einführung des Buddhismus in Tibet spielte und welche Bedeutung seine Lehren bis heute haben.

In this talk, Arthaketu explores the figure of Padmasambhava and the dakini Suryachandrasiddhi - Sun, moon accomplished.Unfortunately, due to an error in the recording, the last few minutes of the talk are missing.

In this talk, Tarapalita explores Padmasambhava by answering these three questions:Who is Padmasambhava?Why is he part of our tradition?How can he be useful or important?

Padmavajra explores the idea of a portal, a gateway, passing from one space to another, and connects it with the concept of Bhardo.

If we wish to get a better understanding of the Buddha, it is good to look at his relationships with other people. Meghiya becomes the companion of the Buddha for a while, but as the text reveals, he is not one of the best companions. Lalitaratna will talk about this relationship when the two of them are on the road together.

How do you navigate yourself on the Buddhist Path?How do you choose the right direction of travel if you don't know where you're going or what the Goal is? If the Goal is Enlightenment, do you understand what the Buddha means by Enlightenment?Or is your understanding of it a bit vague and muddled?The Buddha is specific. Saddaloka will be looking at this whole area.

Yes. Is the short answer.When we begin practising Buddhism, we can become a little too restrained, overly-”mindful”, even a bit stiff.What is the place of fun, enjoyment, pleasure, in Buddhism?And how can we make sure this element of enjoyment is present in our Buddhist practice?By Padmasagara

In this talk, Tarapalita explores the Buddhist word Guhya, which means “secret.”

Bending the truth? Acidic or cutting speech? Verbal diarrhoea? Back stabbing people who aren't present? Put it all that rubbish in the bin, that is what the Buddha is recommending to his disciples. We create our world with our speech and we massively affect the world of others as well with it. Communication is a crucial area of life.This week Tarapalita takes us on personal journey though the difficult and liberating teachings of the speech precepts.

Arthaketu picks up where he left off a year ago and goes deeper into the Buddhist images of the mandala, entering their worlds and exploring the symbolism associated with them, one by one. Or as you will see on the talk two by two.

Dust and lotus blossoms In this talk, Padmasagara will dive into these two images.We'll see if we they can help us understand Buddhism more deeply……understand ourselves more deeply……and discover what we need to do to see more clearly and fulfil our deepest potential.

In this talk, Padmavajra explores how to approach the nature of the Buddha through the Five Jinas.

In diesem Vortrag, gehalten am Buddha- Fest 2025, teilt Dharmasara seine Vision für das Buddhistische Tor Berlin mit.

A few weeks ago, Padmasagara gave a talk on the Buddha's encounter with a hateful dragon or ‘naga' inside a fire chamber in a woodland camp. Throughout the night they both produced smoke and flames, and it looked like nobody would get out alive.The naga wanted to destroy the Buddha!But the Buddha tamed its fury through the power of loving-kindness.In the morning, he coolly stepped out of the fire chamber with the naga curled up asleep inside his begging bowl. The end.But actually that's not the end of the story! It's merely the beginning…This week, Padmasagara will be continuing this tale from the life of the Buddha, which introduces us to other characters, strange lights in the sky, miraculous events, near-death experiences, and much more.

If you ever feel that things get too hot to handle, or that events and experiences have a tendency to burn, or that you find yourself confronted by ‘Dragons' (whether externally or internally) then this might be a helpful talk for you!Padmasagara will be drawing on eastern and western imaginative traditions and telling stories from the life of the Buddha to illustrate how it's the power of Love that can help us find fulfillment in a burning world.

The first couple of meetings the Buddha had on the road after attaining Enlightenment might not be what you were expecting at all. And the fact that they have been kept at the forefront of the tradition can gives one confidence in Buddhism somehow…In this talk, Tarapalita follows the Buddha from the Bodhi Tree to the Deer Park where the Buddha first successfully managed to communicate what he had discovered.

Imagination is perhaps the most powerful and important aspect of human consciousness. It allows us to ‘become' another and experience their life like our own. This is the real foundation of love. And can we love and be loved by chat gpt? Join Tarapalita this week to find out.

"Befriend your mind" is an invitation to explore how meditation can serve our life on and off the cushion, and especially during challenging times. By Prasadavati

Why do people worship the Buddha if he is not a god? What might Enlightenment actually look and feel like? How do we free ourselves from the suffering caused by clinging?Tarapalita takes us on a journey through all this and more.

I will look at these 3 words and draw out how they relate to 3 sets of Buddhist teachings.Talk by Arthaketu

The Buddha talks about 7 kinds of suffering. The 7th is the suffering of not getting what one wants. So I would like you to pay attention to that when it hsppens. What is that like when we dont get what we want?. What thoughts arise?, what emotions arise? and very importantly how does that feel in the body? Also notice your relationship to all those things. Your thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations. How are you relating to them?This will lead us into the theme of the talk. Seeing suffering, ending suffering.

Every Buddhist tradition has its own unique history and qualities. Tarapalita explores some of these in celebration of Triratna day.

And what does Kentucky Fried Chickens latest advert ‘Believe in chicken' have to do with any of this?

What are the core values you live your life around? Where exactly did they come from? Did you make them up yourself? Did you pick them up somewhere? Do you know their history? And what does it have to do with Instagram? In this talk, Tarapalita explores how we become who we are.

In this talk, Dharmasara looks at a fundamental question: Why on earth should be follow a 2500 year old Religion alles Buddhism?

What does it mean to be upright in this life? Well, it means not being spineless. What does it mean to be spineless? Being spineless means being utterly self-absorbed and giving in to any and all of your stories or desires. Being spineless means being a bully, a bitch, a coward or a snitch… It means playing the eternal victim or treading on others to get to some imagined top. It means being the kind of person that people don't respect.

Join Tarapalita in this talk about How the Buddha´s community grew. The Buddha was a true individual. Free from everything that we are restricted by and suffer from. Psychologically, socially, emotionally…spiritually. He discovered the causes and sources of his suffering and dissolved them in the profound and sustained depths of awareness. What was left afterwards was the ongoing bliss of Liberation… On his journey towards that Liberated state, he fully commited himself to following his most subtle and radical spiritual instincts and intuitions, which at points meant going it alone. Fully alone. And yet…although he finally became an earth-shaking embodiment of what it means to be free from the chains of conditioned existence, a true individual, he spent the rest of his life creating and nurturing a community. One rooted in wisdom, love and integrity, one that is still going strong 2500 years later. An ongoing story of friendships that we here in Berlin are now a part of. So how does all this go together? Becoming more individual and also more committed to a community? Why is the spiritual community or Sangha as its traditionally called, one of the Three Jewels every Buddhist bows to? Is just about organised religion promoting itself? Is it just nice people, drinking nice tea, trying to be nice and hoping the world will be nice to them? Perhaps we cynically think we know all about what Sangha means already and if so, has it then become another dead concept neatly ticked off in our mind? The Buddha saw that we are infinitely stronger together and made sure that his community started and carried on in the right way. When there is so much distress and disharmony in our general collective experience right now, it's good to remember that things can be different. We can choose to contribute to the nucleus of a new society by taking responsibly for our own actions and raising our level of consciousness. And as we see with the rest of Buddhisms long history, you really never know how wider conditions change and what that can lead to. If we play our part in keeping the flame burning strong and true, it's possible for wider conditions in society to change and for more people to recognise and take up the Buddhas teachings in unexpected and beautiful ways. It's happened before, there's no reason it can't happen again. We're going to take a little journey into all this as Tarapalita talks to us about How the Buddha´s community grew.

Being a Buddhist isn't all about glory and light. Sooner or later we'll encounter difficult experiences, even grief and death. How will Buddhism help us then? In this talk, Padmasagara shares a story from the earliest Buddhist texts in which the Buddha helps one of his female followers - Kisagotami - overcome her grief and reach enlightenment.

In this talk, Tarapalita looks at the Story of Angulimala: How did a serial killer, who's passion was cutting off the fingers of people he'd killed to make a delightful necklace for himself, go on to become a disciple of the Buddha and eventually the patron saint of women in childbirth? And just to say, even if you're not a serial killer yourself, and you might not be, that's ok as well, there are plenty of life lessons to be learnt from this story of redemption and transformation with one of the wildest characters in Buddhist history. If it's possible for Mr. Fingers to turn his life around and move towards his full blown potential, then it's possible for us!

The mind is our most precious asset. Untrained, it can also be the most dangerous thing in this world. Really, it is the only thing we have control over and can take responsibility for, at least potentially. In Buddhism, Consciousness is central. It is at the centre of our perception and therefore conditions how we perceive ourselves and the world. It is so powerful that the Buddha said that "All things are preceded by mind, led by mind and produced by mind". This is why meditation is such a central practice in Buddhism, because we work on our mind with our mind, directly and immediately. In this talk, Dharmasara explores what the Buddha meant when he said that Mind precedes World. It's a simple statement which has endless implications. It's also a challenging statement since it tackles a view of ourselves and the world which is deeply rooted in materialism.

This week, Sanghadarsini gives a talk on one of the central themes of Buddhism: Friendship. In many instances, the Buddha has emphasised the necessity of Friendship and companionship with people who journey on the path together. One of those instances is the story of Meghiya, who was a young monk and one of the Buddha's personal attendants. He was an idealistic young chap and quite driven. He wanted to give it his all, and in his strive towards enlightenment was even prepared to leave the Buddha and leave him alone. Obviously that didn't work. In one of the most interesting teachings of the old scriptures, the Buddha then explains to Meghiya how staying close to friends, especially those who are more developed than we are, is essential if we want to make progress on the path.

In this episode Tarapalita shares his top ten tips for living a spiritual life…starting with No.1- ‘Don't try and be spiritual'.  Confused? Indeed.

The story goes that the Buddha was enlightened beneath a full moon. The land, the water, the bodhi tree under which he was sitting, as well as the person -his body, heart and mind - were all fully illuminated by and bathed in a reflective, silvery light. He was Enlightened, literally and metaphorically. We celebrate this moment every year on full-moon day in May - which we call 'Buddha Day'. This weekend, as we edge towards the full moon of July, we'll be celebrating 'Dharma Day', the second major event in the life of the Buddha. The story continues, saying that…after his enlightenment, the Buddha left the shelter of the bodhi tree in order to share his discovery with others. Not that they always wanted to hear what he had to say! The first person he met along the road was a man named Upaka. The Buddha declared to Upaka that he was a world-conqueror, free from all limitations, enlightened! Upaka simply swayed his head from side to side and said, "may it be so, friend", before carrying on along his way... But when the Buddha was reunited with five of his former spiritual friends in a wild deer park at Isipatana, it was a different story. They got it. They could see what had happened to him. They could feel it. They couldn't resist it. And as the Buddha communicated with them, skillfully pointing a finger towards the moon of the enlightened mind, they also - one by one - became enlightened. The Buddha had successfully communicated the 'Dharma' - the truth, and the teachings that lead towards that vision of truth. He had, to use the traditional language, 'set rolling the Wheel of the Dharma'. The old texts tell us that as that happened: "the ten-thousand-fold cosmos shivered & quivered & quaked, while a great, measureless radiance appeared in the cosmos, surpassing the light of the gods." Talk given by Padmasagara

The Buddha's insight was so profound that words alone can't express it, and we need images and symbols in multiple colours to evoke it. This week I'll be developing the theme a little further… Not only can the profound insight of the Buddha be hinted at through visual images, it can also be expressed through sound. The sound of the Buddha. He spoke of it as the beat of his ‘Deathless Drum'. What on earth could that mean!? Or a better question, what would that sound like?! And in exploring the sound of the Buddha and his Deathless Drum, we also have to ask ourselves another vital question… How should we listen to it? We all know there are many ways to listen to music, and some are much more effective than others! You don't want to be listening to the Deathless through crap headphones, so how do we develop a capacity to listen to the Buddha that's like a sweet sound system with a deep and stable bass? Talk given by Padmasagara.

Why do so many people love Buddha statues so much in the modern West? You see them everywhere. Many people have Buddha statues and images in their living spaces without knowing anything about Buddhism or even considering themselves Buddhists. In this Episode Tarapalita Explorer this subject further.