Audiobooks by Urgyen Sangharakshita

Ambedkar and Buddhism, Annihilation of Caste

Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was one of the most remarkable figures in the 20th century. Born an Untouchable - the lowest element of Indian society deemed to be outside the caste system, and literally 'untouchable' - he rose from abject village poverty to become the architect of the new Constitution of India following its independence from Britain in 1947. A combination of exceptional talent, hard work and determination, vision and luck took him to Harvard and the LSE, and then back to his home country. Always, his progress was impelled by the concern for his 'Untouchable' community and it was this that underpinned work in law, politics and economics as he rapidly became a national figure who could not be ignored. He opposed Gandhi's patronising attitude towards the Untouchable community, and the violent crimes and prejudice inflicted upon it by the caste Hindu society. In the 1930s, Ambedkar proclaimed that though he was born a Hindu, he would not die a Hindu; and on 14th October 1956, with 400,000 followers, he converted to Buddhism in a mass meeting in Nagpur. This biography is by the British-born Buddhist monk Urgyen Sangharakshita who knew Ambedkar and spent decades working with the Dalit community as the Untouchables became known. It is a clear but affectionate look at a singular life which changed one of the largest nations on earth, and charts Ambedkar's gradual move towards Buddhism which he saw as the best path for his people. Bonus material: in addition to the biography is Annihilation of Caste, Ambedkar's key speech - never delivered but published in 1936 - in which he set out the reality of 'Untouchable' life and the need for change, but it is at the same time an international clarion call for human rights. It is all the more poignant as, while Untouchability is outlawed in India now thanks to Dr Ambedkar's legislation, there are 200 million Dalits in India, and violence and prejudice is still commonplace.

B.R. Ambedkar, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Urgyen Sangharakshita (Author), Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Ratnadhya, Sagar Arya (Narrator)

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Aspects of the Bodhisattva Ideal: The Original Lecture Series

The Bodhisattva - one who is becoming awake or enlightened - is one of the great inspiring figures in Buddhism. The title can refer to a mythical being with qualities to which we aspire, such as Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion; or an ordinary person on the quest for enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings. It is a profound ideal for life. In this important lecture series, Urgyen Sangharakshita, one of the most important leading Western Buddhist teachers, sets out the path of the aspiring Bodhisattva living in the 21st century. How should we act? What principles should we follow? How can we balance the urge to benefit others yet follow a true spiritual path ourselves? This clear, challenging and stimulating series of eight talks is one of the many groundbreaking lectures given in the 1960s, when Sangharakshita, having returned to the UK after 25 years in India, was setting up a new Western Buddhist movement, now called the Triratna Buddhist Community. Aspects of the Bodhisattva ideal contain such specific talks as the Bodhisattva vow, altruism and individualism in spiritual life and masculinity and femininity in spiritual life. These talks have been remastered.

Urgyen Sangharakshita (Author), Urgyen Sangharakshita (Narrator)

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The Rainbow Road: From Tooting Broadway to Kalimpong - Memoirs of an English Buddhist

Having realized, as a 16 year old in pre-WWII London, that he was a Buddhist, the early life of Dennis Lingwood and his path to becoming a bhikkhu named Sangharakshita is a most extraordinary personal story. He was serving as a signals officer in India when, at the conclusion of the war, he threw away his official identity cards, took off his uniform, donned yellow robes and set off, barefooted, along the dusty paths of India as a spiritual seeker, begging for his food, as the Buddha did 2,500 years ago. The determination and vision behind those early steps, combined with single-mindedness and intellectual rigour, transformed the path of Western Buddhism, for after 20 years in India Sangharakshita returned to England to found a Western Buddhist movement, now called the Triratna Buddhist Order. The Rainbow Road tells of that early time in India, meeting spiritual teachers from Hindu and other religious traditions, encountering the disturbing caste system and overcoming obstacles, disappointments and numerous challenges. A totally absorbing autobiography.

Urgyen Sangharakshita (Author), Ratnadhya (Narrator)

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The Noble Eightfold Path of the Buddha

The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the most important teachings in Buddhism. In this series of eight lectures, given originally in 1965, Urgyen Sangharakshita introduces each stage, from right understanding to right meditation, explaining the deeper implications involved. Sangharakshita, the London-born Buddhist teacher, is one of the most influential figures in the development of Buddhism in the West. The founder of the Triratna Buddhist Order(originally called the Western Buddhist Order), he sought to draw on all the Buddhist traditions and produce a new synthesis with particular relevance to modern Western society - a view that underpins his teaching of the Dharma. This groundbreaking series of lectures was given in London in 1965 and is presented here in a newly mastered recording which has dealt with many - though not all - the extraneous noises. It remains one of the clearest and most direct accounts of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path.

Urgyen Sangharakshita (Author), Urgyen Sangharakshita (Narrator)

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Who Is the Buddha?

This is not an ordinary biography of the Buddha. In his characteristically individual manner, Urgyen Sangharakshita - the leading English-born Buddhist teacher and founder of the Triratana Buddhist Community - recounts the known details of the Buddha's life but enriches the story with contemporary relevance. Unpicking the threads of historical and mythical information, he considers the underlying meaning in terms of 21st-century life - and its effect on personal practice today. The Buddha lived 2,500 years ago in Northeastern India, grew up in a comfortable aristocratic environment, but spent 50 years after his Enlightenment on the road, teaching, inspiring and discoursing - barefoot and with just a robe and a bowl. But, Sangharakshita argues, we can only really find out 'who is the Buddha' by putting that life in the context of his teachings - suffering, impermanence and insubstantiality; 'actions have consequences'; and a vigorous practice of ethics. Though his cultural background was so different, Siddhartha Gautama remains an iconic figure in our contemporary world, and increasingly in the West, because even now his life and work have a profound affect on our lives. This is a highly vivid and personal account of the life of the Buddha - 'one who knows, who is awake'.

Urgyen Sangharakshita (Author), Jinananda Jinananda (Narrator)

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What is the Dharma?: The essential teachings of the Buddha

What is the Dharma? To walk in the footsteps of the Buddha, we need a clear and thorough guide to the essential principles of Buddhism. Whether we have just begun our journey or are a practitioner with more experience, What is the Dharma? is an indispensable exploration of the Buddha's teachings as found in the main Buddhist traditions. Constantly returning to the question 'how can this help me?', Sangharakshita examines a variety of fundamental principles, including karma and rebirth, nirvana and shunyata, conditioned coproduction, impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, insubstantiality, ethics, meditation and wisdom. The result is an informative, refreshing and inspiring book that lays before us the essential Dharma, timeless and universal, in a clear and practical manner. Urgyen Sangharakshita, the English-born Buddhist teacher, is one of the most influential and respected figures in Western Buddhism. Ordained initially into the Theravadin tradition, he broadened his scope to involve all the Buddhist traditions. After 20 years in India, he returned to the West and founded the Western Buddhist Order, later renamed the Triratna Buddhist Order. With centres all over the world, it has played a major role in adapting the Buddhist traditions to the contemporary world, making Dharma practice its central pillar.

Urgyen Sangharakshita (Author), Jinananda Jinananda (Narrator)

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The Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path: An Introduction

The Eightfold Path is the most widely known formulation of the Buddha's teaching. It is ancient, reaching back to the Buddha's very first discourse, and it is highly venerated as a unique treasury of wisdom and practical guidance. The teaching of The Eightfold Path challenges us to grasp the implications of that vision, and asks us to transform ourselves in its light. Like the teaching itself, this work covers every aspect of life.

Urgyen Sangharakshita (Author), Kulananda (Narrator)

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