Thought for the Day

The following talks are taken from BBC Radio 4's "Thought for the Day" series. Most are by Vishvapani, a Triratna member and are given from a Buddhist perspective. Occasionally relevant talks by speakers from various other faith traditions are included.

"This brief, uninterrupted interlude has the capacity to plant a seed of thought that stays with listeners during the day. Thought for the Day is broadcast during the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 every morning at around 7.45am."

Monday 14 May 2018

Climate Change and the Parable of the Burning House

The 2015 Paris Climate Change agreement was an inspiring example of the world coming together to tackle a shared problem. But talks in Bonn on implementing the deal stalled this week with poorer nations saying that the richer ones prioritise their own economic growth above reducing emissions or helping developing countries.

Fear alone can't sustain the slow and difficult changes that will reduce global emissions. We also need compelling images of a sustainable society that's more attractive than the current one, and countless initiatives around the world focus on doing that..................................



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Thursday 3 May 2018

The Paris Uprising of May 1968

"When I became a Buddhist as a teenager I found myself around people who were still fired by the radicalism that had inspired the Paris students. They also felt that something was fundamentally amiss in conventional society, but they said that changing the world started with changing people. The revolution they wanted was a transformation in human consciousness.

The Buddha's key insight was that everything humans create, from war and injustice to the belief systems that underlie our societies, express our fundamental emotions. 'Everything we experience,' he said 'is led by mind and produced by mind.' A better world therefore requires better people; and revolutions that don't take this into account risk replacing one form of oppression with another."

Vishvapani




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