« Best Contemporary Literature Author Interviews and Talks | Main | Ten Top Audio & Video Debates »

May 06, 2009

Learn About World Religions with Free Audio & Video

Learn about world religions with these 20 free resources on audio & video. For the past three years we've featured hundreds of free resources as part of our Free Resource of the Day Emails. From these resources we've selected the top 20 free resources to learn about world religions covering Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and more. You can check them all out by clicking the titles below:

1. Buddha, Man, and Jesus

Three advocates argue for their differing belief systems in this downloadable audio lecture released by the Veritas Forum. Christian, Buddhist and Secular perspectives are each given equal weight in addressing humanity's long quest for knowledge and meaning. Issues such as religious fanaticism, the existence of evil, the afterlife, and social justice are all given balanced appraisal in this remarkably even-handed debate. Available on MP3 download.

2. Alan Watts Podcast

The Alan Watts Podcast features recordings of one of the great western interpreters of Eastern religion: Alan Watts. In lectures on this podcast feed, Alan Watts discusses Buddhism, Zen, Hinduism, Taoism, and much else related to the world's religions. If you've never heard Alan Watts lectures before, please do yourself a favor and listen to this podcast.

3. Revealing World Religions Podcast

Revealing World Religions Podcast is offered by ThinkingStrings.com and features the narrated text of Revealing World Religions by Dr. Cynthia Eller of Montclair State University. This podcasted audio book features these 10 modules covering many of the World's Religions:

* Exploring Religion
* Hinduism
* Confucianism
* Taoism
* Buddhism
* Shinto
* Judaism
* Christianity
* Islam
* Religious Pluralism

All of these are currently available on the feed and work as introductions to these religious traditions.

4. Crash Course on Jewish History

This is a free course on Jewish History from a Jewish perspective taught by Rabbi Ken Spiro. In over 30 lectures, Spiro covers everything from Abraham to modern Israel always pointing out the lessons that Jews can learn from their history. Many of the lectures are free to download on MP3 from SimpleToRemember.com.

5. Zencast

Zencast has been offering Zen Buddhism teachings on podcast for many years now and the great thing is they've kept all their podcasts up on their feed so each of them can still be downloaded. Included on this feed is an unabridged recording of the key Buddhist text The Dhammapada translated and read by Zencast host Gil Fronsdal. Fronsdal also teaches a five part "Introduction to Meditation" class. Other frequent speakers on Zencast include Thich Nhat Hanh and Eckhart Tolle. These podcasts are essential listening for anyone looking to learn more about Zen Buddhism.

6. The Genius of Jesus

In this lecture from the Veritas Forum, Christian philosopher and author Dallas Willard talks about the importance of Jesus of Nazareth throughout history when it comes to confronting the reality of existence. Willard feels that present-day universities apply a materialistic knowledge or a New Age philosophy when it comes to confronting moral life, which leaves out the essential teachings of Jesus. He posits four great questions of existence and explains the answers which Jesus gave to these questions. This lecture is available on streaming audio and MP3 download from the Veritas forum.

7. Karen Armstrong in Conversation with Alan Jones

Listen to this discussion between author Karen Armstrong and Rev. Alan Jones, the Dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. They discuss Armstrong's latest book The Bible: A Biography and Armstrong provides her interpretation of The Good Book. They discuss biblical criticism, biblical literalism, and the Golden Rule. They also confront the New Atheists who have recently attacked the Abrahamic religions. This talk is available on MP3 download and streaming video through FORA.tv.

8. The Nature of Islam

In this streaming audio discussion offered by Boston University's World of Ideas forum, spokesman for Islam, Christianity and Judaism convene to examine the modern misconceptions of Islam in the wake of 9/11. Each pundit is given equal footing on hot topic issues such as Islam's concept of Jihad, Martyrdom, Women's rights, Religious Tolerance and other explosive issues that have become part of everyday news. Join these three men of faith as they work to find common ground on what binds their separate religions, and work to illuminate misunderstandings that could potentially tear the world apart.

9. Huston Smith

In this streaming video interview, MeaningOfLife.tv host Robert Wright interviews world religions scholar Huston Smith (author of the bestselling classic The World's Religions). Wright asks Smith some difficult questions regarding the state of religion in the present world and about Smith's tolerant and inclusive views towards all religions. Huston Smith replies with clarity and compassion. This interview is available as a streaming video through Google Video.

10. His Holiness - The XIV Dalai Lama

In this free video from UCTV, His Holiness the Dalai Lama addresses a packed crowd at UC-Irvine on the topic of "Ethical Self-Awareness & Personal Transformation". With humor and humility the Dalai Lama speaks on the importance of awareness in overcoming anger and other negative emotions. This event is available on streaming video or video download from Google Video.

11. Sadhana, the Realisation of Life

From the preeminent Bengali poet & philosopher Rabindranath Tagore, comes this free audio rendition of his 1913 book Sadhana, the Realisation of Life. Published the same year he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, this audio book is an accessible introduction to India's philosophical and spiritual heritage. The chapters include:

* Chapter 1: The Relation of the Individual to the Universe
* Chapter 2: Soul Consciousness
* Chapter 3: The Problem of Evil
* Chapter 4: The Problem of Self
* Chapter 5: Realisation In Love
* Chapter 6: Realisation In Action
* Chapter 7: The Realisation of Beauty
* Chapter 8: Realisation of The Infinite

This book is narrated by some of the better narrators at LibroVox (including 3 chapters by my favorite, Chip Doc). It is available on MP3 download from LibriVox.

12. Spiritual Classics Podcast

We've launched a new podcast at LearnOutLoud.com entitled Spiritual Classics. In the coming weeks we plan to feature passages of classics texts from a variety of spiritual traditions. We've started the podcast off with an excerpt from William James' classic work The Varieties of Religious Experience in which he lectures on mystical experience. We promise many more fascinating selections from religious classics so please subscribe. Click Here to Subscribe to this Podcast on iTunes.

13. Christian Faith in a Postmodern World

Os Guinness claims that progress has lead America into a crisis of truth. For this MP3 download presented by the Veritas Forum, the noted writer leads his lecture with this provocative declaration, and explains how the nation's notion of truth has been eroded by relative morality. Guinness provides his listeners with tools to counteract these trends and reclaim what he feels is the lost wisdom that has come about as result of the information age.

14. President's Forum with Thich Nhat Hanh

Watch or listen to this talk delivered by Vietnamese-born Buddhist teacher, scholar, and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh delivered at the Asia Society with questions from Asia Society President Vishakha N. Desai. The 81-year-old Thich Nhat Hanh begins with a brief meditation followed by an extended talk about his life as a Buddhist monk and teacher, including his recent return trips to Vietnam. Vishakha N. Desai asks some difficult questions such as how to deal with violent terrorists like Osama bin Laden. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from FORA.tv.

15. The Jesus Dynasty

In this downloadable interview conducted at the Grace Cathedral, archeologist James D. Tabor gives listeners a hard look at his efforts to pare down the mystery that still surrounds the historical Jesus and his followers. A specialist in the surviving documents of early Christianity, Tabor takes apart the accepted facts surrounding Jesus' life. Here he introduces the notion that Christ's Brother James may have been the first man to spread the gospel and refers to evidence that claims the apostle Paul altered the original message. This titles is available from the Grace Cathedral on streaming audio & MP3 download.

16. Authors@Google: Lama Surya Das

In this hour-long talk from Authors@Google, American Buddhist teacher and bestselling author Lama Surya Das gives a multifaceted discussion on Buddhism and Bodhisattvas in contemporary life. He discusses the path of overcoming ignorance and awakening to one's true self, along with many other central teachings in Buddhism. He emphasizes that one doesn't need to become a Buddhist or follow a creed in order to take the path to enlightenment, and that Buddhism is more of an ethical philosophy and a personal journey rather than a religion. This talk is available on streaming video from YouTube.

17. Huston Smith: The Soul of Christianity

In this downloadable audio conversation, Grace Cathedral hosts Huston Smith in a dialogue that asks the question: is Christianity outdated? Smith, a popular scholar on the world's religions discusses the historical importance of Christianity and how it has faltered in the recent past due to ongoing secularization. Always thoughtful, funny and humble, Smith describes a future scenario for the role of religion which would allow it to dovetail with science in new and profound ways. Listen to this lecture on streaming audio or download it as an MP3.

18. Keith Ward

In this streaming video released by MeaningofLife.tv, noted Oxford Divinity Professor Keith Ward discusses his argument that the three major western religions share the same God. Ward compares Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and includes other religions within his concept of a monotheistic God whose face may change according to cultural understanding, but whose major attributes are consistent among all. This fascinating conversation goes on to touch on related topics such as self-denial, the problem of evil and how physics is making spirituality more and more compatible with science. A must for anyone interested in a modern take on religion.

19. An Hour with the Honorable Dalai Lama

Listen to this hour-long conversation with the Honorable Dalai Lama on the Charlie Rose Show. In this interview Charlie Rose talks with the Dalai Lama about the political situation in Tibet and China, and what the Dalai Lama's hopes are for the Tibetan people. The Dalai Lama then talks about exercising compassion on a global scale and the ways in which he feels this will make the 21st century a better century than the 20th century. This talk is available on streaming video.

20. Sharon Salzberg

In this interview from MeaningOfLife.tv, cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society Sharon Salzberg talks about her spiritual path while introducing listener's to many concepts of Buddhist practice. Host Robert Wright asks her many of the hard questions about Buddhism such as why should one focus on their own suffering and death, what is nirvana and enlightenment, and why is it important to learn to love oneself. Salzberg also talks about her idea of bright faith which lead her through many hardships in her own life. This 45-minute talk is available through Google Video as a streaming video and is offered by MeaningOfLife.tv.

Sign up for our "Free Resource of the Day Email" to be notified of free audio & video learning titles. Your E-Mail: We value your privacy