Buddhist Society of Western Australia

“Meditation is better than sex!” So says Ajahn Brahm who is happy to celebrate the benefits of celibacy.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Is it really possible to be happy in the world? Or is there something inherently wrong with the system, and no matter what we do with our relationships, with our circumstances, with our mind, that we can’t really be happy? Ajahn Brahm takes us deeper into the notion of what happiness really is, and how true happiness can be found. The Buddha’s teaching of acceptance and letting go of states leads to the kind of deep happiness that cannot be found by shopping in the ‘happiness industry’ of this world. As Ajahn Chah famously said: “Joy at last -to know there is no happiness in the world!”

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Often we feel disappointed with how our lives are progressing and how our progress on the spiritual path is going. Ajahn Vayama tries to put this all in perspective by seeing the bigger picture of where we are at on our spiritual journey.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Often we are tempted to try to take charge of things in the world and fix the world’s problems. Ajahn Brahm queries this urge to control, and says that another way is to understand and adapt. Indeed control freakery is very much the cause of the problems of the world and being another control freak is not necessarily the answer at all. Ajahn Brahm also refers to the example of the Buddha who could have become a “wheel turning monarch” ruling over much of the world, but instead chose to become the world’s wisest teacher.

Buddhist reflections on social, political and environmental action leading towards the creation of a better world.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Ajahn Brahm points out that there’s really nothing very wrong with procrastination, and that it’s our perfectionism and constant doing that is the real problem. So why do today what we can put off for tomorrow? Just be happy for now. And if you can be happy you’re on the track to understanding the meaning of life.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Is everything really interconnected? Is being disconnected always such a bad thing? Ajahn Brahm challenges the prevailing orthodoxy within Buddhism by pointing out when things are interconnected, when they’re not, and how understanding this can be useful on our path to find peace and happiness.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Responding to the question,”What is the best meditation to do when one is dying?” Ayye Vayama offers advice on how we can practice in such a way to prepare the mind for dying, and to yield other benefits from this practice too.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Ajahn Brahm teaches us how to deal with difficult emotions and to learn how to experience more positive emotions, more often.

Everything we do by body, speech or mind has an ethical dimension, and there are consequences for our behaviour and our actions. We are all accountable for our actions, and Ajahn Brahm explains how we sometimes get so caught up in getting through the day that we often forget or put out of mind the longer term consequences of our actions, and offers advice on how to change.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Ajahn Brahm talks about the different sects of Buddhism, how it all came to be this way and what it means. Ultimately it’s all the same cake, just different icing on top.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Ayye Vayama explains the origin of the term that the Buddha used to refer to himself – the Tathagata. She then goes on to explain the significance of this term and what it means to all of us who are seeking the path to Awakening in this modern world.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Do we have the right to believe whatever we want? Should there be limits on what people can believe? Ajahn Brahm takes on this contentious topic, pointing out that certain extreme beliefs can be dangerous to oneself and others, and we need to be careful about what we believe.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Is it really possible to find happiness in our busy modern lives? Ajahn Brahm talks about the path to happiness in the context of our modern lives.

For those abused and wronged is happiness actually possible? Attachment to painful emotions, such as grief, anger, bitterness, the notion of a wounded self with a distinct identity: all these can become a perpetual prison…

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Ajahn Brahm gives a Buddhist perspective on how to run a business and operate in the business world.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

How does one interpret the first precept in everyday life? Is being a Buddhist and a soldier mutually exclusive? Are there instances when one can perform a ‘mercy’ killing and not attract negative results? How does kamma work in relation to the murdering of living beings? How might society justly deal with such grievous actions and ultimately, how can one forgive?

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Ayye Vayama explains the meaning behind some Buddhist traditions, and how reflecting upon the qualities of the Buddha can be a powerful and uplifting practice that strengthens confidence and energises the practice.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Ajahn Brahm gives a talk on meditation and how it works. One of the central principles and practices of Buddhism has been meditation. Those who know anything about the history of Buddhism know that it started with one person meditating under a tree. If there’s any holy book in Buddhism it is the holy book of meditation in which you can read in your own heart, in the stillness of your mind rather than any scripture.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Ajahn Brahmali talks about how our actions (karma) bring about future results (vipaka) which impacts upon our well-being. He gives a broad ranging talk on what it really means to make “good karma” or “bad karma”.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Ajahn Nyanadhammo, abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat International Monastery, visits Perth. His talk had the audience spellbound as he explained Buddhist strategies that can take us out of the unsatisfactoriness of human existence to freedom.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.

Ayye Vayama reflects upon how happiness is a frame of mind that can be developed through understanding the causes of happiness and actively cultivating the thoughts and habits of mind that lead to happiness. She then goes on to explain what the Four Brahmaviharas (Divine Abodes) can be developed that lead to happiness.

Teachings are available for downloading from the BSWA website, the BSWA Youtube Channel, the BSWA Podcast, and Deeper Dhamma Podcast.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon.