Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Week nine of the Rains season and this week we had Ananda Thilakasiri. Ananda was born in Sri Lanka into a Buddhist family & frequented the village temple with his Grandfather from a very young age yet, came to practise meditation only after meeting the then Ajahn Jagaro & Ajahn Brahm, around 1987. He and his family started visiting Bodhinyana and Dhammaloka regularly from 1991. They have been members of BSWA since that time. He has been serving the Buddhist community in WA, also in other countries in various ways but, mainly as the Treasurer of BSWA. Even though he has been meditating for approximately 25 years, his progress has been rather slow. About 9 or so years ago, he started to attend meditation retreats at Jhana Grove, mostly of those taught by Ajahn Brahm, Ajahn Brahmali, Bhante Sujato, on a regular basis. Also, retreats by a couple of visiting Sri Lankan monks. Around the same time, urged by Bhante Sujato, he also started to read the Suttas. The early Buddhist texts from the Tripitaka with the Buddha's teachings on mindfulness, insight, wisdom and meditation. Attending retreats & reading Suttas have helped his meditation practice, immensely! For anyone who has not attended a meditation retreat, yet, he recommends starting with a weekend retreat and then go on to do 9 Day retreats. You will start noticing the difference! Continuity is the key!

Ananda lead the group in a thirty minute meditation focusing on the breath though starting with a body sweep. This meditation is best suited to experienced meditators.

After meditation Ananda opened to questions before continuing to talk on a variety of subjects relative to both Buddhism and Meditation.

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