Buddhist Society of Western Australia

If you want to hear all the latest gossip that Ajahn Brahm has heard on the grapevine, then you really need to listen to this talk.

Ajahn Brahm gives a talk on how we can approach decision making in our lives with more wisdom.

The plague of the age in our "always-on", 24/7 society is that people are often - even constantly - feeling tired. This is a difficult feeling to deal with and detracts from our happiness and well-being. Ajahn Brahm offers a fresh perspective and useful advice on how to deal with tiredness.

Ajahn Brahm starts out by distinguishing between happiness and peace, then goes on to make the case that peace is the highest happiness, and what we should all be striving for.

How can people have so many different beliefs? How can people believe in things that are contrary to plain evidence? How can people, even in the same family, have arguments over these beliefs? Ajahn Brahm talks about the "distortions of the cognitive process" (vipallasa) and how this causes so much confusion in the world, and offers some practical strategies to make sure we aren't the ones with distorted views - and therefore more happy and free in life.

Ajahn Brahm brings the concept of Enlightenment down to Earth through offering the simile of the mist, and how sometimes we lose our direction even though we think we're on the right track. Ajahn Brahm clears the mist of unknowing so that we have a clearer sense of the path to Enlightenment, and complete freedom.

We spend half our lives complaining. But does anyone really listen? Does it really help the situation? So why do we complain so much? Ajahn Brahm offers a different perspective on complaining, pointing us towards changing our attitude rather than changing everything around us, and finding greater peace and contentment in the process.

What is the purpose of our life? If we don't what the purpose of our lives are we end up have a meaningless existence and getting depressed. Ajahn Brahm explains what the spiritual meaning of life is, and how to live with purpose.

Ajahn Brahm gives advice on how to let go of the friends and family that we love when they die.

Buddhism has many features of a major religion, but is it really a religion? Ajahn Brahm gives an in depth answer in this talk.

What do we mean by freedom? Freedom is something we all aspire towards and it would be beneficial if we know what freedom really is. In Buddhism freedom is an inner freedom from suffering. Ajahn Brahm goes on to talk about the real meaning of freedom.

In response to a question about evil in the world, Ajahn Brahm explains that from a Buddhist perspective there is no being that is intrinsically evil, there's just stupidity and ignorance that lead beings to hurt one another. We can use Right View to change the way we look at things and build a better world. This talk is about how we can change our view of things and have a deeper, better life because we no longer cling onto ideas of 'evil'.

Ajahn Brahm reflects upon the great power and deep wisdom of the life of his teacher Ajahn Chah.

What does Buddhism have to say about religious fundamentalism? What can be done about it? Ajahn Brahm explains....

Ajahn Brahm talks about conflict and how to deal with it.

Is Buddhism a religion? Or is it a way or life or a philosophy? What is it? And what are Buddhists supposed to do? Ajahn Brahm uses his characteristic humour and wisdom to answer these questions?

Ajahn Brahm explores craving. Are there different types? Are some forms of craving necessary for survival? Is all craving 'bad'? Ajahn Brahm shares the secret of finding a balance in the here and now by understanding the nature of craving and the different types of craving, and how to work giving up the types of craving most harmful to us whilst holding on (for the mean time) to those cravings which have some use to us and others.

Is power any good at all? What is realpower and how is it going to be of benefit to people in the world? How to people get addicted to power and become unwilling to give it up? Ajahn Brahm discusses these questions about the nature of power from a Buddhist perspective.

Ajahn Brahm opens the talk by pointing to how much popularity and traction mindfulness techniques are developing in the contemporary world. He then goes on to explain how developing mindfulness with compassion can be transformative for anyone who practices it.

Ajahn Brahm gives an energetic talk on the value of forgiveness for the spiritual life to an audience in Halifax, Canada in 2014.