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Dharma talks from the tradition of Buddhist meditation master Ajahn Brahm and Australian Forest Sangha of monks and nuns presented by the Buddhist Society of Western Australia
Episodes
Thursday Sep 18, 2025
Thursday Sep 18, 2025
Ayya Karunika explains where compassion (Karuna) and lovingkindness (metta) is found on the Noble Eightfold Path and how these two Brahmavihara practices are essential factors to practice the path to enlightenment. Also explains the answer to the question 'Why are we here?' and what to do after the end of a long retreat. Talk given on 17 October 2024.
Bhikkhuni Ayya Kārunikā is currently the Abbot at Santi Forest Monastery, NSW, Australia and the spiritual director for New Zealand Bhikkhuni Sangha Trust, Hamilton. Ayya Karunika started her monastic life in 2010 and she received her full ordination as a bhikkhunī in 2014 at Dhammasara Nuns monastery in Western Australia where she lived and trained for over a decade with Ajahn Hāsapaññā. She has been a student of Ajahn Brahm and Ajahn Brahmali for over 2 decades.
Ayya Kārunikā is able to articulate the Buddhist teachings in a way that is practical and comprehensible to people of all ages and has experience in conducting retreats for both adults and youth. While she has a PhD in Microbiology and worked as a scientist, she has also been the building project manager for the construction of the Dhammasara Nuns Monastery main building complex and has worked with many volunteers over the years. Ayya Kārunikā was born in Sri Lanka but has been living and working in Australia for over 2 decades.
She has a passion to share her experience and knowledge and loves working with people and also doing creative projects. She is dedicated to supporting the growth of Bhikkhunis around the world and is currently involved in projects to support the establishment of places for Bhikkhunis in Theravada forest tradition in Australia, New Zealand, Poland and Sri Lanka.
Please visit the Santi Forest Youtube Channel and Santi Forest Monastery website
Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa
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Thursday Aug 07, 2025
Thursday Aug 07, 2025
Ayya Karunika explains the importance of wise attention and why and how to develop it based on the teachings of the Buddha. Talk given on 3 October 2024.
Bhikkhuni Ayya Kārunikā is currently the Abbot at Santi Forest Monastery, NSW, Australia and the spiritual director for New Zealand Bhikkhuni Sangha Trust, Hamilton. Ayya Karunika started her monastic life in 2010 and she received her full ordination as a bhikkhunī in 2014 at Dhammasara Nuns monastery in Western Australia where she lived and trained for over a decade with Ajahn Hāsapaññā. She has been a student of Ajahn Brahm and Ajahn Brahmali for over 2 decades.
Ayya Kārunikā is able to articulate the Buddhist teachings in a way that is practical and comprehensible to people of all ages and has experience in conducting retreats for both adults and youth. While she has a PhD in Microbiology and worked as a scientist, she has also been the building project manager for the construction of the Dhammasara Nuns Monastery main building complex and has worked with many volunteers over the years. Ayya Kārunikā was born in Sri Lanka but has been living and working in Australia for over 2 decades.
She has a passion to share her experience and knowledge and loves working with people and also doing creative projects. She is dedicated to supporting the growth of Bhikkhunis around the world and is currently involved in projects to support the establishment of places for Bhikkhunis in Theravada forest tradition in Australia, New Zealand, Poland and Sri Lanka.
Please visit the Santi Forest Youtube Channel and Santi Forest Monastery website
Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa
BSWA teachings are available:
Thursday Jul 24, 2025
Thursday Jul 24, 2025
Ayya Karunika explains how to cultivate Satisampajanna and also discuss what gives rise to ignorance. Explains about wise attention (Yonisomanasikara). Talk given on 26 September 2024.
Bhikkhuni Ayya Kārunikā is currently the Abbot at Santi Forest Monastery, NSW, Australia and the spiritual director for New Zealand Bhikkhuni Sangha Trust, Hamilton. Ayya Karunika started her monastic life in 2010 and she received her full ordination as a bhikkhunī in 2014 at Dhammasara Nuns monastery in Western Australia where she lived and trained for over a decade with Ajahn Hāsapaññā. She has been a student of Ajahn Brahm and Ajahn Brahmali for over 2 decades.
Ayya Kārunikā is able to articulate the Buddhist teachings in a way that is practical and comprehensible to people of all ages and has experience in conducting retreats for both adults and youth. While she has a PhD in Microbiology and worked as a scientist, she has also been the building project manager for the construction of the Dhammasara Nuns Monastery main building complex and has worked with many volunteers over the years. Ayya Kārunikā was born in Sri Lanka but has been living and working in Australia for over 2 decades.
She has a passion to share her experience and knowledge and loves working with people and also doing creative projects. She is dedicated to supporting the growth of Bhikkhunis around the world and is currently involved in projects to support the establishment of places for Bhikkhunis in Theravada forest tradition in Australia, New Zealand, Poland and Sri Lanka.
Please visit the Santi Forest Youtube Channel and Santi Forest Monastery website
Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa
BSWA teachings are available:
Sunday Jul 20, 2025
Sunday Jul 20, 2025
Venerable Hue Can is the Abbess of Sunyata Meditation Centre in Vic Park and has the very clear goal to teach others how to realise their full potential through Zen Buddhism. Venerable Hue Can had an interesting and diverse career as a teacher, children’s librarian and co-ordinator of the Ethnic Child Care Resource Unit. As an advocate for access and equity she have worked in the area of social welfare, particularly in the Vietnamese community in Western Australia. When the Most Venerable Master Thich Thanh Tu came to Perth in 1996 she was fortunate to attend his lecture "Why am I a Buddhist”. She found out that Buddhism could give her five things that she had always been searching for – wisdom, altruism, freedom, equality and emancipation. She wanted to become his disciple and follow the path that he had illuminated. Her first ordination occurred in 1998.
Every year, the monastic community (Monks and nuns) go on a three month retreat called the “Rains Retreat” from mid July to mid October. During this period, they do not visit our centres for teachings as it’s a time for deepening their own practice. While the monks and nuns are away, we will have some interesting guest speakers coming in to give the Friday Night talk.
Dust in Our Eyes 2025 (Rains Retreat Speakers' Series 2025) Hear stories of everyday dhamma as told by monastics and lay practitioners from various Buddhist traditions.
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Thursday Jul 17, 2025
Thursday Jul 17, 2025
Ayya Karunika explains what Satisampajanna or Mindfulness and clear comprehension and and how to apply it in daily life as well as in meditation practice. Talk given on 5 September 2024.
Bhikkhuni Ayya Kārunikā is currently the senior resident monastic at Santi Forest Monastery, NSW, Australia and the spiritual director for New Zealand Bhikkhuni Sangha Trust, Hamilton. She has been in monastic life for over 14 years and she received her full ordination as a bhikkhunī in 2014 at Dhammasara Nuns monastery in Western Australia where she lived and trained for over a decade with Ajahn Hāsapaññā. She has been a student of Ajahn Brahm and Ajahn Brahmali for over 2 decades.
Ayya Kārunikā is able to articulate the Buddhist teachings in a way that is practical and comprehensible to people of all ages and has experience in conducting retreats for both adults and youth. While she has a PhD in Microbiology and worked as a scientist, she has also been the building project manager for the construction of the Dhammasara Nuns Monastery main building complex and has worked with many volunteers over the years. Ayya Kārunikā was born in Sri Lanka but has been living and working in Australia for over 2 decades.
She has a passion to share her experience and knowledge and loves working with people and also doing creative projects. She is dedicated to supporting the growth of Bhikkhunis around the world and is currently involved in projects to support the establishment of places for Bhikkhunis in Theravada forest tradition in Australia, New Zealand, Poland and Sri Lanka.
Please visit the Santi Forest Youtube Channel and Santi Forest Monastery website
Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa
BSWA teachings are available:
Wednesday Jul 09, 2025
Wednesday Jul 09, 2025
Ajahn Brahm describes enlightenment as akin to sitting under peacefully under the mango tree, simply waiting for the fruit to drop into your open hands. The mango represents enlightenment; the open hands symbolise kindness.
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Sunday Jun 29, 2025
Sunday Jun 29, 2025
Ajahn Mudito delivers his first talk at the Dhammaloka City Centre, sharing personal stories from his life as a monk and reflecting on the importance of active participation in the Buddhist community.
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Sunday Jun 22, 2025
Sunday Jun 22, 2025
Ajahn Santutthi explains how to develop wholesome mind state.
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Tuesday Jun 17, 2025
Tuesday Jun 17, 2025
Ajahn Brahm explains the benefits of meditation and relaxing our mind.
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Thursday Jun 12, 2025
Thursday Jun 12, 2025
Ayya Karunika discusses useful things we can do in daily life to cultivate our mind and prepare it for meditation. Talk given on 28 August 2024.
Bhikkhuni Ayya Kārunikā is currently the senior resident monastic at Santi Forest Monastery, NSW, Australia and the spiritual director for New Zealand Bhikkhuni Sangha Trust, Hamilton. She has been in monastic life for over 14 years and she received her full ordination as a bhikkhunī in 2014 at Dhammasara Nuns monastery in Western Australia where she lived and trained for over a decade with Ajahn Hāsapaññā. She has been a student of Ajahn Brahm and Ajahn Brahmali for over 2 decades.
Ayya Kārunikā is able to articulate the Buddhist teachings in a way that is practical and comprehensible to people of all ages and has experience in conducting retreats for both adults and youth. While she has a PhD in Microbiology and worked as a scientist, she has also been the building project manager for the construction of the Dhammasara Nuns Monastery main building complex and has worked with many volunteers over the years. Ayya Kārunikā was born in Sri Lanka but has been living and working in Australia for over 2 decades.
She has a passion to share her experience and knowledge and loves working with people and also doing creative projects. She is dedicated to supporting the growth of Bhikkhunis around the world and is currently involved in projects to support the establishment of places for Bhikkhunis in Theravada forest tradition in Australia, New Zealand, Poland and Sri Lanka.
Please visit the Santi Forest Youtube Channel and Santi Forest Monastery website
Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa
BSWA teachings are available:
Monday Jun 09, 2025
Monday Jun 09, 2025
Venerable Nibbuto shares interesting stories about reincarnation and psychic phenomena that cannot be explained by secular Buddhism.
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Monday Jun 02, 2025
Monday Jun 02, 2025
Ajahn Brahm teaches us about the importance of virtue and kindness.
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Thursday May 29, 2025
Thursday May 29, 2025
Tuesday 21st May 2025
Ajahn Brahmali joins the Armadale Meditation Group on-line live. Armadale Meditation Group (AMG) is designed to teach you about meditation. The classes generally begin with chanting the Metta Sutta, then receiving meditation instructions and meditating together, followed by asking questions and finally if time remains listening to a Dhamma talk. However, the layout can vary. These weekly Tuesday night teachings are happening via Zoom from Bodhinyana Monastery.
00:00:04 Metta Sutta
00:03:12 Dhamma Talk
00:36:34 Meditation
01:07:36 Q&A
01:34:35 Close
For the AMG zoom link and more details: https://bswa.org/location/armadale-meditation-group/
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Thursday May 29, 2025
Thursday May 29, 2025
Apologies, recording started late due to technical issues.
Atomic Habits by James Clear was discussed in relation to the spiritual path by Ayya Karunika at the book club on Saturday, 24th May 2025.
Ayya explored how the concept of the “aggregation of marginal gains” (p. 13) can be used to enhance our daily practice. She offered a brief yet insightful overview of the four laws of behavior change (pp. 43–55), showing how they can support the cultivation of wholesome habits while helping us abandon unwholesome ones. She also introduced practical strategies such as habit stacking (pp. 72–79) as effective methods for integrating the Buddha’s teachings into daily routine. In addition, she explained in detail how to apply the noble eightfold path in daily life and discussed the importance of focusing on systems rather than goals (pp. 23–28) in order to achieve better results in meditation and to strengthen overall progress on the spiritual path.
Bhikkhuni Ayya Kārunikā is currently the senior resident monastic at Santi Forest Monastery, NSW, Australia and the spiritual director for New Zealand Bhikkhuni Sangha Trust, Hamilton. She has been in monastic life for over 14 years and she received her full ordination as a bhikkhunī in 2014 at Dhammasara Nuns monastery in Western Australia where she lived and trained for over a decade with Ajahn Hāsapaññā. She has been a student of Ajahn Brahm and Ajahn Brahmali for over 2 decades.
Ayya Kārunikā is able to articulate the Buddhist teachings in a way that is practical and comprehensible to people of all ages and has experience in conducting retreats for both adults and youth. While she has a PhD in Microbiology and worked as a scientist, she has also been the building project manager for the construction of the Dhammasara Nuns Monastery main building complex and has worked with many volunteers over the years. Ayya Kārunikā was born in Sri Lanka but has been living and working in Australia for over 2 decades.
She has a passion to share her experience and knowledge and loves working with people and also doing creative projects. She is dedicated to supporting the growth of Bhikkhunis around the world and is currently involved in projects to support the establishment of places for Bhikkhunis in Theravada forest tradition in Australia, New Zealand, Poland and Sri Lanka.
Please visit the Santi Forest Youtube Channel and Santi Forest Monastery website
Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa
BSWA teachings are available:
Monday May 26, 2025
Monday May 26, 2025
Ayya Karunika teaches us the importance of knowing how we are trapped in our circumstances and how to find the path to peace and freedom by making just small changes.
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Wednesday May 21, 2025
Wednesday May 21, 2025
This is the third session from a series of sessions on Cultivating joy, calm and wellness for all ages which includes talks, meditation, dhamma activities for kind,Thi chi, food and more. It is a family friendly event done in collaboration with Metta Centre, Western Sydney University and Santi Forest Monastery Australia. Session date - Sunday 25 August 2024. Unfortunately the first half of the session didn't get recorded by mistake. Sorry about that.
Bhikkhuni Ayya Kārunikā is currently the senior resident monastic at Santi Forest Monastery, NSW, Australia and the spiritual director for New Zealand Bhikkhuni Sangha Trust, Hamilton. She has been in monastic life for over 14 years and she received her full ordination as a bhikkhunī in 2014 at Dhammasara Nuns monastery in Western Australia where she lived and trained for over a decade with Ajahn Hāsapaññā. She has been a student of Ajahn Brahm and Ajahn Brahmali for over 2 decades.
Ayya Kārunikā is able to articulate the Buddhist teachings in a way that is practical and comprehensible to people of all ages and has experience in conducting retreats for both adults and youth. While she has a PhD in Microbiology and worked as a scientist, she has also been the building project manager for the construction of the Dhammasara Nuns Monastery main building complex and has worked with many volunteers over the years. Ayya Kārunikā was born in Sri Lanka but has been living and working in Australia for over 2 decades.
She has a passion to share her experience and knowledge and loves working with people and also doing creative projects. She is dedicated to supporting the growth of Bhikkhunis around the world and is currently involved in projects to support the establishment of places for Bhikkhunis in Theravada forest tradition in Australia, New Zealand, Poland and Sri Lanka.
Please visit the Santi Forest Youtube Channel and Santi Forest Monastery website
Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa
BSWA teachings are available:
Monday May 19, 2025
Monday May 19, 2025
Ajahn Brahmali explains how to develop mindfulness in a way that supports and deepens Buddhist practice.
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Thursday May 15, 2025
Thursday May 15, 2025
Ayya Upekkha reads a story about the bad snake from Ajahn Brahm's book Opening the door of your heart and Ayya Karunika continues on answering many questions raised by the audience. Ayya Nirodha also share some insights on the various topics. The topics include how to be mindful when going through a difficult time, Buddhist suffering, how to prepare before going on a long retreat, how to prepare for death and idea of non-self and more. Talk given at Crows Nest Centre, Sydney on 30 August 2024.
Bhikkhuni Ayya Kārunikā is currently the senior resident monastic at Santi Forest Monastery, NSW, Australia and the spiritual director for New Zealand Bhikkhuni Sangha Trust, Hamilton. She has been in monastic life for over 14 years and she received her full ordination as a bhikkhunī in 2014 at Dhammasara Nuns monastery in Western Australia where she lived and trained for over a decade with Ajahn Hāsapaññā. She has been a student of Ajahn Brahm and Ajahn Brahmali for over 2 decades.
Ayya Kārunikā is able to articulate the Buddhist teachings in a way that is practical and comprehensible to people of all ages and has experience in conducting retreats for both adults and youth. While she has a PhD in Microbiology and worked as a scientist, she has also been the building project manager for the construction of the Dhammasara Nuns Monastery main building complex and has worked with many volunteers over the years. Ayya Kārunikā was born in Sri Lanka but has been living and working in Australia for over 2 decades.
She has a passion to share her experience and knowledge and loves working with people and also doing creative projects. She is dedicated to supporting the growth of Bhikkhunis around the world and is currently involved in projects to support the establishment of places for Bhikkhunis in Theravada forest tradition in Australia, New Zealand, Poland and Sri Lanka.
Please visit the Santi Forest Youtube Channel and Santi Forest Monastery website
Support us on https://ko-fi.com/thebuddhistsocietyofwa
BSWA teachings are available:
Monday May 12, 2025
Monday May 12, 2025
Ajahn Brahm explains the meaning of the Vesak Day.
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Monday May 05, 2025
Monday May 05, 2025
Venerable Nibbuto guides us in understanding the world and current events through the lens of Right View in Buddhism.
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