Buddhist Society of Western Australia

Ajahn Brahm talks about the Buddhist idea of consciousness. Ajahn compares this with Aristotle's view of the mind as "the common sense" (amongst all the senses), and how this has caused Western philosophy to become materialistic, causing Western society to be one "where things are more important than feelings or people." Talk given on Ajahn's visit to Buddhist Society of Victoria (BSV), in June 2015

Teaching retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=p063lMIilMI (YouTube Channel: BSV Dhamma Talks)

Please visit the BSV Podcast Channel: https://bsv.podbean.com/ and BSV YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BSVWeeklyDTEng/featured

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To find and download more Dhamma Talks on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the talk you want and then type the title into the Podcast search box.

We humans seem to have an issue with doing nothing! Ajahn describes doing nothing as an art form. When we start to meditate our mind will try all manner of tricks to keep us from a still, quiet session. It will monkey about and thoughts will come to mind of the past, of the future and even of the present which is all intended to keep our attention away from our goal of a quiet mind. Ajahn Brahm uses humour and common sense to make us laugh and relax. This is a good step on the path to meditation. Having a happy, relaxed mind prior to meditation is so much better than having a mind stuck in the past or desperately trying to predict the future.

So in the inimitable style of Ajahn Brahm, we heard jokes and funny stories and had a good laugh prior to commencing our meditation. Ajahn led the group through a body sweep prior to focusing on the present moment.

This meditation is well suited to beginners and experienced meditators alike.

After meditation Ajahn opened to questions and was asked to further explain the "doer and the thinker". Ajahn used his life experience and funny stories to illustrate the answer.

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To find and download more Armadale Meditation Group Teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the AMG teaching you want, then type the title into the Podcast search box. 

Many people believe that happiness is having the freedom to get whatever you want. However Ajahn Brahm opposes this belief by explaining that profound happiness actually comes when you’re free from wanting. Ajahn states, "When you want something more, you are not free, you cannot enjoy what you already have."

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Ajahn Brahm discusses the cultivation and importance of wise friends on the path, the essential role the Bhikkhuni Sangha plays in increasing the longevity of the Buddha’s teachings, and how the four-fold community of Dhamma practitioners can support each other on our journey towards awakening. Recorded at the Thames Buddhist Vihara on the 27^th July 2016.

This event was part of Ajahn Brahm's UK tour 2016 - "Buddhism in the 21st Century" in support of Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project, of which Ajahn is Spiritual Adviser. Donations towards Anukampa's aim to develop a nuns' monastery in England are extremely welcome. Please visit https://anukampaproject.org/donate/

Teaching retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROIlbFmhEAY&list=PLPxfnU-O-ZyeLHWATLqHA2_g13_MLhGPa&index=3 (YouTube Channel: Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project)

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

To find and download more Dhamma Talks on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the talk you want and then type the title into the Podcast search box.

Bhante started the night by asking the group if there was a particular subject or topic that he might use to base the evening’s meditation and talk on. One member asked for a meditation with Metta whilst another suggested a meditation dealing with physical pain. Bhante, after careful and clever consideration, was able to deliver a talk which combined both subjects. Gratitude, as described by Bhante, is the airbag we need when things aren't going well, or to our liking, in our lives. Bhante described the two darts of suffering as one being a physical pain, for which we might seek relief with medication, and the other as a mental pain. Many of us sadly use our mental suffering to make our physical pain so much worse than it need be. A good meditation can most certainly help. We humans often don't separate the two which leads us to make our physical pain so much worse with an increasingly negative mind set.

Bhante then led the group in a guided meditation on gratitude that went a little longer than usual. By focusing on gratitude for everything from the simplest smiles of family or friends to the big events in our lives, we build an airbag to cushion us against adversity and pain.

After the meditation Bhante continued his discourse on gratitude. He pointed out to us the many ways we can build up our resistance to both bad situations and physical pain, by remembering those times and things that we are grateful for.

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To find and download more Armadale Meditation Group Teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the AMG teaching you want, then type the title into the Podcast search box.

Are you looking for a partner in life, your true love? Ajahn Brahm inspires us to find true love inside ourselves and explains that true love is being able to embrace imperfections and love life as it is.

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Ajahn Khemavaro gives a talk on the subject of observing the emotional states of the mind as they arise and pass and how we can let go of attachment to these states and develop peace and stillness in the mind. A talk given at the Buddhist Society of Victoria (BSV).

Teaching retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5cADRIWHxU (YouTube Channel: BSV Dhamma Talks)

Please visit the Buddhist Society of Victoria (BSV) Podcast Channel: https://bsv.podbean.com/ and YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BSVWeeklyDTEng/featured

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

To find and download more Dhamma Talks on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the talk you want and then type the title into the Podcast search box.

Ajahn Appi started with an in-depth explanation of meditation for beginners. He outlined many of the benefits that can be gained from a regular meditation practice, such as peacefulness and a resistance to stress, anger, anxiety and many of the garden variety feelings that we as humans encounter in our daily lives. Ajahn continued his explanation until meditation time, touching on how each of us will be individually affected by a continued practice, with the main benefits being an improved wisdom and emotional outlook on life.

Ajahn then lead the group in three different techniques of meditation. The first meditation which is five minutes, is to use the darkness we have present in our minds when we close our eyes and begin to meditate. This is done to draw our attention away from thinking.

The second five minute meditation focuses our attention on our breath moving out of our bodies, then in, all the way to our abdomen, and then out again. This method of following a moving object is recommended for less experienced meditators as it is easier to follow a moving object than a stationary one.

The third meditation is twenty minutes and asks us to focus our attention on the very fine feelings, or rather sensations, that arise at the edges of our mouths and/or nostrils when we breath. Ajahn also recommends doing these meditations in a dull or darkened environment. This helps us turn our focus inward rather than be distracted by external events.

After meditation Ajahn opened to Q&A and then gave us a talk on the hindrances for beginners. Ajahn briefly touched on Karma, and how it can accumulate and affect our daily lives.

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To find and download more Armadale Meditation Group Teachings, visit the BSWA teachings
page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the AMG teaching you want, then type the title into the Podcast search box.

Ajahn Brahmali examines some questions about Samadhi (deep states of meditation), such as: are they really important? Or can they be skipped? And are there any dangers from practicing Samadhi?

To find and download more Dhamma Talks on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the talk you want and then type the title into the Podcast search box.

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A talk given by Ajahn Nissarano at the Buddhist Society of Victoria (BSV).
Teaching retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDfEeYnRbvM&index=6&list=PLwPICjq7jNeqPSKNmtxEaiXMywVXdOIBX (YouTube Channel: BSV Dhamma Talks)

Please visit the BSV Podcast Channel: https://bsv.podbean.com/ and BSV YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BSVWeeklyDTEng/featured

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

To find and download more Dhamma Talks on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the talk you want and then type the title into the Podcast search box.

A Dhamma talk about bhikkhunis by Ajahn Brahm at the Buddhist Maha Vihara on the 9^th of May 2011.

We apologise the audio quality is not crystal clear. Teaching retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3dvnRFVlgU&feature=player_embedded (YouTube Channel: Buddhist Maha Vihara).

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

To find and download more Dhamma Talks on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the talk you want and then type the title into the Podcast search box.

Bhante approached subjects that we westerners have trouble with, and he did so with humour, candour and wit. We all have an inner voice that most of us either try to ignore or take too seriously/literally. It can often lead to feelings of shame if we feel we have made a mistake in life. We need to have compassion for ourselves, to forgive ourselves and realise that the inner voice that may be telling us we are stupid or foolish is wrong. We also spend a great deal of time blaming our decisions, our actions and our situations on our parents. We are old enough, surely, to realise that we can decide to stop this cycle and change our own direction by listening to our hearts and not the voice of shame. We can change the direction of our lives by having compassion for, and forgiving, ourselves.

Tonight’s meditation went a little longer than the usual 30 minutes and is well suited to those of us who find our inner voice telling us that we are stupid or foolish, or to those of us who are blaming our parents.

After the meditation, Bhante continued his talk on compassion and forgiveness for ourselves by using his own life experiences as an example.

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

To find and download more Armadale Meditation Group Teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the AMG teaching you want, then type the title into the Podcast search box.

How can you be happy in solitude? Ajahn Brahm reveals why he is so happy in solitude and shares from his personal experience how to be kind to yourself and the present moment.

To find and download more Dhamma Talks on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the talk you want and then type the title into the Podcast search box.

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

A talk given at the Buddhist Society of Victoria (BSV).
Teaching retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtAD76tzmlc (YouTube Channel: BSV Dhamma Talks)

Please visit the BSV Podcast Channel: https://bsv.podbean.com/ and BSV YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BSVWeeklyDTEng/featured

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

To find and download more Dhamma Talks on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the talk you want and then type the title into the Podcast search box.

Ajahn Brahm gives a short Dhamma talk on the benefits of being virtuous at the Buddhist Society of Victoria (BSV).

Please visit the BSV Podcast Channel: https://bsv.podbean.com/ and BSV YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BSVWeeklyDTEng/featured

Teaching retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSxsBdF5Nb8&index=17&list=PLwPICjq7jNeqDGMNhd04IemkUBGPnFSBy (YouTube Channel: BSV Dhamma Talks)

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

To find and download more Dhamma Talks on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the talk you want and then type the title into the Podcast search box.

From February 15th to 24th 2015, Ajahn Brahm offered a San Francisco Bay Area speaking tour in support of the Dhammadharini's sangha new bhikkhuni monastery. Founded by Ayya Tathaaloka, the Dhammadharini women's monastic community was the first bhikkhuni sangha of the Theravadan forest tradition in North America, and one of the few places in the West that women can become fully ordained Buddhist monastics.

Ajahn Brahm is one of the Venerable’s speaking on Mindfulness. Ajahn Brahm starts by reading from his book "Don't Worry, Be Grumpy" and then engages in a discussion about mindfulness.

Teaching retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaTK78FfG7k (YouTube Channel: Ajahn Brahm's Benefit Talks for Dhammadharini)

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

To find and download more Dhamma Talks on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the talk you want and then type the title into the Podcast search box.

It was Venerable Mudu's first of, hopefully, many, visits to the Armadale Meditation Group's Tuesday evening session. Venerable opened the evening by introducing himself to us all and relating a shortened version of his life as a monastic. After his introduction he posed the question of "Why on earth would we want to meditate". Is it because it's cool, hip and popular? Well, yes it is cool, hip and popular, but that isn't enough of a reason to do it. Venerable related a story of a visit Ajahn Chah had from an American scientist. The scientist, wishing to know what, if anything, was going on when we meditate, brought along all manner of instruments to try to measure any results he might find. Before he commenced, he asked Ajahn Chah “Why do you meditate”. To which Ajahn Chah responded "To have a healthy body, you must eat right and exercise". "To have a healthy mind, you must meditate".

With that in mind, Venerable then gave an explanation easily understood by inexperienced and experienced meditators alike on the simplest way to start meditating and gently gaining experience with practice. Venerable then led us through meditation beginning with a body sweep and progressing to breath meditation.

After meditation Venerable opened to Q&A before continuing his talk on monastic life and life in general.

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

To find and download more Armadale Meditation Group Teachings, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the AMG teaching you want, then type the title into the Podcast search box.

To find and download more Guided Meditations on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the meditation you want and then type the date into the Podcast search box e.g. 01-09-2018 or try 1 September 2018.

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A talk given on a short day retreat at Thames Buddhist Vihara as part of Ajahn Brahmali's tour in the UK in support of Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project. 

Ajahn Brahmali supports Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project, of which Ajahn Brahmavamso is Spiritual Adviser. Donations towards Anukampa's aim to develop a nuns' monastery in England are extremely welcome. Please visit: https://anukampaproject.org/donate/

Teaching retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLZZCgUNiws&t=4066s (YouTube Channel: Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project). Video courtesy of Cristo Nobel, LLP Management.

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

To find and download more Dhamma Talks on Podcast, visit the BSWA teachings page: https://bswa.org/teachings/, choose the talk you want and then type the title into the Podcast search box.

This is the first audio talk recorded by the BSWA at Dhammaloka Buddhist Centre in April 2001. In this talk Ajahn Brahm discusses the Buddhist teaching of anatta – the absence of a self.

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